Nile Cruise / Sharm Honeymoon

MagicMartyn

Hey folks,

I am getting married 8th August next year and after getting freaked out by the thought of hurricanes in the Caribbean - we are now looking at doing a Nile cruise and a stay in Sharm El Sheikh.

Does anyone have any suggestions of places to look for this? We don't have a fixed date and will fly from anywhere in the UK.

Thanks very much in advance!!

Pollycat

Martyn
I've never booked a 2 centre doing a Nile Cruise and Sharm, but have done Nile cruise and Luxor twice.

A couple of bits of advice:
do book the best boat you can afford. The food will be better and you might (only might) get away without a tummy bug.
Almost everyone suffers with this on a Nile cruise, better quality boats will tend not to recycle food. Look out for stuff that makes a reappearance on the buffet e.g. meat that was served at dinner then served up the following lunchtime in sauce.
There are literally hundreds of boats that cruise up and down the Nile.

A Nile cruise is not relaxing, it's hard work!
That is, if you intend doing all the excursions.
As it's hot in Egypt (and in August it will be hellishly hot - check the temperatures out), the excursions start early morning so you'll be up for breakfast at 6am.
You usually return for lunch and have the afternoon free.
Maybe it's not the right choice if you want a relaxing honeymoon.

As I've said, we've done it twice and loved every minute of it - but we do like looking at 'piles of old stone'.

MagicMartyn

Hmmmm maybe your right. Although we do REALLY wanna go see as much as we can. Even if we do nothing at Sharm afterwards... Just laze on the beach!!

Can I ask who you booked with when you went?

Little_miss_neat

This is what we did for our honeymoon! Well, we did a week's Nile cruise, 2 nights in Cairo and 5 nights in Sharm. It was bliss, absolute bliss! It was in September 1999 and we booked with Thomas Cook.
The cruise was amazing and there were no probs. We are veggie so we had lovely food. I was ill for a couple of hours in Sharm because the ice cream got the better of me! You just have to be sensible in Egypt as with any hot country - clean your teeth using bottled water etc and add more salt to your food etc.
The trip is tiring, but isn't that why you add Sharm on the end?? You have early starts and long hot days but the history and sights are just amazing. Cairo was definitely worth doing but very hot and in your face. Sharm was a blissful end to our honeymoon and so relaxing - we just chilled on the beach and around the hotel for 5 days.
I would absolutely recommend it! If you want to know anymore, just PM me.

Pollycat

Hi Martyn
I can't remember the first time (it was 2003), the 2nd time was with Thomson.

The excursions were fabulous.
The first time we booked an overnight train trip to Cairo from Luxor during our 2nd week. The pyramids were great but for us, the highlights were the temples along the Nile (on the cruise).
Gobsmacking!

If it's what you think you'll enjoy, go for it, then relax in Sharm.
I just wanted to let you know it's not a relaxing cruise.
You get an Egyptologist on the boat and I did a fair bit of research on the Egyptian stuff before we went and got so much out of the cruise.

Let us know what you decide to do.
All the best.

MagicMartyn

This is definetly looking like a serious option. Thanks so much for your input!

I popped into a travel agent today. They couldn't do it through Thomson just Kuoni. So departing 10th Aug 2009 it was 7nights Nile cruise FB, 1night in Luxor and 7 nights in Sharm El Sheikh All Inclusive at the Hilton Sharks Bay. All in for £2136...... does that sound about right?

I also forgot to ask if the cruise included the sightseeing excursions too? Any ideas?

Thanks again!

SCOYA

Hi there, we did a similar trip back in August 1999. We did a week on the Nile and then a week at the Movenpick Hotel in El Quesir. We booked through Thomson and opted for the Presidential Nile Cruise, food etc was fab and all excursions were included and you are accompanied on all trips by an Egyptologist (sp?). One of the most amazing holidays ever, as previously said, the week on the Nile can be tiring, but I do recall most trips being done quite early in the morning, getting you back on board the boat for lunch, it tends to be a week of burning the candle at both ends, but then closely followed by a week at a Red Sea resort - fabulous.

Have previously stayed at the Hilton Sharks Bay, pleasant hotel, but not much of a beach as it's all tiered down to the ocean. If you definately want to go to Sharm, you may want to consider a hotel in Naama Bay, where you can walk out in the evening to restuarants and bars. It is very cheap eating out so you may want to consider this as an alternative. Would happily recommend the Movenpick Jolie Ville in Naama Bay, but believe it's now been taken over by Maritim Hotels, either way, fabulous location and with a private beach.

Good luck with your search. Scoya

Little_miss_neat

Yes, the cruise excursions were early morning and back on boat by lunch and then a leisurely afternoon spent onboard watching the scenery pass while you cruised down to the next mooring. All our excursions were included apart from the 2 optional ones - hot air ballooning over Valley of the Kings (which we didn't do) and also the trip to Abu Simbel. This is definitely worth the money!
We actually stayed in Naama Bay rather than Sharm itself and as was previously said it was lovely to be able to wander down to the town in the evening. We had seen a resturant 'Tam Tam' on the Holiday programme just before we left so tried it out and it was superb. Lovely authentic Egyptian food surrounded by Egyptians overlooking the sea!
We stayed at the Sofitel hotel which was lovely but it was 9 years ago so there are newer better hotels now.
Go for it! It was a truly amazing experience!

skr80

Naama bay and Hilton Fayrouz is the best for me (better than the Movenpick)

MagicMartyn

Wow, thanks for all your replies! I will hopefully have time this weekend to really start looking into it! I was a wee bit shocked at the £2300 price tag at first but I guess that includes 3 flights!!

Still wanna do some shopping around though!