The MS Mövenpick Royal Lily Nile cruise works the classic stretch of river between Luxor and Aswan aboard a purpose-built vessel launched in November 2007 as sister ship to the Mövenpick Royal Lotus. Sixty outside cabins across five decks, a sun-deck pool and heated whirlpool, a spa and fitness room, and Swiss-managed Mövenpick kitchens make her one of the most consistently run ships on the Nile.
Egypt Best Vacations classes the Royal Lily as Ultra Deluxe — the equivalent of a solid 4.5-star in US and European terms. In Egypt she holds the official 5-star category, as almost every ship on the river does. Our own calibration is deliberately stricter so you know what you are actually booking before you pay for it.
Three sailings run year-round: 3 nights from Aswan every Friday (from $1,020 per person), 4 nights from Luxor every Monday (from $1,270), and an 8-day, 7-night round trip from Luxor every Monday (from $2,000). All three are full board, with every sightseeing tour, entrance fee and transfer led by a qualified Egyptologist guide.
| Ship name | MS Mövenpick Royal Lily |
|---|---|
| Operator | Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts (Accor) |
| Launched | November 2007 |
| Sister ship | MS Mövenpick Royal Lotus |
| EBV classification | Ultra Deluxe — 4.5★ US / Europe equivalent |
| Egyptian category | 5-star (official Egyptian rating) |
| Decks | 5 |
| Cabins | 56 deluxe cabins + 4 Royal Suites = 60 total |
| Maximum guests | 120 |
| Cabin outlook | All outside, panoramic windows, upper decks with internal walkways |
| Deluxe cabin size | 22 m² / 237 ft² |
| Royal Suite size | 42 m² / 452 ft² |
| Route | Luxor ⇄ Aswan |
| Sailing lengths | 3, 4 and 7 nights |
| Board basis | Full board |
Twin beds that convert to a king, en-suite shower room, individually controlled air conditioning, satellite TV, minibar stocked on request, personal safe, hairdryer, and a telephone that takes international calls over GSM lines. Every cabin is outside with a full-width panoramic window, and all cabins are non-smoking.
Nearly double the floor area, with a king bed, a separate living area, a private Jacuzzi and an upgraded en-suite bathroom. Same in-cabin amenities as the deluxe cabins, with wider Nile frontage and noticeably more room to spread out on a seven-night sailing.
Every cabin carries two life jackets, an escape map and a linked smoke-detector panel. A doctor is on call on board throughout the sailing.
Full board runs from lunch on embarkation day to breakfast on disembarkation day. Buffet breakfast and lunch, dinner as a buffet or set menu, and afternoon tea on the Salon Deck. The kitchen serves Egyptian and international dishes to Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts standards.
Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal meals are available if you tell us before you travel so the ship can provision for it.
Drinks are not included, and here is exactly what that means. Full board covers the food at every meal, plus the tea and coffee served with it. Soft drinks, bottled water taken outside meal times, fresh juices, beer, wine and spirits are charged to your cabin account and settled in cash or by card at the end of the cruise. This is standard on every Nile cruise ship in Egypt — no ship on the river includes an open bar in the published rate.
| Sailing | Departs from | Day | Route | From (per person) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 nights | Aswan | Friday | Aswan → Luxor | $1,020 |
| 4 nights | Luxor | Monday | Luxor → Aswan | $1,270 |
| 7 nights | Luxor | Monday | Luxor → Aswan → Luxor | $2,000 |
The 7-night sailing is simply the 4-night and 3-night legs joined together, which is why the ship leaves Luxor on Monday and Aswan on Friday. Book the round trip and you keep the same cabin for the full week rather than changing ships.
How the sightseeing runs. The 3-night (4 days) and 4-night (5 days) sailings are fully private — your own Egyptologist guide and your own vehicle at every stop. The 7-night (8 days) sailing runs as a small group capped at 16 guests. A fully private departure on the 7-night is available on request.
Meet and greet. An Egypt Best Vacations representative meets you inside the arrivals terminal at Luxor or Aswan airport, holding a signboard with your name, and stays with you through to the vehicle. You will not be looking for a driver in the car park.
Your Egypt Best Vacations representative meets you inside the arrivals terminal at Aswan International Airport with a signboard showing your name, and your Egyptologist guide takes you straight into the city’s headline sites.
Start at the Aswan High Dam, built between 1960 and 1970 to end the annual Nile flood, generate hydroelectric power and create Lake Nasser. Continue to the Temple of Isis at Philae — Greco-Roman, dedicated to Isis as goddess of magic, healing and motherhood, and since the UNESCO rescue of the 1970s standing on Agilkia Island rather than the drowned island of Philae itself. Finish at the granite quarry of the Unfinished Obelisk, abandoned in the bedrock after it cracked. Had it been raised it would have stood around 42 metres and weighed close to 1,100 tonnes — the largest obelisk ever attempted.
