Mövenpick Nile cruises: Royal Lily, Hamees, Sun Ray, Darakum and Prince Abbas

A Mövenpick Nile cruise is a safe, well-run 5-star choice with clear published timetables, but "Mövenpick" covers eight very different vessels, and the right one depends on your dates. Hamees is the one that sails all summer, Royal Lily and Royal Lotus are the flagship pair, Darakum is the only ship running a scheduled long cruise from Cairo, and Prince Abbas sails Lake Nasser.

Mövenpick Nile cruise fleet: which ship is which

Mövenpick's own page lists eight "Nile Cruisers". The plan most bookers need is simpler: four ships do the classic Luxor ⇄ Aswan run, one does the long Cairo cruise in spring and autumn, one sails Lake Nasser, and two are niche products booked on request.

Royal Lotus is a Mövenpick ship. It has nothing to do with the other "Royal" ships on the river; our Royal ships page untangles those.

The ships: cabins, suites and pools

Royal Lily and Royal Lotus are the twin flagships: cabins of about 22 m², a sun-deck pool, and Royal Suites (four on Royal Lily, two on Royal Lotus). On Royal Lotus a Deluxe Cabin takes up to three people and a Royal Suite up to four, useful for families. Royal Lily also has a spa.

Hamees has 66 cabins and suites with full-height French windows, except on the lower deck. Its Classic cabins there have two closed portholes, which is the single biggest downside in the fleet: book Superior or Deluxe if you want to see the river. The six suites are generous, from 36.7 m² Junior Suites on the main deck to 43.4 m² Executive Suites on the top deck, each with two bathrooms.

Sun Ray (spelled "Sunray" in some Mövenpick documents) has 62 cabins and suites, eight of them suites of 34–39 m². It is the fleet's Thursday ship, which matters if your flights don't fit a Monday or Friday start.

Darakum has 52 cabins and suites in a Moroccan style, with Senior Suites of 34–40 m² and two Panorama Suites. It is the long-cruise ship.

SS Misr was built in 1918 for the British Royal Navy and later converted into a Nile steamer for King Farouk. It has 16 cabins and 8 suites and a sun-deck pool, and is booked by e-mail for charter-style trips. SB Feddya is a 4-suite sailing boat, Mövenpick's take on the dahabiya, sailed on tailor-made trips of four to seven nights.

Mövenpick Nile cruise itinerary: Luxor to Aswan and back

Mövenpick publishes its short-cruise timetable day by day. The one below is Darakum's winter programme; Royal Lily, Royal Lotus and Hamees leave Luxor on the same Monday, but check your own ship's day-by-day.

The 3-night downstream trip from Aswan on Friday is where Mövenpick does better than some rivals. Day 1 afternoon (from 13:30) covers the High Dam, Philae and the Unfinished Obelisk. On day 2 the ship sails at 03:00, visits Kom Ombo at 07:00 and Edfu at 13:00, then heads for Luxor through the Esna lock. Day 3 is the West Bank at 07:00 and Karnak and Luxor Temple at 14:30. You check out at 08:00 on day 4 with everything seen, so an early flight home works. On the same route, Sonesta leaves Karnak for the morning after check-out.

Kom Ombo comes at 15:30 on the upstream trip here, so you see it in daylight rather than lit up at night. Both directions pass the Esna lock. If the lock is shut or the queue is long, operators move passengers by coach between Luxor and Esna.

Darakum: the long cruise from Cairo

Darakum is the only ship running a scheduled Cairo ⇄ Aswan cruise. Southbound it takes 14 nights from Cairo, northbound 12 nights from Aswan, from mid-February to mid-November, with no long cruises in June–August or December–January. There are six or seven departures each way a year. The route includes Coptic Cairo, Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, Beni Hassan, Tell el-Amarna, Abydos and Dendera, and passes three locks. In winter, as the water level drops on the Cairo stretch, Darakum switches to short Luxor–Aswan cruises. Riviera Travel sells the southbound trip in the UK as "Wonders of the Nile" from £7,589 per person with flights. Read more in Nile cruises from Cairo.

Prince Abbas on Lake Nasser

Prince Abbas sails above the High Dam on the same rhythm as Steigenberger's Omar El Khayam: 4 nights from Aswan on Monday, 3 nights from Abu Simbel on Friday, check-in 13:00. Southbound, it stops at Kalabsha, Wadi es-Sebua and Amada (with Derr and the tomb of Pennut), passes Qasr Ibrim for 15 minutes of photos from the sun deck, takes in Abu Simbel from the water, then docks for the visit and an optional sound and light show at 20:00. Its page mentions no pool. See Lake Nasser cruises.

