How to book a dhow cruise in Dubai

Step one: choose the route, not the price

The four Dubai dhow routes are genuinely different trips and the AED 50 between cheapest and dearest is the least important difference. The Creek runs through old Dubai past the souks and the working cargo wharfage. The Marina runs the modern skyline. Al Seef is the Creek from the restored Bur Dubai bank. The Water Canal goes through Business Bay under the waterfall bridge.

For a first visit to Dubai, the Creek. For the skyline and the newest boats, the Marina. For the easiest boarding with parking and somewhere to sit beforehand, Al Seef.

Step two: check what the ticket includes

A standard dhow ticket is two hours with a buffet dinner, unlimited soft drinks and live entertainment. If any of those three are missing from a quote, it is not the standard product and the price is not comparable.

• Two hours on the water, boarding thirty minutes before departure
• Buffet dinner with a vegetarian counter laid out separately
• Unlimited soft drinks, water, tea and Arabic coffee
• Live entertainment — usually tanoura — on most sailings
• Hotel transfer, if you want it, at about AED 40 a head extra

Step three: confirm the boarding point and the time

Boarding is typically 19:30 for a 20:00 departure, back alongside at 22:00. The Creek boats often run half an hour later. Get the exact boarding point as a map pin rather than a district name — Deira in particular has several jetties within a few hundred metres of each other and they are not interchangeable.

Boarding closes ten minutes before the sailing time. A dhow carrying a hundred and fifty people does not wait for one party, and there is no refund for missing it.

Step four: pay, and know what you have bought

Dhow cruises are sold per person and confirmed by voucher or message. Children under five go free and five to elevens pay half on every route. Groups above about twenty should ask about private hire of a whole boat instead — that starts around AED 9,000 for two hours and takes up to a hundred guests, which works out cheaper per head.

A day's notice is normally enough. In December and January, and over Eid, give it a week — those are the only periods where the shared boats genuinely sell out.

Five things worth checking before you pay

None of these are exotic, and all of them are the difference between a good evening and a complaint.

• Which bank you board from, as a pin — not just "Creek" or "Marina"
• Whether the price is per person or per boat
• Whether alcohol is served, if that matters to your evening — most dhows do not
• Whether upper-deck seating is open on your sailing
• What happens if you are late, and whether the ticket moves to another date