08 Days - 5 Stars Deluxe Egypt Tour ( Cairo and Nile Cruise )

What an amazing experience!! I travelled with my husband and 17 year old daughter. A company representative met us as we were getting off the plane and walked us through immigration. He walked us to our driver who drove us to a beautiful hotel and got us oriented. Yasser met us at the hotel to make sure we were ready and verify the few changes we made to our schedule. The next day we were picked up by our Egyptologist, Galal. We then spent a full day exploring the pyramids in Giza, riding a camel, going to the museum, visiting a souk and having a very delicious Egyptian lunch. Galal did a great job explaining ancient Egypt and answering all our questions about current Egypt. We flew to Aswan and met Emad, our Egyptologist for the rest of the trip. Emad did an amazing job of weaving together some of Egypt's vast history with what we were seeing. By the end I started to feel like I could understand some of the basics of how and why temples and tombs were decorated/inscribed like they were. Emad is a natural teacher. He also answered all our questions about Egyptian culture and even told us good prices to pay. Our Nile cruise was aboard the Alyssa and it was excellent. The beds were super comfortable and the bathrooms were spacious with hot, full pressure showers. The food was exciting with different themes each night. The waiters got to know us surprisingly quickly and were very friendly and attentive. We loved being able to sit back for hours and watch the Nile and desert go by. My husband was very nervous to go on such an adventure but he enjoyed every minute.

Was totally blown away by the level of service on this ship. The food service was beyond amazing, the staff super friendly and accommodating and the cabins were comfortable. But enough about the ship. The folks that really deserve kudos is the tour company that I booked with and our private guide through the whole trip. Though the 8 day Nile cruise was only part of the whole package that Deluxe Egypt Tours arranged for my wife and I. I had contacted Deluxe by email several months prior to our projected trip date and asked for a custom private tour package. I gave them a list of places I wanted to see and what I didn't want included (like Hurghada). Mona (the lady that makes it all happen) responded quickly and we worked out an itinerary. I had asked for hotel and ship upgrades as well as camping in the western desert, tour of the White Desert plus added a 4 day trip to Jordan at the end. Mona and I then corresponded by WhatsApp and we reserved the trip. That's just the start. What also impressed me was how the owner kept in touch with me through the whole trip to make sure I was satisfied. Which I am. I can't forget to give a shout-out to the personal guides Deluxe set up for us. Our guide in Cairo was Tito. He was awesome. Then on the ship we got a professional Egyptologist (Emad) that was an encyclopedia of knowledge, particularly about the middle and late Kingdom. The upper Nile sites are predominantly late kingdom which Emad knew very well. And it was really great to have someone well versed in the mythology as well as able to ready hieroglyphs. And being a great teacher, by the end we were able to tell the difference between Isis and Hathor in her female form. I should say something about the value in comparison to the big tour groups. My wife wanted to book with a known international tour company that we've used before. Just let me say that Deluxe set up the full 16 day custom with private guides for less maney than the other guys wanted for a 10 day Egypt only with a group tour. Do I need to say more? But I will, go local with Deluxe. Much better value and MUCH better tours.

Our tour was FANTASTIC. Thé Nile Cruise with EMAD as our tour guide was AWESOME. Not only he explained us everything we visited with all kind of details (he knows all about pharaons, temples, gods and egyptian art) but he also told us about common daily life in Egypt which made our trip an unforgetable one. He also gave us our free time to wander around and take all the photos we wanted. All of this in a perfect English, so we didn't miss anything. He didn't treat us as clients but as friends. We absolutely recommend him if you are travelling to Egypt. EMAD is thé BEST GUIDE EVER !!!