TeDaKi

Day 4 (8th January 2016): Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Weather: Sunny and breezy, Max temperature 23C / 73F

We decided to get up early this morning to get the most out of our day. We were up at 07:00AM, had breakfast and were on the first Hop On bus at 09:00AM from the Mall of the Emirates. Today, we were taking the Marina Route in the morning. This route brings you down to the "new" Dubai Marina with its tall skyscrapers and with many more being built. We only made one stop on this route (Pier 7), which was around the waterfront area. Here, you can walk along the waterfront and there is great view of the skyscrapers.

Dubai Marina:

After our leisurely stroll, we did a 1 hour boat cruise (included with the Big Bus ticket). The cruise left at 10:00AM and it was very quiet, only a handful of people on it. This "free" boat tour cruises along the harbour and brings you out past the "trunk" of the Palm Jumeirah. On the way back, we had another great panorama of the new Dubai skyline.

Cayan Tower:

After the 1 hour cruise, we got back onto the HOHO bus and stayed on until we got back to the Mall of the Emirates. Then, we took a connecting bus to the Dubai Mall, where we transferred to the City Route for the afternoon. This route focuses mainly on the Old Dubai area. A full circle on this route takes around 2 hours. We made three stops in total - The Dubai Museum, the Gold Souk and the Creek Dhow Cruise.

The Emirates Towers:

We stopped first at the Dubai Museum. Entrance to this museum is free with the Big Bus ticket, however it didn't open until 14:30 because it was a Friday. And we were there at 14:00, so we sat outside in the beautiful sunshine and had some picnic food! Once the museum opened, there was a big queue to get in, but we could skip the line because we had our "free" ticket. We really enjoyed this museum. It was interesting to look at the different exhibits about different aspects of the Arabian Culture.

Dubai Museum:

Day 3 (7th January 2016) continued...

After a short stroll around the souk, we got back on the bus and headed for the Palm Jumeirah, where we disembarked at the Atlantis Hotel. Here, we took advantage of two free extras with our 48 hour HOHO bus ticket - a one hour tour of the Palm Jumeirah, and free entry to the Atlantis Lost Chambers Aquarium.

Atlantis Hotel:

Promenade along the sea:

The bus tour of the Palm Jumeirah basically just drove along the outer rim of the Palm (the Crescent). To be honest, it wasn't much as a lot of the Palm Jumeirah is still under construction. There are about eight 5 star hotels and many more, along with apartments and residential complexes which are currently being built. The positives of this Palm Jumeirah tour were that we got another great view of the Burj al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel, as well as the "new" Dubai Marina.

Looking at the Burj al Arab & Jumeirah Beach Hotel from the Palm Jumeirah:

New Dubai Marina:

Atlantis Hotel:

After the tour, we did the Aquarium in the Atlantis Hotel, which was worth AED120 or EUR30 approx. per person. We were quite disappointed with it as we have been to much better aquariums. It wasn’t that big at all and at the end, we were like "is that it?". If we had paid EUR 30, we probably would have been angry, but as it was free for us, we didn’t mind. Afterwards, we went into the Atlantis logo shop to price some items. A plain t-shirt with "Atlantis" embroidered on the corner was on sale for EUR 70 approx., so, it's probably just an expensive place!

As it was now evening time, we got back on the HOHO bus and headed back to the Mall of the Emirates. We dined at one of the food courts there and then we went back to the hotel for an early night.

Day 3 (7th January 2016) continued...

We got back on the bus and got off at the Souk Madinat, which is very close to the Burj al Arab. This is a modern indoor souk and has a great view of the Burj al Arab from the outdoor promenade.

Souk Madinat Outside:

Inside Souk Madinat:

Outdoor promenade:

Day 3 (7th January 2016): Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Weather: Mostly sunny, Max temperature 22C / 71F

Today, being our first full day in Dubai, we decided to do some sightseeing. After a nice breakfast, we walked across the road to the Mall of the Emirates, where we joined the Big Bus Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus tour. Before we left home, we bought a 48-hour ticket online for US$68 per person. It costs US$89 if you buy the ticket on the day. It is quite good value and we like HOHO buses because they bring you to the important places and you get to hear all the important facts about the places. In total, there are 3 circle routes and also many extra freebies, such as free excursions, tours, boat cruises, aquarium entry and unlimited free cold bottled water!

