How much does a Nile cruise cost? It is the first thing almost everyone asks, and most websites answer it with the word “from” and nothing else. Here is the real answer, taken from the thirty-seven ships priced on this site: three nights costs between $499 and $1,490 per person, four nights between $599 and $1,899. That is the whole cruise, not a nightly rate, and it already includes a great deal more than a hotel room would.
- Three nights: $499 to $1,490 per person. Four nights: $599 to $1,899.
- The price is for the whole cruise, based on two people sharing a cabin.
- Full board, every excursion, every entrance fee, all transfers and a licensed Egyptologist are already in it.
- Drinks, optional tours and tipping are not.
- The class of ship is what moves the number most. The programme is the same on all of them.
What the price already covers
A Nile cruise price looks high next to a hotel night until you see what is folded into it. Every cruise on this site includes your cabin with full board, so breakfast, lunch and dinner are all on the ship. It includes being met at the airport and driven to the boat, and driven back at the end. It includes every excursion in the programme, privately guided, not in a coach with forty strangers. It includes the entrance fee to every site between Luxor and Aswan.
That last one is worth pausing on, because it is the cost travellers forget. Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae all charge separately, every one of them listed on the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities site, and in a Nile cruise they are already paid. So are the ferries, the parking, the local transport at each stop, and the licensed Egyptologist who is with you at all of them.
How much a Nile cruise costs in each class
We sort the ships into three classes. The route, the temples, the guide and the meals do not change between them. What changes is the boat.
Standard. Eleven ships. Three nights from $499 to $639, four nights from $599 to $779. Clean, comfortable, everything works. Cabins around the usual size, a sundeck with a small pool, one restaurant. If the temples are the point and the boat is where you sleep, this is the sensible choice.
Deluxe. Twelve ships. Three nights from $549 to $859, four nights from $699 to $1,059. Bigger cabins, better food, a proper lounge and bar, a larger sundeck. This is where most of our guests end up.
Luxury. Fifteen ships. Three nights from $699 to $1,490, four nights from $799 to $1,899. Recent refits, suites with balconies, more than one place to eat, a spa. At the top of this range you are on a ship that would hold its own against a good hotel anywhere.
The overlap between the classes is real and it is worth using. The cheapest luxury ship costs less than the dearest deluxe one. If you tell us your budget rather than your preferred class, we can usually find you a better boat for the same money.
Why four nights costs more than three
The step from three nights to four is usually about a quarter more, which works out between $100 and $400 depending on the ship. You are paying for one more night on board and one more day of the crew, the fuel and the food. You are not paying for more temples, because the three-night cruise already covers them all. The extra night buys you time on the river rather than extra sightseeing, which is exactly why some people want it and others do not.
The full week is priced on request. It changes more than the others do with the ship and the date, so we would rather quote it properly than publish a number that turns out to be wrong.
A dahabiya is priced differently
A dahabiya is a sailing boat, not a cruise ship. Twenty guests at most, no engine noise for much of the day, and a crew that outnumbers the guests on some departures. The Swan sails from $1,129 per person. That sits in luxury territory on price but it buys something different: fewer people and a slower river, rather than a bigger boat.
What is not in the price
Drinks are the main one. Meals are included, but anything from the bar is charged separately, and that includes bottled water beyond the bottle left in your cabin each day. Optional tours are extra: Abu Simbel, the balloon over the West Bank at sunrise, Dendera and Abydos, the sound and light shows. We arrange them and quote them when you ask, and none of them are compulsory.
Then there is tipping. In Egypt it is ordinary courtesy rather than an extra charge, and for the crew, the drivers and the guides it is a real part of what they live on. We put guideline amounts on your itinerary before you travel so that nobody has to guess, and you are welcome to ask us directly. We do not add it to the bill and we do not publish a figure here, because it is yours to decide.
What moves the number
Three things decide how much a Nile cruise costs, in order. The ship, which is the range you can see above. The date, because the Nile has a busy season and a quiet one and the same cabin is not the same price in both. And how many of you there are: the published prices assume two people sharing, so a single traveller pays a supplement and a third person in a cabin usually pays less.
Booking early helps, though less than people expect. The bigger saving comes from being flexible about which ship, not about when.
Why we publish these at all
Most Nile cruise websites show a single “from” price and make you send an enquiry to learn anything more. We put three nights and four nights on every ship page, in writing, so that you can compare them before you talk to anyone. We would rather you arrived at the enquiry already knowing how much a Nile cruise costs.
We work with around 250 vessels on the river, so if the ship you want is not one of the thirty-seven priced here, ask and we will price it.
The three programmes are written out day by day: three nights from Aswan, four nights from Luxor, and the full week. The ships themselves are listed by class: standard, deluxe and luxury. And if you are still deciding how long to go for, we have written that up separately: three nights, four nights or a week. And if you want Cairo in the same trip, Egypt tours with a Nile cruise explains how the two halves fit together.
Once you know roughly what you want to spend, how to book a Nile cruise without overpaying sets out the order to decide things in and what to ask before you pay a deposit.
