Celebrity Vs MSC out of Abu Dhabi

[RichKath]

We did it direct by post

[riclop]

I would pick MSC over X from anywhere and any time.

[RichKath]

We took the HOHO bus in Abu Dhabi. The main problem, as with most of these buses, is they only run in one direction. It took 2.5 hours on the main route and 1.5 hours on the Yas Island route and there was also a 1 hour dhow cruise. We used it over 3 days, but got a taxi back on a couple of occasions. If you did it off the ship you would find it difficult to do everything and probably expensive for what you could do.

 

 

View from tower in the Marina Mall. The flagpole was the tallest in the world when built. Heritage Village is centre right.

 

 

Exhibition centre.

 

 

Marina area.

 

 

Heritage Village.

 

 

Abu Dhabi and the Corniche.

 

 

Dhow used for the Big Bus cruise.

[RichKath]

 

The Hyatt Regency Hotel from the ship in Dubai. We stayed here in 1982 when we were told it was the best hotel in Dubai (no TripAdvisor then). Back then we ate in the revolving restaurant. There was a shopping mall and ice rink in the building and Tina Turner was on in the theatre.

 

 

The Burj Al Arab.

 

 

The Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai.

 

 

The Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeirah Island, Dubai.

 

 

The Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi.

 

 

Le Royal Meridien Hotel in Abu Dhabi where we stayed between cruises.

[comcox]

All these photos and the info have been great. Thank you so much for taking all the trouble to do this.

[villauk]

We're planning on visiting the Mosque in Abu Dhabi and then going on to Ferrari World on Yas Island. Do you know approximately how long it would take between the 2 locations? Only asking because you'd said it was quite difficult to do off the ship.

 

Additionally, did you take he guided tour of the Mosque or just wander yourself? There are no set times for the tours on the website :confused:, but it does state they last 45-60 minutes. Any further information you know?

 

Sorry for all the questions :o.

[RichKath]

We're planning on visiting the Mosque in Abu Dhabi and then going on to Ferrari World on Yas Island. Do you know approximately how long it would take between the 2 locations? Only asking because you'd said it was quite difficult to do off the ship.

 

Additionally, did you take he guided tour of the Mosque or just wander yourself? There are no set times for the tours on the website :confused:, but it does state they last 45-60 minutes. Any further information you know?

 

Sorry for all the questions :o.

You would have to do it on the first day assuming you are going to board early. Even then it would be a struggle. We did it on the HOHO bus while staying in Abu Dhabi. If you're planning to go into Ferrari World you wouldn't get long there. We did our own thing at the mosque and didn't go in Ferrari world - took all day on the bus.

 

The mosque is probably 40 minutes by taxi from the port and then to Yas Island 20 minutes and 30 minuted back to the ship. Probably cost about £30 - 40 in taxi fares. Taxis are plentiful.

[Esk]

Thank you for your great review! We love Celebrity but have been lured by the price and the amazing reviews of the Yacht Club on MSC, MSC status match was a happy plus. We are cruising on the Fantasia in March, however we wish that our itinerary included Muscat, we are struggling with what to do in Bahrain and Qatar[emoji57] but so looking forward to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, your pictures are fantastic[emoji4]

 

 

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[MVPinBoynton]

Thank you for your great review! We love Celebrity but have been lured by the price and the amazing reviews of the Yacht Club on MSC, MSC status match was a happy plus. We are cruising on the Fantasia in March, however we wish that our itinerary included Muscat, we are struggling with what to do in Bahrain and Qatar[emoji57] but so looking forward to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, your pictures are fantastic[emoji4]

 

 

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Hi Angela, Do please let us know how you like MSC. I have heard so many negatives about the food, so I am interested to hear your opinion.

[Esk]

Hi Angela, Do please let us know how you like MSC. I have heard so many negatives about the food, so I am interested to hear your opinion.

