- How do I make a reservation with Nour El Nil? Do you have a form or do I just send you all my details via email?
- What form of payment do you accept?
- Do you accept credit cards?
- Do you accept traveler’s checks?
- If I want to do a bank wire transfer, does it have to be the full sum?
- What denominations of currency do you accept for payment?
- Is there air conditioning on the dahabiehs?
- From the viewpoint of weather, what are the best months to travel on the Nile with you?
- What is your cancellation and refund policy?
- What is the minimum number of individuals you require for the boat to sail?
- What are the sites that we will visit during our journey along the Nile?
- Is there a guide or Egyptologist included in the cost for the tours? How many of the tours are guided?
- How many of the tours are guided?
- If we would like to hire our own guide, can we have the guide stay with us onboard the dahabieh?
- Should I be concerned with any security issues while traveling on the Nile and through Egypt?
- Which security precautions do you take for your passengers onboard the dahabiehs?
- What do you recommend that we bring for our stay in Egypt?
- Is there more than 1 deck on the dahabiehs? If so, which deck are the rooms on?
- What are the bed arrangements in your accommodations?
- Do all of the accommodations have windows?
- Do you all of the dahabiehs sail together?
- Do you moor alongside the big cruise boats?
- How many people does each dahabieh accommodate?
- Can you accommodate 3 people in any of your accommodations?
- What type of cuisine do you serve on the boats?
- Can you provide food for special diets?
- Do you have filtered water on board the boat?
- Is there a phone point of contact on the dahabiehs?
- Do you have internet onboard the dahabiehs?
- Is there electricy on the boat? What voltage is used in Egypt?
- I still have a question that has not been answered, what should I do?
You can pay either through bank wire transfer or by paying in cash upon your arrival in Luxor. For all bank wire transfers, there will be an additional fee of 25 Euro per transfer for bank processing fees.
Currently, we do not have the ability to accept credit card payments.
No, but you can change them into cash at a Thomas Cook Office or American Express Exchange Office in Luxor. The Thomas Cook Office will charge you less to exchange your American Express traveler’s cheques than American Express will.
If you are paying by bank wire transfer, you can either pay the total in one payment, or a 50% deposit and the remaining 50% no later than 35 days prior to departure. [Please note: Each bank wire transfer requires an additional €25 per transfer for bank processing fees.]
We accept US Dollars, Sterling Pounds, Euro, and Egyptian Pounds. Payments are the equivalent of the exchange rate to the Euro on the date of payment. [Exchange rate of denomination you have chosen to the Euro. Example: €1,000 = $X,XXX]
Our dahabiehs are not air conditioned. Except for the summer months, dahabiehs don’t require air-conditioning. Dahabiehs operate like a thermos due to the water around the hull, the deck and their tents/covering which keep the accommodations at comfortable temperatures.
All accommodations/bathrooms have windows, which keep it comfortably cool.
Air conditioning would also require that generators would have to be operating 24/7 which means noise that does not allow for a restful sleep, as well as possible unpleasant fuel odors from the generator operating 24/7.
Please refer to the following weather tables for both Luxor and Aswan via the following links: Luxor, Egypt and Aswan, Egypt.
As a practice, we reimburse in full for a cancellation. However, during peak times (Christmas and New Years weeks), we may be forced to retain a slight percentage of your payment.
Two passengers guarantees that the dahabieh sails.
We visit 5 sites en route: they are the Temple of Khnum in Esna, the necropolis at El Kab, the temple at Efnu, Djebel Silsileh, Kom Ombo. For more details, please see the itinerary section on our website.
We do not have an official Egyptian guide but can arrange one for you for the different sites.
We guide you through El Kab and Djebel Silsileh. The visits to the other 3 sites are unguided.
Yes, if the boat has been privatized. Otherwise, we do not have sufficient space on the boat to house guides for all of our guests. We strongly recommend that personal guides meet you at the sites, as we’ve found that having guides aboard hinders the relaxed atmosphere we are trying to create aboard our dahabiehs.
No. The Nile and Egypt are very secure destinations. If there were any danger whatsoever, we would be the first to advise our guests and friends to postpone their trip.
We are fully equipped and prepared for all possible situations, health or otherwise.
We recommend: (1) Hats, sunglasses, and suntan lotion. (2) Swimsuit. (3) Comfortable, inexpensive walking shoes. (4) For December through mid-February, sweaters and coats for the cool evenings. (5) For the occasional possibility of mosquitoes, repellant. There generally is no need for mosquito nets, but please feel free to bring your own if you like.
There is a main deck on each of the dahabiehs which houses all of our accommodations. The upper deck is more for relaxation and leisure activities.
All panoramic suites are equipped with 1 king size bed each, 1.80m x 2.10m. All other accommodations on our 4 dahabiehs are equipped with two separate beds. Each bed is 1.20m x 2.10m, which can convert into 1 large bed. [Exception: Accomodations designated as "Rooms" on El Nil are equipped with 1 Pasha bed, 2.00m x 2.10m.]
Yes, all accommodations on our 4 dahabiehs have 2 windows. All of the bathrooms have 1 window. [Exception: The 3 accommodations designated as "Rooms" on El Nil have one window and one in the bathroom.]
If more than one dahabieh is sailing on the same date, they do not travel together in convoy; all of the passengers from each dahabieh travel separately from the other dahabiehs.
No, we do not moor in any locations that the big cruise boats moor. We moor in more private, remote locations where no big cruise boat could moor due to their size. These locations are picturesque, and allow for walking in the countryside and in small towns.
The Assouan and Malouka accommodate 16 passengers (2 per room). El Nil and Meroe accommodate 20 passengers (2 per room). Please refer to the boats section of the website for more information on each dahabieh.
Not for 3 adults; however we can make exceptions for very young children traveling with their parents, or 3 young children staying in one accommodation.
We serve traditional Egyptian cuisine, with fresh ingredients that we purchase along our journey down the Nile. Examples include fish, fowl, meat, organic vegetables, rice and pasta.
Yes, we have handled many special dietary regimes, such as vegetarian, vegan, food allergies, etc. With no more than 25 people on the boat at once, our kitchen can accommodate your food preferences.
Bottled water is used for drinking purposes. Each of our dahabiehs are equipped with 4 separate and distinct water filtering systems which produce water clean enough to be drunk but is used only for brushing one's teeth, washing oneself and showering purposes. If you should prefer, you can use our bottled water to wash and brush your teeth.
Yes, you have access to our mobile phones. Please use Enrique as the primary contact point, if possible. The numbers for each mobile phone is are:
- Enrique: +20-(0)1-05-70-53-41 (Speaks: English/Spanish/French)
- Eleonore: +20(0)1-06-57-83-22 (Speaks: English/Spanish/French)
- Memdouh: +20(0)1-06-32 49-26 (Speaks English/Arabic)
In general guests do not have access to internet on the boat. In an emergency, however, we can provide guests an internet key to connect to the internet for a short while.
Yes there is electricy. The voltage used in Egypt is 220V. Electricy is on most of the day (220V) and is typically turned off when guests go to bed. During the night, however, the room are equipped with 24V lights above their beds (for reading) and in the bathroom. IMPORTANT: If you have any medical devices (e.g. hearing aids, breathing apparatus, etc.) that require electricy throughtout the night, we are *not* able to leave the generator on so please bring your own battery if it is needed.
Please visit the contact page and send us an e-mail with your question.
