A Nile cruise is quoted by the cabin for the whole sailing, which makes two boats impossible to compare as quoted. Put in one unit — one person sharing a double cabin, per night — our 2026 rates for six ships run from $144 to $258 a night. Almost all of that gap is the season and the length of the cruise. Within one season and one length, the six ships sit within $33 a night of each other.
What a night on the Nile costs, ship by ship
Per person sharing a double cabin, on our published 2026 rates, divided by the number of nights and rounded to the dollar. Winter and summer are the rate sheet's own two seasons; it gives no dates for them, so neither do we.
| Ship | 3 nights, winter | 4 nights, winter | 3 nights, summer | 4 nights, summer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellie | $242 | $213 | $200 | $175 |
| M/S Ciela | $258 | $238 | $170 | $150 |
| M/Y Alyssa | $258 | $231 | $183 | $163 |
| M/S Chateau Lafayette | $258 | $225 | $167 | $144 |
| M/S Alma | $242 | $219 | $175 | $144 |
| M/S Nile Treasure | $233 | $206 | $175 | $144 |
For the whole cruise those rates come to $500 to $950 per person: the cheapest is three nights on Chateau Lafayette in summer, and the dearest four nights on Ciela in winter.
The season matters more than the ship
Moving the same cabin from winter to summer takes 17% to 35% off the three-night fare and 18% to 37% off the four-night one. Changing ship, inside one season and one length, moves it by $25 to $33 a night — a tenth of the price at the top of the table, a fifth at the bottom. Whoever is choosing on price alone is choosing a month, not a boat.
The fourth night is the cheapest one you buy
Read across the table and the four-night figure is below the three-night one on every ship, in both seasons: a median $222 a night against $250 in winter, and $147 against $175 in summer. The extra night is time aboard rather than another temple — which direction it falls on, and what it adds to the total, is in Luxor to Aswan or Aswan to Luxor.
Travelling alone costs nearly two fares
The sheet prices a single cabin at $900 to $1,650, which is 71% to 90% more than one person's half of a double. That is the single supplement, and on a cruise there is no way round it: the cabin sails whether one person or two are in it.
A third bed saves very little
On 16 of the 24 rates a triple cabin is cheaper per person than a double — by up to $83 — on three it is the same to the dollar, and on five it is dearer, by up to $34. Three travellers sharing a cabin are buying floor space rather than a discount.
What the fare includes
On every boat we sell the price covers the cabin, three meals a day, soft drinks, the entrance tickets, a guide and the transfers at both ends. Crew tips and Abu Simbel are not in it and come to $170–$200 more per person; what is included in a Nile cruise itemises both. A sailing dahabiya is a different market again, from $692 per person a night: dahabiya or Nile cruise compares the two.
Where these figures come from
Our own August 2026 cruise rate sheet, which prices each cabin for the whole cruise; every figure above halves the double-cabin total and divides by the nights. No price here is inferred from a sister ship, and a vessel the sheet does not price is not in the table. The ships themselves are on the Nile cruises page, and the same rates beside every other trip we sell, in one comparable unit, are in the Egypt Travel Price Index.
Written by the Travel To Egypt team, Nazlet Al-Zanati Street, Luxor.