Brilliance of the Seas Dec 2011 Dubai Cruise - Picture Review

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They had a Christmas tree. After all, Christmas was round the corner!

 

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That is Dubai in the distance. The ship was still in port.

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There is the gangway to the Dubai tent.

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Some more pictures of the ride from our hotel to Port Rashid (that is there the Dubai cruise terminal, or cruise tent, is located.

 

That is the Burg Khalifa - the tallest building in the world.

 

You can see the road signs, to Port Rashid.

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Ok, now on to Day 2, Fujairah port.

 

This must have been breakfast for my sis, or her hubby. :)

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That's the gangway.

 

Gangway from a distance.

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The ship from a distance.

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McDonalds at Fujairah.

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Lulu hypermarket. The cruise line provided free transport to the hypermarket, which my sister went.

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Inside of the hypermart. My bro-in-law told us that the milk was very good!

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Look carefully - you can see KFC and then Pizza Hut in the distance.

 

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The seafood brochette from formal night.

 

The beef! Looks yummy.

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So we are now to Day 3 - Muscat, Oman.

 

Muscat was an overnight port. We had almost 2 full days. There were 8 persons in our group (6 adults and 2 kids) so it made sense for us to go with a private tour. We went with Mark Tours. They were good and reliable.

 

First day, we took an inland tour to Nizwa.

 

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Beautiful pictures!

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It was a long drive to Nizwa (almost 2 hours), because of the geographical distance. However, the highways were very smooth and the ride was pleasant.

 

 

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Beautiful pictures!

 

Glad you like it. You can also thank my dear sister. She uses a Sony DSLR.

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This was the private tour operator. I'd give them the thumbs-up for reliability.

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These were issued when we left the ship and had to be returned when we boarded. For the purposes of the Omani Visa, the cruise line would buy a group visa for all and we'd be charged via our Seapass accounts. I can't remember the cost per pax, but it was convenient.

 

 

By the way, don't ever make fun of their Sultans and/or religion. It will not be taken positively, to say the least. I noticed that the locals mention the name of their Sultan in awe. Technically, they are a monarchy. The Sultan owns everything and the Sultan treats his people very well.

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I told you, it was a long ride.

 

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Nopes, not there yet.

 

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If you look carefully, you can see an ancient tower on the hill. These guys have been around for thousands of years.

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We got closer to our destination.

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Here is the wiki article on Nizwa.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizwa

 

Nizwa (Arabic: نزوى‎) is the largest city in the Ad Dakhiliyah Region in Oman and was the capital of Oman proper. Nizwa is about 140 km (1.5 hours) from Muscat. The population is estimated at around 70,000 people including the two areas of Burkat Al Mooz and Al Jabel Al Akhdar.

 

First stop was a market. They call it Souq.

 

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The lady in front, in black, was our tour guide.

 

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