Today, we decided to take the "Beach Tour". A full journey on this route takes 2 hours and 20 minutes without getting off. We got off the bus at three stops, the Burj al Arab, the Souk Madinat and the Atlantis Resort on the Palm Jumeirah.

Picture of the Jumeirah Mosque:

View of the Burj al Arab from the Jumeirah Beach:

First stop: the Burj al Arab Hotel. We walked up as far as the gate to get a view of this huge hotel. It was much larger than I expected. Since this hotel was built in 1999, I was fascinated with its sheer opulence and exterior designs. I used to draw pictures of it, so it was beautiful to see it in front of me in reality. We didn’t go into the Burj al Arab hotel because you have to have a reservation, for example for the many restaurants. And as it is very expensive (approx. EUR 120-150 per person for afternoon tea), we decided we'd use the money better elsewhere.

Entrance to the Burj al Arab:

Then, we walked over to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel to have a peek inside. It was actually much smaller than I thought, but nonetheless, a nice resort hotel.

Jumeirah Beach Hotel:

A nice Christmas Tree in the reception area:

Day 2 (6th January 2016): Arrival in Dubai

Weather: Mostly sunny, max temperature 22C / 71F

After a relatively short flight time of 6 hours and 20 minutes, we arrived early in the morning into Dubai, at 07:40AM.The sky was bright, but a little hazy. Straight through immigration and we only had to wait about three minutes for our bags to arrive. We got a taxi to our hotel, the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Al Barsha.

This hotel is located right beside the Mall of the Emirates. The majority of hotels in Dubai were very expensive, so we chose this hotel based on a good rate with breakfast for the three of us, excellent reviews, and close proximity to the shopping mall. We arrived at the hotel at 09:00AM, and we were able to check in straight away. They had a room ready for us. This was great as we thought there would be no rooms ready at that time of the morning. So, we got settled into our room and slept for about 3 hours just to get a rest for the evening. Then we mooched around the large Mall of the Emirates for the evening.

Mall of the Emirates:

It was very busy because the post-Christmas sales were on. But, even at the reduced prices, many items were still expensive.

Day 1 (5th January 2016): Travelling to Dubai

Weather: Moderate rain and overcast, max temperature 4C / 39F

Our journey started from our home in County Tipperary in Ireland. We left home at 2:30PM and arrived at Shannon Airport at 3:50PM for our 5:25PM flight to London Heathrow. We flew with Aer Lingus from Shannon to London Heathrow and then connected onwards to Dubai with Virgin Atlantic. It was an overnight flight to Dubai. The flight was very quiet, which made it very comfortable. There were lots of empty seats. Nearly everybody had a free seat beside them. Between the three of us, we had 8 seats!!

This is a trip report from my recent cruise on the MSC Musica, sailing around the United Arab Emirates and Oman from Dubai in January 2016.

This review focuses mainly on the ports of call with lots of photos!!! Not much is covered on the ship itself.

Some notes:

I am a 23 year old university student from Ireland and I travel with my mum and dad. We mainly go on cruises based on the itinerary and the quality of the cruise line. We decided to go on this Emirates and Oman cruise this year because it was very good value and all the ports were new to us. In fact, it was my first time in this part of the world.

We decided to stay in Dubai for 3 nights pre-cruise and 1 night post-cruise.

Here is the map and itinerary for the 7 night cruise:

(Sat. January 9th) Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Depart 21:00)

(Sun. January 10th) Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (04:00-23:55)

(Mon. January 11th) ***CRUISING AT SEA***

(Tue. January 12th) Khor Al Fakkan (Fujairah), United Arab Emirates (08:00-18:00)

(Wed. January 13th) Muscat, Oman (08:00-17:00)

(Thu. January 14th) Khasab, Oman (09:00-18:00)

(Fri. January 15th) Dubai, United Arab Emirates (08:00 – overnight)

(Sat. January 16th) Dubai, United Arab Emirates (disembark AM)

For these MSC Musica cruises, it is possible to embark in either Dubai or Abu Dhabi. When we were booking this cruise, it was significantly cheaper to embark and disembark in Dubai.

This was our 11th cruise and our first time on a MSC Cruise. Previously, we have sailed on Celebrity Cruises (x5), Royal Caribbean (x2), Holland America Line (x1), Norwegian (x1) and Princess Cruises (x1).

Here it goes…

Thank you so much for writing your review. I really enjoyed reading it.

Yesterday, we booked the Zaandam Antarctica cruise for January 2017 and your review is really making me look forward to this great cruise! :)

Thank you so much for your kind words. You sure did make the right choice and I really hope you enjoy this cruise as much as we did.

