The Spectacle of Egypt
Hosted by our CEO, Robert Drumm

Upon arrival, you’ll be met inside passport control, your visa will be provided and we’ll accompany you through formalities, pick up your luggage and chauffeur you to your Club guestroom at the 5-star Fairmont Nile Hotel. We’ll casually gather this evening to get acquainted at an open bar and light dinner. Meals D
 

Normally off limits to visitors, this morning finds us between the Paws of the Sphinx for a private field presentation with our professional Egyptologist, an enlightening and engaging speaker. We’ll also spend time at the Great Pyramids c and enjoy lunch outdoors in a delightful restaurant garden before entering the monumental Grand Egyptian Museum. We’ll be guided through the museum and have time to explore its exhibits, including the most complete display of King Tut artifacts ever presented. When the museum closes, we’ll gather for a private dinner with light music to close a truly memorable day. Meals B+L+D
 

This morning, we’ll travel two hours to Alexandria, founded in 331 BCE by namesake Alexander the Great, and arrive just in time for an outdoor seaside lunch at the city’s yacht club. This afternoon, we’ll tour the Alexandria castle and the Catacomb of Kom El Shoqafa. Only discovered in 1900, this underground complex of rock-cut tombs was used for nearly 200 years in Greco-Roman times starting in the 2nd century CE. At Pompey’s Pillar, we’ll admire the monolithic column that was erected in 300 CE to honor the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Later, we’ll arrive at the Four Seasons Hotel where sea view rooms await. We’ll gather for dinner this evening at the hotel. Meals B+L+D
 

After breakfast, our touring today begins with the city’s remarkably modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a striking landmark embellished with carved letters and hieroglyphs from more than 120 different written traditions. Following a fine lunch, we’ll visit the Roman amphitheater and also the lovely seaside Montazah Palace and Royal Gardens. This evening, we’ll join for dinner at the Four Seasons. Meals B+L+D
 

After breakfast, we depart Alexandria and arrive back in Cairo to  visit Memphis c, the ancient capital, and see the colossus of Ramses II and the Alabaster sphinx. In nearby Sakkara you’ll be amazed by King Zoser’s Step Pyramid, the world’s oldest stone building, and the 4,000-year-old Tomb of Mehu, a wealthy businessman. Following lunch, be guided through the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and its fantastic underground display of the mummies and sarcophagi of Egypt’s twenty most prominent pharaohs. Then, we’ll arrive once again at the Fairmont before gathering for dinner at the edge of the Nile. Meals B+L+D
 

After an early breakfast, we’ll transfer to the airport for our flight to Luxor where we’ll board our luxurious Nile cruiser, the Oberoi Philae, docked privately away from the rafting of other larger ships. Settle in to your spacious light-filled stateroom and then join your fellow travelers for an a la carte lunch in the ship’s inviting restaurant.
 
In mid-afternoon, our Egyptologist will guide us ashore to the great Karnak Temple c. We’ll stand before its massive pillars and admire its grand Hypostyle Hall, at 50,000 square feet it’s the largest hall of any temple in the world. We’ll continue on along the newly restored Avenue of the Sphinxes to the nearby Luxor Temple c built in the 14^th century BCE. Luxor’s temple walls are embellished with beautiful carvings of the Gods of Karnak accompanied by a festival procession of priests, musicians, dancers and sacred cows. With expert insight, our Egyptologist will provide a fascinating commentary on the culture
and belief systems in this period of ancient Egypt. We’ll return to the ship for Tea and with time to refresh before this evening’s welcome cocktail reception and dinner. Meals B+L+D
 

The Oberoi Philae’s privileged private docking allows us to step off the ship easily early this morning and cross the Nile to head west to the Valley of the Kings c before crowds of other travelers. Here, the pharaohs of the 18^th Dynasty abandoned the pyramid tradition in favor of tombs built deep in the mountainside. Sixty-four ancient Egyptian rulers were buried in tombs in this valley. Although many have been desecrated over the millennia, we’ll visit at least three that appear amazingly untouched by time, the tombs of Ramses III, Ramses VI and King Tutankhamen, the artifacts of which we have already seen in the Grand Egyptian Museum.
 
We’ll also visit the fascinating ancient Egyptian village of Deir el-Medina where more than 3,000 years ago were housed the artisans and laborers who constructed the tombs and temples in the Valley of the Kings. We’ll also stop at the Colossi of Memnon, towering statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III guarding the road to the Valley of Kings.
 
Returning to the ship at midday for an excellent lunch, the Philae will set sail for the south. We’ll transit the Lock of Esna and sail by timeless scenes of life along the Nile, passing villages, kids swimming and people pursuing their daily lives. Dinner will be served this evening as we continue to navigate toward Edfu. Meals B+L+D
 

After breakfast, we’ll join our Egyptologist ashore in Edfu to explore the Temple of Horus, the second largest temple in Egypt after Luxor and which many scholars consider to be the best preserved of them all. Rich in design, intricate in detail and ingenious in its massive construction, the extraordinary quality of every element here attests to the absolute importance of the falcon-headed god, Horus.
 
We return to the ship for lunch as it continues southward on a relaxing afternoon along the Nile, a time to enjoy all the amenities of our luxury ship and its fine staff. Following Afternoon Tea, we’ll step off at our ship’s private pier to explore the Temple of Kom Ombo. Built at a bend overlooking the Nile, where crocodiles in ancient times used to sun themselves, this temple complex is dedicated to two gods, Horus the falcon and Sobek the crocodile. Following this excursion, we’ll return to ship for dinner. Meals B+L+D
 

We’ll arrive in Aswan very early this morning and, following breakfast, we’ll join our Egyptologist for a comfortable drive across the Egyptian Desert to one of the most impressive sites of antiquity, the Temples of Abu Simbel c built to honor the achievements of Ramses II and his wife, Nefertari. We’ll arrive in time for a terrific lunch at a family-run restaurant on the shore of Lake Nasser. Then, we’ll walk a short distance to board a small boat that will take us along the shoreline to view these magnificent structures from the water from which they were rescued in the 1960’s by a consortium of UNESCO and the United States. We’ll then explore them by land.
 
The dramatic 67-foot-high figures of Ramses and Nefertari rise up from the desert, now 200 feet from their original site thus preserving them from the rising waters of Lake Nasser created by the construction of the Aswan Dam. Protecting this architectural wonder and its interior reliefs was truly a remarkable achievement as we will see. We’ll return to the Philae for a delightful dinner. Meals B+L+D
 

We’ll disembark this morning after breakfast. The High Dam at Aswan, two miles across and 300 feet tall, is an impressive achievement of modern-day Egypt, completed during the Cold War in 1970 with heavy investment by the Soviet Union. This morning’s excursion also includes a visit by boat to the lovely Temple of Philae c, like Abu Simbel rescued from the rising waters of Lake Nasser by the High Dam. Now situated on its own small island, this most charming of Egyptian temples dates from 370 BCE and is dedicated to the Goddess Isis. We’ll also visit the modern, award-winning Nubian Museum before flying back to Cairo.
 
This evening we’ll enjoy the recently renovated 5-star Waldorf Astoria, conveniently located near Cairo International Airport. We’ll gather for a casual farewell dinner. Meals B+L+D
 

We’ll be chauffeured to check-in throughout the morning for our onward flights. Meals B