4 nights Luxor and Aswan Nile cruise with Hot air balloon,Abu simbel from Luxor

Ismail was a wonderful guide and very knowledgeable about egyptian history. The itinerary is packed with activities but there is also time to relax on the cruise and soak up the sun. My cruise ship was great and I had no complaints but it seems to be hit or miss.

Mohammad Wafa was an amazing guide who spoke great English and knowledgeable of Egypts history. The beds on the boat were not that great and the food wasn’t something to rave about, but I honestly didn’t spend much time in my room.

Communication with the tour operator was very good before the trip, Samar went beyond expectations to ensure I'd start the tour on time. Once it started, it was another story. - ship: the first ship was a slum really. I have been traveling the world alone for the past 15 years but even in the most remote areas, I had never seen that level of filth: hairs in the bed, no hot water, poop in the toilet, stains and dirt everywhere, used cups in the bedroom (lipbalm on it), black fingerprints everywhere, no one was wearing masks (during covid), coffee on the bedside table... I checked in with the rest of the group at lunch time, informed the ship manager and he promised it would be cleaned when I was on my next tour. We returned in the evening again and nothing had been cleaned. I went back to the ship manager who was not only rude about it, but also aggressive. I contacted the tour operator immediately but the person in charge was fairly useless first and offered free drinks as compensation (which was a joke really) before finally transfering me to another ship. It was better but definitely not a 5-star as per western standards, more like a 3-star at best (at least, there was hot water and no hair/dead bugs in my bed and no ship manager to insult me). Please note that the ships are docked 30 minutes drive from the city center in Luxor (while I specifically asked to get a ship in the center of Luxor at the time of reservation), attached to another 3 to 4 ships at all times when docked so you never have a view, you see directly inside someone else's cabin. Plus it's super noisy when you sail at night and you dock at 3 am and attach the ships together to wake up at 6 the next day... when there is no party on the deck of one of the ships in the evening... Food (not good but eatable) is included on-board but drinks (also water) are not. - guide: I spent the first 2 days of the tour with the rest of my group. Our guide was Mohammed. He was nice and did what he could to help with the problems on the 1st ship (also for the other customers). He was knowledgeable enough about the history of the places we visited, although I think I was expecting a little more than what I had in my guide book. His English was OK overall. The rest of the group didn't want to go to Abu Simbel so the tour operator organised me to go with a spanish-speaking group and have a different guide on site. The pick-up and return went smoothly, but the guide was absolutely useless. We had only 1 hour to visit the site. There are 2 temples in Abu Simbel. He said we shall go have a look alone inside of temple 1 for 30 minutes, then come back to him to get some explanations and that we would not see temple 2 (for which you still pay). So if you don't have a guide book, you end up looking at a temple and paintings for 30 minutes withouth knowing what you are looking at. I went without the guide, it was a joke really. Philae and Obelisk: I got a private tour as the rest of my original group was catching an early flight. I was not interested in the high dam (original package) so exchanged it for the unfinished obelisk. My guide was Ramzi. He was friendly, knowledgeable about the history of the places we visited but his English was a bit hard to understand at times. The one thing I didn't like was to be advised to tip between 2 to 4 times the usual tip everywhere we were going (like the ship to Philae is included. It's a 3-minute crossing, the guide pays the "driver" 20 LE... and advised me to tip 20 LE too...). In the end, tipping is voluntary and based on the quality that is provided to you, but you kind of feel pressured everywhere, with guides telling you how much to give to the driver, ship staff, cleaning lady, horse carriage etc. and if you don't, they complain it's not enough (we already tipped the horse carrier as advised but he wanted more and followed us to complain). - Mind that you are part of a tour, so you cannot wander where you want by yourself, and you get to see the parts of the temples the tour has organised (meaning if you have 2 hours to visit a temple with enough rooms and paintings for 6 hours, you see a third of it). All free time is on the ship while sailing, so there's no chance you go by yourself explore the valley of the queens for instance. As a conclusion, if I was to do this trip again, I would organise it very differently. Either take a very good cruise and book with the ship directly (but you pay a few thousand bucks), or stay in 5-star hotels in Luxor and Aswan (note that Egyptian standards are not like European/American) and go to the different temples with a taxi (no cruise but you're able to sleep at night). Trip: mid-March 2022. Reviewer: solo female traveler (32) from Germany/France.

