Raffles Cruise Komodo Bookings Open for the 2026 Season

The 2026 Komodo charter calendar has a new name on it. Raffles Cruise, a 31-metre ironwood-and-teak phinisi with six en-suite cabins and an onboard jacuzzi, is now bookable through the Komodo Trip desk in Labuan Bajo. She sells as a whole boat only — private charters from USD 7,150 per night for up to 14 guests — and her dates are open across 2D1N, 3D2N and 4D3N routes into Komodo National Park. For a hull this well finished, she has stayed remarkably quiet: no dedicated website, no listing on the big review platforms, and until now no verified rate sheet anywhere in English. This post covers what the boat actually is, what the from-rate buys, who she suits, and how to hold her before the dry-season weeks close out.

Raffles Cruise Komodo Joins the 2026 Booking Calendar

The short version of the announcement: our desk can now confirm Raffles Cruise charter dates directly, with the same deposit-hold system we use across the rest of the fleet. Her full profile — verified specifications, photo gallery, cabin classes and the 2026 rate — is live at Raffles Cruise, and that page is now the reference we keep current as her calendar fills.

One naming note before anything else, because it genuinely confuses people. The boat is always listed as Raffles Cruise — the full name matters. The single word is best known for a hotel group that has no connection whatsoever to this phinisi, and there is also a fast day-trip speedboat in Labuan Bajo with a similar name. If you are comparing quotes from agents, make sure everyone is talking about the same 31-metre sailing vessel with six cabins. That thin, muddled search landscape is exactly why reliable information on this boat has been so hard to find — and why we put her full specification sheet on one page.

The Boat: 31 Metres of Ironwood and Teak

Raffles Cruise is a traditional wooden ship in the true phinisi sense — a hull built from ironwood and teak by hand, then fitted with modern systems where it counts. Below deck sits a Mitsubishi 8DC9 engine that pushes her along at a steady 8–12 knots, which is the honest cruising range for a displacement hull of this size; nobody crosses to Padar in twenty minutes on a sailing phinisi, and anyone promising otherwise is selling a speedboat. Power on board comes from a 30 kVA generator set with an 8,000-watt emergency backup, and she carries 6 tonnes of fresh water — enough for full-boat occupancy across a 4D3N route without rationing showers.

Navigation is compass, GPS chart mapping and twin marine radios — the standard verified kit we expect before any boat joins our roster, alongside the annual Indonesian maritime safety inspection every commercial vessel in the park must pass. The jacuzzi and bathtub are the details guests remember: very few hulls in this size class carry either, let alone both.

Six Cabins, Fourteen Guests: Malacca, Borneo and Java

The cabin plan is four named classes across six cabins: Malacca I and Malacca II (one cabin each) at the top of the boat’s hierarchy, then two Borneo cabins and two Java cabins. Every one of the six is en-suite — no shared bathrooms anywhere on board — which is the single feature that matters most on a multi-generation charter, where grandparents and teenagers keep very different hours. Bed configurations can usually be adjusted between double and twin setups depending on the cabin; send your rooming list to the desk and we will confirm the exact layout for your dates rather than guess here.

Fourteen guests across six cabins works out to comfortable, not crowded. On a 31-metre hull that leaves genuine deck space per person — forward sun loungers, a shaded aft dining area and the jacuzzi deck — instead of the elbow-to-elbow feeling smaller boats produce at full capacity.

Raffles Cruise Price: What From USD 7,150 a Night Covers

The 2026 rate starts from USD 7,150 per night for the whole boat — roughly IDR 112 million at current exchange — and every figure you see from our desk is a from-rate: final pricing depends on dates, route length and season. Divide it out and the arithmetic is the real story: with 14 guests aboard, the from-rate lands just over USD 510 per person per night for a private en-suite phinisi with a jacuzzi. That sits within reach of what premium shared cabins cost on neighbouring boats, except here the whole vessel, the itinerary and the daily rhythm answer to your group alone.

Two honest caveats. First, Komodo National Park fees are never bundled into the charter rate — budget them separately: entry is IDR 250,000 (about $16) per person per day for foreign visitors, ranger trekking runs IDR 200,000 per group of up to five, and a sensible allowance is $40–50 per person across a 3D2N. Second, Raffles Cruise does not sell shared cabins. There is no open-trip version of this boat, and we would rather say that plainly than let anyone book expecting a per-cabin price. Her sister hull Vinca Voyages — built to identical dimensions — is the one that runs shared departures, with whole-boat charters from USD 6,500 per night; if a per-person berth is what your budget wants, our Komodo boat trip guide maps every shared option from $220 per person.

Who the Raffles Phinisi Suits

Whole-boat-only vessels reward a specific kind of traveler, and the Raffles phinisi is clearest case we have added this year. She suits groups of ten to fourteen — two families traveling together, a friend group marking a milestone birthday, a small company retreat — where the per-person math beats splitting across two smaller boats and the six en-suite cabins keep everyone civilised. The jacuzzi and bathtub tilt her toward celebration charters; the 14-guest ceiling and stable 31-metre hull tilt her toward mixed-age groups with grandparents or young children aboard.

Who she does not suit: couples and solo travelers shopping for a single cabin. Chartering six cabins for two people is a magnificent way to spend money, but most twosomes are better served by a premium cabin on a shared departure or a smaller private hull. Our Komodo liveaboard guide walks through those cabin-by-cabin alternatives, from $220 shared berths to full charters from $1,200 per day.

How to Book Raffles Cruise for 2026

The process is deliberately simple. WhatsApp the desk on +62 811 3823 875 with three things: your preferred dates, your group size, and the duration you want (2D1N, 3D2N or 4D3N). We check her live calendar, confirm availability and the exact rate for your dates, and hold the booking with a deposit. Every charter departs Labuan Bajo Harbor and sails with licensed park guides — and since April 2026 the park enforces its 1,000-visitor daily cap on the Komodo–Padar zone through the SiOra reservation system, which is one more reason confirmed bookings beat walk-up plans.

On the water, expect the classic private rhythm our captains run: anchor overnight in flat water, tender ashore for the Padar summit climb at 05:15 before the heat, dragon trekking with rangers, then Pink Beach, Manta Point and Taka Makassar at your group’s own pace — a private charter means the schedule bends to you, not the reverse. One planning note from every season we have operated: July and August dry-season weeks are the first to go on boats this size, and a hull with six cabins has exactly one booking per departure to sell. If your group is eyeing peak weeks, hold dates months ahead, not weeks.

New boats reach this fleet slowly and deliberately — specifications verified, safety papers checked, rates confirmed in writing — because a listing is a recommendation, and thousands of guests have trusted that standard since 2015. Raffles Cruise cleared it. The 2026 calendar is open.