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Visit Luxor.

LUXOR (aboard the ms HAMEES)   JUL. 28 – AUG. 3, 2027   (+cruise option to Cairo)

VIEW THE SIX-MINUTE “ECLIPSE OF THE CENTURY”
FROM OUR 4-STAR NILE RIVER ACCOMMODATIONS

Watch the August 2, 2027 Total Solar Eclipse like a Pharaoh — including, each evening, eating dinner while cruising the Nile!

Select the 62-cabin MÖVENPICK m.s. Hamees as your eclipse event home, and enjoy the fun, simplicity, and convenience of being docked in the heart of Luxor. The Hamees is a gracious and crisply elegant hub for your exploration of Luxor’s ancient gems. This ship is an ideal choice if you’d like to add pre- or post- Cairo visits to your trip. A Hamees base makes it possible to add a post-trip cruise to down the Nile to Cairo, or up the Nile to visit Abu Simbel, or across the Red Sea to Petra (see OPTIONAL ADDONS below).

Experience over six minutes of totality in Luxor, the heart of ancient Egypt — with cold beverages, ample shade, and air conditioning right at hand. From our base at the legendary Sofitel Winter Palace (your ship, the m.s. Hamees, is docked at the Sofitel), one of the world’s iconic travel destinations, immerse yourself in the archaeological riches of the Luxor region.

Along the way to totality, you can enrich your eclipse experience if you wish, with one of three educational options:

  • Dr. Juan Antonio Belmonte Avilés, the world’s leading authority on Egyptian archaeoastronomy, teaches about the vital role astronomy played in ancient Egypt’s cosmology and its rituals concerning death and the destiny of the soul. Immerse yourself in the ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ASTRONOMY so you have an astronomer’s perspective on the structure and decoration of many of the Luxor region’s monuments.
  • Dr. Diana McDonald started out as a 16 year-old intern in the Egyptian Department of the Metropolitan Museum, and subsequently worked in the Ancient Near Eastern and other departments at the Metropolitan. She wrote her undergraduate thesis at Harvard on Egyptian art. Dig into EGYPTOLOGY and gain insight into the history, art, and religon of Ancient Egypt.
  • Dr. Stephen Ressler, highly sought-after educator, civil engineer, and retired West Point Brig. General shares an in-depth look at the Great and Meidum Pyramids, and key aspects of civil engineering that made a sophisticated Ancient Egyptian civilization possible. Join the ANCIENT ENGINEERING and gain insight into the science and design of structures that endure for millennia.

Plus, Insight Cruises offers you an optional program of excursions to a choice selection of the Luxor region’s monuments, temples, and tombs. We’ll be on the lookout for specific astronomical features while visiting other sites not tied to the sky yet still looming large in the world’s imagination. Luxor and Karnak temples, the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, the wondrous sites of Dendera, Abydos, Esna, Edfu, and more are on our excursion agenda.

If you’d like to customize your Egypt eclipse adventure, a stay on the Hamees is an excellent foundation for adding the spice of Cairo or the desert grandeur of Abu Simbel to your expedition. No matter what enrichments you choose, you’ll gather unforgettable memories of the beauty of the Nile and gain appreciation of the imagination and ingenuity the ancient Egyptians used to build an astounding civilization.


 

NOTE: Program is subject to change.

OVERVIEW AND PRICING

Pricing for a Standard Cabin is $1,950 per person, based on double occupancy for six (6) nights onboard. Optionally, for $325 per night (pp) staying extra nights after August 3 in the Pavilion (Sofitel) (all meals included). For more info, please visit the CABIN & SHIP INFO tab. All meals are included (excluding breakfast on your day of arrival and lunch and dinner on your day of departure) — and are provided by our ship. For those attending our CONFERENCE PROGRAM there is a $1,250 fee.

Add on our optional 5-day LUXOR TOURING PACKAGE: $2,050 for 17 separate site visits (four of which require “special access” permits); plus $100 for your professional/Egyptologists’ gratuities. The groups will be small (where necessary, as in visiting deeply buried sites, no more than a dozen or so people) with one professional/Egyptologist tour guide per group. The $2,050 includes all entrance fees — some quite substantial for the unique access we will provide — as well as “gifts” for official gatekeepers, are included.

The six (6) 90-minute cocktail-parties package (includes an open bar) is an additional $210 pp. Add’l pp fees: government taxes, port charges, and fees ($265), Non-refundable Booking Service Fee ($175), tour leaders gratuities ($60), and cruise gratuities (for the stewards and dining room staff, $25 per day or $150). All prices and fees are detailed on the PRICING & TERMS tab. Use our PRICING CALCULATOR for a quick price quote.

FOUR OPTIONAL ADDONS (overview of all addons)

264 S. Meridith Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106 • 650-787-5665 • Copyright 2021 © Insight Cruises