What to expect when you arrive for your Nile cruise in Egypt.
Some ‘know before you go’ info on what to expect when you embark on one of our fab Egypt tours & holidays. Hopefully we all find this useful and can pick up some tips together to make our holiday the best it can be!
Egyptian Visa Requirements for UK Passport Holders:
One of the most popular questions is what to do about the Egyptian visa that is required. We find the best thing to do is to purchase on arrival. All you need is £25 in English cash (USD and Euro is also accepted). Simply hand that over at the visa kiosk, the clerk will help with the form, stamp your visa into your passport and you are good to go. You will even get a small amount of change returned to you in Egyptian money (depending on the exchange rate) which is useful for tipping.
We have never experienced any lengthy wait times doing it this way and this way is much easier than trying to pre-book via an e-visa portal in our experience. Our reps usually meet you in this visa desk/passport control area anyway so will be on hand to help if required.
Egyptian Money:
Most places take card as well as UK sterling, USD and Euros but if you do want/require local currency, then from the ATMs on arrival is as good a place as any we find. A pre-loaded bank card or one that doesn’t charge for use abroad is obviously a good option. We can personally recommend Monzo for this but there is probably others that will suit you too.
Saving for your Egypt Holidays:
While we are on the subject… we find that using a separate bank like Plum a good option for helping you save for your next holiday to Egypt.
Travel Insurance for Egypt – As with any holiday, an absolute must! We work with a recommended partner – click here.
Nile Cruise Ground Transfers:
Our reps will meet you when you land in Egypt and take care of everything for you. They really are a fantastic team and will help you with your bags, visas or anything else you need and then transfer you to your holiday destination post flight.
Nile Cruises General Info
Our most popular tours of Egypt often include River Nile cruises. Most cruises are 7-nights starting in Luxor, travelling to Aswan and then back again, stopping at all the various site on the way. Here is a sample of a regular Nile cruise itinerary:
1st Day Luxor (Nile Cruise) Meet and greet at airport to assist you through the immigration formalities, (please look for our reps at the airport, who can be located in the passport control/arrivals hall area) transfers to the ship and embarkation on the cruise ship in Luxor, overnight on board in Luxor.
2nd Day Luxor (Nile Cruise) Early morning Visit of the East Bank, Karnak temple and Luxor Temple. Lunch on the cruise. Noon time sailing to Edfu. Dinner and Overnight on board in Edfu.
3rd Day Nile Cruise Early sailing around 09 AM to Kom Ombo and visit Sobek Temple around 16HRS. After visit sailing to Aswan. arrival around 21HRS, dinner and overnight on board in Aswan.
4th Day Nile Cruise Early Morning start visiting Aswan by visiting the High Dam and Philae temple. Afternoon at leisure-chance to explore Aswan or try our (optional) excursion to the Nubian village or simply have a ride on a Camel along the Nile arranged by our guide on the spot. Overnight on board in Aswan.
5th Day Nile Cruise Early morning (Optional) visit to the famous temple of Abu Simbel in the south of Aswan or you can just spend a relaxed morning on the sun deck, after noon sailing (around 14 HRS) back north to Edfu and arrival (around 21HRS) overnight on board in Edfu.
6th Day Nile Cruise In the morning sailing to Esna, around (10HRS) Visit Temple of Khnum, then you will have time to relax and enjoy the cruise as you sail downstream to Luxor, (arrival 14.30HRS) after noon possibility to join our (optional) City tour to the heart of the city of Luxor, overnight on board in Luxor.
7th Nile Cruise Morning excursion to West Bank including Valley of the Kings, Hatschpust temple and the Colossi of Memnon. Evening visit to the sound and light show at Karnak temple (optional). Dinner and Overnight on board in Luxor.
Nile Cruise Excursions:
You can pre-book a Nile cruise excursions package when you book the Nile cruise or you can book them on arrival with our rep. Pre-booked packages range from £180pp for light and £220pp for full. Locally you can break these down and just do 1 or 2 if you want or make your own package or even just disembark the boat and do them yourself, without guide, at your leisure. Just make sure you set an alarm to get back to the boat in good time before you all set sail again!
Additional excursions you may want to make use of in resort and which can be booked with our reps out there include:
Cairo by plane, including day round Giza to see Pyramids, Sphinx, Museum etc – from £180pp
Cairo by coach, including day round Giza to see Pyramids, Sphinx, Museum etc – from £99pp
Jeep safari – from £25pp
Quad biking – from £27pp
Luxor hot air balloon ride – from £99pp
Abu Simbel – from £115pp
Nile Cruises Drinks Menu:
Nile cruises will usually come as full-board as standard, which includes all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner at set times) but no drinks. Upgrade to all-inclusive is possible from £152pp for the week or you can buy drinks as you go as well as supply your own.
On board the Nile cruises you can purchase drinks from the bar. Prices are similar to what you may find in a UK pub, for example, about £3.50 for a bottle of export beer. Here is an example of an on board drinks menu:
Nile Cruise WiFi (and what to do with our smart phones):
WiFi can be temperamental onboard depending on the location. It is chargeable too, at about £3.50 per day. We find a better option is to purchase a sim card on arrival in Egypt (our reps will help you with this). We find this is very cost effective and efficient, as you can then use the data sim cards to make contact with home and indeed, with each other while you are in Egypt.
Nile cruises are an integral part of a tour to Egypt and we have a wide range of options in our fleet. Choose your favourite cruise, it really is an experience like no other. Any other questions you would like to throw at us and/or would like to see answered on this page please get in touch with us via email [email protected] or use our live chat and telephone call centre. We don’t hide, we always love hearing from our customers and you can usually get straight through.
Happy travels in Egypt!