Transfer to the ship for embarkation. The evening is yours in Aswan.
Optional tour: Nubian Village in Aswan
Meals Plan: Lunch & Dinner
Breakfast on board as the Royal Lily sails north from Aswan. On arrival at Kom Ombo, visit the Double Temple of Kom Ombo, unusual for its perfectly mirrored plan — one half for Sobek the crocodile god, the other for Haroeris, Horus the Elder. Construction began under Ptolemy VI in the second century BC and decoration was still being added under Roman emperors including Tiberius, Domitian and Caracalla, so the building took roughly four centuries to reach the state you see. The adjoining Crocodile Museum holds mummified crocodiles recovered from the site.
Sail on to Edfu, where a horse carriage takes you to the Temple of Horus, built between 237 and 57 BC and the most completely preserved temple in Egypt — the roof is intact and the sanctuary still holds its granite shrine.
Back on board, the ship continues north through the Esna Lock to Luxor. Overnight moored in Luxor.
Meals Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After breakfast, cross to the West Bank and the Valley of the Kings, where more than sixty tombs have been catalogued. The standard ticket admits you to three tombs; your guide will pick the three best open on the day. Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramses V/VI each need a separate ticket, which we can arrange in advance if you want them.
Continue to the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, rising in three colonnaded terraces against the cliff. Hatshepsut ruled as senior co-ruler alongside her nephew and stepson Thutmose III for roughly two decades, and the temple’s reliefs — including the famous expedition to Punt — set out the case for her kingship.
Finish with a photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon, the two quartzite statues of Amenhotep III that once flanked the entrance to his mortuary temple, now almost entirely gone. Return to the ship for lunch and your last night on board.
Optional tour: Sunrise Hot Air Ballooning Over Luxor
Meals Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Your Egypt Best Vacations representative meets you inside the arrivals terminal at Luxor International Airport with a signboard showing your name.
Head straight to the Karnak Temple Complex, around 100 hectares of sacred ground developed over roughly fifteen centuries. Then on to Luxor Temple, built mainly by Amenhotep III and Ramses II and linked to Karnak by the restored avenue of sphinxes. Both belong to the cult of the Theban triad — Amun, his consort Mut, and their son Khonsu.
Transfer to the Royal Lily for check-in. Lunch and dinner on board, overnight moored in Luxor.
Optional Tour: Enjoy the spectacular Karnak Sound and Light Show in the evening.
Meals Included: Lunch & Dinner
Breakfast on board, then cross to the Valley of the Kings. New Kingdom pharaohs abandoned pyramids for rock-cut tombs hidden in this valley behind the cliffs. More than sixty have been found; your ticket covers three, and Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramses V/VI are separately ticketed if you would like to add them.
Continue to the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. Hatshepsut governed as senior co-ruler alongside Thutmose III for close to twenty years, and her terraced temple is the clearest surviving statement of how she presented that reign.
Finish at the Colossi of Memnon, the surviving guardians of Amenhotep III’s vanished mortuary temple. Back on board, the ship sails south through the Esna Lock. Overnight moored at Edfu.
Optional Tour: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride over Luxor
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Breakfast on board, then a horse and carriage ride through Edfu to the Temple of Horus. Built between 237 and 57 BC, it is the most completely preserved temple in Egypt: intact roof, standing pylons, and wall texts that record the temple’s own foundation rituals and the annual drama of Horus defeating Seth.
Return by carriage and sail on to Kom Ombo for the Double Temple of Kom Ombo, a single building laid out twice over — the southern half for Sobek, the northern for Haroeris, Horus the Elder. Begun under Ptolemy VI and finished piecemeal under Rome. The Crocodile Museum next door displays mummified crocodiles from the site.
Sail on to Aswan through the afternoon. Overnight moored in Aswan.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Begin at the granite quarry of the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in the bedrock where a crack ended the work. At around 42 metres and close to 1,100 tonnes it would have been the largest obelisk ever raised, and the abandoned trenches show exactly how it was being cut.
Continue to the Aswan High Dam, built between 1960 and 1970, which ended the Nile’s annual flood, supplies hydroelectric power and created Lake Nasser.
Finish at the Temple of Isis at Philae, now on Agilkia Island after UNESCO moved it block by block ahead of the rising water. Dedicated to Isis as goddess of magic, healing and motherhood, it was among the last working temples of the old Egyptian religion, still in use into the sixth century AD.
Return to the ship for your last night on board.
Optional Tour: Nubian Village Tour
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Your Egypt Best Vacations representative meets you inside the arrivals terminal at Luxor International Airport, or on the platform at Luxor railway station, with a signboard showing your name. Transfer to the Royal Lily and check in.
