Christmas and New Year are the most expensive fortnight of the year — expect to pay roughly double the low-season fare, with minimum stays on some ships. Book six to nine months ahead. On board there is a gala dinner on both nights, and the temples are busy but not unpleasantly so in December's cool weather.
Christmas and New Year is the most expensive fortnight of the year on the Nile — expect 40 to 70 percent above the normal rate, with the best ships sold out four to six months ahead. December 21 to January 5 is the peak. Weather is excellent, around 24°C, and the temples are as busy as they get. If you want it for this season, book now.
We are writing this in late August. If you are reading it much later than that and hoping for a good cabin over New Year, the honest answer is that you have left it late — but read on, because there are ways through.
Yes, with one condition: that you have budgeted for it rather than discovered the price by accident.
The case for it is genuinely strong. December weather in Luxor and Aswan is close to ideal — daytime highs around 24°C, no rain, clean light. You can walk Karnak at midday in December, which you cannot do for eight months of the year. The ships run full, the crews are at their best, and there is a real atmosphere on board that does not exist in February.
The case against is the price and the crowds. You are paying nearly double for the same cabin, and the Valley of the Kings on 28 December is not a contemplative experience.
| Period | Uplift vs. normal | Deluxe 4 nights, per person |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1 – 18 | Normal high season | $600 – $1,200 |
| Dec 21 – 26 (Christmas) | +40% to +55% | $900 – $1,800 |
| Dec 27 – Jan 1 (Peak NYE) | +55% to +70% | $1,050 – $2,000 |
| Jan 2 – 5 | +25% to +40% | $780 – $1,650 |
| Jan 6 onward | Back to normal | $600 – $1,200 |
Two things worth noticing in that table. First, the peak is narrower than people assume — it is really 27 December to 1 January that does the damage. Second, moving your trip by a single week in either direction saves a very large amount of money for almost identical weather.
Full year-round pricing is in our Nile cruise cost guide.
This is the one that catches people, and we would rather you heard it from us.
Most ships add a compulsory gala dinner supplement for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve — sometimes all three. It is typically $40 to $120 per person per gala, and it is not optional even if you would rather eat quietly and go to bed.
It is often not shown in the headline cruise price. Ask specifically: “Are there compulsory gala supplements on my dates, and how much are they?” Any operator who answers that vaguely is telling you something.
What you get for it varies enormously. On the better ships it is a genuinely good meal with live music and the crew in full swing. On some it is the normal buffet with tinsel.
Egyptian crews take this seriously and it is one of the nicer things about the season.
Expect a decorated lobby and a tree, carols playing at breakfast, a gala dinner with a set menu, and usually a party on the sun deck for New Year’s Eve with fireworks visible from the boats moored around you. Many ships run a galabeya night in the same week, so you get the Egyptian and the European celebration back to back.
What you should not expect is a specifically Christian religious observance. Egypt’s Coptic Christmas falls on 7 January, not 25 December, so the ships are marking a tourist occasion rather than a local one. If church matters to you, Luxor and Aswan both have Coptic churches and your guide can arrange it.
Since it is the night most people are booking for, here is what it actually looks like on a typical five-star ship.
Late afternoon. The ship is moored — at Luxor, Aswan or Edfu depending on the itinerary. Excursions finish early so everyone is back by four or five.
Around eight. Gala dinner. Set menu rather than the usual buffet on most ships, served over two or three hours, with the crew in formal dress. This is the supplement you paid for.
Ten onwards. The party moves to the lounge or the sun deck. Live music, often a Nubian group, sometimes a DJ on the bigger boats. Belly dancer and whirling dervish on many ships, which happens year-round but gets a bigger slot on this night.
Midnight. Fireworks, from the town and from other boats. If you are moored in a line of ships at Luxor, the effect is genuinely good — twenty boats all letting off at once across the water.
After. It runs late. The following morning’s excursion is usually pushed back an hour, which every operator knows and most build in without being asked.
Two practical notes. Drinks are not included in the gala supplement on most ships, so the bar bill on 31 December is the biggest of the trip. And if you want a quiet New Year, this is not the week — there is nowhere on a 150-passenger boat to escape it.
Busy, and unevenly so.
The ships themselves feel full but not unpleasant — they are sized for their passenger count. The pressure is at the sites. Around 80 percent of the fleet is sailing between 21 December and 2 January, and they all work to the same lock timings at Esna, so they arrive at Edfu and Kom Ombo in clusters.
