Nile Dinner Cruise in Cairo

Flowing for over 4000 miles, the Nile is the longest river on Earth and runs through 11 African countries. Critical to the advances in ancient Egypt, the Nile allowed for the irrigation of crops, thereby supporting millions of people and providing them with food. The soil of the Nile is rich in nutrients due to large silt deposit that the river leaves behind as it flows towards the sea. Since ancient times the river has also given Egyptians precious water needed for drinking, fishing and hydroelectric power.

For many, seeing the River Nile is incredible enough, but there are those of us that feel a trip to Egypt is not complete unless they have boarded a boat on the river. A boat trip on the River Nile is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a teenager and fully obsessed with Agatha Christie. Her iconic book, Death on the Nile, has been adapted for cinema, theatre and been enjoyed by thousands of people around the world. Following in her footsteps and experiencing the magic of this superb river was a bucket list item for me.

We didn’t have long in Egypt, just one week, and wanted to maximise our time. Although we are heading to Luxor to see the great temples and tombs there, we don’t have enough time to do a traditional river cruise between Luxor and Aswan. With this in mind, we scoured the internet for one night cruises from Cairo. Choice was actually quite minimal which surprised us, but on further inspection it appeared that a Nile Cruise in Cairo just wasn’t the “done thing” and there were no overnight trips from the capital city.

Further research, however, showed that there were a couple of cruises on offer for tourists which lasted a few hours and departed every day. They included dinner and entertainment – neither of which interested us – but also a 2 hour round trip on the river. The one we chose to go on was the Nile Crystal and we booked through Get Your Guide after finding it cheapest on their site. We paid around £15 per person, which included the cruise, unlimited buffet style dinner and various types of entertainment. Drinks and transfers were extra. We didn’t mind this as we planned to walk to the boat and an Uber back into Cairo cost us 110 EGP (approx. £1.75).

We arrived at the Nile Crystal dock at around 5pm, and had to go to the ticket office to show them our reservation where they hand-wrote us two tickets that we had to present to the boat staff before boarding. They were preparing the boat for departure and said we could go on board at 5.15pm – 45 minutes before we were due to set sail. This was great as the sun was due to set at 5.30pm and meant that we got to go up to the top deck and enjoy a drink whilst watching the sun go down over Cairo and the River Nile. We also got some great photographs.

We got a drink from the bar, they are severely overpriced (wine was 10 USD per glass) but it’s a drink on the River Nile so consider splashing out like we did. You’ll have noticed that alcohol isn’t readily available in bars and restaurants in Egypt due to it being an Arab country so having a drink is also a bit of a treat!

We went in to find our table at around 6pm – the staff gave us the option of being right up close to the entertainment or further away by the windows. Even though it was dark we opted to be further from what was sure to be a noisy evening.

Departing around 6.20pm, we noted that the restaurant was only about half full, so not busy at all. The entertainment had started before we even set sail and consisted of a belly dancer, traditional tanoura dancers, singers, a band and more. It was performed well and kept everyone interested. The buffet opened about 6.30pm and remained open until about 7.30pm. The food choice was good with meat, fish, and vegetarian options, great salads and several different desserts too.

The cruise down the river was smooth and enjoyable, with several “pinch me” moments! Although dark we could see the lights of Cairo along the river banks and other boats enjoying the surroundings too.

We returned to the dock at around 7.50pm and everyone was off the boat by around 8pm. There were people waiting for the 8pm cruise. We were glad we’d picked the earlier one to enjoy the extra time on board! Once off the boat we booked an uber which arrived in 2 minutes and got us back to Cairo cheaply and efficiently.

All in all we enjoyed this trip. Was it touristy? Yes. Was it cheesy? Yes. Did we get to experience the magic of a boat trip down the Nile? Yes. What more could we want?!

TOP TIPS:

  • Book the first cruise in the evening, this was 6pm when we booked (there were also 8pm and 10pm options). If you book the first cruise at 6pm you can board the boat from around 5.15pm – 45 minutes early! We were so happy we got there early as it allowed us to see the sunset from the open top deck and take some great pictures

  • Check sunset times before you book – we visited in November and it was dark at 6pm when we set sail but this will be different year-round

  • Shop around, sometimes booking direct isn’t the cheapest option.. We booked this tour through Get Your Guide and it was only £15 per person

  • Embrace the touristic entertainment – you’re already there after all!

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