Nile cruise and stay

carole1705

Has any members been on a cruise and stay holiday to Egypt. We are looking to go in May 2008. Would like to extend our holiday in Luxor and maybe Cairo and do a trip to the pyramids. How much is this going to cost for 2 people. Any feedback on where to stay and where to avoid. Where are to best travel agents to get the best deals. Welcome any advice.

Cheers :beer:

poe.tuesday

most nile cruises go from luxor down to aswan and back again (taking 7 days), TBH you are best just doing the one way cruise (3 days) as there are only so many stops on route all of which are covered on the shorted cruise.

If it was me, I would do a 2 to 3 night in Cairo, then fly down to Luxor and spend a few nights there before doing your cruise for 3 nights - for this I would have thought it would be in the region of about £700 each - there are loads of different options so do hunt about, kuoni are a good place to start but can be expensive

owtfornowt_2

try 'tripadvisor.com' for lots of info. search for egypt forum.

mystic_trev

Actually if you want to visit Cairo from Luxor, it's quite cheap. I've done the journey myself in Jan 2005, and in fact the flights are cheaper now! Return flight £104.60 (Expedia - several flights a day) and £204 for a twin at the Nile Hiton for three nights - so just over £200 quid each. You can book your trips to see the Pyramids, from the Hilton and it dosen't cost much. Why I recomend staying at the Hilton is that its right next door to the Egyptian Museum.Egypts a great place - I loved it!

aimee21j

We did the 7 day Nile Cruise and TBH it was a struggle to fit it all in the 7 days! Was one of the best holidays I have been on. Didn't go on to a resort after but certainly needed the rest after the early mornings (to beat the heat!) We went on the Domina Prestige boat- luxury compared to some of the other boats we walked through (and some were 4 star)

All your excursions are included, including valley of t he kings. We paid extra to go to Abu Simnel- well worth it.

carole1705

Thanks for the advice, Got a price of £879 thats all inc on ms magic for 7 days. Then the Hilton in Cairo for 3 days B/B. Then onto 4 days at the Sheraton in Luxor B/B. Looking forward to go on 12th May.

BargainAholic_2

I went in June 07 for 2 weeks & it was absolutely gorgeous.....

For the cruise I stayed on the Etoile Du Nil which says it is 5* but we found out that the boats have a different star system so what they would call 5* is actually our 2* - 3* - so be careful this is quite misleading. All of the liners looked similar so dont expect 5* quality - you will also need some medicine to stop you nipping to the loo every 30 seconds as well.

Dont book your trips with the travel agent as when you get there you will have a welcome meeting anyway & there you will be asked if you would like to go on any trips. We found the price always to be cheaper on the boat.

Recommend the Valley of the Kings/Queens. This has, imo, got to be the best trip of them all. Going to the tombs & seeing hyroglyphics (sp?) on the walls from centuries ago was just breathtaking.

We read before we went that women are expected to cover their shoulders in public, this is not the case at all but be prepared to be letched at by the men. If you ignore them (I mean proper ignore them & act like your deaf) then you should be ok. If you make eye contact with anyone then they will hassle you & think that you are interested in what they have to offer.

When your out, locals will always ask to take your camera & offer to take a photogragh for you, beware though that this service is not free & to get your camera back they ask for money & I dont mean a couple of quid. If you refuse you'll be ok.

Dont be forced into any shops that you dont want to go into as you will have to buy something before they let you out. Again this is not cheap.

Haggle for everything If you've not knocked 75% off the original price then you've been robbed. The only thing you cant haggle for is phonecards as the price for these is set by the Egyptian government. Also make sure you specify what currency you are talking about. They may say "I'll give it you for 200" & you may assume this is Egyptian pounds which is very cheap & then they hit you with the fact they were talking about English Pound. We saw this happen to a couple on our boat with a bloke with a horse & cart. The couple thought they were getting a trip around luxor for 5 egyptian pounds which if my memory serves me right its about £2.50? anyway off they went & when they came back found out that it was 5 english puonds for him but the horse needed 50 english pounds. This had to be paid before they were allowed off.

You only need to take English money (no Scottish notes allowed though)

Hotels are gorgeous, I stayed in Luxor in the Sonesta St George Hotel which was 5* & we were treated like royalty.

We booked through Fast Track Cruises online & had fullboard for the cruise & half board hotel & it cost us £550 then the trips cost about £60.

Definately recommend it. Beautiful place to go. Take loads of sunscreen & mozzy repellant. You'll love it. Drink loads of water.

Hope this helps you make up your mind


BA