The evening, from pickup to drop-off
Timing, boarding, the food, the show.
Pickup from your hotel is between 6:30 and 7:30 pm depending on where you stay; Marina cruises collect later than Creek ones. Boats board from about 8 pm and leave around 8:30. If you are making your own way, arrive thirty minutes before departure; boarding is from a marked pier and boats do not wait.
On board you are shown to a table on the upper open deck or the air-conditioned lower deck; say which you prefer when you book, since the upper deck is the better view and the lower is better in summer. A welcome drink and Arabic coffee come round while the boat casts off.
Dinner is a buffet: hummus and mezze, salads, grills, a curry or two, rice, bread, and desserts including umm ali and fruit. Go up early; the queue is short in the first ten minutes.
The entertainment is a Tanoura dancer, whose spinning skirt lights up, and often a musician or a magician for the children. Photos are best from the bow just after the turn, when the lit skyline is behind you.
The boat docks around 10 to 10:30 pm and pickups leave straight away, so you are back at the hotel by 11.