One of many Most Luxurious Cruises in Egypt

We got here to Egypt for the temples. To see Dendera, Karnak, and Kom Ombo, the place the traditional columns and obelisks, hundreds of years previous, nonetheless bear traces of paint. To be taught concerning the pharaohs and their gods, and the way historic civilizations had been formed by the Nile River.

We’d see them over the course of every week aboard the 84-passenger Sphinx, one of many latest and most luxurious vessels on the river. Operated by Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, top-of-the-line river-cruise strains, the ship was the “means in” for our household of three. My husband, Rob, and I each fell for Luxor Temple, which we had virtually to ourselves throughout an after-hours tour below the moonlight. For our eight-year-old son, Bobby, a memorable second was seeing King Tut’s wizened and fragile mummy up shut, throughout our time within the Valley of the Kings. Equally spectacular had been a collection of vivid stars, traced on an electrical blue ceiling, within the tomb of Ramses III.

However there was extra — far more — past the monuments that made this journey so compelling.

One morning, the Sphinx docked within the southern port metropolis of Aswan, famend for its Philae temple complicated, which dates to the seventh century BCE, and the Previous Cataract Resort, frequented by Agatha Christie. With temperatures hovering round 100 levels, our household set out on a small motorboat with simply 4 different friends — the remainder had been apparently content material to remain behind, cocooned of their plush, air-conditioned cabins.

We had been crusing the Nile for a number of days, and the riverbanks, as seen from the Sphinx’s stress-free high deck, had begun to tackle a distant, rhythmic high quality: mountains, brick houses, kids splashing alongside the shore. Extra mountains, a subject or two, maybe a high-speed prepare, all brushstrokes on a portray. This journey, at eye-level, felt extra alive: big boulders lay interspersed amongst swaying bamboo grass, tempting me to succeed in out and contact. The sky was unusually cloudy, a reduction given the stifling warmth.

After weaving in and round a number of channels, we arrived at an impossibly tall sand dune, sharp-edged like a blade, with a small seating space on the base. “We get to climb that?” Bobby requested. “Cool!” No sooner had we disembarked than the sky turned a disconcerting, Fanta orange; we took shelter from the sandstorm in a close-by house, the place the proprietor proudly confirmed off his pet crocodile. (Evidently, that’s not a part of the common itinerary.)

Twenty minutes later, the storm had handed. Rob powered up the sand, gradual and regular, with Bobby in tow. I waited on the base, iPhone on the prepared for photographs. The not-so-graceful pair slid down on their boards to shrieks of enjoyment, falling into the sun-baked earth. Sweaty, drained, and coated in a skinny layer of grime, all of us had been relieved to return to the ship, the place contemporary juice awaited us, because it did after each tour, due to the ever-attentive crew.

Certainly, one may argue you select the Sphinx, one in every of two Uniworld vessels in Egypt, for the intuitive, faultless workers. Its 58 crew members, all of whom had been male, following native customized, sorted us with nice care. (As a result of our end-of-season crusing wasn’t full, we loved near a 1:1 guest-to-staff ratio.)

Along with the common crew, there have been three Egyptolgists, all skilled historians, on our crusing, to information us by the monuments, museums, and temples. We met our assigned Egyptologist, Akram Abdelmonein, in Cairo, earlier than even boarding the ship. He walked us by the grand halls of the unique Egyptian Museum, a 1902 landmark that’s house to some 170,000 artifacts. Abdelmonein by no means left our group of 15, even flying with us to the grand, rock-carved temples of Abu Simbel, close to the Sudanese border. He answered each query with frankness and reassured Bobby that no query was too small — the signal, in my view, of a very nice information.

Here’s a nearer take a look at what you possibly can anticipate — on and off the ship — once you journey to Egypt on the Sphinx.

The Staterooms

Launched in 2021, the Sphinx stands out for its Egyptian craftsmanship and vivid colours. Framed, black and white photographs and drawings of historic ruins line the hallways and the bedrooms; Arabic espresso pots relaxation on small inlaid stools; brass lamps adorn the bedside tables; and the visitor room palette embraces royal blues and vivid golds, with carved, blonde-wood ceilings to present an excellent better sense of peak.

The 42 cabins, unfold throughout three decks, vary from a French Balcony (233 sq. toes) to a Royal Suite (495 sq. toes). All class sorts have French balconies, or home windows that decrease to permit in contemporary air, however I by no means as soon as thought of opening mine, for concern of the warmth and bugs.

My household and I traveled in a 430-square-foot Grand Suite, on the sixth, or “Karnak,” deck, which had a small self-importance, beneficiant closets, and a well-appointed seating space, with a settee, espresso desk, and two chairs. Like our eating desk again house, it grew to become our “stash” pad, the place we’d place our leftover gear — on this case, tickets, souvenirs, and whisper gadgets — upon getting back from an tour. The spacious, tan-and-blue tiled rest room got here with a well-pressurized bathe and a deep soaking tub: a real splurge-worthy perk for resting weary toes. The Grand Suites, of which there are 20, are the most well-liked class; we discovered it provided greater than sufficient area for our group of three. (It’s price noting that kids should be not less than 4 years previous to sail in Egypt.) The fantastic housekeeping crew got here twice day by day to freshen the room.

Bars and Eating places

There’s one primary eating room on the Sphinx, situated on the fourth, or “Luxor,” deck, the bottom stage accessible to passengers. Intricate, pebble-tiled flooring, wood columns, carved chairs, and lamp-lit tables give the room a grand, formal feeling. But the realm just isn’t so stuffy that passengers can’t gown casually, be a part of different teams on the giant tables, and make new pals. Each meal we had was plentiful, contemporary, and wonderful; I’ll always remember tasting roasted Nile perch for the primary time, filetted proper in entrance of me by one of many useful culinary crew. One other spotlight: the prospect to pattern okra soup and hawawshi, pita filled with minced meat, on “Egyptian avenue meals day.”