The last time to Antarctica, due to weather, we skipped Ushuaia and headed across the Drake a day early to try to avoid the weather that was on its' way! Hey, it gave us an extra day there! :)

 

Having done Antarctica three times, and round the Horn once, we've never had the waters/weather be really severe. And, we've also never missed the Falklands which is sometimes always an issue.

 

We can only hope for the same on our upcoming trip!

Thanks for your feedback! An extra day cruising around Antarctica? Now that would be nice!

Wow, just for the devil, I checked how much on the European website. Oceanview is 1024 euros - so about $1100.:cool: You get it for almost half price! (or we pay twice the going price :confused:

Why do us Europeans always have to pay more???:confused: If I was living near Miami/Ft Lauderdale, I'd be taking advantage of all those fantastic offers!

We are really considering this cruise, but in January 2017. At the moment, the prices are more expensive than January 2016. Do you think we should wait for a while to book and see if the prices come down?

Another thing, I know nobody can predict what weather conditions will be like, but has there ever been times in the past when the ship can't make Antarctica?

We stayed at the Hilton Copenhagen Airport and I really recommend it. It wasn't too expensive compared to the prices of some hotels in the centre of the city. The hotel is connected directly to the airport by covered walkway. There is a metro (the station is also beside the hotel) which takes you all the way in to the centre of Copenhagen in about 10-15 minutes. Also, the train to Malmo leaves from beside the hotel and takes 20 minutes. No noise from the rooms and the buffet breakfast was excellent. We then got a taxi to the cruise port.

 

Secondly, the itinerary states we arrive at Mykonos at 20.00 and leave again at 02.00, I.e. 6 hrs later. Is this correct as it hardly seems worth the stop? I would like to see Mykonos but it will be dark and late, so may not go ashore, especially UF we have to tender.

 

Yes, those times for Mykonos are correct. You will be in Santorini in the morning and then call to Mykonos that evening/night, which is definitely not ideal for sightseeing!

You could also try Aer Lingus from Toronto Pearson to Dublin to Copenhagen. Maybe even spend a few nights in Dublin too!

Terrible news...shocking, sad and scary :(

Paris, nous sommes avec vous.

We did the Viking Passage portion this September on the Eurodam and I wrote a review of it (see link in my signature below). It might give you some ideas on the ports-of-call as they are nearly similar to the Zuiderdam’s voyage next year. It was the most fantastic trip and I'd love to do it again. Go for it!

First MSC cruise on the Musica in January from Dubai ... excited :D

I am considering booking an MSC cruise in March 2016 on the Musica Dubai roundtrip. The itinerary looks really good, visiting interesting ports such as Khasab, Muscat or Abu Dhabi but I don't know what to expect of MSC. I usually go on cruises with my family on lines like HAL, Celebrity or Princess and have never been on MSC. How's the food like? What's the service like? Which are the predominant nationalities on this MSC cruises?

 

Thanks.

Hi, I'm also doing this cruise on the MSC Musica, but in January 2016.

Like you, this will be my first MSC cruise, and I've also mainly cruised with Celebrity, HAL and Princess.

I plan on writing a photo review of this trip (similar to my HAL Viking Passage photo review - see link in my signature). :)

It really does depend on the weather. We did a transatlantic this September and had quite good weather all along. We were able to make it to both of our Iceland stops (Isafjordur and Reykjavik).

We also rented cars there...if you are interested, you can check out my photo review (link is in my signature) :)

What a nice review! I like your photos and it looks like you really enjoyed your cruise! :)

Nice review, thanks for sharing!

Nice review, thanks for sharing!

Has anyone returned from a recent cruise where the new gala night dress code is in effect? If so, did you notice any difference from previous cruises?

Yes, in general, I thought people weren’t as “dressed up”.

Thank you for your answer. Now, two last questions for car rental, in case I book that itinerary. I took a good look at your car pictures. No offense meant for UK posters, just double checking here... Besides on the Shetlands, all your rental cars had the steering wheel to the left and the priority lane was to the right? Am I correct?

Yes, that is correct.

do you remember if compacts with automatic transmission were available?

All our rented cars were manual. Manual cars are what we are used to. But from what I can remember, it was definitely possible to reserve automatics. Though, I would advise you to book automatic cars as soon as you can because there weren’t many of them available in those ports. Hope this helps!