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AmaDahlia

Small river ship. Operated by AmaWaterways.

Sailing, two sources  checked 12 Sep 2026

Our view

hotel-standard luxury

AmaDahlia does the mainstream Egypt river cruise competently and sells it as a package rather than as a cruise, which makes it hard to compare on price with anything else here. The absence of a lift on a five deck ship is the fact most likely to catch a guest out, and to the operator's credit it says so plainly. A reimagined version was announced for September 2026 with no published detail, so a booking made now is a booking on a ship nobody outside AmaWaterways has described.

Who it suits

  • First visit to Egypt
  • Travellers who want everything arranged before they arrive
  • Guests who want a pool and full restaurant service
  • Anyone who prefers a large ship to a small boat

Who it does not suit

  • Anyone who cannot manage stairs, the operator states there is no elevator on five decks
  • Families with children under 12, that is the line's minimum age on Egypt programmes
  • Travellers who want a cruise only price, the published fare is an eleven night package that mixes Cairo hotel nights with nights aboard
  • Anyone booking the next twelve months on the strength of the 2026 rebuild, the operator has released renderings and no description of the work
  • Guests who came for quiet, this is 72 people and 62 crew on one hull
Service style
Hotel service model with a fixed daily programme, Egyptologist led excursions in every port, and wine and beer included at meals.
The cabin we would book
One of the sixteen suites, on a middle deck. They are the larger half of the ship, and a middle deck keeps the stair climb short in both directions on a vessel with no lift.
Nearest alternative: AmaLilia
Same line, same eleven night Cairo round trip, same inclusions. AmaDahlia is the smaller and older hull at 72 guests, AmaLilia is the 2024 build at 82. See its record →
Everything in this box is opinion, not a sourced fact, and we say what it rests on: desk research only, by Christoph Paterok, 12 September 2026. Nobody here has sailed this vessel. Read it as a careful reading of the published record, which is what it is.

Identity · 4 of 4 on file

Official URL
https://www.amawaterways.com/ships/amadahlia-river-cruise-ship
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.
Name variants
Ama Dahlia
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.
Flag / registration
Egypt
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source, or sources that disagree. Treat as provisional.
Operating status
sailing
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy, second source Operator states this, and a second source agrees.

The vessel · 12 of 13 on file

Launch year
2021
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.
Last refit year
2026
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy, second source One source we consider reliable.
Cabins
36
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy, second source Operator states this, and a second source agrees.
Suites
16
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source we consider reliable.
Max guests
72
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.
Crew
62
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source we consider reliable.
Length (m)
72
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source we consider reliable.
Propulsion
not checked
Decks
5
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.
Pool
pool
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.
Air conditioning
Yes
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source we consider reliable.
Wi-Fi
Yes
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.
Accessibility notes
The operator states that AmaDahlia does not have an elevator and that moving between decks requires using the stairs. No wheelchair accessible stateroom is listed on the ship page.
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.

How it operates · 6 of 9 on file

Routes
Cairo to Cairo
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source we consider reliable.
Nights offered
11
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.
Embarkation ports
Cairo, Luxor
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source we consider reliable.
Departure days
not checked
Season months
September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source we consider reliable.
Whole-boat charter
not checked
Charter minimum cabins
not checked
Booking channels
direct, advisor, aggregator
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source we consider reliable.
Minimum age
Minimum age 12 on African programmes including Egypt, unless otherwise agreed with AmaWaterways. Guests under 18 must share a stateroom with an adult and be supervised at all times. The line does not provide child specific programmes.
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.

Price · 2 of 5 on file

Rate from
not checked
Rate to
not checked
Whole-boat charter rate
not checked
Inclusions
All meals, Wine and beer with lunch and dinner, Daily Sip and Sail cocktail hour, Wi-Fi, Shore excursions led by Egyptologists in every port, Port charges
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy Operator states this, and a second source agrees.
Exclusions
International flights, Transfers, Land programmes, Gratuities, Intra Egypt airfare, Visa fees
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source we consider reliable.

Reputation · 2 of 3 on file

Notable history
AmaDahlia was AmaWaterways' first ship on the Nile. It debuted on 6 September 2021 with an inaugural Secrets of Egypt and the Nile sailing, and co-founders Rudi Schreiner and Kristin Karst hosted the first guests. In August 2026 AmaWaterways released renderings of a reimagined AmaDahlia and said it would return in its new form in September 2026, alongside AmaLilia and the incoming AmaNubia.
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source we consider reliable.
Awards
not checked
Guest review sources
Cruise Critic member reviews for AmaDahlia, CruiseMapper AmaDahlia ship page, Tripadvisor reviews of the Nile River, Cairo, which include AmaDahlia trip reports
Checked 12 Sep 2026. source, archived copy One source, or sources that disagree. Treat as provisional.

What we could not establish

Every empty cell above has a reason. These are the reasons for this vessel, written down at the time the record was made, including the places where published sources contradict each other.

All nine AmaDahlia departure dates on the AmaWaterways calendar for autumn 2026 fall on a Wednesday, seven days apart. The operator does not state a weekly pattern anywhere, so we have not recorded a departure day. The pattern of Wednesdays is derived from the listed dates, not from any operator statement.

Trade press from August 2026 reports that a reimagined AmaDahlia returns in September 2026, but no source describes what work was carried out, and the operator's ship page does not mention a refit. Because the refit is unconfirmed in its scope, the cabin mix and the 72-guest figure may have changed.

Two figures circulate for guest capacity. CruiseMapper carries 72 in its data table and 68 in its prose. The operator states 72.

Several resellers describe the ship as award-winning. No named award for AmaDahlia appeared in any source we read, so we have not recorded an award.

No source we read publishes anything about full-ship charter for this vessel. The charter rate, the charter minimum and charter availability are all unrecorded for that reason.

Propulsion is not stated by any source we read and has not been assumed.

Pricing is in euros because only the EU storefront was reachable. AmaWaterways publishes EUR 6,234 as a lead-in fare per person, double occupancy, for the whole 11-night package. That package mixes Cairo hotel nights with nights aboard. It is not a per-night rate and it is not a whole-cabin price. The operator does not publish the cruise-only night count, so the figure cannot be converted into either. We have not recorded a starting rate for that reason. Several third-party sites, Cruise Critic, AffordableTours, Atlas Travel and Mundy Cruising, all returned HTTP 403, which limited any second sourcing. The source for the EUR 6,234 figure is https://www.amawaterways.com/river-cruises/africa/egypt. The same problem applies to the AmaLilia record, where the starting rate is unrecorded for the same reason.

Recorded 12 September 2026. If you can settle any of these, tell us and we will correct the record in public.

Press, awards and guest reviews

What other people published about this vessel. These are not our claims and they are not our view. Where an entry was the source for a fact above, the note says so.

Press

Cruise Trade News 11 Aug 2026
The page shows a date of 11 August 2026, but the article describes the 6 September 2021 inaugural cruise. The published date is unconfirmed.
PAX News 05 Aug 2026
States AmaDahlia will enter service in September 2026.

Guest reviews

Cruise Critic no date published
Undated standing review index. The page returns 403 to automated requests, so the review count and latest sail date could not be read.
CruiseMapper no date published
No date. Standing ship page carrying specifications and a departure schedule.

Something here wrong? Say so and we will correct it in public, with the old value left visible. See the corrections log.