MSC Musica United Arab Emirates and Oman (January 2016) Trip Report

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…

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!!

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 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 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) 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 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 4 (8th January 2016) continued ...

We then got back onto the Big Bus and got off at the Gold Souk. We only took a very short stroll around and we didn't spend too much time around here because after the cruise, we would be staying only a short walk away, at the Hyatt Place Baniyas Square.

Afterwards, we continued along the City Route, driving along with the Creek on our right-hand side.

Dubai Creek:

Our next stop was for the Dubai Creek Dhow Cruise which left at 16:30. This cruise lasted one hour. Like the Marina cruise, there weren't many other people on-board. We really enjoyed this cruise too. It was really nice cruising along the creek and watching the many abra boats crossing the creek.

After the 1 hour cruise, we got the Big Bus back to the Dubai Mall and from there we got a taxi back to the Mall of the Emirates. We didn't spend much time around the Dubai Mall or the Burj Khalifa Tower because we would do this area when we were back in Dubai on the ship. At the Mall of the Emirates, we dined at the food court once again and then took a look at the Ski Dubai, which is located in the shopping mall. We then walked back to the hotel for another early night.

Pics outside the Dubai Mall:

Day 5 (9th January 2016): Dubai, United Arab Emirates (embarking MSC Musica, with departure at 21:00)

Weather: Mostly sunny, Max temperature 23C / 73F

Free wifi: in the Dubai cruise terminal

YAY!!! We’re getting on the ship today.

We got up late this morning and had breakfast from 10:20 - 11:00AM. Afterwards, we packed up our suitcases and checked out, but we put our bags into storage for a few hours as we decided to do some last minute shopping at the Mall of the Emirates. The mall was very busy on this Saturday morning.

After buying some bits and pieces, we headed back to the hotel, picked up our luggage and got a taxi to the cruise port. It took about 30 minutes to get there because there was a lot of traffic. We eventually got to the port at around 15:30. There was no waiting at security and we walked straight to check-in with no waiting at all. Our passports were taken here for the duration of the cruise. They would be given back to us the day before we disembark. It took only about 20 minutes from the time we dropped off our luggage with the porters outside, to the time we arrived at our room, an inside cabin on deck 9.

After dropping off our hand luggage, we headed up to the buffet for some snacks. Then for the rest of the evening, we just wandered around the ship, checking out all the different public lounges, shops and views of Dubai from the port.

Port of Dubai:

Finally on-board the MSC Musica:

Sunset:

MSC Musica Atrium:

Our muster drill was at 20:15, and despite the emergency procedures being repeated in 5 different languages, it was finished in about 20 minutes.

We then went to dinner and found that we had been assigned a lovely private table for three. We had the 2nd timed seating (21:00), while the 1st seating was at 18:30. We were assigned to the upper dining room (Le Maxim's) on Deck 6. There were many options on the menu, but we just went for 3 courses - starter, main course and dessert - and everything tasted good, as it did on all the other nights. What we were surprised at was that there was a charge for water (still and sparkling) in the main dining room. It cost EUR 3 for a 1L bottle of sparkling water and the same for still water.

Once we were finished dinner at around 22:30, we went outside and saw that we had left the port of Dubai. We walked around the promenade deck, admiring the Dubai skyline fade into the distance.

Thanks for the great review

Day 6 (10th January 2016): Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Docked 04:00-23:55)

Weather: mostly sunny, max temperature 25C / 77F

Free Wi-Fi: in the cruise ship terminal, shopping malls

This morning, the ship docked very early, at 04:00AM. At around 09:00AM, we were woken by the cruise director's announcement welcoming new passengers on-board who embarked in Abu Dhabi. We were in no rush getting up early this morning because the ship wasn't leaving Abu Dhabi until just before midnight tonight. However, seen as we were awake from the cruise director’s announcement, we got up for breakfast and went to the buffet.

After breakfast, we ready for our day and headed out.

Docked in Abu Dhabi:

The port authorities of Abu Dhabi had organised a free shuttle from the ship to the Abu Dhabi Mall, a central location in the city. We were off the ship at around 11:45AM and the bus to the Abu Dhabi Mall took around 15 minutes, arriving there at noon.

Today in Abu Dhabi, we made our own way around the city using taxis. They were very cheap, easy to locate and we found that the drivers were very friendly and reliable. We were going to use the Hop On Hop Off bus, but it was expensive at US$58 per person for a day. So, we decided that it would be much cheaper for the 3 of us to get around using taxis.

