On every one of the 40 boats we sell — 35 cruise ships and 5 dahabiyas — the price includes the same things: your cabin, breakfast, lunch and dinner, non-alcoholic drinks all day, entrance tickets to the sites on the programme, a guide, transport on the visits, and transfers between the boat and the airport or the railway station, both ways. What it leaves out is flights, the visa, alcohol, tips and Abu Simbel. On our 2026 rates, the crew tip and a trip to Abu Simbel add $170–$200 per person to a three- or four-night cruise — more than a third of the cheapest fare.
What the price includes
The business confirmed this list on 17 September 2026 for every boat on our Nile cruises page. It does not change from ship to ship, or between a cruise ship and a dahabiya.
| Item | In the price? | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Cabin | Included | For every night of the cruise |
| Meals | Included | Breakfast, lunch and dinner |
| Non-alcoholic drinks | Included | All day, not only with meals |
| Entrance tickets | Included | For the sites on the programme |
| Guide | Included | On the visits |
| Transport on the visits | Included | To and from the sites on the programme |
| Transfers | Included | Airport or railway station to the boat, and back |
| Alcoholic drinks | Not included | — |
| Tips | Not included | For the crew: $10–$15 per person per night |
| Abu Simbel | Not included | An optional trip, booked separately |
| Flights | Not included | International and domestic |
| Egypt visa | Not included | Arranged by the traveller |
What that costs
Per person, sharing a double cabin, for the whole cruise, everything in the list above included. These are the five ships of the forty that are priced on our published 2026 rate sheet; winter and summer are the sheet's own two seasons.
| Cruise | Summer | Winter |
|---|---|---|
| 3 nights | $500–$550 | $700–$775 |
| 4 nights | $575–$650 | $825–$950 |
Dahabiyas include the same list and are priced by the night instead: $692 or $807 per person per night, and $1,153 or $1,268 for Christmas and New Year departures, depending on the boat.
What you add on top
Two things outside the price have a figure on this site: the crew tip, and Abu Simbel. Added to the cheapest cruise fare on the sheet, per person:
| 3 nights | 4 nights | |
|---|---|---|
| Crew tips, at $10–$15 a night | $30–$45 | $40–$60 |
| Abu Simbel by road from Aswan | $140 | $140 |
| Added to the fare | $170–$185 | $180–$200 |
| Cheapest fare, summer | $500 | $575 |
| The extras, as a share of it | 34–37% | 31–35% |
The crew tip is the guideline for a Nile cruise in our tipping guide, left in one envelope at the end and shared among the crew. A tip for your guide is separate: $15–$25 a day per couple or group, in the same guide, so it is not counted per person here. The Abu Simbel figure is our own eight-hour day trip by road from Aswan, from $140 per person. Alcohol, flights and the visa are in neither total, because we publish no price for them.
Before you compare cruise prices
- Compare the same list. Ours includes the tickets, the guide and three meals a day. A fare that leaves any of them out is a different product, not a cheaper one.
- Budget the tips. For the crew, $10–$15 per person per night is $30–$60 on a three- or four-night cruise, and the guide is tipped on top.
- Abu Simbel is extra on every boat. It is not in the price of any of the 40; by road from Aswan it takes eight hours.
- A dahabiya is not more inclusive. The list is the same; what changes is the boat and the price.
Where these figures come from
The list of what is and is not included was confirmed by the business on 17 September 2026 and applies to all 40 boats on the Nile cruises page. Cruise fares are from our 2026 cruise rate sheet (August 2026), which prices each cabin for the whole cruise; the figures above divide the double-cabin total by two. Dahabiya rates are quoted in euro per person per night and converted at 1.153, the rate sourced on 14 August 2026. The tipping guidelines are from our guide to tipping in Egypt, and the Abu Simbel price is our Abu Simbel day trip. The same fares beside every other trip we sell are in the Egypt Travel Price Index; which way to sail is in Luxor to Aswan or Aswan to Luxor, and the two kinds of boat are compared in dahabiya or Nile cruise.
Written by the Travel To Egypt team, Nazlet Al-Zanati Street, Luxor.
