The MS Nile Carnival is a 5-star standard cruise ship, which is roughly 3.5 stars by European and US standards. Egyptian ships are graded generously, so it is worth saying plainly what that means: comfortable cabins with private bathrooms and river views, three cooked meals a day, a pool and sundeck, and attentive service. It does not mean marble bathrooms or a spa.
That honesty matters more than it sounds, because the sites you visit from a standard ship and from a luxury one are exactly the same. Karnak does not improve with a better cabin. What changes is where you sleep and what you eat between temples, and for a lot of travelers the standard tier is the sensible place to spend the money.
The ship carries fifty-eight cabins and four suites. Cabins average twenty square metres, with private climate control, satellite television and a safe. There is a main restaurant, a panoramic lounge bar, a swimming pool, two jacuzzis and a full-width sundeck.
Three itineraries run aboard her. Three nights from Aswan every Monday, four nights from Luxor every Thursday, and seven nights from Luxor every Thursday sailing the full round trip.
Egypt Best Vacations is a licensed Egyptian tour operator founded by a professional Egyptologist, and a TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice winner in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
| Class | 5-star standard (3.5 stars in Europe and the USA) |
| Cabins | 58 cabins and 4 suites |
| Cabin size | 20 square metres on average |
| Cabin types | Twin / double, triple, single occupancy, suites |
| Route | Luxor to Aswan and Aswan to Luxor |
| Departures | Mondays from Aswan (3 nights) · Thursdays from Luxor (4 and 7 nights) |
| Board basis | Full board |
Every cabin on the MS Nile Carnival has a river-facing window, a private bathroom with shower and toiletries, individually controlled air conditioning, a hairdryer, a safe deposit box, satellite television and a smoke detector. At twenty square metres they are generous for a Nile ship, where fifteen is common at this tier.
Twin and double cabins are the standard booking and what most couples and pairs of friends take. Triple cabins fit a third bed and are the cheapest per person, which makes them the usual choice for families or three travelling together. Single cabins are available without sharing, though the solo rate reflects the cabin being held for one. Suites are available on request.
Ask us if you want a specific deck. Lower deck cabins sit closer to the waterline and are marginally quieter; upper deck cabins are a short walk from the sundeck.
Full board throughout: breakfast, lunch and dinner served daily in the main restaurant, buffet style, mixing Egyptian and international dishes. Your package begins with lunch on the first day and ends with breakfast on the last. Drinks are not included and are charged onboard.
The full-width sundeck carries a swimming pool, two jacuzzis, a bar and shaded seating. Between Edfu and Kom Ombo this is where most of the day happens, and it is the best argument for a cruise over a road trip: the scenery moves past you while you sit still.
The panoramic lounge bar runs across the width of the ship with floor-to-ceiling windows. It hosts the evening entertainment and is the warm place to be after dark in January.
Jewelry shop · laundry service · safe deposit box in every cabin · individually controlled air conditioning · satellite television
The downstream run, with the current. Aswan sightseeing on arrival, then Kom Ombo, Edfu, and both banks of Luxor. The cheapest way to see Upper Egypt and the shortest time commitment. Disembarkation morning includes the Valley of the Kings, so the last day is a full one.
The upstream run. The same temples in reverse, with an extra night that buys you a gentler pace and a full day in Aswan rather than a rushed one. If you have the days, this is the better version.
The full round trip: down to Aswan, then back to Luxor. The guided sightseeing happens on the outbound leg; the return leg is deliberately quiet, with the ship calling at Kom Ombo and Edfu to collect newly boarding guests while you stay aboard. Choose this if the point of the trip is the river rather than the checklist.
You are met inside the arrivals terminal at Aswan Airport, or on the platform at Aswan railway station, by your Egypt Best Vacations representative holding a signboard with your name. He assists you through arrival and sees you out to your private air-conditioned vehicle.
Begin with the Aswan High Dam, built through the 1960s to end the Nile’s annual flood, generate power, and create Lake Nasser behind it. Then the Temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis and moved stone by stone to Agilkia Island when the dam threatened to drown it, one of the most beautifully sited temples in Egypt.
Finish at the Unfinished Obelisk, still lying in the granite quarry where it cracked. It would have stood forty-two metres and weighed over a thousand tonnes, and it shows you more about how obelisks were made than any finished one can.
Board the MS Nile Carnival and settle into your cabin. Lunch and dinner onboard, moored in Aswan.
Optional Tour: Nubian Village Tour
Meals Included: Lunch & Dinner
A slow morning on the sundeck as the ship prepares to sail. Travelers who want to add Abu Simbel take an early road excursion south and rejoin the ship before departure. Tell us in advance and we will confirm the timing against the sailing.
Around midday the ship casts off downstream for Kom Ombo. The temple there is unusual: a perfectly symmetrical double temple, one half for Sobek the crocodile god, the other for Horus the Elder, built so neither deity outranked the other. Next door, the Crocodile Museum holds the mummified crocodiles recovered from the site.
