Viking's Osiris is the New Luxury Cruiseliner Custom Made for the Nile

Best known for their Nile fleet, Viking Cruises has just inaugurated a spectacular new commercial  passenger ship that they’re  claiming is the most upscale luxurious cruiser on the Nile.

The hotly anticipated state-of-the-art vessel was custom-built for the Nile at the Massara Yard in Cairo. Dubbed the Viking Osiris, its grandiose Egyptian name belies a clean and crisp Scandinavian aesthetic.

Making its arrival just in time for the whimsical Nile cruise winter season, the 236-feet Viking Osiris hosts 82 guests and a 65-person crew. 41 stunning staterooms wrap around the sprawling Explorer and Veranda suites which feature a big beautiful bath, glass-encoded showers and a smorgasbord of special services including complimentary in-room breakfast, laundry, and shoe shining as well as options for private arrival and departure.

Bucket-listers can throw themselves into seeing the endless sights dotted along this spectacular stretch of the Nile between Luxor or Aswan, or while away afternoons on the sun deck at the very top of the ship with its breathtaking 360-degree views. Or perhaps an al fresco aperitivo is in order at the Aquavit Terrace before enjoying a gourmet dinner at the full-service white tablecloth fine dining restaurant. Finally, travellers can round off the evening with a nightcap and a good book in their lavish library.

"We tend to say that Viking is the thinking person's travel company," Viking chairman Torstein Hagen tells SceneTraveller just before the ship's inaugural sailing. "And I think you can't be more inspirational to thinking people than to come here and see all this history being delivered to you."

Viking's 12-day itineraries start and end in Cairo before travellers hop on a short flight Luxor to board the cruise and set sail down the Nile with stops in Qena, Esna, Aswan, and Edfu. For more information head to vikingrivercruises.com