Cruise the Nile in Style aboard your Private Dahabiya Felucca
The Royal Cleopatra Felucca
A 5 Day - 4 Night Program
With 4 days on board your Felucca
Luxor to Aswan
The Royal Cleopatra Nile felucca cabins are air-conditioned.
Day 1- LUXOR or Aswan - Tuesday - Weekly - Year Round (D)
Arrive early morning. Please advise your arrival details at the time you make your booking. We'll meet you at the airport or train station, and escort you to your hotel . Today We tour the magnificent tombs in the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens, including the great temple of Queen Hatshepsut, stopping also at the Colossi of Memnon before heading back to Luxor.
This afternoon we stand in awe before the gigantic Great Temple of Amon at Karnak, and the mighty Temple of Luxor. In the evening, your guide will call on you for a private horse-drawn carriage ride throughout Luxor's souks and waterfront. Dinner is included at the hotel: Steinberger Nile Palace Hotel, Sonesta Hotel or similar.
Day 2- LUXOR, ESNA-EDFU - ROYAL CLEOPATRA Dahabiya - Wednesday (BLD)
Breakfast at the hotel. Board your private air conditioned vehicle to Esna, where we tour Esna Temple of Khnum, discovered in late in the 19th Century, it was well protected & preserved, buried under the main village's square for thousands of years, we drive on to Edfu, check-in, and board your Felucca the Royal Cleopatra (rated: modest 3 stars), Your crew of 5 will be available to welcome you: the captain, sailor, chef, housekeeper and of course your Resident Egyptologist.
Welcome drink served upon arrival "Karkadeh - Local herb tea". Lunch will be served. Welcome fruit basket awaits you in your cabin, watch sunset as we dock north of Edfu and sip tea on deck. Dinner follows, then to bed with the ripples of the Nile gently rocking you to sleep.
Day 3 - EDFU - The Royal Cleopatra Felucca - Thursday (BLD)
Breakfast in your cabin, or on the sundeck. In Edfu, climb aboard your private horse-drawn carriages, and clip-clop through the town to the Temple of Horus, Egypt's best preserved. Enjoy a grand afternoon of sailing on the Nile watching villages & scenery that changed little since Biblical times. We enjoy lunch at one of the small islands on the way. Dinner is served on board, we will look for one of the islands in the middle of the Nile where we dock for the night.
Day 4- GABAL ELSISILAH - FARES - Friday (BLD)
Breakfast on board. We sail further upstream heading for Gabal Elsisilah. Enjoy lunch on board. We reach Gabal Elsisilah early afternoon and tour the ancient sandstone quarries. A charming off the beating track site that 's not yet overwhelmed with large groups of tourists.
Watch sunset as we sip tea on deck. Dinner follows, then on to Fares where we dock for the night. Enjoy the Egyptian southern clear skies with thousands of stars to watch! A galabya will be delivered to your cabin with our compliments.
Day 5- Kom Ombo - Aswan - Saturday (B)
After breakfast on board, we stop at Kom Ombo, visit its twin temple dedicated to the crocodile god of the Nile, a true Greco Roman masterpiece. Inspect the ancient wall carvings that documents the measurements and detailed description of the medical instruments available to the Ancient Egyptian, we'll head for Draw for a quick tour of the Camel Market.
We enjoy a short walking tour thru the local village and souks of Kom Ombo, before heading for Aswan and a tour of Philae Temple, Aswan dams and the Unfinished Obelisk before we head for the airport or train station, or one of the Aswan Hotels. End of our services. Bon Voyage. We'll be glad to assist with any additional service or hotel nights in Aswan. Add an extra night in Aswan. Aswan Tour included.
For your enhanced privacy and security, your sailing crew will spend the night on a small tug, which will always be at your disposal to assure your progress even on windless days. Your Egyptologist-guide will have his own quarters aboard the Royal Cleopatra, and can assist with your free-time activities. If you prefer, he can stay shore and be called upon only to accompany you during your daytime visits.
Rate Per Person in USD$
For Private Charter
At No Additional Charge Per Person
A Minimum of 4 guests is Required:
or the Equivalnt charge in USD$
Individual bookings up to 6 guests |
Rate are per person in USD $ |
Triple |
$ 2225. |
Double |
$ 2374. |
Single |
$ 3650. |
Included:
- Meals as indicated, preset menu: BLD: Breakfast, Lunch, dinner.
- Hotel accommodation in Luxor: Steinberger Hotel, Sonesta, Hilton, Sheraton or similar
- Shore excursions are included as indicated.
- Resident guide/Egyptologist onboard.
- One bottle of water per person per day.
- Tea or coffee with each meal
- Welcome fruit basket.
- Fuel, docking fees.
- The service of an English Speaking guide. Resident on board your yacht.
- Complimentary transfers in Luxor and Aswan as indicated.
- The service of a small tug boat with it's 2 crew member, that will always be on a standby sailing with us, in case of lack of wind to power our sail.
Not included:
- Tips.
- Insurance
- No airfares included. Please click here to add domestic air fare
More Info:
- Detailed info on the Feluccas and Dahabiyas, your guide and crew on board, please click here.
- Discounts are not available for children on this cruise/tour.
- The Royal Cleopatra Private Felucca-Dahabiya.
- What other guests say about sailing on the only two feluccas that offer you private cabins with private bath; please click here.
- Click here for images of your private Sailing Felucca.
The Royal Cleopatra Dahabiya
The Royal Cleopatra was the perfect boat for us. A modified felucca, it was charming and comfortable, with two private rooms with bathrooms en suite plus a living/dining/kitchen area. The upper deck had tables, chairs and four lounge chairs, and there was an awning to keep out the sun.
The boat features a front and back sail and, in case there is no wind, a towboat is always on a standby. The guests have total privacy since the crew sleeps on the towboat. On our trip we were the only guests, but the boat could have accommodated another couple, which would have cut our cost in half.
The 5-day sail was fantastic. We glided through the water in peace and quiet, sitting on deck and reading or watching the scenery.
In the evening, after watching the sun go down, we played Rummikub with Mohamed or played solitaire. It was simple living, simple food and absolutely delightful.
We were able to dock along the way to visit villages, small temples and sites, but mostly it was the perfect peace of sailing that was so wonderful.
We had other options for getting to Aswan by means of the Nile. We could have traveled on one of the large cruise boats, but those boats have noisy motors and cruise only two days. The rest of the time they are docked either in Luxor or Aswan — sometimes six across at their mooring — and they land at Edfu and Kom Ombo (the two main sites along the way) all at the same time. Our captain was able to time our visits for when the cruise ships were not there and we had those sites practically to ourselves.
We also could have signed up to be on one of the much smaller felucca sailboats. We saw three of these boats at one of our moorings. There were 10 people on each boat in the space of a small room. They slept in sleeping bags on board and in the daytime could only sit or recline in place. There was really no room to move around. It looked a bit too rustic for me.
Egypt — fulfilling a date with destiny by Nili Olay, New York, NY