I had wonderful solo travel on this… I had wonderful solo travel on this trip. Our guide Hany Soliman was very nice throughout. He made sure our small group had their needs met when it came to sightseeing, shopping and spending time in various places. He dropped us door to door and made sure we all felt safe and answered any questions that we may have had. There was never a dull moment. The cruiseship was definitely dated and my tub was leaking. It was the Emilio ship. I was fine with it all since I barely spent any time in the ship. The food got the job done, not bad at all. The sundeck was a nice place to hang out and watch the sunset.

A very nice trip, the people working on the ship took good care of everything, the food and cabins excellent. Most of all we appreciated our guide, Mohamed Albasha, took very good care of everything on the trips to the sites, has a lot of knowledge, a very smart man and a great storyteller. Also if we wanted something not included in the trip, he organized it with ease and a smile. Absolutely recommend him.

Tour itself: I was suprisingly very impressed with regards to the organisation, communication and overall customer service of the trip. The company deals with a lot of tourists and do an amazing job at getting everyone to where they need to be and when. I was thoroughly impressed. Be aware, you do need to be ready by 4am on 2 of the days for 1) the hot air balloon for sunrise (but 100% worth it, a magical experience) and 2) abu simbel. As someone who gets car sick often, sitting in a full capacity coach for 4 hours each way was very difficult and I would check if this part of the tour is right for you or if you wish to stay over there the night, which i would say is better to split up the trip. Although abu simbel temple itself is a must-see attraction, you won't spend more than 2hrs there. Tour guide: Ramses our guide was simply outstanding. He was so patient with all of us, organised, kind and reassuring. He was flexible to our needs and wishes throughout. Not only this but he is so knowledgeable in all the temples and in both ancient Egypt and modern Egypt. I was very impressed and he made the tours worth all the money. Accomodation: I do have to say, the accomodation unfortunately is definitely not 5*, more like a 3* standard. The rooms are nice and satisfactory, the views of the nile are amazing. But the bathrooms are very much 3*. The food is satisfactory but again not amazing. However, having said this, the price of this tour is moderately priced compared to more luxurious tours, so you get what you pay for and so one cannot really complain. If you want something more luxurious, especially because you spend a lot of time on the boat then go for something higher priced. Overall, I think this tour is the best way to see all the main sites south of Cairo and I would 100% recommend this to any family or solo traveller who wants to see all the sites in Egypt. It was not pure luxury but it was definitely enjoyable and worth the money.

Increíbles días que pasamos dentro del crucero „Palace“ la comida muy rica y el servicio excelente, la tripulación súper amable. El paquete incluye un paseo en globo que fue más que increíble, apresar de que se debe madrugar para hacerlo (3 am ) vale muchísimo la pena al igual que abu simbel. Además tuvimos un guía de lujo Mostafa Abdo, siempre dispuesto a ayudarnos y aconsejarnos. Muchas gracias por hacer esto posible 🙌🏽👏🏽 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amei a experiência. O navio era bom, principalmente pelos funcionários sempre muito gentis e dispostos a nos atender com dedicação. Escolhi esse Cruzeiro pelo itinerário, pois tinha todos os passeios e visitas que queria fazer. A comida era ótima também. Mas o diferencial para mim foi nosso guia Mostafa Abdo! Guardaremos sempre na lembrança a amizade que fizemos. Um ser humano incrível, honesto e com um coração lindo. Muito dedicado, atencioso, preocupado, cuidadoso, sempre com bom humor. Fomos embora e sentimos saudade, assim como foi com nossa guia no Cairo, fizemos amizade e continuamos em contato 😂. Nos deixou extremamente seguros e gratos. Possui ótima didática e fala português perfeitamente. Ele nos proporcionou verdadeiras aulas, e óbvio, indicaremos sempre 😍.

Foi maravilhosa minha experiência com essa reserva. O Cruzeiro era realmente fantástico e 5 estrelas. Amamos o balão. Gostaria de mandar uma agradecimento especial para nosso guia Hassan Kamel que nos tratou muito bem e nos sentimos muito seguros. Além de toda a sua capacidade em nós explicar sobre a história dos templos. Ele nos tratou tão bem que viemos embora e sentimos muita saudade.