Three things genuinely help:
Availability decides this more than preference does at this time of year.
Roughly 80 percent of ships sail Luxor to Aswan over four nights, so that is where the choice is. The 3-night Aswan to Luxor option is cheaper and sells out first for exactly that reason.
If you want the New Year’s Eve party specifically, check which night your ship is moored where. A boat tied up at Luxor on 31 December has a very different evening from one mid-river between Edfu and Esna. Ask before you book — it is a fair question and any decent operator knows the answer.
Our full comparison of the two directions is here.
| When you book | What is realistically available |
|---|---|
| 6+ months out | Any ship, any cabin, best rate |
| 4 – 6 months | Good ships, decent cabins — the sensible window |
| 2 – 3 months | Limited choice, lower decks, higher prices |
| Under 6 weeks | Whatever is left, usually the most expensive cabins |
The counterintuitive part: late availability over Christmas is expensive, not cheap. Low season rewards waiting. This fortnight punishes it, because the reasonably-priced cabins went in July and what remains is the suites.
If you are reading this in October or November and still want to go, call rather than browse. Cancellations do happen and they are not published anywhere.
Warmer than people expect. December nights in Aswan drop to 6 to 9°C, and the sun deck after dinner on open water is properly cold.
Bring layers, a real jacket, and a scarf that does double duty for temple shoulder-cover. Daytime is shirt weather at 24°C, so you are packing for two climates in one suitcase.
For the gala nights, smart-casual is the standard — a dress or a collared shirt and chinos. Nobody wears black tie. Our full guide to what to wear on a Nile cruise covers the temple dress code in detail.
Most people do, and the sequencing matters at this time of year.
Cairo is busy over the holidays but nothing like the river. Hotels are available and the Pyramids at Giza absorb crowds far better than a temple courtyard does. Our 10 Days Egypt Highlights package is the shape most travellers take — Cairo first, fly south, cruise, then home from Aswan or Luxor.
One practical note: domestic flights between Cairo and Luxor or Aswan also fill up over the holidays, and they are not always released far in advance. If your cruise and your flights are booked separately, confirm the flight before you pay the cruise deposit.
Our honest recommendation, and we say this knowing it costs us money.
If the holiday itself is the point — you want the gala, the fireworks, Christmas somewhere extraordinary — then go, and budget properly for it. It is a genuinely memorable trip and people do not regret it.
If you simply want good weather and time off work, take the first three weeks of December instead. Same 24°C, same clean light, roughly half the price, and Karnak with a fraction of the people. Early December is the most underrated window in the entire calendar, and it is what we book our own families into.
The full month-by-month breakdown is in best time for a Nile cruise. If you want us to check what is actually left on your dates, send them over.
Expect 40 to 70 percent above the normal rate. A deluxe 4-night cruise that costs $600 to $1,200 per person in November runs $1,050 to $2,000 between 27 December and 1 January.
Four to six months ahead. The best ships and cabins sell out first, and late availability over the holidays is more expensive rather than discounted.
Yes. Decorations, a gala dinner, and usually a New Year’s Eve party with fireworks. Note that most ships charge a compulsory gala supplement of $40 to $120 per person, often not shown in the headline price.
Excellent. Around 24°C in the day with no rain, which is the most comfortable sightseeing weather of the year. Nights drop to 6 to 9°C, so pack a jacket.
As busy as they get. About 80 percent of the fleet sails between 21 December and 2 January. A smaller ship and an early start make more difference than anything else.
No. Coptic Christmas falls on 7 January. The 25 December celebrations on board are for visitors rather than a local observance.
Yes, and the saving is large. The first three weeks of December and anything after 6 January price at normal high-season rates with virtually identical weather.
It depends on the itinerary, and it changes the evening considerably. A ship moored at Luxor or Aswan gives you a party with fireworks over the town; one moored mid-river is a quieter night. Ask before booking.
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Written by
Magdy Fattouh
38 guides published on this site
Magdy Fattouh is a Cairo University history graduate and the writer behind the guides on this site. Over 13 years he has researched and written about Egypt's history, its monuments and how to travel to them — from the pharaohs and the temples to month-by-month planning, ship comparisons and day-by-day itineraries. He speaks English and Arabic, and reviews every guide here for accuracy before it is published.
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