Our first destination in Abu Dhabi was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the most spectacular mosque we have ever visited - a must see if you ever go to Abu Dhabi. A taxi from the Abu Dhabi Mall to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque took around 20 minutes and cost AED35, approx. EUR 9. The mosque was absolutely fabulous, but you must note that women need to be covered from neck to wrist and neck to ankle and also have their hair covered. Men need to wear trousers but are OK wearing short sleeved shirts or t-shirts. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was very picturesque and beautifully decorated in marble - everywhere you turned, you just had to take a photo.

Day 6 (10th January 2016): Abu Dhabi continued …

The inside of the Mosque was equally as beautiful as the outside, with beautiful carpets and three large colourful chandeliers. We spent almost two hours at this Grand Mosque, wandering around and admiring its magnificent beauty.

Day 6 (10th January 2016): Abu Dhabi continued …

From the mosque, we then picked up another taxi and headed for the Emirates Palace Hotel, about a 20 minute journey which cost AED35 or approximately EUR 9. Through previous research, I was under the impression that reservations had to be made to gain entry to the hotel, but the taxi was able to drive us right up to the front door! We went inside the hotel for a look around and it was beautiful. Lots of people were having afternoon tea there.

Inside the Emirates Palace Hotel:

We then went outside to view the hotel from the outside and it was quite impressive.

Emirates Palace Hotel:

Opposite the Emirates Palace Hotel, there is a great view of the Etihad Towers. We sat beside some fountains outside and had our brief picnic lunch.

Then, we took another taxi to the Marina Mall, a short 5 minute ride away which cost only AED8, approx. EUR 2. Here we wandered around the Mall, but it was mostly expensive shops, with the exception of a few stores.

The Marina harbour:

It was now around 17:00, so we took another taxi from the Marina Mall to the Abu Dhabi Mall, which took around 15 minutes and cost AED 25, or EUR 6approx. This was a nicer mall with not so expensive shops. There were even some souvenir shops too.

Then, we went back outside and queued up for the free shuttle back to the ship. We were back at the ship at 19:00.

MSC Musica docked in Abu Dhabi:

The port terminal was very nice, with a few good souvenir shops and free Wi-Fi! We got back on the ship and got ready for 21:00 dinner which lasted 1 hour and 30 minutes

Day 7 (11th January 2016): Cruising at Sea

Weather: Sunny, max temperature 22C / 71F

This morning, we woke up around 09:00AM and the sea was very smooth. We had a small breakfast because we were going to be having lunch in the main dining room. The buffet was not too busy and it was easy to get a table. We walked around the top deck and it was packed with people lying out in the sun. All the sun beds were occupied and it was like a maze trying to walk around the deck.

We then went down to the promenade deck which was closed because of high winds but opened soon after. It was very quiet there, however we were disappointed to find that there were no seats or benches to sit down on. Usually when we are cruising at sea on other cruise lines and when the weather is nice, we love to sit on the promenade deck because it is usually quiet. But unfortunately, we couldn't this time!

Very quiet promenade deck:

At around 12:30 to 13:30, we cruised by Iran on the port side:

We then went to lunch in the main dining room and it took around 1 hour. After lunch, we sat in some of the lounges around the ship, relaxed with some reading and had some "quiet time". It was very quiet in the inside of the ship because most people were sunbathing up on top!

Tonight was the first Gala evening, however we opted out of dressing up so instead, we went to the buffet for dinner and went to bed early because we had to be up early for our excursion tomorrow.

We also went to the main theatre show this evening – Catwomen. Although we are not hugely into the theatre shows on cruises, it was one of the best shows we have seen on a cruise ship. It reminded us of a “Cirque du Soleil” type show with lots of acrobatics etc.

Thanks for taking the time to share your review.

We will be doing a Middle east cruise on Fantasia at Christmas. Very excited to visit this part of the world for the first time.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review!

Day 8 (12th January 2016): Khor al Fakkan (Fujairah), United Arab Emirates (Docked 08:00-18:00)

Weather: Sunny, max temperature 24C / 75F

Free Wi-Fi: could not locate any free Wi-Fi

We set the alarm for 07:00AM this morning because we had to get up early as our shore excursion was leaving at 08:30AM. We decided to book a shore excursion today as we had no research done at all for this port-of-call. We booked the "East Coast Tour" which lasted 5 hours and cost EUR 60 each.

