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ELLE Decoration
No. 82 Septembre 1998
En Egypte, Croisiere sur le lac Nasser
Par Marie Bailhache

"Depuis peu, grace a la perseverance de deux armateurs egyptiens, Tarek et Mustapha El Gendy, pionniers avec leur premier bateau, "l'Eugenie", il est devenu envisageable de parcourir l'immense reservoir d'eau borde par les deserts, region appelee depuis l'Antiquite <corridor de l'Afrique>…..
Le "Kasr Ibrim" , dernier-ne des El Gendy, est de ceux-la……

… le voyage comprenant l'arrivee sur Abou Simbel. Emotion garantie, visite sous les etoiles, puis miracle, au lever du soleil, de se trouver sur l'eau, au pied de ces magnifiques et colossales statues."

Marie France
Fevrier 1999
Evasion: du Mekong au Nil, trois croisieres magiques
Par Aliette de Crozet

"Si l'on aime l'eau, le desert et les pharaons, on embarque un jour au sud de l'Egypte, sur le lac Nasser……. Le Kasr Ibrim s'avere le plus original des six bateaux admis a naviguer sur cette mer interieure de cinq cents kilometers de long. Le plus luxueux aussi. A bord regne l'Art deco a la sauce orientaliste: canapés leopard, tentures animalieres, rideaux de soie doree."

ANWB REIZEN
Nr. 1 Januari 2002
Tekst: Chris-Jan van der Heijden

"Toch is het er nog wel. Dat stuk Egypte waar massatoerisme een onbekend fenomeen is.
….Waar boten varen die hem zouden terug brengen naar the good old days…..

De M.S. Kasr Ibrim is een van de zes schepen die de tempels mag bezoeken. Het is ook een van de mooiste boten op Lake Nasser. Het art deco-interieur is speciaal voor dit schip ontworpen in faraonische stijl…… Het knapste staaltje van de bouwers is echter dat het nergens kitsch of ordinair wordt….Stijl is het sleutelwoord. Negentig bedienden op negentig gasten. Met humor en voorkomendheid wordt de de statige sfeer van begin 20ste eeuw exact getroffen….

De klassieke formule wordt vervolmaakt door copieuze lunch- en dinerbufetten, luxe hutten en oog voor de kleinste details. 'Wilt u een verfrissingsdoekje Sir?' Bediende Saad is er op een of andere manier altijd op het juiste moment. De stilte, het woestijnlandschap, de nachtelijke sterrenhemel en de verlaten tempels doen de rest. De Kasr Ibrim brengt je in loom tempo terug naar koloniale tijden."

The Hotel Book, 2003
Great Escapes Africa
Shelley-Maree Cassidy
(Taschen)

"Aboard the M.S. Kasr Ibrim and M.S. Eugenie, you can bridge the age of the Pharaohs and the Flappers. The great monuments of the former are before you on the banks of the Nile; these splendid steamers on Lake Nasser call to mind the latter, with their Art Deco style. One boat is named after the citadel of Kasr Ibrim, a relic of Nubia, the 'land of gold', one of ancient Egypt's richest states……

What better way to see the splendour of Egypt than from the decks of these deluxe ships?"

The Hotel Book, 2003
Great Escapes Africa
Shelley-Maree Cassidy
(Taschen)

"Die Reise fuehrt vorbei an Wundern wie der Strasse der Sphinxen bis hin zum grossen Hoehepunkt, den grossen Tempeln von Ramses II in Abu Simbel. Zwar moegen Zeit und Witterung an ihrer Pracht genagt haben, doch ihr Anblick ist unveraendert beeindruckend.
An Bord sind Glanz und Gloria noch nicht verblasst. Die prachtvolle Ausstattung der Schiffe ist der Umgebung die sie durchsegelten, angemessen."

ATMOSPHERES
No. 34, Dec 1999/Jan 2000
Evasion, D'Assouan a Abou Simbel, une croisiere en Nubie egyptienne

"Grandes baies vitrees, murs lambrisses de loupe de poirier, meubles confortables, les cabines du Kasr Ibrim, bordees de terrasses ou de balcons, rapellent les voyages d'autrefois, tandis que le soir venu, après la visite des temples, on peut prolonger la détente par une séance au hammam decore de marbre…..

Plus loin, le lac s'elargit comme une mer. On distingue a peine ses rives diluees dans les brumes de chaleur. Enfin, une montagne se detache, plus large, plus haute que les autres, elle attire l'oeil. Abou Simbel!"

