Aggressor Launches River Cruise - The Nile Queen

[KathyV]

First Cruise on July 21, 2018, see below:

Aggressor Fleet® | Official Site | Liveaboard Scuba Dive Yacht Trips

 

[Dogbowl]

I have always wanted to do a Nile cruise but have never gotten the chance. I haven’t done a price or value comparison between this boat and the many others that are available. I’m not too impressed with the pictures but maybe it’s good value?

 

[runsongas]

really should include abu simbel and a stop at giza on the way out. some of the bigger cruise boats are a lot less money.

Farah Nile Cruise | River Nile Cruise

 

[scubadada]

really should include abu simbel and a stop at giza on the way out. some of the bigger cruise boats are a lot less money.

Farah Nile Cruise | River Nile Cruise

@runsongas is right on. In February of 2016, my wife and I did a 2 week trip to Cairo, the Nile from Luxor to Aswan, and Abu Simbel. It was the most interesting and educational trip we have taken. The Nile cruise was wonderful but the visit to Abu Simbel was the highlight and the time in Cairo/Giza is not to be missed. If I were to do the Aggressor cruise, I would add on the Abu Simbel visit and spend a couple days in Cairo before departing for home. Having just 16 passengers on the boat would be a real plus, we had only 10. I would make sure they have a good Egyptologist/guide to lead the visits. It is actually a great time to visit as Egypt is not overrun with tourists. We were literally the only visitors to some of the sites, it was never crowded.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Will they be able to fill this boat? We noticed so many cruise boats apparently mothballed around Luxor when we were there in December. It appeared to us that the downturn in tourism decimated the river cruise business. I didn't look at the price, but their liveaboard pricing is only competitive with the others when they offer those 40-50% off special weeks. It was a 40% off special that prompted us to book with Aggressor rather than one of the others. I suppose the idea is to offer a niche, luxury experience to the same well-heeled North Americans who tend to be loyal to the Aggressor brand.

I have been intrigued by the boat that was featured in Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile. Our tour guide said it's still in service.

 

[Damselfish]

presumably the boat is a franchised Aggressor like most of them, and the owners see this as a way to market to a different group of customers than they would get to otherwise - perhaps in hopes of not being one of the mothballed ships? And/or maybe a turnkey way of easily handling US bookings if they didn't already have one. I could see them marketing combo Red Sea liveaboards and river cruise bundles.

 

[Lorenzoid]

presumably the boat is a franchised Aggressor like most of them, and the owners see this as a way to market to a different group of customers than they would get to otherwise - perhaps in hopes of not being one of the mothballed ships? And/or maybe a turnkey way of easily handling US bookings if they didn't already have one.

All of the American guests I can recall talking to about it on the Red Sea Aggressor trip we took in December had booked side trips to see the Nile sites. We booked our sightseeing trip to the Luxor area via Aggressor's travel arm, and as a result, our land-based tour seemed to be reasonably integrated/coordinated with the liveaboard. So one might guess that they hope to put together complete packages of diving, river cruise, and land-based tour. I'm a little cynical about pricing (see comment above), but I can't say I would not have given something like that consideration. There's something to be said for hitting the Easy button.

 

[Dogbowl]

All of the American guests I can recall talking to about it on the Red Sea Aggressor trip we took in December had booked side trips to see the Nile sites. We booked our sightseeing trip to the Luxor area via Aggressor's travel arm, and as a result, our land-based tour seemed to be reasonably integrated/coordinated with the liveaboard. So one might guess that they hope to put together complete packages of diving, river cruise, and land-based tour. I'm a little cynical about pricing (see comment above), but I can't say I would not have given something like that consideration. There's something to be said for hitting the Easy button.

Easy button is good, especially as I get older, but I looked at the regular prices and the “luxuriousness” of that boat and wasn’t too impressed. Kinda scratching my head actually compared to some of the other options available. Maybe that is the price you pay for easy.

 

[Sunn]

really should include abu simbel and a stop at giza on the way out. some of the bigger cruise boats are a lot less money.

Farah Nile Cruise | River Nile Cruise

You're right, quite expensive pricing...