This is a difficult one to review, as the sights we saw were brilliant, and exceeded our expectations. We are not cruise people, and we were hesitant to do the cruise, but it was a fantastic way, and I think the only way, to adequately and efficiently see the amazing, historic sites between Kom Ombo and Luxor. The evening visits to two sites and the early morning horse and carriage ride into another were just amazing. If you love history, and even if you are not so fussed about it, I think that most people, will be blown away by these incredible sites. If things went wrong, Khalid, the tour organiser, did what he could to keep things on track and make up for them. My two main issues were related to the lack of clarity about the details of the tour on the website, and the lack of an itinerary and communications before and during the cruise. You will need to be aware that when you are picked up on day 1, you do a tour of Philae Temple by car and small boat, and then get taken to the cruise boat early in the afternoon, where the boat sits in dock until 2 pm the next day; before it actually departs. This is, however, quite relaxing and comfortable, as the top deck has a pool and multiple loungers and chairs to chill on. There is also a lounge and bar on board, where you can also get a coffee. The bottled water on the boat is very expensive, but you can buy large, cheap bottles from vendors on the street adjacent to where the boat is docked, when you first arrive. The tour to Abu Simbel, (that is mentioned on the website), is NOT part of your private (Nile Cruise) tour. This is not clear at all. You can only do this as an EXTRA private tour which leaves at 4am on day 2 of the ‘cruise’, and travels by car and back in time for the boat to actually leave port. Anyone who doesn’t do the 4am tour has to stay on the boat for 24 hours waiting for the others. We actually organised a very good private tour to Abu Simbel with another company the day before we were picked up for the cruise. It departed at 9am in a very comfortable car, and was actually cheaper than the one offered by this group. If you have the time, I would recommend doing it this way. Aida, who took us on the Philae tour on day one, was very good. She had lots of information about the temple and the region, as well as some entertaining insights. Other tour guides we had in other locations were also good. English is a second or third or even fourth language for some of the guides, so you may encounter need some minor clarifications due to this and differing accents of both guide and guest. During the cruise, we had to ask reception on the boat what time we were arriving at the different docks on the way, and whether we were getting off or not; as there was no itinerary displayed on the boat, (contrary to what we were told) and some people had land tours that we did not. We were given no information about any of this by Egypt Best Holidays. The food on the cruise was pretty good considering it was buffets for every meal. The cabin was bigger than expected, and we had a huge window to watch the scenery go by. Booking as a couple, we expected a double bed, but we had two singles. This may be standard on boats like this? I would strongly recommend a Nile River cruise to see the sights along the Nile, but you may want to check the detailed itinerary first.

It was all really easy. There was always someone messaging me to tell me what was happening. It was a smooth budget trip. We had a tour guide in Aswan Mina, and another in Luxor, Khaled Alsaady. We had a great time with both guides. Mina in Aswan was very knowledgeable about the Nubian people, the relocation of people from Lake Nassr. Our boat crew on the Shams was also great. Mohammed and Mohammed Ali in the cafe were so sweet. Then in Luxor Khaled treated us like family. He took us around the archeological sites that he used to work at. He was authentic and so knowledgeable about all things related to the sites. I had a great 4 days 3 nights overall. The trip was a value and honest when it came to inclusions.

Talaat Abdo was our tour guide and is English speaking. He is an excellent guide and very knowledgeable! He knows so much about Egypt history and the pharaohs/hieroglyphics and can tell you what they mean/their significance. Talaat is very friendly and approachable and is like a friend. He is very passionate about Egyptian history and it comes across in his story telling. Talaat also has so many facts about Egypt, we learned so much! We had a private tour to the different sites which was great. On the last day we visited the Valley of the Kings and Talaat recommended the different tombs we should go to based on what we were looking for and they were fantastic!! Absolutely amazing! I would thoroughly recommend!

We enjoyed our trip with the wonderful crew of the Magic1! Our private tour guides Mina and Mahmoud were very knowledgeable and easy-going. The crew of the ship also arrange a beautiful birthday surprise and cake. If you plan on travelling through Egypt for a couple of weeks this is a very good addition to your schedule!

The cruise makes seeing all the highlights of Egypt easy! Our tour guide Khaled made sure we were always taken care of and gave amazing tours (he is a professional egyptologist!) Be ready for some early mornings and action packed days. However everything extra is paid in cash - make sure to bring plenty and budget accordingly or you will be scrambling for an ATM on the last day.

Had a lovely trip. Our guide, Khaled Elsaady, made a great program for us and was always ready with explanations and answers everywhere we went. It was our first time in Luxor and Aswan and thanks to Khaled it will not be the last.

I've a very pleasant journey with my guider. This gentleman knows Egyptian ancient history so well. Strongly recommend him.

Very nice experience. The trip was really great and Khaled always tried to make everything perfect for us. You can capture the Egyptian magic through this tour.

I appreciated the quality of the informations given by Khaled. He was very generous and also very efficient in adapting our schedule according to the visits. We had a lot of activity options, always very well supervised. Temples, hot air balloons and Luxor by night, were very exceptional.

Amazing experience filled with so many great sights, and a top notch tour guide just made the whole trip just fantastic! It’s the only way to go!