The Australian
8 November 2003
Cruising through Nasser's Floodgates
By Lisa Brigid Mackey

....'The new High Dam at Aswan brought electricity and power to peoples who had experienced neither, but the Nubians who lived in land now submerged by Lake Nasser lost their homeland. While the Nubian people were relocated elsewhere in Egypt before the deluge, local Pharaonic monuments from past millennia were also painstakingly transferred to higher ground.

In 2003, our car wilts in the July heat as we slowly work our way through multiple procedures for entering the Aswan docks. There the Eugenie awaits: my gateway to Lake Nasser. Tall men in resplendent uniforms greet me as I enter the cool of reception, flanked by a splendid staircase. It is like stepping back a century, to grand days of living in style.

My suite, more reminiscent of Paris than Cairo, has a gracious sitting area with European prints on the walls. I feel transported to a post-colonial fantasy world. Evening reminds us we are in mysterious Egypt when (as per the itinerary) we are transferred to the Eugenie's sister ship, the Kasr Ibrim. We wait for our new keys in the vast, gleaming ballroom-style lounge.

As our new boats starts cruising, the fun begins....We move gently through the still waters, surrounded by pristine desert landscapes on both sides. I wimp out and admire the view from the comfort of my air-condioned art deco cabin......
...Here one feels totally alone in the world, as no one lives out there at all...
...With no interference from civilisation, the sky shines brightly with millions of stars. Lake Nasser glows in the radiant light. I feel very small. The unearthly beauty of distant galaxies is both romantic and humbling.....

......Reclining in a supremely comfortable lounge chair under a beach umbrella, beside Lake Nasser gleaming in the brilliant sunshine, I am unable to finish my enormous breakfast. Although I could easily laze around all day, too many wonders await ashore.....

....As we head south towards the piece de resistance, Abu Simbel, the Pharaohs' temples grow ever more incredible. Recalling the hideous half-million dollar slums built by modern developers - unlikely to last beyond half a century - I am in awe of the ancient Egyptians, whose architecture lasted millennia. These enduring works of art and beauty flow with an elegance and grace born of devotional inspiration, their colours entrancing even after thousands of years.......

CROISIERE
No. 7 - fevrier - mars 2001
Texte: Jean-Francois Gourdon

"Kasr Ibrim, 120 passagers, est l'un des naviers les plus luxueux qui naviguent sur le Nil. Les cinq etoiles affichees a l'accueil ne sont pas usupees…..

-Notre conclusion- Une tres belle croisiere, calme, a l'ecart des foules, dans le confort raffine et attentionne de l'un des plus beaux navires du Nil. A lui seul, le diner aux chandelles face a Abou Simbel, merite le voyage."

Canada.com News
Mystery of the Nile
Cruise a man-made lake for rescued temples of the pharaohs and the Old-World elegance of an Agatha Christie novel
DEANNA MACDONALD
Freelance
Saturday, January 22, 2005

"I couldn't decide which way to look. Behind me rose the ancient temples of Abu Simbel and their colossal stone statues of Pharaoh Ramses II and his queen, Nefertari, shimmering in the ochre glow of the setting sun. And in front of me floated the art nouveau-styled M.S. Kasr Ibrim in the warm blue waters of Lake Nasser. Designed to evoke the elegant leisure of a Nile cruise of the 1920s and '30s, I could almost picture Hercule Poirot in a linen suit and tiny moustache upon its deck…
The Kasr Ibrim is not your average cruise ship….With cabin space for a maximum of 126 passengers, it is designed to evoke a more genteel age and was in fact inspired by the ships described in Agatha Christie's 1937 book Death on the Nile. All that was missing was a body and a Belgian detective. This was clearly part of the ship's attraction as I noticed several of my fellow passengers - mostly Europeans from ages 30 to 60 - reading that novel in a variety of languages…
Playing on nostalgia for a by-gone age, tea was served at 5 p.m., and some of the crew wore red fezzes. The spacious cabins and public spaces are done in a playful art nouveau style with Nubian and Egyptian motifs... But even without the ship's charm, the scenery would have been enough of a draw. With endless sky, sapphire waters, golden sands and ancient temples on offer, I spent a lot of time soaking in my surroundings from either my little balcony (every room has one) or the upper decks."

Lake Nasser's landscapes inspired this drawing by one of our passengers