Travelers to Egypt generally share a similar experience. They arrive in Cairo, visit the Pyramids and Sphynx, swing by the Egyptian museum to check out Tut, then leave town for Aswan to scope out the dam, before boarding a Nile riverboat for a leisurely cruise back down the world’s longest river. Along the way, they’ll visit more ancient ruins, before ending up in Luxor a few days later, where they’ll tour, you guessed it, yet more ancient ruins.
The Nile Cruise has been one of the staples of tourism in Egypt for years. But according to a new story from the Daily Mail the classic cruise is undergoing major changes at the moment, with larger, more luxurious boats, longer cruise options, and more amenities.
The typical Nile cruise ship has roughly 15-20 small cabins, but the newest vessels to hit the river are much larger in size, including the Sonesta St George I, a boat with 57 cabins, a full service spa, and five-star service. Not to be outdone, the recenly launched Royal Viking cruise ship has 68 suites, most of which are twice the size the cabins on standard vessels, with four over sized rooms that include a whirlpool tub, large windows, and plasma TV’s.
Luxor is undergoing some changes of it’s own. While the amazing Egyptian temples remain as they have for 4000 years, the hotels and restaurants in the city are undergoing massive restorations, with a number of new additions being built as well. To cater to the increased traffic, the port has also been expanded to more comfortably accomidate more boats and the new larger ships as well.
It seems that the Nile Cruise is going upscale, with more options for travelers than ever before. Lets just ohpe the classic experience doesn’t change dramatically as well.