Amazing cruise, we saw a lot of different monuments and had a great experience ! Khaled is very well educated on egyptian history, is a great guide and makes sure we have the best time possible ! 100% recommend ! We will not forget this experience

Dear concerned department, Very un fortunately I could not go to Abu Simbel due to my cronic pain on my lower back on the day 2 supposed to there in the end I couldn't make it. I really appreciate our guide Khalid his kindness insight sense that in such experience full of knowledges and everybody is content by unique skill as one of the top cruising guide.

Everything was fantastic! The boat was clean and comfortable, staterooms were larger than expected (smaller than a regular hotel but larger than most cruises I'm familiar with). The top deck was amazing- lots of comfortable chairs to lounge in and watch the Nile drift by. The food itself was good, nothing extreme but a lot of variety and served buffet style so you could always find something to enjoy. But the service was phenomenal. The head server remembered our names and greeted us every day with a huge smile (Thanks Mahmoud!!) And the bartender (Ahmed) made a fantastic lemon mojito. Just as a heads up, drinks (including water and tea) are not included in the fare, although a large bottle of water is about a dollar fifty, with a dual coffee service being a lot 3. Also of note, at check out a tip is expected for 5-10 dollars per guest per day. Finally, the excursions / tours; a clean and comfortable van was provided at each location, excepting a horse and buggy ride at edfu, and the temple at kom ombu where the boat literally docked at the entrance. Outings started very early, as there was a lot to do and, being October, temperatures were fairly high. Some of the tours were a bit rushed, due to the amount to be scene and the boat's sailing schedule, but I never left a place feeling like I missed out on anything. The tour guides all seemed great, but ours was definitely the best. Michael Samy is exceptionally knowledgeable, with a great sense of humor, passion for the subject and very polished hospitality skills. We had a free morning and last minute decided to take a felucca ride around Aswan. We let Mike know and 30 minutes later his friend sails up to take us around Elephantine island. He handled questions on the tours very well, and would spend sailing time on the weather deck with us chatting about Egypt, modern and ancient. He has also helped us arrange for our plans in Giza after the cruise is over. This cruise was the highlight of my stay in Egypt and I highly highly recommend this cruise to everyone.

The guided tours were amazing. Our guide Mina was extremely professional, so well informed, comedic and knowledgeable. His presence with us during the tours was invaluable.

One of the best and easiest ways to see all the sights that Aswan and Luxor have to offer. A big shout out to our guide Mina who has gone out of his way to make our trip as enjoyable as possible. His knowledge on all the temples is incredible.

Great time at the boat and at the temples! Great crew and guide! Best food and service! Very beautiful nile river!

There’s so much I can say about this tour but I’ll try to keep it simple. Our tour guide Hany was absolutely amazing. He went above and beyond to help us from lost passports to lost phones. On top of that he was very educated and knew the history behind each temple and site and could answer any of our questions - at least the logical questions where the answer would be “aliens” - but beside the point, we were so fortunate to have him with us. He constantly made sure we were all happy with how the tour was going and checking up on us. The tour itself was jam packed and we saw everything we wanted to see on our list and then some! The Nile cruise ship was beautiful and the staff were amazing as well! The food was delicious on the buffet style dinings. The rooms were clean and spacious and the top deck had a pool and just drinking a glass of wine underneath the stars while cruising down the Nile sounds dreamy enough and it absolutely was! Definitely opt in to do the hot air balloon ride over the valley of the kings and the trip to Abu Simbel. You won’t be disappointed and you won’t regret it!

Very nice trip was the higlight of my trip in egypt . I will recommand it . The food was very good on the boat more than i was expected and the guide was nice.

The cruise itself was nice which we paid for. Even it needs more improvement. The guide who was with us, he was a great guide I ever met. Thank you very much Mr. Tata. Next time I will ask you to be with us.

Not much to appreciate on this trip - except for meeting really nice fellow travelers. Boat - old; needs updating. Air conditioning adequate. Ad on this tour advertised you would get a room on the upper deck. They gave me a room on the bottom deck. I had a continuous leak from the ceiling - they promised me 3 times they would fix it - what they did was to wipe it up 3 times. Finally just said to put towels on the floors to soak it up. Had to wear ear plugs to sleep so i wouldn't hear the drip drip drip all night. Food was fair. Charged for all drinks with meals. Did not let me bring my own water or soft drinks to dinner. Your tour really is dependent on the guide that they assign you . I had a nightmare tour guide. Accent difficult to understand. He was so lazy. At multiple sites, he would give his spiel about the site and everything inside - after finishing, he told us to go inside by ourselves and meet him at the cafe etc. Every other group i saw had their tour guides accompany them into the site. How are we supposed to remember everything he says before going in? He was pushing everyone to take additional tours - light and music show/hot air balloon flights/ abu simbel etc. When some of the tourists declined, he was visibly angry. He obviously made a cut from the tours (he overcharged abu simbel $90 etc. He smoked like a chimney throughout the entire trip. I was so angry at his itinerary. We almost missed half of the west bank due to laziness (he lived in luxor, and did not arrive at the boat to take us to the sites in a timely fashion). We wasted the entire 3rd day - finally ended up at Luxor temple in the evening - how are you supposed to appreciate it in the dark?!!! can you believe we had to force him to take us to Valley of the kings, temple of hatshepshut, AND Karnak on the LAST DAY!! to squeeze all that in the morning was ridiculous. Can you believe he had the nerve to ask us to give him a REVIEW on tripadvisor/viator on the SECOND day of this tour. Unbelievable. I'm seriously thinking about asking for my money back. It was all about tips for this tour.