Royal Dahabiya Yachts on the Nile
Special Category
The Nile Aboard King Fouad’s Steamship
His Majesty King Fouad’s Steamship, The Sudan, offers 21 state rooms including 5 suites.
Now you can live the luxury, amenities and style of days gone by aboard the steamship Sudan. Built for King Fouad toward the end of the nineteenth century, it is no re-creation of the grand era, but the real thing, lovingly restored, and the last of its kind to cruise the great river. You’ll cruise as princes, kings, ambassadors and royal retainers once did, to ancient temples and villages bypassed by time. Perhaps you’ll be inspired as Agatha Christie once was, on this very ship, to write a great mystery.
The dahabeya was built in approximately 1900, the Royal Dahabbiyas were originally painted in gold and these Royal boats were called ‘dahabeya’ which means ‘Golden Boat’. Each stateroom has two windows and has access to the promenade deck. Four of the steamer five suites, located at the bow and upper deck, and the fifth “King Farouk” suite, is located at the bow (main deck), the suites are very much in demand, and it is first come, first serve, we regret that we do not offer any wait listing for the suites. Average square meter space for the cabin is about 20 – 23 square meter, suites are about 30 square meter. Suites are sought for the panoramic view they offer.
For nature lovers we include a tour of the Botanical Garden Island in Aswan (while others will simply have you sail around the island without setting foot on it!), then we go on to Gharb Sehail and tour some of the mini nature protected Islands in the middle of the Nile with sandy beaches and beautiful rare plants.
The Nile Aboard the Steamship Sudan
Six Days/Five Nights PLUS one night Hotel Stay in Cairo
The Sudan is faithful to its origins, with authentic fixtures and period furniture, rich woodwork, leather upholstery, brass bedsteads, paneled passageways, and wooden decks. Yet modern conveniences are integrated in the most sensitive fashion, including luxurious plumbing with large tubs, and air conditioning. Untouched since the glory days is service that anticipates every need and caters to every request.
Watch Egypt pass by from the comfort of the upper deck, retire to the lounge to read quietly, or enjoy conversation or a card game with new friends, and dine on the finest Egyptian and French cuisine.
And travel with the assurance that the Sudan embodies responsible tourism. Cooling water is recycled to steam boilers, and waste is treated. Local craftsmen and contractors restore, maintain, and re-create the heritage environment.
Travel in Style to Egypt, unforgettably and responsibly, aboard the steamship Sudan. Compare with the 11-Day tour including Cairo and Giza.
Six Days Nile Cruise – Five Nights: PLUS one night Hotel Stay in Cairo
For safety reasons, the Sudan steamship doesn’t accommodate children under the age of seven.
Day 1 – Luxor – Qena (LD)
Please advise us of your hotel name in Cairo, or arrival flight details into Cairo Airport. Our local rep. will assist with your private transfer to the airport to board your flight to board the cruise. Flight is in First Class or Business Class, tax included. In Luxor our local rep, will meet and escort you from the airport to the cruise.
The crew of the Sudan will welcome you aboard and settle you into your luxurious cabin or suite. After lunch, you’ll commence your explorations with visits to the temples of ancient Thebes: the Temple of Amon at Karnak—the largest religious complex anywhere—and the Temple of Luxor with its seemingly endless colonnades, built during the reign of Amenophis III, and enlarged by Ramses II. At your option, you may attend the Sound and Light presentation at Karnak temple. Return to the Sudan and sailing towards Qena, located north of Luxor. Only a few ships sail this splendid stretch of the river Nile where you will be able to enjoy the sunset and admire both banks of the Nile. Dinner and overnight stay on board in Qena.
Day 2 – Qena – Dendera – Abydos – Luxor (BLD)
Very early morning start with your private Egyptologist, private vehicle and chauffeur (2 hours drive), heading to Abydos, a holy city and the cult centre of Osiris, regent of the Kingdom of the Dead and god of resurrection. From the Ancient Kingdom era, Abydos was an exceptional site of pilgrimage. The Temple of Seti I is a wonder with its colorful and fine bas-reliefs which mark the birth of Ramesside art.
Visit the Temple of Dendera on the way back. Dendera is the name of the spectacular temple of Hathor, Goddess of love and joy, also known for protecting women and nursing Pharaohs. Secluded at the border of cultivated land and desert, with its richly decorated chapels, its Hathor-headed columns, its obscure corridors and stairs, the unique vestige of the ancient city of Dendera is one of the most famous best preserved monuments in Egypt and offers a splendid view of Upper-Egypt countryside from the rooftops. Back on board for lunch. Relaxing afternoon sailing to Luxor. Dinner and overnight stay on board in Luxor.
Day 3 – Luxor – Deir El-Medina – Esna – Edfu (BLD)
Very early start once again, always with a private Egyptologist, private air-conditioned vehicle and private chauffeur .
We’ll cross the Nile this morning to visit the sites of the Valley of the Kings, where the rulers of ancient Egypt and their wives were laid to rest for eternity in fabulous tombs that befit living deities. In the Valley of the Nobles is the Ramose tomb with reliefs of exceptional artistic value. At Medinet-Habu, we visit the temple of Ramses III, almost entirely intact, exemplifying the temple tombs of the Ramses dynasty, we tour as well: Deir El Medinah, the first known “Workers Village” these were the true creative heroes who built the temples & tombs for the mighty Pharaohs of the Nile Kingdom. Deir El Medinah is on Luxor’s west bank where you get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life at the ancient workers’ settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs. Here we’ll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers’ paradise, we’ll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs. By night, we’ll sail upriver, through the Esna lock and onward to Edfu.
