Category: Nile Cruise Ships

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Although Easter is almost upon us we still have been able to fix some people up with last-minute Nile cruises. Yesterday we were still finding seats for departures from Gatwick and Manchester for the 24th and 31st of March so if your thinking of taking a Nile Cruise within the next week or two please call us first on Freephone 0808 1089 100 and we’ll do all we can to get you away.

Shelley Lash Cooper, a travel journalist from California, said some very nice things about our Nile Cruise Blog and Podcast on her Smart Money Cruises Blog which is very kind of her.

You can read her post by clicking here, or read the full article below:

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In Style with a Cruise down the Nile

So here’s a travel twist. Instead of writing about the traditional mega-ships, today I’m focusing on a geographic area completely opposite from the Caribbean, Alaska, Mexico or other popular North American cruise destination.

Have you ever considered taking a cruise down the Nile River?

Here’s one of the obvious differences between traditional cruising and a Nile cruise. Traditional ships focus on onboard activities like Broadway-style entertainment, rock climbing, golf simulators, movies and so on. Nile cruises are all about the outdoors…life on the river. There’s also a great amount of wildlife enhancing the spectacular scenery.

Don’t be fooled by the size of the Nile boats/ships. They accommodate pools and fairly spacious cabins, gift shops, lounges, sundecks, etc. Peak cruising season runs from October to April.

One of the reasons I’ve chosen to spotlight the world’s longest river (nearly 4,200 miles) is to introduce you to Colin at Nile-Cruises-4u.co.uk. (links at end of article) He is a Nile expert and has created some entertaining and informative podcasts with fabulous music. His website is full of photos of the vessels that cruise the Nile, he posts reviews and talks to quite a few folks who share their Nile Cruise experiences.

Just one drop of history for you here. It was by the Nile’s banks that one of the world’s oldest civilizations began. The ancient Egyptians lived and farmed along the Nile, using the rich soil to produce food for themselves and their animals. People continue to live along the river today.

After researching the palm-tree dotted river that stretches through the continent of Africa, I’ve decided to put the south-to-north flowing Nile River closer to the top of my travel wish list. It’s a fascinating destination. Imagine traversing some of the world’s oldest temples while being intoxicated by the historic Egyptian landscape.

So here are Colin’s links. Even if you hadn’t thought about taking a Nile River cruise, do a little armchair traveling. Listen to one of his podcasts and enjoy the music!

https://www.nile-cruises-4u.co.uk/blog/

https://nile-cruises-4u.co.uk/blog/nile-cruise-podcast/

Happy travels!

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Thanks Shelley that’s very kind of you.

We have some great offers on a wonderful Red Sea Cruise.

The ports of call along the Red Sea boast a wealth of ancient and modern sights that will leave you with memories that will last forwever.

Sailing on the MS Royal Star you will have the opportunity to visit Hurghada, Suez, Cairo, (where you can visit the Egyptian Museum, the Citadel and the Bazaar plus there is another excursion you can take that visits the Pyramids and Sphinx at Gaza), Sharm-elSheikh, Aqaba, Safa and Luxor. You will be able to see a full itinerary shortly on the main Nile Cruises 4u website.

Flights are from Heathrow and the special offer dates are 10, 17, 24 & 31 May and 6 June.

Prices start from £540 on the 10th May and £648 on the rest of the dates. A saving of up to 50% on the published prices!!

Prices are based on 2 sharing a twin bedded cabin on Full Board. Price does not include optional shore excursions.

For more details please call Barbara or myself, Colin on Freephone 0808 1089 100.

On Tuesday I wrote about dahabiyyas and what a wonderful way it would be to cruise The Nile on such a vessel.

Well on Sunday there was a short article in the Observer Magazine’s series called “Incredible Journeys” where a series of journalists and celebrities describe their own incredibale journey.

One of which was a piece by Lyn Hughes where she describes her own Nile Cruise by dahabiyya and how marvellous she found the experience.

Here’s the piece in case you missed it. With credit to Lyn Hughes.

This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday March 09 2008 on p65 of the Comment & features section.

The small chapel was dark as the door shut behind us. ‘I have a surprise for you,’ said Amro, our guide. ‘Come through here.’ The hairs rose on the back of my neck as a shaft of sunlight appeared, illuminating the lion-shaped head of a black granite statue. It could only be Sekhmet, a goddess known for meting out punishment to enemies of the pharaohs.

In the silence of the Temple of Ptah, it was hard to believe we were only a hundred yards away from the thousands of tourists swarming like ants around Karnak Temple. But you would only find this little temple, missing from most guidebooks, with luck or guidance. Here, we felt the same sense of discovery that Victorian travellers to the Nile would have done.

Back on board our boat, it wasn’t long before a breeze developed and the captain gave the orders for the sails to be raised. I was on a stunningly beautiful recreation of a dahabiyya, the Arabian sailing boats that 19th-century aristocrats used to charter. Brand new replicas are being built, faithful to the original style, but with air-conditioning and en suite bathrooms.

Away from the melee of Luxor, we could have been sailing through any century. Fishermen were out in small wooden boats, casting large circular nets. In the reeds we caught glimpses of bitterns, gallinules and occasional kingfisher. Young boys raced along on donkeys, with a sense of urgency, stick in air.

At Edfu we moored as the sun went down, and headed for the Temple of Horus. The second largest temple in Egypt is wonderfully preserved, having spent centuries buried under sand. The floodlights were on, illuminating the famous reliefs of Ptolemy XII. Inside the halls, our imaginations ran riot as we could almost feel the presence of the temple priests.