5 Days 4 Nights Nile Cruise Tour

Congratulations! If you are reading this review you have won the tour organizer lottery.

Congratulations! If you are reading this review you have won the tour organizer lottery. Let me explain… you are probably scouting the internet looking for a tour that includes the main points of interest, with a reasonable balance between price point and quality. Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg if you ask me. I encourage you to read my review entirely for a few extra aspects to consider, but I’ll break it down just in case you want to skip to a particular section: - Group vs Private Tours - Quality of Guides - Cost - Customization + What If Things Go Wrong Group vs. Private Tours The first question you’re gonna need to answer is: are you okay with a group tour or is it worth it to spend a little extra money on having a private guide? I am no stranger to money constraints but if you are able to splurge on just one thing, I can guarantee (strong word, I know) you will not regret splurging on a private tour. Especially if you are looking to book a cruise. Egypt is a very popular destination, meaning, unless you go during 40C temp months, most of the sites are pretty full of tourists. Imagine taking precious vacation time and spending good money on flights to go see first hand a breathtaking temple only to be stuck behind Cathy and Greg, who came with their children and parents and are chitchatting about their breakfast croissant being a little dry this morning while you struggle to hear who is the main suspect of slicing a pharaoh’s throat. Hard pass. In all seriousness, many of the worthy scenes in the temples are in narrow corridors or tight rooms and essentially all the group tours I saw have just too many people per guide to be able to accommodate everyone comfortably. Guides are moving from one scene to the next trying to give the most comprehensive explanation of the stories within each temple and people naturally talk within their groups over their guide during the course of the visit. So unless you are willing to elbow your way through to the guide every single time the group moves knowing that you are still going to inevitable miss parts of the stories here and there, try to adjust your budget somewhere else and get a private guide because there is truly nothing like being able to connect one on one with them, ask about intricacies in the stories, go on unexpected tangents, be able to explore at your own pace, dwell on the stories you find most fascinating and peacefully take photos of the memories you are making. Plus, a private guide is most likely going to adapt the explanations to avoid crowds and give you the least crowded experience possible. Quality of Guide Okay. Let’s assume I have successfully made my case for a private guide. There are guides and GUIDES. Now the steaks are higher… you have taken a risk going for the more expensive option and you definitely do not want to end up with an unenthusiastic, low energy person boring you to sleep at a jaw-dropping site. We got to experience 4 different guides that Ash, the owner of Luxor Private Tours, works with and 3 out of the 4 were the kind of people that exude contagious passion for their work and have extensive knowledge to match. The fourth one he is no longer working with - keep reading if you’d like to hear the gossip on what happened. All this to say, not only does Ash work with remarkable individuals, he will also check on you at a reasonable frequency to make sure things are smooth sailing (pun intended). Cost “Okay but, how much are we talking about for the white glove service you’re describing?” You are wondering… Listen. A private experience is a private experience, it’s gonna be more than the $500-700 low grade group cruise you might be considering (at least during high season). That being said, one of the fantastic qualities of Ash is that he WORKS WITH YOU. This will be a common theme throughout my review and I can’t overstate how massively important this is for the best experience possible. So I don’t know exactly for your specific experience, dates and requests.. unfortunately you’re gonna have to get over the initial resistance to send the awkward “hey I wanted to inquire about…” text. I’d like to provide some encouragement by letting you know Ash responds pretty fast and is actually a pleasure to talk to. He’s a genuinely nice, caring guy, so at least you know it will be a pleasant conversation. Customization + What If Things Go Wrong When you do reach out to Ash, don’t sin of lack of imagination… you don’t need to stick to cookie cutter itineraries you have seen other tours/cruises offer, be adventurous and ask about the sites and experiences that will fill your heart with joy. If I could only tell you one of Ash’s qualities it would be that he does his absolute best to make things happen and he’s damn good at it. Now the story of what happened to us to illustrate my point. We were doing a 4 day Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor. On day 2 we were scheduled to drive 3 hours at 4am to go see Abu Simbel temple. If you have ever traveled you know things unexpectedly come up, plans sometimes need to be adjusted for circumstances out of anyone’s control and adaptability of the traveler is a critical marker of a trips success. Well it’s never gonna happen to you until it does. And it happened to us… we were not able to make it to Abu Simbel. To add insult to injury, once back in our cruise after our failed attempt at reaching Abu Simbel, our guide quit on us there and then. You probably agree that this had the potential to be catastrophic for our trip. And honestly, I think with most tour organizers it would have been… woke up stupid early for nothing, drove a few hours for nothing, the prospect for the rest of the day was being stuck in a cruise, guide-less, until further notice.. but not with Ash. Ash will go to the ends of the earth to make things happen for you. This is the literal conversation I had with him over WhatsApp: Me: “I had a crazy thought… would it be possible to drive to Esna and drive back to Kom Ombo instead this morning?” Ash: “Mmmmmmm. Its really crazy. But let me check. Can be a good idea.” Guess who got a last minute trip, fully arranged (driver, permits, new guide) in under 15 minutes to go visit the beautiful explosion of color that is the secluded temple of Esna, which btw cruises are unable to stop at? Yes, us. Not only that, I had previously asked him if we could include Dendera temple as an add on to our itinerary (for an extra fee obviously), which he of course had immediately said yes to, and in light of the circumstances he gifted us the Dendera temple experience for free. He turned what could have been a distasteful situation into a best-case scenario. Let this serve as example of the kind of profesional he is, and also for you to perhaps consider an important element when choosing a potential tour organizer… how well am I going to be taken care of if things don’t go exactly as planned? Think of it as free insurance. Hopefully you don’t need it but if you do.. having chosen a reputable, caring organizer will mean you’ll be covered in case of a hiccup, unlikely as it is. I had also asked him if we could include Medinet Habu as well, and in Ash fashion, he said yes. I’m not kidding, there was not a single thing I asked about that was a straight“no”. It’s always a “let me see how I can make it happen” or “we can but we might have to compromise xyz if we run out of time”. Do you know how freaking nice it is to have someone organizing your trip that actually cares about you getting to do the things you’re most excited about? There is no fear in asking for things because you know it’s not going to be weird / too much and you can trust your organizer is actually going to try their hardest to make it happen. It’s truly a form of Luxury. So in summary, before moving onto reviews for the next tour organizer, may I tempt you to reach out to Ash to get a feel for what it’s like to work with him? I am positive you won’t regret it ☺️

