Luxury Nile- Oberoi or Sonesta?

[Northern Residence]

I'm planning a Nile cruise for fall of 2011 for a special anniversary and am looking for a luxury ship with balconies. The two that seem most interesting are the Oboroi Philae and the Sonesta Moon Goddess. The amount of info on line is overwhelming- has anyone sailed on either of these?

[shoshona2]

Hi,

 

Welcome to this wonderful Cruise Critic Board.

 

My TA has been on Oberoi and said she felt like she was "Queen of the Nile". I suggest you visit an upscale travel agency and ask them which one is better for your special anniversary!!

 

Happy anniversary! We just celebrated our 50th in June.

 

Sheila

[jmlh]

We are celebrating our 40th next fall and are also planning on visiting Egypt. Both cruise ships look wonderful but I would have to give the nod to the Oboroi. Would also like to stay at the Mena House in Cairo. Have you found a company that combines both? We are just starting to research so any tips are much appreciated.:)

[shoshona2]

Hi Jmlh,

 

We took Tauck's Egypt/Jordan tour last November with a three day Nile River Cruise on A&K's Nile Adventurer and stayed at the Mena House Oberoi in Cairo for three nights near the Pyramids. It was wonderful -- they even have a trip just to Egypt and a four day Nile River Cruise. Go to their website and check it out.

 

Sheila

[Northern Residence]

I posted earlier asking about Oberoi vs Sonesta on the Nile. Am looking for any info on high end ships. There seems to be very little info on this forum about the Nile. Is this not a popular destination?

[texancruzer]

I think it is a very hot destination right now. Everybody and their uncles are going to Egypt........ including us :D

 

But this website is really more about cruising - as in big ship cruising - but happens to have this small area that we all cling to :o

 

If you go to Tripadvisor and search "nile cruises" a few items will come up. There are a couple about the Oberoi and Sonesta ones. Hope this helps.

[mariners]

jmlh,

We received information that the Mena House Palace Section will be closed for some renovation as of July 2011. If this location in the Mena house was important to you, you should check with your agent about the status. We have booked the Oberoi for next November.

[jmlh]

mariners,

 

Thanks so much for the hotel information. I think we will be going Oct. - Nov. as these seem to be better weather months. Are you booking each segment independently or have you found a company that offers hotel and cruise? We are also thinking about pre or post in Jordan. How about you?

[mariners]

We looked at a variety of companies that offered packaged itineraries for hotels where we thought we'd like to stay and also included the Oberoi Philae. Based on information I found during my research, and after checking references, we chose to book independently through South Sinai Travel who are located in Egypt. We sent them the outline of an itinerary and hotels and asked for their input on some areas and cost. We do not take our trip until next November and planned this as a pre-cruise land segment as we will be embarking on the Regent Voyager at the end of the land segment.

Some of the companies I checked out were Ker & Downey, Travcoa, A & K, Balesworldwide (out of England), Travel Egypt, Homeric Tours, and Cox and Kings. Hope this helps.

[jmlh]

mariners,

 

 

Many thanks for the travel company names as I was having difficulty in finding the hotels/ship that I wanted. I now have my work cut out for me! Will keep you posted on my progress.

[provedor]

I'm planning a Nile cruise for fall of 2011 for a special anniversary and am looking for a luxury ship with balconies. The two that seem most interesting are the Oboroi Philae and the Sonesta Moon Goddess. The amount of info on line is overwhelming- has anyone sailed on either of these?

 

We sailed on the Philae in March following 9/11 - so it was 10 years ago..

Cant recall balconies but we spent most of our time either on the top deck near the misters or in the lounge watching the scenery and other boats - of which there are MANY the Philae was superior to most at that time.

 

The service and tours from the ship were quite good.

 

There were quite a few ships sailing the same times with quite often "races" to get to lock etc. This can make the air thick with diesel fumes. The local souvenier vendors are boat based and throw their samples to the top deck. You can then haggle. Some throw rugs are quite well priced and we still use our regularly.

 

This is all I can recall sorry no help on balconies..

 

Enjoy your trip

[Northern Residence]

You say you are booked on Oberoi in Nov. Is that the Philae or the Zahra?

[Cruzinbabe06]

Northern Residence, we too are trying to decide between the two Nile Lines. Sonesta is offering the 3 night Moon Goddess for $834.00. That is an awesome rate. It is also the 60 day Advance rate that is very restricted. The rooms have balconies, which is a plus.

 

Have to call Oberoi for their rate. We are a group of coworkers planning a vacation for September 2011. If Oberoi can give us a similar rate, for a balcony, I would go with them. They have a private dock in all cities. I think both lines are 5 star.

 

I'll come back and share any info I find.

[Northern Residence]

Cruzinbabe, that is an awesome rate for the Moon Goddess. Not sure Oberoi can match that!

We finally decided, after much agonizing and researching , on the six night itinerary on the Oberoi Zahra in one of their two suites. It is a much more modern and sleek ship which appeals to my husband vs the Colonial feel of the Philae. And we like that Oberoi has their own docks so you"re not stacked six deep and smelling diesel fumes.

Would love to hear what you decide and any input you have. We cruise in November.

[piscean]

We have been on several Nile Cruises, our last on Sonesta George 1 which was excellent. The balconies on the Nile boats are Juliette style not full balconies even in the Suites which we enjoyed on the Sonesta.

[YoungDubFan]

I did a cruise on the Sonesta Moon Goddess in Feb. 2009. It was a wonderful ship and cruise. The food was very good and no one in our group got sick. The staff were wonderful and we had no problems conversing in English. We each received a 1 L bottle of water each day, but this may have been part of our deal with General Tours. The balconies were full balconies and were nice. We spent most of the time cruising up on the top deck however. For any one who is thinking about a Nile Cruise, don't be surprised to find that the ships tie up alongiside each other at the docks. There were times when we had to cross through 3-4 ships to get to our boat. It was nice to be able to see the lobbies of all of the different ships.