Back aboard and on toward Edfu, where the ship moors for the night.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Early, by horse-drawn carriage through the streets of Edfu to the Temple of Horus. It is the most complete temple standing in Egypt, buried in sand for centuries, which is precisely why the roof is still on and the reliefs are still sharp.
Back to the ship and north, passing through the Esna Lock, a slow and oddly enjoyable piece of theatre in which the whole ship is lowered while vendors throw scarves up at the sundeck.
Arrive in Luxor and cross to the east bank. The Karnak Temple Complex first, the largest religious building ever raised, and its Hypostyle Hall of 134 columns. Then Luxor Temple in the evening, lit from below, joined to Karnak by the Avenue of Sphinxes.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Breakfast, then disembark and cross the river. The Valley of the Kings holds sixty-odd tombs cut into the rock; your Egyptologist will choose the three best open on the day, since the rotation changes to protect the paintings.
Then the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, three colonnaded terraces set against the cliff, built for the woman who ruled Egypt as king. Finish at the Colossi of Memnon, two seated giants of Amenhotep III left standing where the temple behind them has entirely vanished.
Transfer to Luxor Airport, Luxor railway station, or your hotel.
Optional Experience: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride over Luxor
Meals Included: Breakfast
You are met inside the arrivals terminal at Luxor International Airport, or on the platform at Luxor railway station, by your Egypt Best Vacations representative holding a signboard with your name.
Straight to the Karnak Temple Complex, the largest religious complex of the ancient world, built and rebuilt across two thousand years. Then Luxor Temple on the riverbank, at its best as the light goes and the stone turns gold.
Board the MS Nile Carnival, settle in, and take lunch and dinner onboard while moored in Luxor.
Optional Tour: Karnak Sound & Light Show
Meals Included: Lunch & Dinner
After breakfast, cross to the west bank. The Valley of the Kings, where the New Kingdom pharaohs abandoned pyramids for tombs cut deep into the mountain in the hope that hidden would prove safer than monumental. It did not, but the paintings survived. Three tombs, chosen by your guide from those open that day.
The Temple of Hatshepsut next, then a stop at the Colossi of Memnon.
Back aboard for lunch as the ship casts off south, passing through the Esna Lock during the afternoon. The rest of the day belongs to the sundeck.
Optional Experience: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride over Luxor
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
By horse-drawn carriage to the Temple of Horus at Edfu, the best-preserved temple in Egypt, with its massive pylons and its falcon god still standing guard at the entrance.
Back to the ship and on toward Kom Ombo, where the double temple splits perfectly down the middle between Sobek and Horus the Elder, with the Crocodile Museum alongside.
Sail on to Aswan and moor for the night.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
The Aswan High Dam first, which changed the Nile more in ten years than the previous five thousand had. Then the Temple of Philae on its island, and the Unfinished Obelisk in its quarry.
Back aboard by mid-afternoon, with the rest of the day free for the sundeck or for Aswan’s corniche and souk, which is the most relaxed market in Egypt and the best place to buy spices.
Optional experience available: Nubian Village Tour
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Breakfast onboard, then disembark. Your representative transfers you to Aswan Airport, Aswan railway station, or your hotel.
If you have time before your onward flight, the road excursion to Abu Simbel is the one worth taking — Ramses II’s colossal rock-cut temples, themselves relocated when Lake Nasser rose. Tell us and we will fit it to your departure.
Meals Included: Breakfast
The Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon, as described in the four-night itinerary above. Back aboard for lunch as the ship sails south through the Esna Lock toward Edfu.
Optional Experience: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride over Luxor
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Edfu by carriage to visit the Temple of Horus, then Kom Ombo and the Crocodile Museum, then on to Aswan. Moored overnight in Aswan.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Welcome to the enchanting city of Aswan, one of the most peaceful and beautiful destinations in Upper Egypt. Begin your Aswan sightseeing tour at the High Dam, then Philae and the Unfinished Obelisk. Experience a free afternoon.
Optional experience available: Nubian Village Tour
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
The ship stays moored in Aswan and the day is yours. The sundeck, the pool, the souk, or a felucca out to Elephantine Island and the Nubian villages on the west bank.
This is also the day for Abu Simbel. The road excursion leaves very early and returns mid-afternoon, and it is the single most impressive thing in Egypt that is not in Luxor or Giza — two temples cut whole into a cliff by Ramses II, then cut out again and moved uphill in the 1960s when the lake rose behind the dam.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
The return leg begins. The ship sails north with the current, calling briefly at Kom Ombo where newly boarding guests go ashore for the temple. You have already seen it, so the stop is yours to spend on the sundeck.
This is the day people remember. Nothing is scheduled, the riverbank goes by at walking pace, and the pace of the whole week finally drops. Moored overnight in Edfu.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
A slow morning while newly boarding guests visit the Temple of Horus, then north through the Esna Lock toward Luxor.
Arrive in the afternoon for the east bank: the Karnak Temple Complex, its Hypostyle Hall and its sacred lake, then Luxor Temple in the evening light. Final night aboard.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Breakfast onboard, then disembark. Your representative transfers you to Luxor International Airport, Luxor railway station, or your hotel.
Meals Included: Breakfast