Day 4 – Edfu – Kom Ombo (BLD)
Horse-drawn carriages await after breakfast to convey us to Edfu temple, one of the best-preserved in the land, dedicated to the gods Horus and Hathor, begun in the third century (Greek Ptolemaic period) and completed 170 years later in the fourth century BC. We resume our cruise, to arrive in Kom Ombo at sunset, a very unique temple dedicated to two divinities, a true awesome site with the double temples, dedicated to both Sobek the crocodile god and Horus the falcon.
Day 5 –Kom Ombo – Aswan (BLD)
We sail to reach Aswan, gateway to Nubia (the land of gold in ancient times), the southern region of Egypt that stretches on to Sudan. Our visit today includes the island temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis, mother and wife of Osiris, and embodiment of fertility and motherhood. Its reliefs and frescoes make it one of the most attractive temples in Egypt. We’ll have time to stroll through Aswan to discover the climate, crafts and cultures that have long attracted wintering royalty before enjoying our last dinner together on board. At your option, you may attend the Sound and Light show at Philae temple.
The Ancient Goddess ISIS:
Two millennia ago the Mediterranean world was enthralled by the mystery of Isis: “I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever seen me unveiled.” Called Aset by the ancient Egyptians, the goddess was a Madonna in the Mediterranean tradition that stretches far, far back to the primitive Mother Goddess from Anatolia, home to some of the oldest human communities on earth. Isis was the powerful and quick-witted protector of her son Horus, the Sun God. Ancient peoples throughout the Mediterranean regarded Isis and Horus as the perfect Madonna and Child. Another legend says she was also the mother of the fertility god Min who, judging from the depiction of him on temple walls, needed no help from Viagra! Isis is portrayed regally, as a queen seated on a throne (which may be the meaning of her name), often holding her son Horus as a baby. Other images show her with broad, magnificent gilded wings able to protect the world. Isis, the great Mother Goddess. Come explore her mystery in timeless Egypt when you Travel in Style!
Day 6 – Aswan – Cairo (B)
You’ll disembark from the Sudan after breakfast to resume your travels, on to the Airport and your flight back to Cairo in Business Class, tax included. Transfers are always on a private basis with a private air-conditioned vehicle and private chauffeur. In Cairo, our local rep. will be waiting for you and assist with your transfer to the J. W. Marriott – Club Level Room, or the Omar Khayam Cairo Marriott- Club Level Room.
Day 7 – Cairo (B)
After breakfast. Check-out, our local rep. will assist with your transfer to the airport, always on a private basis.
| Rate per person in USD$ | |||
| Double | $ 4250.00 | or upgrade to a suite | $ 5490.00 |
| Single | $ 5950.00 | or upgrade to a suite | $ 7850.00 |
For Dec 20 – Jan 2, Easter Season please add: 15 % supplement
Price includes:
- Transportation aboard the Nile steamer Sudan
- This is the only Nile cruise where tips are INCLUDED!
- Nile Cruise Dahabiya accommodation with all shore excursions and meals
- Taxes and service charges
- Services of English-speaking guide and on-board personnel
- Entry fees to sites on itinerary
- All meals (BLD) while on board
- Transfers between the Sudan and sites visited on the itinerary
- As well as airport transfers in Aswan and Luxor
- One night hotel accommodation in Cairo after the cruise at the: the J. W. Marriott (Club Level Room), or the Semiramis Nile Hotel (suite), or the Four Seasons (Standard room). Please advise your preference.
- Domestic air fare between Cairo and the cruise, round trip in First class or business class, subject to plane configuration and availability.
Not included:
- Air fare from your home to Egypt
- Optional beverages or services not specifically mentioned
- Expenses of a personal nature
- Trip interruption and cancellation insurance
Royal feluccas and Dahabbiyas bore a larger-than-life image of the pharaoh, seated on a throne, to be seen and venerated by inhabitants even along the most remote canal. In turn, imbued with the same “ka,” or spirit, as the living pharaoh himself, it would keep watch over his subjects and their activities.
So integral was the Nile Dahabbiya and felucca to the ancient Egyptian way of life that it assumed legendary attributes. Even today, you can see the oldest known Nile felucca, the regal pharaonic Dahabia of Cheops, the ruler immortalized by the Great Pyramid at Giza. Known as the Solar Boat, it was believed to sail through the skies carrying its royal passenger along sunbeams in his single cabin, the royal suite of its day.
The regal pharaonic Dahabia of Cheops Museum in Giza is a must see.
In later times, pashas, emirs, and sultans found that feluccas were indispensable. When Napoleon invaded Egypt, the Mamluks rulers observed the Battle of the Pyramids from their dahabeahs, and in the wake of defeat, set them afire, still laden with treasures, in the middle of the river. Always one to adapt to local practice, Napoleon even had his own dahabeah, the Italy, which was used by his officers to explore Upper Egypt.
In the nineteenth century, the well-equipped Nile Dahabbiya and felucca was essential to the upper-crust adventurer. Lord Kitcheners used several feluccas for his famous trip from Cairo to Khartoum.
It took from two to three months to ascend the Nile under wind power, and another month-and-a-half to float back downstream, stopping at the great temples along the way. King Farouk, Churchill, Montgomery, Mark Twain and others settled in for the journey, and a certain Lady Edwards even had a piano installed on her sailing vessel.
Eventually, steamers displaced dahabeahs, opening up an Egyptian adventure to greater numbers on Thomas Cook’s tours, and trains nearly finished them off. But never completely. Even today, despite the inroads of rail, steam power, and highways, the graceful Nile felucca retains its place.
A skilled river captain is on board at all times. A guide is at your disposal to plan your itinerary and escort you through the sites you choose to visit. The crew has completely separate quarters, to ensure your privacy.
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