Our view
Malouka is the honest budget end of a fleet that is otherwise expensive, and the operator positions it that way itself rather than dressing it up. You get the same route, the same crew culture and the same food as the 7,300 euro boat, in a smaller and older room. If cabin size matters to you more than price does, buy a newer hull in this fleet rather than this one.
Who it suits
- Travellers who want this fleet at its lowest price
- Couples who do not mind a compact cabin
- Anyone who prefers an older boat with its original fit-out
- Groups of up to 20 taking the whole boat
Who it does not suit
- Anyone who wants a large cabin, the Luxury Room here is 13.4 square metres and the operator calls the cabins compact on its own page
- Guests expecting the updated bathrooms fitted to the 2017 and later hulls, Malouka still has the original ones
- Wheelchair users and anyone who cannot manage stairs
- Four people who want to share, Malouka has no Deluxe Suite and rooms are sold for two
- Service style
- Family run crewed sailing boat on the same fixed Esna to Aswan route as the rest of the fleet, with one guide for the whole boat.
- The cabin we would book
- A Panoramic Suite. On a boat the operator itself describes as less spacious than the newer hulls, the extra floor space is the only thing worth paying up for.
- Nearest alternative: El Nil
- The two oldest boats in the fleet, both still with the original bathrooms. El Nil is smaller at 43 metres and cheaper at 3,850 euros, Malouka is 50 metres and 4,500. See its record →
Shown in the currency the operator published it in, on the basis the operator sells it on. We do not convert currencies and we do not divide a package total into a nightly rate, because both would produce a number nobody quoted. See how this compares on the rates page.
Identity · 3 of 4 on file
The vessel · 9 of 13 on file
How it operates · 8 of 9 on file
Price · 3 of 5 on file
Reputation · 2 of 3 on file
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.
The operator's own site contradicts itself on the vessel's length. The fleet index and the booking engine give 50m x 7.7m. The Malouka boat page gives 52m x 7.5m. Third-party pages give 52m but appear to be copies of older operator text. Nour El Nil has not resolved this publicly.
No refit year is published for any boat in the fleet. The only hint for Malouka is the booking engine card, which lists Original Bathrooms for Malouka and El Nil and Updated Bathrooms for every boat from 2017 onward. The 2026 fleet-wide switch to solar and battery air conditioning also reached Malouka, but the operator gives no date for it. The refit year has been left empty.
The operator publishes nothing about a pool or jacuzzi on Malouka. The only source that lists a pool is a reseller amenity checklist that is not reliable at that level of detail. We did not fill this as none, because the operator has not confirmed the absence.
The crew count, deck count and flag and registration are not published per vessel. The operator states only that it employs over 100 Egyptians across the fleet. A 2024 guest account implies three levels, with cabins and a library below, a dining tent above, and a top deck, but we did not derive the deck count from a single blog post.
Operating status is recorded as sailing on the strength of two live, bookable Malouka departures, 14 to 19 September 2026 and 21 to 26 September 2026, both priced and showing three rooms free. No guest review naming Malouka within the last six months was found. The most recent review found covers November 2025 travel.
Charter is offered across all nine boats, but no charter rate and no minimum cabin count are published. Both values have been left empty.
Malouka is positioned by the operator as the budget and character end of the fleet. Its own page describes the cabins as compact and states that the boat is less spacious than the newer boats. Its 13.40 m2 Luxury Room is the smallest cabin in the fleet apart from El Nil. The 2008 build date and the original bathrooms designation are relevant to how the boat is described.
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
Guest reviews
Something here wrong? Say so and we will correct it in public, with the old value left visible. See the corrections log.