Happy Adventures Tourism: Evening Creek Dhow Dinner Cruise, Dubai

When you visit Dubai one of the things you really must do is a Dubai Creek Evening Dhow Dinner cruise. We were hosted by Happy Adventures Tourism. It was organised impeccably and we enjoyed a fabulous evening. So, let me tell you all about it. It was a family experience, with Millie-Mae (11) and Toby (9) excited to see what the evening had in store.

We took a taxi from our hotel to the Dhow – taxi drivers in Dubai are very good at knowing exactly where you need to go! While mentioning taxis in Dubai: they are not expensive and are very obliging, use them and respect them, i.e., give a tip, 10 Dirhams is about £2, and it means the world to them.

Dubai Creek in the Deira District

The Deira district of Dubai is where many of the dinner cruise boats leave from. It is also a bit of a mini financial centre in Dubai. But what it also has are lots of souvenir shops. I don’t want to say ‘tat’, but it’s mainly mass-produced low quality imported goods. If you want to buy some inexpensive gifts to take home, this is the place to look. Sunglasses, drinking glasses, mugs, necklaces, key rings, cuddly camels, baseball caps, nail clippers, spoons or fridge magnets … this is the place to go. And these shops are open very late at night.

The Dhow Cruise

Our evening cruise was onboard an Arabian dhow. You walk a red carpet to the dhow, which is lit up beautifully at nighttime. We were seated near the front of the boat and were offered soft drinks throughout the whole evening. Most of the other passengers were Asian family groups.

The entertainment was great. It started with a personal magic show that totally enchanted Toby. He was especially pleased as there was an option at the end to buy the magic tricks kit so he could learn the same tricks himself (this cost 50 dirhams). Once the magician had performed at all the tables, he did some tricks to the whole audience. He was very good.

Following the magician we were entertained by a horse! Well, two men in a costume, who came through the boat performing a dance. We decided that most of our fellow dinner cruisers were part of a wedding party as there was a lot of emphasis on one particular couple. It was lovely to watch, and everyone was really friendly.

Dinner: The Food

After the horse entertainment we were guided to the buffet, which really did have something for everyone (including Toby, who is a very fussy eater). Firstly there are several salad options – hummus with olive oil, coleslaw, fatoush, pasta salad and chickpea salad. We had butter naan bread to accompany the starter and main course.

For the main course you could choose between several curries (chicken tikka, chicken curry etc), fish in a Cajun sauce, tempura prawns, various rice, chilli noodles, dhal, paneer … to name a few.

Dessert was very popular with the other passengers, so much so there was little left when we went to look! Dessert was a series of coconut semolina sticky cakes and rice-based puddings as well as Muhalabieh, a rose flavoured milk pudding dessert.

There were as many cold drinks, soft drinks and water as you wanted. The boat had very good air conditioning as well so it was totally comfortable throughout the evening.

After Dinner Entertainment

Of course, during all this time, our Dhow had been chugging our way up and down the Dubai Creek. Having eaten, this is when the party got into full swing. Egyptian whirly dancers, with their whirling skirts and lit hats, performed an impressive show given their limited space!

An interesting disco followed, with music from two massive speakers, and most of the diners got up to dance. We sat and watched while drinking more cold drinks (lemonade, cola and fizzy orange). Of course, I was asked to contribute my lumbering dad dance, but I refused because I need at least five or six pints to get me in the mood to dance!

Getting Home

After around 2 hours, we reached our berth at the dock. I must say it was a great evening and everyone appeared to enjoy themselves. Millie-Mae and Toby loved the magic. I’m so glad we arranged it; it was definitely a ‘must do’ while in Dubai.

At that time of night, the boats were all wonderfully lit up and we got some great pictures by walking along the river bank. By then it was nearly 11pm and time to go home. It’s safe out at night in Dubai and so we went in search of the Metro station to take us home as our hotel was only a few hundred yards from Al Jaddaf Metro station. On the way we looked in various souvenir shops and made a few purchases. We failed to find the Metro station and so we hailed a passing taxi and he drove us back.

Disclaimer

Happy Adventures Tourism invited us to join their Evening Dhow Dinner Cruise. However, all content above is our own opinion and we’ve not been influenced in any way.