Answered · 7 minute read
Yes — a dhow cruise runs on New Year's Eve in Dubai on all four routes, but as a fixed late-departure package rather than a normal sitting, usually boarding between 8 and 9pm and costing roughly two to three times the standard fare. On Christmas Day the cruises run at their ordinary times and ordinary prices, because 25 December is not a UAE public holiday.
By Roshan Shriwastav · Published
Three things, and none of them is whether the boat sails. The departure time moves late — a normal dhow cruise boards around 7.30 or 8pm and is back by 10; the New Year sitting boards between 8 and 9 and stays out through midnight. The fare rises to roughly two or three times the standard, because the boat does one trip instead of two. And the sitting is sold as a package with the dinner, the entertainment and the timing fixed.
What does not change is the route or the boat. A Creek dhow on 31 December runs the Creek, and a Marina dhow runs the Marina.
25 December is not a public holiday in the UAE. Offices open, marinas operate, and the dhow fleet runs its normal sittings at normal prices — from about AED 129 a head on the Creek route.
Some operators add a Christmas menu and charge for it. That is a catering decision rather than a date premium, and it is worth asking which one you are being quoted.
The same is true of a private charter on 25 December: the hourly rate does not move, because there is no holiday for it to move for.
The Marina route and the Dubai Canal route both put you within sight of coastal displays. The Marina sees the JBR and Bluewaters shows and the tower wall lit; the canal sits closer to the Downtown side but still does not give you the Burj Khalifa, which is inland and not visible from any waterway.
The Creek and Al Seef routes are the old city, several kilometres from any of the major coastal displays. They are a fine New Year's Eve and they are not a fireworks evening, and the fare should reflect that — if a Creek cruise is being sold on fireworks, ask which fireworks.
Where the displays actually are, and what you can see from where, is in where to watch New Year fireworks in Dubai.
Mid-December for most routes, and earlier for the Marina. That is later than a private charter, which is usually committed by the end of November, because a shared boat sells seats rather than a boat and there are simply more of them.
It also means a New Year dhow cruise is the realistic fallback when private boats have gone. Capacity on a dhow is measured in hundreds; capacity on the charter fleet is measured in thirty-fives.
A seat on a named deck, a buffet dinner, soft drinks, and the entertainment programme. That is the standard package and anything missing from it should be visible in the price rather than discovered at the gangway.
Two things to check specifically. Which deck — the open upper deck and the air-conditioned lower one are different evenings, and on 31 December the upper deck is where people want to be, so it is priced accordingly. And whether transfers are included, because the Creek is a long way from the Marina hotels and a taxi at 1am on 1 January is not a certainty.
The general checklist for any dhow booking is in booking a dhow cruise in Dubai.
Above about forty guests a private dhow becomes both cheaper per head and a better evening, because the timing and the route stop being fixed. On 31 December that crossover moves slightly in favour of the private boat, because the per-head fare has risen and the private rate has risen by less.
It also removes the deck question entirely — the whole boat is yours, both decks. The full argument is in hiring a whole dhow in Dubai.
Yes, on all four routes, as a single fixed late departure boarding between 8 and 9pm and staying out through midnight. The fare is roughly two to three times a normal sitting.
Yes, at normal times and normal prices. 25 December is not a public holiday in the UAE, so the fleet runs its usual sittings — from about AED 129 a head on the Creek route.
From the Marina and canal routes you see the coastal displays. From the Creek and Al Seef you do not — they are several kilometres from any major display, and no route on any waterway sees the Burj Khalifa.
Usually mid-December, and earlier on the Marina route. That is later than private charters, which are typically committed by the end of November, because a shared boat has far more capacity to sell.
Roughly two to three times the standard fare for the route, quoted as a package with dinner and entertainment included. The boat runs one trip instead of two, which is what the premium pays for.
The open upper deck, and it is priced accordingly. The lower deck is air-conditioned and calmer, which matters less on a night that is around twenty degrees and entirely about being outside at midnight.
Leave the date and roughly how many of you there are and we will come back with the boats that are free and what each costs. No deposit at this stage.
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