Splendors of Egypt & the Nile

Landmarks

The ancient Egyptians’ massive Pyramids of Giza are one of the world’s greatest feats of engineering. Behold their awe-inspiring architectural precision up close when you visit Cairo, even entering one of the pyramids. While the pyramids honored their dead, the temples honored their gods. The impressive Philae Temple complex is one such example, where the Temple of Isis is dedicated to the goddess of love and healing. If you opt for the Masterpiece Collection pre-itinerary excursion to Alexandria, you’ll embark on a sightseeing expedition to the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, the largest and most important royal cemetery in Egypt.

Cuisine

Since antiquity, the Nile River and its fertile banks have served up a bounty of vegetables, fruits, and seafood—a quality our ships in Egypt highlight, serving up delicious cuisine made from ingredients grown fresh at their own farm. Add in spices like saffron, cinnamon, and mint, and you have a menu of gastronomic delights. These flavors give familiar Arabic dishes—hummus, falafel, grilled meats—a distinctively Egyptian twist. Koshari, Cairo’s most popular street food, is made of rice, pasta, and lentils, topped with tomato sauce, garlic, and vinegar, then garnished with chickpeas and fried onions. Pair baklava with a warming cup of Egyptian tea and you have a dessert to remember.

Wildlife

See what life lives in and along the banks of the Nile on a bird-watching excursion. As the motorboat winds its way along the river, be on the lookout for colorful native birds, different species of herons, kingfishers, vultures, sunbirds, and other wildlife that thrive in the marsh grass along the riverbanks like Nile crocodiles and hippos.

Landscapes

For millennia, the Nile River has provided a rich environment for some of the country’s most iconic flora. This ancient world comes to life when you set sail in a felucca—a small traditional boat with large triangular sails. As you cruise the world’s longest river, you’ll have views of bamboo and papyrus, the long-stemmed plant topped with a fan-shaped cluster of spikelet flowers often depicted in Egyptian temples.

How to pack: Bring lightweight, breathable fabrics to stay comfortable in the warm weather. Long sleeves, sunglasses, hats, and ankle-length pants will help protect you from the strong sun. Please keep in mind that revealing clothing is frowned upon. You are required to cover your arms and legs while visiting a mosque. In the winter months, you may wish to bring a jacket for morning excursions, when temperatures can be as low as 50º F / 10º C.

When to go: Spring usually sees sunny and warm weather with occasional rain while summer can be extremely hot and dry. Somewhat cooler days and even cooler evenings in autumn and winter make it an ideal time to visit.

Kindly inform us in advance if you have specific dietary requests (e.g., low-fat, low-calorie, gluten-free, sugar-free, vegetarian, etc.). This information can be provided to us when completing your Passenger Information Form. We have a “Travelling Lite” menu for guests seeking more health-conscious options, as well as light lunches, vegetarian options, and generous buffets that offer something for everyone. We will do our very best to accommodate your needs given the resources available to us.

Europe, Asia, India, and Egypt: Guests should be 4 years of age or older. Guests who are less than 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and booked in a cabin with someone who is 21 years of age or older.

It’s best to pack for a range of weather conditions, depending on the season and regions visited. Wearing layers will allow you to easily adjust to temperature changes. Limiting your wardrobe to a simple mix-and-match color scheme will keep your bags to a minimum.

We recommend wearing comfortable, smart-casual clothing both onshore and onboard. We also suggest sturdy walking shoes, as you will do a significant amount of walking on shore excursions, often over cobblestones or uneven terrain. A sun hat, rain gear, and a coat or wrap for chilly evenings are useful items to have. For dining ashore, concerts, special events onboard, etc., men may want to bring a sports jacket and women a cocktail dress or pantsuit. Neckties are optional. Please note that shorts are not allowed at dinner aboard the ship.

Most ships have either a self-serve laundrette (with ironing board) or laundry service for an additional fee. Please contact info@uniworld.com to find out what services your ship offers. No dry cleaning services are available on any ship.

For the comfort of all our guests, smoking is only permitted on the sun decks of our ships. Smoking is not permitted on motorcoaches. This policy applies to all forms of smoking materials including vapor e-cigarettes.

We also ask guests to refrain from smoking on shore excursions/tours, especially since many historical sites and other tourist attractions are now smoke-free as well.

Select ships offer complimentary Wi-Fi access. Please email us at info@uniworld.com to find out if Wi-Fi is available onboard. Service may be briefly interrupted in remote areas, while sailing, or when moving through locks, and the speed will likely be slower than what you are used to back home.

Travel has provided us the chance to give back and lift up others, and we strive to do so whenever possible. We focus on making a positive impact and advocating for environmental, social and economic responsibility with the help of our not-for-profit TreadRight Foundation. Founded in 2008 by our parent company, The Travel Corporation, our collective mission is to safeguard people, wildlife and the planet for generations to come and to #MakeTravelMatter.

People

We work with local artisans and small business everywhere we travel, so we can bring you authentic local experiences while also supporting the livelihoods of the people who make these communities special.

Planet

Every year, we find more ways to cut back on our carbon footprint, from committing to eliminate more than 60 types of single-use plastics to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 or sooner and ensuring that at least 50% of our electricity is renewable by 2025.

Wildlife

Partnering with leading wildlife organizations, we work to protect and rehabilitate elephant, rhino and big cat populations around the world, while also educating our guests on ethical wildlife experiences.

We’re Committed to Carbon Neutrality by 2030 or Sooner

Our five-point plan starts with Measuring our emissions in order to Reduce and Offset our carbon footprint, supports third-party efforts to Remove the existing carbon in the atmosphere and forms critical partnerships so that we continue to Evolve. We’re also ensuring that at least 50% of our electricity is renewable by 2025.

You can get involved too! With our leading carbon offset provider, South Pole, you can purchase carbon offsets to cancel out the emissions produced by your travel. They have 700+ high quality and verifiable offset projects to choose from around the world.

Make Travel Matter® experiences

On our cruises and trips across our TTC family of brands, we offer a selection of included MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experiences. They are chosen for the positive environmental or social impact they have on the guests who experience them, and the people and places they visit, and they support one or more of the United Nation’s Global Goals.

Make Travel Matter® pledge

We’ve partnered with TreadRight and The Travel Corporation to launch the MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Pledge. Uniworld employees, alongside our 10,000 colleagues across 42 travel brands worldwide, have been asked to take this pledge to make travel matter and help protect people, the planet and wildlife. As travellers, travel providers and members of the global travel industry, this pledge serves as the next step in our long-standing commitment to sustainable tourism and conscious travel.

Say Goodbye to Single-Use Plastics

It is estimated that an additional eight million tons of plastic pour into our oceans every year. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, if nothing is done to push back against the deluge of plastics currently overwhelming our oceans there could be more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050.

Under the guidance of The Travel Corporation and TreadRight, we will ban more than 60 types of single-use plastics across all operations—including straws, water bottles and plastic bags—by 2022. It’s all part of our commitment to ensure the environment remains vibrant for generations to come.