via Tripadvisor

The perfect Nile Cruise experience

This was our first ever cruise with a local, Egyptian guide, and what an amazing experience it was. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by welcoming staff members that have made our trip smooth sailing. The food was amazing, the room that we’ve stayed in had a beautiful view and for four days, we didn’t have to worry about a thing. The biggest highlight of the experience however was our local Egyptian guide, Hany Soliman. From the Karnak Temple to Valley of the Kings, Edfu Temple and Abu Simbel, every stop we made felt special with Hany there. He would explain the history of each place, but also how it fit into the bigger picture of Ancient Egypt, weaving a complex story of this country. He’s also taken us to experience Aswan by night, recommended great additional crypts to explore in the Valley of Kings and made entering every museum or historical site a breeze - we never had to line up, and would always cruise through security. Our primary contact to arrange everything, Mr. Ash, was always available to answer questions, and the whole experience was well worth the money we’ve spent. Transfers secured by the provider were also smooth and always on time. We’d recommend any other couple/family looking to experience Ancient Egypt to go for this cruise. It was unforgettable, and we’re already itching to go back and explore more.

Response from the operator: Thank you so much for sharing such a detailed and heartfelt review. We’re truly delighted to hear that your first cruise with a local Egyptian guide was such a memorable experience. It means a lot to us that you enjoyed the smooth organization, comfortable accommodation, beautiful views, and our onboard food and services. We’re especially proud to hear your kind words about Hany Soliman. He is indeed passionate about Egyptian history, and we’re thrilled that his storytelling, insights, and personal touches—from Karnak to Abu Simbel and the Aswan night experience—made each site feel special and meaningful for you. We’re also glad that Mr. Ash was able to support you throughout the planning process and that all transfers and logistics met your expectations. Providing a seamless, worry-free journey is always our goal. Thank you again for your recommendation and trust. It was a pleasure hosting you, and we would be honored to welcome you back to Egypt to explore even more of its incredible history in the future. Warm regards, Yara Boraei

via Tripadvisor

Amazing experience with superb service

I had an amazing experience with my girlfriend. Everything went smoothly, the organization was very good, the staff very friendly. Contacting the organizers was efficient, the organizer was always responsive and could also could accommodate individual changes, really helping us out a lot with additional recommendations and information. Highly recommend!