The rest of the day is unstructured. Settle into your cabin, take lunch on board, and use the sun deck or the Salon Deck lounge. If you would rather be ashore, Luxor’s souk and corniche are a short walk from the mooring. Overnight in Luxor.
Meals Included: Lunch & Dinner
Breakfast on board, then the West Bank: the Valley of the Kings (three tombs on the standard ticket, with Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramses V/VI separately ticketed), the terraced Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, built for the queen who ruled as senior co-ruler alongside Thutmose III, and the Colossi of Memnon.
Back on board, the ship sails south through the Esna Lock. Overnight moored at Edfu.
Optional tour: Sunrise Hot Balloon Ride over Luxor
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Horse and carriage through Edfu to the Temple of Horus, the best-preserved temple in Egypt, built 237–57 BC with its roof and sanctuary shrine still in place.
Sail on to the Double Temple of Kom Ombo — Sobek on one side, Haroeris on the other, begun under Ptolemy VI — and the Crocodile Museum beside it. Continue to Aswan, where the ship stays moored for the next two nights.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Breakfast on board, then the Aswan High Dam (1960–1970), the Temple of Isis at Philae on Agilkia Island, and the granite quarry of the Unfinished Obelisk.
Back on board for lunch, with the afternoon free. Aswan’s souk is one of the best in Egypt and the corniche is worth an hour at sunset.
Optional Tour: Nubian Village Tour in Aswan
Experience the rich culture of the Nubian people with a visit to a traditional Nubian village. Discover their unique customs, colorful homes, lively markets, and warm hospitality while gaining deeper insight into daily life in southern Egypt.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
The ship stays moored in Aswan and the day is yours. This is the day the seven-night sailing earns its length — the pace drops, and you get the sun deck, the pool and the spa without the 6am starts.
It is also the natural slot for Abu Simbel. The road convoy leaves Aswan very early and takes roughly three hours each way, returning mid-afternoon, so it fits this day without disturbing the rest of the itinerary. Ramses II’s twin rock-cut temples were themselves cut apart and rebuilt 65 metres higher by UNESCO in the 1960s.
Optional: Abu Simbel temples by road from Aswan
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
A full sailing day north, and the most relaxed on the itinerary. The ship calls briefly at Kom Ombo and Edfu to pick up and set down guests joining shorter legs, so you have the sun deck and the lounge largely to yourself for long stretches.
You have already visited both temples on days three and four, so nothing is repeated. If you would like to go ashore again at either stop, tell your guide the evening before and it can usually be arranged.
The ship passes through the Esna Lock during the afternoon and moors at Luxor for the evening.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
The Karnak Temple Complex — roughly 100 hectares, the Great Hypostyle Hall with its 134 columns, the sacred lake and the surviving obelisk of Hatshepsut — followed by Luxor Temple on the corniche.
Karnak was the principal house of Amun, Mut and Khonsu, the Theban triad. Luxor Temple received the Opet procession from Karnak each year and served the renewal of the royal ka. The medieval mosque of Abu el-Haggag still sits on top of the Ramesside court, roughly fifteen metres above the pharaonic floor level.
Farewell dinner on board and your last night moored in Luxor.
Optional Tour: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride over Luxor
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Breakfast on board, then check out and transfer to Luxor International Airport, Luxor railway station or your Luxor hotel.
Meals Included: Breakfast Only
| Season | Triple | Twin | Single |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 May – 30 September | $1,020 | $1,070 | $1,820 |
| 1 October – 20 December | $1,070 | $1,150 | $1,955 |
| 21 December – 10 January (festive) | $1,340 | $1,440 | $2,450 |
| 11 January – 25 March | $1,070 | $1,150 | $1,955 |
| 26 March – 10 April (Easter) | $1,200 | $1,270 | $2,160 |
| 11 April – 30 April | $1,070 | $1,150 | $1,955 |
| Season | Triple | Twin | Single |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 May – 30 September | $1,270 | $1,330 | $2,260 |
| 1 October – 20 December | $1,330 | $1,430 | $2,430 |
| 21 December – 10 January (festive) | $1,665 | $1,790 | $3,045 |
| 11 January – 25 March | $1,330 | $1,430 | $2,430 |
| 26 March – 10 April (Easter) | $1,500 | $1,600 | $2,720 |
| 11 April – 30 April | $1,330 | $1,430 | $2,430 |
| Season | Triple | Twin | Single |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 May – 30 September | $2,000 | $2,150 | $3,655 |
| 1 October – 17 December | $2,150 | $2,300 | $3,910 |
| 18 December – 10 January (festive) | $2,690 | $2,875 | $4,890 |
| 11 January – 25 March | $2,150 | $2,300 | $3,910 |
| 26 March – 10 April (Easter) | $2,400 | $2,550 | $4,335 |
| 11 April – 30 April | $2,150 | $2,300 |
$3,910 |
