Oberoi Philae
The Philae doesn’t look very impressive from the outside with its vestigial paddle-wheels. The Zhara is the boat behind the Philae.
Inside is another story. The rooms (I can’t really call them cabins) are huge. The entry has shelves for two bags, a closet, a room safe, coffee maker, electric kettle, and minibar. 
The main room has a bed and sitting area with a remote controlled window shade. There are two European two pin outlets, one above the nightstand and the other above the desk. The nightstand drawer had a universal adapter plug.
The bathroom is not the tiny cruise ship / river boat standard. There is one European two pin outlet and one dual 115v/220v outlet.
A switch on the wall turns the window at the shower opaque for privacy.
The dining room is on the lowest deck. It has small windows so doesn’t have much in the way of views. The food and service were excellent.
There is a lounge above the restaurant.
The top deck has lounge chairs and a heated pool.
There were a few annoyances. The air conditioning rattled a bit. The Wi-Fi was unreliable, frequently cutting out for a few minutes to a few hours. But these were minor and the overall experience was wonderful. I should also mention that the staff were all friendly and helpful.
Comments
A "foot bath" in the bathroom too!
Am sending you a PM.
Wayside - Thanks for the pictures. I've been waiting to see a post from the Philae. If you're up to it, would love to see any further pictures, information about the Philae, eg. menus, meals, entertainment (if any), etc. Thanks in advance.
British - Now here's a pool that is begging for a swimsuit model! 😂
Will I do? I'm taking my Speedo.
AlanS - Once you’ve been in a Tauck video in a pool on one of the ships then you’d qualify. As of now you don’t have British’s resume! 😂
Someone has awoken the mystery moron flagger (MMF) just in time for the Holidays. All hail the MMF. He/she/they are all knowing.
Looks like a lovely pool. I really should take the Egypt tour, it’s certainly a better bet than my Israel and Jordan tour right now. And Mr B wears speedos but never on Tauck tours.
You all have a lot to catch up with me, I already have a speaking role in a Tauck video. 😂😂😂
Smiling Sam - Entertainment was a karaoke guitarist at the first dinner and a whirling Dervish the last evening. Here are menus for three of the four dinners:
And here are some more photos of the boat. The fitness center:
The library/cigar lounge:
The Deck C foyer:
The Philae from a felucca on the Nile:
The reception area decorated for Christmas:
I loved my Zhara boat, it looks hip - different to most of the Nile Cruise boats- and also beautiful inside.. with the best CREW ever, they are Amazing!, the Chef it's Incredible , the massage gal is also the best.- Love them all.
Wayside - Thanks for the photos! The Philae looks very nice.
They stripped the Philea down to bare metal and totally redid it in 2016- they reduced the number of cabins from 50 to 22, etc. etc. It has the largest pool of any Nile cruiser.
The Zahra is also a beautiful boat, inside and out. In addition to the musical entertainment, there was also the towel art in our rooms that made us smile each night. The attendants were so happy to escort us to our room to show off their creations.
The daily afternoon tea and outdoor pool area was also nice, however, it was a bit chilly to sit outside for any length of time. One day during the brief downtime I sat in my cabin to watch life on The Nile. I also managed a bit of shopping on the boat - there were nice small and easy packable linen cosmetic/toiletry bags, and tote bags. There were also sheet sets, towels, placemats and napkins to purchase. It wasn't much, but the quality was very nice and the items were made in Egypt. Each of the bags I purchased were placed in a nice linen pouch with the name of the designer and Cairo printed on the outside. Great gift items and no negotiations required!.
There were only 12 Tauck guest, TD and a family of 5 on our cruise--we certainly had the run of the boat.
All the meals were absolutely delicious. One of the guest asked for a tour of the kitchen. I didn't attend as I was enjoying a cocktail in the lounge. She said it was immaculate. I didn't experience any issues with Wifi on the boat. Each person was given a uniqueusername and password to log into the system.
The first photo is suppose to be a video...but it's not uploading properly
Very much enjoying the pictures of the Philae which we'll be on for the October 17th Jordan & Egypt trip. Thanks!
__PureLuxury HAPPY NEW YEAR!
)) mine was huge and really funny. Have a nice evening
The towel art. it's a surprise.. for everyone, specially the tut one.... that always scare the hell from everyone
M
Can anyone who has sailed on the Philae confirm (or deny) that laundry service is available? Can't find it on the Oberoi web site and they haven't (yet) replied to my email query about this. Since we'll be on the ship over the mid-point of our Jordan & Egypt trip in October, it'd be the best place for getting some laundry done.
Portolan, I was on the Philae in April and they did have laundry service. It was quick and reasonably priced.
They do laundry on Philea. I had a few items done this past March before Luxor, but do not remember much about it.
Thanks Golly_Gee and AlanS. I assumed they did, but needed to confirm it. The forum (unsurprisingly) faster than getting an answer from Oberoi!
I think Philea had two levels of service- same day and next day.
They do this on Oberoi, too!
Just FYI: I did hear from Oberoi (actually directly from the Philae) today and they confirmed laundry, pressing, but no dry cleaning. Since we'll just need laundry at the mid-point of our trip, all is good.
Thank you all for your pictures and comments
We are going in 2 weeks!!!
Laundry was done the same day and returned folded or hanging as you choose. We did a lot of laundry and thought the price was quite reasonable.
Appreciate all these photos and the information. Amazing. We are on the small group tour starting 9/18. It’ll be HOT but hoping still an amazing trip.
Kbh- wishing you a safe and wonderful trip. We go on November 19th and can’t wait.
Please remember to return to the forum to tell us ANYTHING that might be helpful.
Thank you.
Will do! You’ll at least have cooler weather!!
Kbh…I suggest you take neck scarves to keep yourself cool.
We did this tour in December and the weather was great. Your pants and shoes get really dusty from all the sand.
Thanks Lissa. We have cooling neck towels and neck fans. Hopefully with a hat and lots of water we will be ok.