via Tripadvisor

Noor

The boat was perfect clean our guide was wonderful man Crews was fantastic Food was great We did enjoy every day High quality Highly recommended

Response from the operator: Thank you for your fantastic review! We're delighted that you found the boat to be perfectly clean and enjoyed the company of our wonderful guide and fantastic crew. It's wonderful to hear that you enjoyed the high-quality food and had an enjoyable experience every day of the tour. Your high recommendation is greatly appreciated, and we're so glad we could provide you with a memorable trip. Thank you for choosing us and sharing your positive experience!

via Tripadvisor

LuxorPrivateTours, Ash and Rama are awesome

We don't normally write reviews but this is a special case. We are from Florida and this is really our second time overseas. We tried purchasing the Nile River cruise from TourRadar.com. We had many questions and I tried emailing the tour operators and got very few answers back. We had more questions than answers could be provided. Ultimately, the TourRader purchase didn't work and TourRadar gave us our money back and I was back at square one looking for someone to help us with getting our River Nile cruise. I finally found LuxorPrivateTours online and called them (I didn't have much time left). Ash answered the phone. Nice (BTW, he answered the phone EVERY time I called and responded immediately when I texted him via WhatsApp). Then he answered all our questions (three times without issues because we didn't understand anything [Yes, he has a lot of patience]); even the difficult questions relating to how much he was charging us. Then he gave me pricing for everything we wanted to do. He also managed to accommodate us in every manner we needed. We reluctantly gave Ash our trust and approval for everything. Ash said, "Thank you, your in good hands and leave it all to me. You can pay me when you get here, during your trip or even afterwards, whenever you like." That was weird (and scary) to us. Ash had his representative pick us up from the Cairo airport (nicely dressed in a suit too) and get us to the hotel (and cheaper than the hotel wanted too). We had issues knowing who to tip and how much. Ash covered all our tipping too. He booked our internal flights (without us paying for them ... who does that?) Ash himself picked us up from the hotel and travelled with us to Luxor. (Guides don't do that; do they?) We loved the personal service. He helped check us into the boat and assigned a tour guide who travelled with us on the boat. (Guides don't do that either; do they?) We got to talk to our guide, Rama, for every meal and she helped us with every detail of our trip. The personal service was incredible. After the boat trip, he saw us back to Cairo with no issues. We were worried he would inflate the bill or something we didn't expect. On the way back to the hotel, Ash had a single line item on the invoice for each item we agreed on, at the amount we agreed on and added the 10% tip because he tipped everyone for us. No hidden charges, no inflation and no surprises. We received the bill exactly as expected. We were travelling with friends and our friends booked a different tour guide (Yasmin) in Cairo to see the pyramids. The tour was supposed to include lunch and camel ride. She charged us an additional $250USD for the camel ride, an additional 200EGP to pay off security guards and another 200EGP to pay off another set of guards to see a temple. We were ripped off. This is what we get for not using Ash and LuxorPrivateTours. Our trip concluded with one of Ashs representatives picking us up from the hotel to bring us back to the airport at the end of our trip. In short, Ash and Rama were a beacon of light and did everything PERFECTLY. This is a real review. You can find us at skarstech. Ash, you are a good man. Come see us in Florida and we will take you to Disney World. Sorry, Ash, we are not ready to post photos just yet. Remind us later and we should be able to add one or two.

Response from the operator: Dear guests, Thrilled to be part of your memorable experience! Appreciate your trust in LuxorPrivateTours. Rama, and the team are delighted to have provided personal service and transparency. We look forward to your photos and hope to welcome you to Disney World one day! Best, LuxorPrivateTours Team

via Tripadvisor