Sonesta St. George Nile cruise: the boat on our luxury plan

Sonesta St. George: where it sits in our trips

Every trip we sell with a Nile cruise comes in three plans: standard, comfort and luxury. The day plan, the temples and the guiding are the same on all three. What changes is where you sleep. The standard plan uses the MS Radamis II, the comfort plan the Movenpick Royal Lily, and the luxury plan the Sonesta St. George.

On trips with nights in Cairo or Luxor, the luxury plan also moves you into that plan's hotels. So you are choosing a whole level of accommodation, and the boat is one part of it. The price shown on each trip page is the standard plan. Ask us for the luxury price when you enquire.

Our partner's documents add that changes may occur. A boat can be swapped for a comparable one, so check the boat named on your booking before you pay.

Three or four nights, and which way you sail

On our trips you spend either three or four nights on board. The direction depends on the trip you book. Three-night legs board at Aswan and leave the boat at Luxor, sailing north with the current. Four-night legs board at Luxor and finish at Aswan.

The sights are much the same either way. On the cruise-only trips they are Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple, Karnak and Luxor Temple. Only the order changes. The four-night leg gives you one more night aboard, which matters more on a boat you have paid extra for.

Sonesta's own website lists other sailing lengths for this boat (sonesta.com, checked October 2026). Our trips use only the three- and four-night legs our partner books. If you have seen a longer sailing elsewhere, it is a different product.

What is included on board

Meals on board are full board. On the cruise-only trips that runs from your first meal on the day you embark to breakfast on the day you leave. Drinks are extra on every one of our trips, and so is tipping.

The sightseeing from the boat is shared with other passengers. On most of our trips our partner puts the group at about 15 people. That is true on the luxury plan as well. Paying for the Sonesta St. George buys you a different boat and different hotels. Your temple visits stay shared.

Some sites sell extra tickets on top of the standard entry. Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings is the usual example, and our trips do not include it. Abu Simbel is an optional extra on several trips.

The boat and the Luxor hotel of the same name

Sonesta also runs a hotel in Luxor called the Sonesta St. George Hotel, on the Nile Corniche (sonesta.com, checked October 2026). The hotel and the boat are two separate places. Reviews online mix them up, so check which one a review describes.

Six of our trips use the hotel, and always on the comfort plan. Those are the five-day Cairo and Luxor break, the eight-day Cairo, Luxor and Red Sea trip, and the 12, 14, 15 and 16-day itineraries. Four of those six also include a cruise. On their comfort plan you sleep at the Sonesta hotel in Luxor and sail on the Movenpick Royal Lily.

On the luxury plan of the same trips it is the other way round. You sail on the Sonesta St. George and stay at a different Luxor hotel. If the Sonesta boat is what you want, ask for the luxury plan. Booking the comfort plan for the Sonesta name gets you the hotel, and a different boat.

Who the luxury plan suits, and who should save the money

The luxury plan suits travellers who will spend real time on board. That means afternoons on deck between temples, evenings on the boat, and a cabin you are happy to come back to. It suits a milestone trip, and people who would rather pay once than wonder whether the cheaper boat was good enough.

It is a poor fit if you want a more private Egypt. The temples, the group size and the guiding are the same on every plan. The extra money goes on the boat and the hotels, and none of it buys a private guide at Karnak.

It also matters less on a short trip. On the three-night leg the days are mostly temples, with little free time aboard. On a tight budget, choose a longer cruise on a cheaper plan over a better cabin on a shorter one.

What to confirm before you pay

Confirm the boat named on your booking, since the operator reserves the right to swap it. Ask which cabin type the luxury plan includes, which deck it is on and which side it faces. Ask whether the boat moors alongside the quay or rafted between other boats at each stop.

Ask what drinks cost on board, since they are not in the price. Ask which language your guide speaks and how many people share the group. Get the answers in writing before you pay a deposit. We confirm all of this with our partner at the time of enquiry.