Mövenpick Nile cruise prices

Mövenpick publishes no fares on its ship pages; rates come from the Accor booking engine or by e-mail to each ship. Agencies such as Memphis Tours sell Royal Lotus inside their own packages, and in the UK Riviera Travel sells the Darakum long cruise from £7,589 per person with flights.

What the rate covers: full board, which on Mövenpick means four meals a day (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner). The bars sell drinks, but Mövenpick's pages do not say any are included. Ask in writing whether guided visits and entry fees are in your rate. Suites on Hamees, Sun Ray and Darakum come with 10 % off sightseeing, which suggests excursions are charged on direct bookings. If they are not included, budget EGP 4,060 per adult for the eight sites of a standard cruise, at the official prices on egymonuments.com.

Optional extras listed by Mövenpick include a Nubian village visit, a felucca ride and Abu Simbel from Aswan.

No platform sells a Mövenpick ship by name. The closest comparable cruise is a 3-night Aswan → Luxor on a "5-star ship or similar", which costs from $450 on GetYourGuide:

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide3 nightsFrom Aswan

From Aswan: 4-Day Nile Cruise to Luxor with Abu Simbel and Balloon Flight

4.5 (555)

from $580Check dates

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide2 nightsFrom Aswan

From Aswan: 3-Day Cruise to Luxor with Hot Air Balloon

4.3 (657)

from $1,000Check dates

⛵ Aswan

GetYourGuide3 nightsFrom Aswan

From Aswan: 4-Day Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor with Guide

4.3 (654)

from $450Check dates

⛵ Luxor

Headout4 nightsFrom Luxor

From Luxor: 5-Day Nile Cruise with Hot-Air Balloon Ride & Abu Simbel Visit

No reviews yet

from $590Check dates

Prices checked on 19 October 2026

The 3-night cruise with Abu Simbel and a balloon flight on two platforms:

GetYourGuide is the cheaper of the two today and has 555 reviews; the ship, cabin and inclusions may differ between listings. For how the price bands compare across classes, see Nile cruise prices.

What to check before booking

We have not collected guest reviews for this fleet, so here is what a booker should check instead.

• Which ship, which deck. On Hamees, avoid the lower-deck Classic cabins unless portholes don't bother you.
• Where you board. Hamees, Sun Ray and Darakum use a private Mövenpick dock in Luxor's Al Bughdadi district, about 15 km south of Luxor airport, not the Corniche by Luxor Temple. Check transfer times if you are arriving by train or late flight.
• Summer dates. From June to August, Hamees is the Luxor–Aswan ship that keeps sailing; Royal Lily, Royal Lotus and Sun Ray pause.
• Christmas and New Year. Darakum marks these as peak-period departures. Expect a compulsory New Year's Eve gala supplement on many ships; ask whether yours has one.
• Tips. No Mövenpick figure is published; agencies suggest roughly US$5–10 per person per night for the crew and US$10–15 per person per day for your guide.

How to book a Mövenpick Nile cruise

1. Pick the ship by date: Monday from Luxor or Friday from Aswan for Royal Lily, Royal Lotus or Hamees; Thursday from Luxor or Monday from Aswan for Sun Ray.
2. Book on the Accor engine via movenpick.accor.com or e-mail the ship: Royal Lotus, Prince Abbas and SS Misr list their own addresses.
3. Ask for the inclusions in writing: excursions, entry fees, transfers.
4. Or book a package: Memphis Tours sells Royal Lotus with guiding; Riviera Travel sells the Darakum long cruise with flights from the UK.

If you would rather book a comparable cruise with free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead on most bookings, the platform listings above are the alternative. Multi-day cruises may have different terms, so check the listing.

Alternatives to Mövenpick

• Steigenberger: five ships, each on its own weekday, including Omar El Khayam on Lake Nasser; sightseeing is charged at check-in on direct bookings.
• Sonesta St. George: the same Monday/Friday rhythm, sold direct like a hotel room.
• Semiramis: cheaper agency packages with entry fees included.
• For the comparison across the river, start with the ships hub or the best Nile cruises.

Mövenpick Nile cruise FAQ