Every Nile cruise ship in Egypt is licensed as five star. That is not a compliment, it is a licensing category, and it covers everything from a tidy older vessel with small cabins to a genuinely elegant boat with a spa and a proper chef.
So the useful question is not whether a ship is five star. It is where it sits inside that band.
An ultra deluxe Nile cruise is the second-highest of the four categories we sell, and by our own honest reckoning it rates around four and a half stars against what you would expect in the United States or Europe. That means larger cabins with panoramic windows or a French balcony, a better standard of cooking, more crew per guest, and public areas — pool deck, lounge, sometimes a spa — that are pleasant to sit in rather than merely present.
It is not our top tier. Our Luxury category is, and if you want a genuine five-star equivalent you should look there instead. We publish that distinction plainly because the alternative is you finding it out at the gangplank.
What ultra deluxe does buy you is the sweet spot most travelers actually want: a marked step up from a standard ship, at a price well below the luxury vessels, on exactly the same itinerary between Luxor and Aswan with exactly the same Egyptologist standing beside you at Karnak.
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Ultra deluxe is the second-highest of the four Nile cruise categories, above standard and deluxe, below luxury.
Every Nile ship in Egypt holds a five-star licence, so that label tells you almost nothing. Our honest calibration against US and European expectations runs: standard is a 3.5 star, deluxe a 4 star, ultra deluxe a 4.5 star, and luxury a genuine 5 star.
On an ultra deluxe ship that means larger cabins with panoramic windows or a French balcony, better cooking, more crew per guest, and public spaces you will actually use — a proper pool deck, a lounge, a spa on several of the ships.
No. Luxury is.
We are direct about this because the Egyptian labelling makes it easy to assume otherwise. Ultra deluxe is excellent and it is what most of our guests book, but if you want a true five-star-equivalent vessel — suites, à la carte dining, the highest crew-to-guest ratios — the luxury category is the one to look at, and it costs accordingly.
Ultra deluxe is the value point: a clear step up from standard, on the same itinerary, at a fraction of the luxury premium.
Cabin size, dining and public areas, in that order of noticeability.
A deluxe ship gives you a comfortable cabin with a picture window, a good buffet, and a functional pool deck. An ultra deluxe ship gives you a noticeably larger cabin, often with a French balcony, dining that moves beyond buffet-only, and public spaces designed to be lingered in rather than passed through. Several ultra deluxe vessels carry a spa; deluxe ships generally do not.
The itinerary, the guides and the temples are identical. You are paying for the ship.
MS Amwaj Livingstone, MS Mayfair and MS Movenpick Royal Lily, and many more all sailing between Luxor and Aswan on 4, 5 or 8 day programs.
Each has its own page with deck plans, cabin dimensions, facilities and seasonal pricing. Sailing days differ by vessel, so check before booking flights.
Which ship is scheduled for your dates depends on the calendar rather than on preference alone — tell us when you want to travel and we will tell you what is actually running.
From $830 per person for a 4-day sailing, sharing a twin cabin, in low season.
Price moves with three things: the ship, the season and the cabin grade. A suite in the December to January peak on the most expensive vessel will be several times the entry price. The per-ship pages carry the seasonal tables.
Single occupancy carries a supplement on all ships. Children aged under 6 travel free, 6 to 11 pay half the adult rate, and 12 and over pay the adult rate.
Included: full board on the ship from lunch on day one to breakfast on the final day, every guided excursion in the itinerary with a licensed Egyptologist, all entrance fees to the named sites, and transfers between the ship and each site.
Not included: all drinks, including soft drinks, tea and coffee; the $30 visa on arrival; gratuities; optional excursions such as Abu Simbel or the sunrise balloon; and travel insurance.
Note that full board is not the same as all inclusive. Drinks on Nile ships are charged to your cabin and settled at the end of the cruise. This catches people out and it is worth budgeting for.
All ultra deluxe ships work the stretch between Luxor and Aswan in one of three lengths.
Four days and three nights sails Aswan to Luxor. Five days and four nights sails Luxor to Aswan. Eight days and seven nights does the round trip in both directions at the most relaxed pace.
Both directions visit the same temples: Philae at Aswan, Kom Ombo, Edfu, and the east and west banks at Luxor. The choice is really about which city you want to fly into and how many nights you want on the water.
Tipping is not included and is entirely at your discretion. It is not expected, but it is genuinely appreciated.
On ultra deluxe and luxury ships the usual guide is $10 to $20 per person per night for the crew, paid as a single amount at the end of the cruise. Standard and deluxe ships run lower, at $5 to $10.
Separately: a full-day guide is usually $15 to $20 per person per day, and a driver $3 to $5.
October to April, and the shoulder months at either end are the best of it.
Daytime temperatures in Luxor and Aswan sit in the twenties Celsius through that window, which is comfortable for standing in the open at Karnak. October, November, March and April are the sweet spot — warm, and quieter than the December to February peak.
December and January are busiest and most expensive, and the evenings on the water get genuinely cold, so bring a jacket. From May to September Upper Egypt regularly passes 40°C. Prices drop sharply and the sites empty out, and a shaded sun deck handles it better than a coach itinerary, but it is not for everyone.
Yes, and they work better for families than the category is usually given credit for.
Cabins are larger than on standard ships, most vessels have a pool, and the fixed rhythm of the days — excursion in the morning, sailing in the afternoon — suits children better than a touring itinerary with long drives.
Children under 6 travel free, 6 to 11 pay half the adult rate. Triple cabins are available on some ships but not all, so tell us the ages and numbers before you book and we will confirm what the specific vessel can take.
They are measurably different, and cabin size is the honest way to compare ships.
Standard cabins on older vessels run around 14 to 16 square metres. Ultra deluxe cabins typically run 20 to 25, with panoramic windows or a French balcony rather than a fixed picture window. Suites go well beyond that.
Ignore the adjectives in the brochure and ask for the square metres and whether the window opens. Every ship page on this site carries those figures, and if one is missing, ask us for it.
Yes, and most people do. A cruise on its own leaves out the pyramids, which is usually not what anyone wants from a first trip to Egypt.
The standard shape is three or four nights in Cairo for Giza, Saqqara and the Grand Egyptian Museum, a domestic flight to Luxor or Aswan, then the cruise. Abu Simbel is added from Aswan, by road or by air.
Tell us how many days you have in total and we will build the whole thing around whichever sailing suits your dates.