Breakfast and lunch are served buffet fashion day by day. At breakfast, Bobby made a beeline for the contemporary watermelon, whereas I opted for the home made pastries, every thing from chocolate croissants to delicate bars, sugar-flecked and crisp. Our eating room servers, Mosan and Omar, rapidly started to know our favourite drink orders — Turkish espresso for Rob and I; milk for Bobby — in order that they had been prepared inside minutes of strolling in.

At lunch, the chilly salad and bread station was a gem, with fattoush, tabouleh, cheeses, a number of types of olives, and home dressings; the recent part showcased a grill choice (lamb, rooster, fish) and a number of other entrées, every thing from biryani to contemporary pasta. Mosan usually stunned us with a neighborhood Egyptian dish to share on the desk — one explicit favourite was ful medames, or stewed fava beans — earlier than we even stood as much as fill our plates.

Dinner was at all times a la carte, with a alternative of a starter, soup, entrée, and dessert. A few of my favourite dishes included the rooster shawarma and saffron marinated sole; we frequently paired our entrées with home Egyptian wines, which accompanied each meal.

The sunshine-filled primary bar and lounge, on the fifth, or “Dendera,” deck was the gathering place for a night cocktail; it was additionally the place for “port talks” and different lectures about upcoming factors of curiosity. The ship’s solar deck additionally has drink service and the occasional mild chew, akin to a champagne breakfast or afternoon tea.

The place the Ship Sails

The Sphinx, like its sibling ship, River Tosca, operates eight-day, spherical journeys from Luxor. Passengers should first fly to Cairo, the place there may be an elective one- or two-night keep within the Egyptian capital, together with issues like visits to the Egyptian Museum, the Alabaster Mosque, the Citadel of Salah al-Din, and the Pyramids of Giza all included. (The long-awaited, much-discussed Grand Egyptian Museum was sadly closed on the time of our go to, although it’s on many Uniworld itineraries.)

On my journey, all of the Sphinx passengers stayed on the luxe 4 Seasons Cairo at Nile Plaza, a centrally situated choice with a stunning, shaded pool deck; a wonderful Lebanese restaurant; and not too long ago renovated rooms, all light-filled and stocked with books on Egyptian historical past.

After a brief, one-hour and forty minute flight south to Luxor, we had been bused to the Sphinx, our house for the week. Ports of name on all Uniworld voyages embrace Dendera, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Esna, and Aswan. Most temples and monuments had been simply accessed both on foot or with a brief bus journey; visiting the temples at Abu Simbel requires a one-hour flight from Aswan Worldwide Airport to Abu Simbel Airport. This wonderful tour is obtainable for an additional payment, however I extremely suggest it.

Shore Excursions

Uniworld contains one or two shore excursions, relying on the day, within the worth of the cruise. A lot of them depart fairly early, to beat the warmth; on my journey, that meant departing as early as 7 a.m.

On our first huge outing, nonetheless, there was no avoiding it. Shortly after touchdown in Luxor, we had been bused to the close by Karnak Temple, an unbelievable, open air complicated that’s arguably the biggest non secular website on the earth, courting to roughly 2,000 BCE. It’s rightly well-known for its gorgeous ramshead sphinxes and the columns of the Nice Hypostyle Corridor, but it surely was additionally full of vacationers from everywhere in the world. Regardless of the warmth and crowds, Abdelmonnein, our considerate Egyptologist, shared tales of pharaohs and set the stage for the assorted Egyptian dynasties we’d be exploring throughout our journey.

The following morning, once we arrived on the Dendera Temple Complicated, the distinction was outstanding. Our Uniworld group was the primary into the location, which is dominated by the Temple of Hathor, courting to 54 BCE. “Think about tons of of Egyptians coming to this place,” stated Abdelmonein, as we wandered the halls devoted to Hathor, the goddess of affection and fertility. There have been no different selfie-taking vacationers; it was simply us and the birds and some stray cats. With no crowds to jostle us, we may take our time inspecting the hundreds of hieroglyphics that adorn the partitions and ceilings. Abdelmonein even identified a uncommon depiction of Cleopatra and Caesarion, her son with Julius Caesar.

Afterward within the cruise, we loved the temple of Kom Ombo, which is devoted to Sobek, the crocodile god, and Horus, the falcon god. It’s house to a small museum full of mummified crocs — creepy, and really cool. We additionally visited Abu Simbel, by means of a round-trip flight, organized at further expense by Uniworld. The journey was price it to see the bigger than life statues of Ramses II — and to marvel at the truth that this 3,000-year-old monument was saved by preservationists in the course of the Sixties, when it was moved in the course of the development of the Aswan Dam.

Facilities and Leisure

Don’t select the Sphinx — or any Egypt crusing, for that matter — in case your imaginative and prescient of a cruise trip contains a number of bars, water slides, and nightclubs. Like different ships on the Nile, this one is gorgeous however compact, with just a few key facilities, akin to a small top-deck pool with solar loungers. A lot to our shock, my household and I had been usually the one folks cooling off on the pool, whether or not after a morning tour or a leisurely lunch.

The spa is admittedly extra like a therapeutic massage room, although the therapies I had had been wonderful and reasonably priced.

At night time, native musicians and dancers would typically carry out for us, in addition to the Uniworld crew — one spotlight of my journey was seeing one in every of my favourite bartenders, Ashraf, transferring on the dance ground. However most evenings had been comparatively quiet, with issues winding down by about 10 p.m., in preparation for no matter adventures the following day may maintain.