MS Le Fayan Suites

MS Le Fayan is a small river ship that sails the stretch of the Nile between Luxor and Aswan, and it is the boat we put people on when the view from the cabin matters as much as the temples.

What separates it from almost every other 5 star Nile cruise on this river is glass.

Every cabin category on board has floor to ceiling windows rather than a porthole or a half height sliding panel.

That sounds like a detail until you have spent a morning on a river ship watching the bank go past through a letterbox.

The Nile between Luxor and Aswan is the reason people book a cruise at all, and on most boats you see it properly only from the sundeck.

Why Stay on MS Le Fayan?

Because the sailing itself is the product, and this boat is built around looking at it.

The ship is small by river standards, which shows up in the queue for the gangway rather than in any brochure.

Le Fayan runs a single restaurant, one lounge bar and a sundeck pool, so there is no sprawling deck plan to navigate and no sense of being one of several hundred.

It also runs a fixed weekly rhythm in both directions, which makes it unusually easy to slot into a wider itinerary without bending the rest of the trip around one departure date.

Who it does not suit is worth saying plainly.

If you want a swimming pool you can actually swim lengths in, a choice of four restaurants, a kids club or a nightclub, a large ship or a Red Sea resort will serve you better.

What a 5 Star Nile Cruise Between Luxor and Aswan Actually Covers

The route is short and the density of what sits on it is the point.

Between the two cities the river passes Esna, Edfu and Kom Ombo, and the temples at each are close enough to the water that the ship is genuinely the transport rather than a floating hotel that happens to move at night.

Luxor holds Karnak, Luxor Temple and the west bank tombs, and needs more time than the cruise alone gives it.

Aswan holds Philae, the granite quarries and the High Dam, and is the jumping off point for Abu Simbel.

Most people underestimate how much of the value sits at the two ends rather than in the middle, which is why we usually add land nights in one city or both.

Le Fayan Against the Larger River Ships

The honest comparison is not against another small boat, it is against the big three and four deck ships that dominate this route.

A large ship gives you more public space, more dining choice and a steadier feel in wind, and it costs you the sense that you are on a river rather than in a hotel.

It also means more people moving through the same temple entrance at the same hour, because the ships moor in clusters and the groups go ashore together.

Le Fayan gives up the choice of restaurants and gets back the windows, the shorter gangway queue and a quieter sundeck.

Against staying put in Aswan at a historic riverside hotel, the trade is different again.

A land stay gives you one room, one view and no packing, while the cruise gives you four temple sites you would otherwise reach by road.

Travellers who dislike unpacking twice and who mainly want the river to look at, rather than to travel on, are often better served by two nights in Luxor and three in Aswan.

Cabins and Suites

There are four categories on board and no others.

The single most important thing to know is that the floor to ceiling glass is in all four, so the decision is about space and layout rather than about whether you get a view.

Category	What you get	Who it suits
Deluxe Room	The standard cabin, with the same floor to ceiling windows as every other category	Couples who will be on deck or ashore most of the day
Junior Suite	More floor area than the Deluxe Room, in a single open layout	Anyone who wants room to spread out without a separate living space
Family Suite	A private balcony, a separate living area and a sofa arrangement for children	Families, and the only category with its own balcony
Presidential Suite	A separate bedroom, a reception and dining area, and a jacuzzi	Travellers who want the cabin to be somewhere they spend time, not just sleep

Which Cabin to Choose

For two people on a three or four night sailing, the Deluxe Room is genuinely enough, because the itinerary keeps you off the boat for most of the daylight hours.

On a seven night sailing the calculation changes and the Junior Suite earns its difference, simply because there are more hours on board and more of them are spent in the cabin.

Travelling with children, the Family Suite is the only category that solves the problem, since it is the one with the private balcony and the separate living area.

The Presidential Suite is for people who want the boat to be the destination rather than the transport.

There is no category called a Luxury Suite, whatever a third party booking site may tell you, and asking for one is a reliable way to end up in something you did not choose.

Sailing Schedules

The pattern is fixed and it repeats every week in both directions.

From Aswan the ship departs every Monday, on either a three night or a seven night sailing.

From Luxor it departs every Thursday, on either a four night or a seven night sailing.

The short sailings cover the same temple sites in a tighter sequence, so the difference is pace rather than content.

The seven night option sails the route in both directions, which suits travellers who want the river time itself rather than an efficient transfer between two cities.

On Board

The facilities list is short and that is deliberate on a ship this size.

There is a sundeck with a pool, a lounge bar, a single restaurant, a spa with two treatment beds, a sauna and a shower, and a gym.

The spa having two beds rather than a suite of rooms is the kind of thing worth knowing before you arrive expecting to book treatments for four people at once.

The sundeck is where the ship is actually lived in, because the best hours on this river are early morning and the two before sunset.

Practical Notes

The season runs against the heat rather than with it, and October to April is when the deck is usable for most of the day.

June to August on this stretch of the Nile is genuinely severe, and the sundeck becomes somewhere you visit briefly rather than sit.

Temple visits go out early for the same reason, so a cruise here rewards people who are willing to be awake at six.

Abu Simbel is not on the river and is reached from Aswan by road or short flight, so it has to be planned as a separate day rather than assumed into the sailing.

We book this ship directly, and the cabin category is the one decision worth settling before anything else on the itinerary is fixed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which cabin should I book on MS Le Fayan?

For two people on a three or four night sailing the Deluxe Room is enough, because you are off the boat for most of the daylight hours.

On a seven night sailing the Junior Suite earns its difference, and families should take the Family Suite, which is the only category with a private balcony and a separate living area.

Does every cabin really have floor to ceiling windows?

Yes, and it is the reason we use this ship.

All four categories have floor to ceiling windows rather than portholes or half height panels, so the choice between them is about space and layout rather than about whether you get a view.

How many nights should a 5 star Nile cruise be?

Three or four nights covers the temple sites between Luxor and Aswan at a workable pace, and that is what most first visits should take.

Seven nights sails the route in both directions and suits travellers who want the river itself rather than an efficient way of getting between the two cities.

When does the ship depart and from where?

It departs Aswan every Monday on a three night or seven night sailing, and Luxor every Thursday on a four night or seven night sailing.

That fixed weekly rhythm in both directions is what makes it straightforward to fit around the rest of an itinerary.

What are the best months to sail?

October to April, when the sundeck is usable for most of the day.

June to August on this stretch of the river is severe enough that the deck becomes somewhere you visit briefly rather than sit, which removes a good part of the reason to be on a boat at all.

Is Abu Simbel included in the sailing?

No, and it is the most common misunderstanding about this route.

Abu Simbel sits on Lake Nasser rather than the Nile and is reached from Aswan by road or short flight, so it has to be planned as its own day either side of the cruise.

Most guests give the river a few nights on land at either end, which is where the Cairo, Luxor and Aswan itinerary, the wider comparison of Nile cruise boats and the Old Winter Palace Luxor hotel all come in.