The query I’m requested probably the most as a cruise journalist and blogger is, “What’s your favourite cruise you’ve ever taken?” I’ve by no means had a solution, till now.
I’ve cruised all world wide from the Caribbean to Southeast Asia and Europe. I’ve taken over 80 cruises and visited greater than 40 nations over the previous 10-15 years.
Whereas I’ve by no means had one explicit favourite cruise, I did have a listing of 10 which have stood out greater than the others. They’re:
- 7-day Hawaii on Norwegian’s Delight of America
- 7-day Iceland with Viking
- 7-day Southern Caribbean with Royal Caribbean
- 13-day Mediterranean with Holland America Line
- 7-day Christmas markets river cruise on Viking
- 7-day Alaska with Princess Cruises
- 4-day Southeast Asia on Royal Caribbean
- 4-day Bahamas on NCL (my first cruise)
- 7-day Mediterranean with Virgin
- 3-day Bahamas on Disney
A pair weeks in the past, Viking invited me to Egypt for the christening of two new river ships for the Nile River and preview cruise to get a pattern of their 12-day Pharaohs & Pyramids itinerary.
After spending six days in Egypt with Viking, right here is why this cruise is now my favourite cruise I’ve ever taken.
The journey begins with three nights in Cairo so that you get two full days there with an tour included every day. On our preview journey, we stayed two nights and crammed as a lot as we may into the one full day we had.
The map beneath from Viking reveals the complete 12-day itinerary.
Our day in Cairo began off by visiting the Pyramids of Giza and the Nice Sphinx. This was a dream come true for me as I’ve needed to go to the pyramids each since I used to be somewhat child.
Right here’s a number of photographs I took as we stopped at a number of areas across the pyramids together with an up shut take a look at the Nice Pyramid of Giza.
An non-obligatory tour in Cairo is a visit to the outside Khan el-Khalili Market at evening that features a conventional dinner at a neighborhood restaurant. We did this within the night and I beloved each second of it. There’s simply one thing about evening markets that means that you can soak in native tradition.
Whereas in Cairo, additionally, you will go to The Egyptian Museum, also called the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. This was one in every of my favourite locations to go to within the metropolis. It’s full of historic artifacts that vary from sarcophagi to statues to mummies.
After visiting Cairo, you’re taking a one hour constitution flight to Luxor to start the cruise portion of the journey.
Our cruise was on Viking Sobek, one in every of six customized constructed Viking river ships for the Nile River. You may take a picture tour of the ship right here. The ship solely has 41 cabins and a most capability of 82 visitors. It rapidly turned my favourite river ship I’ve ever sailed on.
After the primary day on the Nile River, I noticed that this was not a visit of a lifetime, however THE journey of a lifetime.
“The Journey of a lifetime”
One of many issues that blew me away is the situation of the temples that you just go to alongside the Nile. Due to the dry local weather and attributable to lots of the temples being buried in sand over time, they’re very properly preserved in comparison with different temples world wide (Greece, Rome and many others.).
The Hathor Temple on the Dendera Temple Advanced in Qena the top-of-the-line preserved temples in all of Egypt.
As you sail on the Nile, Egyptian enrichment classes take that embody the next:
- Presentation on Egypt and the Nile
- Hieroglyphics class
- Falafel making class
- Presentation on Medication in Egypt
One of many greatest highlights of the cruise was visiting the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. We went inside King Tut’s tomb and had been capable of go to three different tombs of our alternative.
If you go to the Valley of the Kings, make sure that to go to the tomb of Ramses III. The dimensions of it and the etchings on the wall are simply unbelievable.
Viking additionally presents privileged entry to the tomb of Queen of Nefertari.
One distinctive function of those cruises is that many of the crew are Egyptian. One evening, I used to be speaking to a bartender and the piano participant and so they had been telling me about completely different locations in Egypt that I ought to go to. They appeared to know all the things about the place we had been visiting.
I requested one in every of them the place he lived and he stated he lives lower than a ten minute stroll from the place we had been at the moment docked.
As a result of they’re from there, they’ve a data concerning the space that you just don’t discover on cruises in different elements of the world. This drastically enhances the cruise expertise.
Earlier than I used to be even dwelling from the journey, this turned my favourite cruise I’ve ever taken. It’s a type of journeys the place you gained’t be disenchanted, you’ll simply be amazed.
To seek out out extra about this unbelievable expertise that Viking presents in Egypt, you may go to their Pharaohs & Pyramids web page.
