If you come with a Nile Cruise and you want to visit Abu Simbel

Many tour operators don't allow their guests to make excursions on their own and claim "security and insurance reasons". Besides, some Nile Cruises are sold for low price abroad and the tour operators try to complete their expenses by selling excursions: with prices that are much higher than excursions sold in Aswan by external service providers.

Because of all these reasons tour operators use the tourist police to help to keep the guests with them. Therefore we always ask for a written permission by email, which you have to get from your tour operator.

Some had to tell us they had been refused (especially from US-American, British or Spanish tour operators), often it took not longer than one week that we received the permission, which the guests could show to their guide on the boat and we could show to the tourist police to prepare the papers for the convoy.

Still we have to ask for a last confirmation by call, after the guide on the boat has been informed and agreed(! - some guides don't, even if you have a permission, please read below examples from unfortunate guests).

Please call Waleed on his mobile phone after you spoke with the guide: (++2)  010 - 250 95 88

To save roaming costs, you can ask someone from the service on the boat to lend you his mobile phone, give him 10 EGP baksheesh for his help, and ask Waleed to call you back on the number transferred.
Waleeds number from an Egyptian phone: 010 - 250 95 88
Or you just call from your international mobile phone.
Waleeds number from an European phone: 002 - 010 - 250 95 88
Waleeds number from an American phone: 192 - 010 - 250 95 88.

When you confirm, Waleed will tell you at what time to pick you up on the street in front of your boat (of course he needs to know the name of the boat), and to introduce you to the driver.
Only after this call he will pay driver and seat / car / microbus in advance for you and wait for you at the time agreed on the phone. Please don't be late, because the convoy will not wait!

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When it didn't work - examples from unfortunate guests:
April 2009
We had British guests who had lied to us, confirmed by call they would have the allowance from the guide on the boat. We sent them a microbus, the guide from the boat checked the convoy for guests, saw them and called the tourist police. The driver and its car was taken out of the convoy, the guests were sent back on the boat, and since then we always ask for a written permission from the tour operator to be sent to you by email and forwarded to us.

February 2010
we had guests who received a permission by email from their tour operator (Gxxx) written in Spanish instead of English. We accepted it anyway. When Waleed waited with the car in front of the boat a policeman came up, told him he had been called from the guide on the boat, because the guests had told others they had found a much cheaper way by traveling with us to Abu Simbel. There was a big problem on the boat with other guests complaining about the higher price from the tour operator and the police man told Waleed to  find a way to refuse the guests - otherwise the policeman would take away the passports from the tourists, the Spanish written permission was not accepted because the policeman claimed, he could not read it. So Waleed was forced to lie to the guests (which came down from the boat with the guide beside them) he would have made a mistake and had reserved only one seat and they should travel with the tour operator.

April 2010
British guests did have all permissions and still couldn't travel with us!!!
"Dear Petra. We did have a bad time.  We were given permission by our Tour Operator (Cxx) to leave the boat independently.  This was confirmed when we got on board and also by the boat crew.  The agent for Cxx is Fxx.  It was their agent in Aswan who did not let us leave. He made many excuses:  insurance - we showed him our policy, permission of our tour operator - the Cxx rep was with us and also insisted he let us leave.  He threatened to call the police and have us turned back if we left which would not have been good
Fxx seem to have a monopoly on their boats and do not want anyone stealing their trade.  This is very bad for the tourist industry in Egypt.
I am still veru cross and will be writing to the tour operator and to the Egyptian Tourist board to report this"

August 2010
Because a Spanish guest didnt get a written permission from their tour operator "They have told me that they are not going to send me any email that I can do all the excusions freely and that is all";
I thought it would be a good idea to ask for a written permission from the guide on the boat and call Waleed after if it has worked. But then our guest answered: "XXX guides usually do not give permission to do excursions freely, but sometimes a good guide have tried to write a permission for guest and the rest of the guides have threatened to inform the company in order to dissmised him (this happened last june), so I do not trust in getting a permission from guides."

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As you can see, although we had many guests from Nile Cruises already, to pick up guests from boats can become a serious problem.

To say it short:
There is no problem helping you to visit Abu Simbel if you dont travel within an organized group with a guide from a tour operator.

Those who come by Nile Curise boat to Aswan and return to Luxor / Red Sea OFTEN HAVE TO BOOK the excursions offered from their tour operators OR STAY on the boat.

Will your Nile Cruise end in Aswan?
Can you make sure you are free to travel with external service providers?
It would be a shame to book a car and driver and then to have to pay for them even if the guide takes you out of the convoy and (as in the first case) sends you back on the boat!