Views of Khor al Fakkan from the ship:

We proceeded to our meeting point (The Theatre) at 08:30AM and collected our stickers and got onto our assigned bus beside the ship. The port of Khor Fakkan is an industrial one, so cruise passengers are not allowed to walk from the ship to the town. Therefore, the port authorities provided free shuttles to the beginning of the promenade. However, the shore excursion buses were waiting on the pier.

Our bus left the port at 08:50AM. Our tour guide, a Hungarian lady who has been living in Fujairah for over 20 years was very informative and gave us many facts about the United Arab Emirates.

We arrived at our first stop, the Al Badiya Mosque, at 09:05AM. This mosque is very old and small and is considered the oldest mosque in the United Arab Emirates.

Al Badiya Mosque:

Beside the mosque, there are also watchtowers with a good view of the surrounding area.

Day 8 (12th January 2016): Khor al Fakkan (Fujairah) continued …

At 09:30, we left the small mosque and headed towards Fujairah, where we first visited the Fish and Vegetable Market, arriving at 10:10. We were brought through the market by our tour guide and afterwards, we were given some free time, so we wandered around the market and shops for a while on our own and did some shopping.

We all met back on the bus at 10:50 and we proceeded to our next stop, the Heritage Village. On the way, we drove through the town of Fujairah and we passed by a beautiful mosque.

We arrived at the Heritage Village at around 11:10 and it was bustling with people. There were many other buses there from the ship, so it was very busy. We were given about 40 minutes here to stroll around on our own. It was nice checking out all the traditional Arabic rooms etc.

We left the Heritage Village at around 11:50 and we arrived at our next stop, the Fujairah Museum at 12:00 noon, where we were given 30 minutes to explore on our own. It was mainly old artefacts from thousands of years ago in little exhibits and many people were finished early, so we sat outside in the sun for a short while.

Back onto the bus again, at 12:30, and we drove to our next stop, the Fujairah Fort, which was located across the road from the Museum. Located on a little hill, this fort provided a good panorama of Fujairah. You could also walk along the walls of the fort too.

Fujairah Fort:

We were back on the bus at 12:50 and we headed back to Khor Fakkan port, where we arrived back at the cruise ship at 13:30.

Day 8 (12th January 2016): Khor al Fakkan (Fujairah) continued …

We got back on-board to drop off our shopping etc. and had a quick snack before getting off the ship again. This time, we took the free port shuttle which brought us out to a little marina.

Marina:

From there, we walked along a promenade for about 10 minutes until we reached the beach.

Very quiet promenade walk:

Very quiet beach:

It was very quiet around with not many other people about. There was also a good view of the MSC Musica from the beach.

MSC Musica docked:

We sat on a bench for about half an hour, taking in the beautiful sunshine and listening to the crashing waves. We then headed back to the ship, got on-board, had some food at around 16:00, and waited around for sailaway at 18:00.

Back at the pier:

Muscat, Oman coming next!

Thank You so much for sharing your experience with us.

I have a Arabian Sea and India cruise on Celebrity booked for 2018 so really looking forward to reviewing your thread.

Your photos are amazing. :D

A wonderful review and you certainly seem to have been enjoying your cruise around the Emirates. I have done that itinerary three times and there are still things to see and do. I am lucky to have my son and his family living in Dubai and I just love going there. My son and his family did their first cruise with me from Dubai on MSC Orchestra last February and they are now so hooked on the cruising life that we have booked for MSC Fantasia from Dubai on 17th Dec. I will be flying out to Dubai for a month's stay and am looking forward to exploring even more and visiting some of our favourite sights on the cruise itinerary along with some new places - my twin grandsons are keen for me to visit Ferrai World and we want to visit The Emirates Palace Hotel and the Mosque in Abu Dhabi again.

If your review does not entice others to try this area for cruising they do not know what they are missing.

Regards

Suzanne (Bristol, UK)

Thank you for the brilliant review. We are booked for January 2017. You have given us lots of helpful information particularly the cost of taxis in Abu Dhabi!

Thanks for the review.

Many thanks for such an amazing report TeDaKi - the photographs are amazing and your review is going to safe me a log of -'leg-work' for our cruise holiday next year.

kindest regards

I so enjoyed reading this review. I've sailed this region 4 times and your photos brought back some very pleasant memories.

I think you really can't beat the UAE for a winter destination. Not that far to fly to, very safe, lovely weather and loads to do regardless of your interests. Shame the hotels are so expensive - cruise helps with the coast of going there though as the nightly rate is so much cheaper than staying ashore!