Set Nefru
Dahabiya. Operated by private owners (site setnefru.com).
Not verified as sailing checked 12 Sep 2026
We have not confirmed that this vessel is currently in service. That is a statement about our checking, not a claim that it has stopped.
Our view
The restoration is the whole proposition here, an Art Deco mural kept and marble bathrooms fitted, and the owner describes it in detail without ever dating it. Booking runs through a hotel desk on a UAE number, which is unusual and worth knowing before you start. Nothing here is bookable online and nothing is priced in public, so budget time for correspondence.
Who it suits
- A family or group of up to eight taking the whole boat
- Travellers who came for a restored period vessel
- Guests who want three, four or five nights
- Anyone already staying at Al Moudira, the boat is moored beside it
Who it does not suit
- Anyone who wants a price, the site has no rate page and routes everything to a hotel reservations email
- Travellers who need a build year, the owner says nearly ninety years ago and a seller says about a hundred, and neither states one
- Anyone who wants wifi confirmed, nothing on the site or in any reseller copy mentions it
- Guests who need a capacity they can plan around, the owner says up to eight and three other sources say the five cabins sleep eight to ten
- Anyone who needs an accessibility statement, none exists anywhere for a two deck wooden boat
- Service style
- Privately owned restored sailing boat for eight guests, booked through the Al Moudira hotel reservations desk rather than through a cruise company.
- The cabin we would book
- The single suite. On a boat with five cabins and one suite, the restoration work the owner describes is what you are paying for and the suite is where it concentrates.
- Nearest alternative: 1899 Dahabiya Kingfisher
- Two small historic hulls run by their owners rather than by a cruise company, neither with a published rate. Set Nefru was restored recently and takes eight guests on 37 metres. Kingfisher is an 1899 iron hull restored in 2000, takes seven, and is considerably more basic. See its record →
Identity · 3 of 4 on file
The vessel · 7 of 13 on file
How it operates · 6 of 9 on file
Price · 1 of 5 on file
Reputation · 0 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.
No rate is published anywhere. The operator's site has no rate page and directs all enquiries to reservations@moudira.com. Corinthian Travel shows a price band of three dollar signs and no figure. The starting rate, top rate and charter rate are all empty rather than guessed.
The build year is unresolved. The operator states the vessel is nearly ninety years old, which, from a page last updated in November 2025, points to the mid-1930s. Corinthian Travel states approximately a hundred years old and places the origin in the early 1920s. Neither source gives a specific year, so no launch year is recorded.
The refit year is unresolved. The operator describes a two-year restoration carried out by fifty craftsmen under an Egyptian naval architect, with an Art Deco mural preserved and Carrara marble bathrooms installed, but gives no year for either the start or the completion. The Scene Traveller piece of 23 October 2024 already describes the restoration as finished, so completion was likely 2024 or earlier. No year is recorded.
The guest capacity is the main contradiction across sources. The operator states up to 8 guests. Al Moudira, Corinthian Travel and Scene Traveller all state five cabins sleeping 8 to 10. If the restoration reduced the guest count, the cabin figure of 5 may also be out of date.
The vessel length is contradicted. The owner-side material gives 37 metres. Corinthian Travel gives 32 metres.
Bookings are handled by the Al Moudira hotel reservations desk, on a UAE phone number, rather than through a cruise company. The boat is moored beside that hotel. No source we read indicates the boat has changed hands.
No source we read gives the flag and registration, crew count, departure days, operating season, or minimum age policy. No source we read mentions wi-fi, a pool or plunge pool, step-free access, or exclusions. Absence of a mention is not treated as evidence of absence, so these are not recorded as none or false.
Recorded 12 September 2026. If you can settle any of these, tell us and we will correct the record in public.
Something here wrong? Say so and we will correct it in public, with the old value left visible. See the corrections log.