 

 

I have heard the same Mike, however I hope that being in the Yacht Club area improves the situation! I'll let you know[emoji4]

[RichKath]

Thank you for your great review! We love Celebrity but have been lured by the price and the amazing reviews of the Yacht Club on MSC, MSC status match was a happy plus. We are cruising on the Fantasia in March, however we wish that our itinerary included Muscat, we are struggling with what to do in Bahrain and Qatar[emoji57] but so looking forward to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, your pictures are fantastic[emoji4]

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Sorry you're not going to Muscat. It was our favourite port, but we did live there in the 80s. It was our first time back. We were always worried that we would be disappointed going back, but we loved it. We did go to Qatar as our stop in Sir Bani Yas Island was cancelled. Not having researched it we just took the shuttle into town.

[RichKath]

 

The Etihad Towers. The following were taken from the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

 

 

 

The President's Palace.

 

 

The Marina.

 

 

[villauk]

Sorry you're not going to Muscat. It was our favourite port, but we did live there in the 80s. It was our first time back. We were always worried that we would be disappointed going back, but we loved it. We did go to Qatar as our stop in Sir Bani Yas Island was cancelled. Not having researched it we just took the shuttle into town.

 

What would you say are the must sees in Muscat? I'm attempting to book with a private tour operator and there appears to be a few options for excursions. Should we just do a city tour, or venture further afield?

[RichKath]

What would you say are the must sees in Muscat? I'm attempting to book with a private tour operator and there appears to be a few options for excursions. Should we just do a city tour, or venture further afield?

Tricky, partly because of the time you have there and partly because it's 35 years since we lived there!

 

You dock at noon in Muttrah, which is just north of Muscat, and sunset is soon after 5. You would probably want to go to Muscat, Sultan Qaboos Mosque and Muttrah souk. We've not been to the mosque (it wasn't built).

 

We went to the Al Bustan Palace Hotel for afternoon tea because we used to go to the beach there every Friday, before the hotel was built.

 

On the MSC cruise we went to a wadi (strictly speaking a dry river bed, but usually with some water) again because we used to enjoy that. You wouldn't have time to do the best areas, but there are some closer to the capitol area.

 

You would have to see what is available from the excursion companies you are looking at. Alternatively you could just get a taxi from the port and see what the driver could fit in, bearing the above in mind.

[RichKath]

Some views from the hotel we stayed at between cruises - Le Royal Meridien, Abu Dhabi.

 

 

View from our room.

 

 

 

 

View from Stratos, the revolving restaurant on top of the hotel.

 

 

 

The pool area.

 

On the first and last nights we stayed at the Premier Inn at Abu Dhabi Airport. This is a very useful hotel as it is only a short walk, via a corridor, from the airport.

[villauk]

Tricky, partly because of the time you have there and partly because it's 35 years since we lived there!

 

You dock at noon in Muttrah, which is just north of Muscat, and sunset is soon after 5. You would probably want to go to Muscat, Sultan Qaboos Mosque and Muttrah souk. We've not been to the mosque (it wasn't built).

 

We went to the Al Bustan Palace Hotel for afternoon tea because we used to go to the beach there every Friday, before the hotel was built.

 

On the MSC cruise we went to a wadi (strictly speaking a dry river bed, but usually with some water) again because we used to enjoy that. You wouldn't have time to do the best areas, but there are some closer to the capitol area.

 

You would have to see what is available from the excursion companies you are looking at. Alternatively you could just get a taxi from the port and see what the driver could fit in, bearing the above in mind.

 

Yes, we don't arrive until midday so it does put a dampener on what we can do in our time there :(. I did notice that we are unable to go inside the Mosque (according to the X excursion) on our particular sailing. I'll contact the tour operators and see what they suggest in our limited timeframe. Thanks again for taking the time to reply :).

[go fish 44]

Thanks you :). I was hoping the new Tourist Visas for India would be sorted by the time we visit. Allegedly, they are supposed to be adding (approximately) 6 cruise ports to the list of the current airports for arrivals into India. It's not a multi-entry visa, however I'm unsure if we would need that if we are still in Indian waters between each city. The Indian authorities have given the go-ahead, but it's still unclear if it's been adopted at the ports' immigration yet?

 

We were in India in early December and we had to get a full visa with multi-entry as we had 5 ports of call on NCL Star. Many people did not get a multi entry visa and they assumed the E visa was OK and they got to spend 5 days on board the ship as E Visa was not good for Ports. Only the airports.

[villauk]

We were in India in early December and we had to get a full visa with multi-entry as we had 5 ports of call on NCL Star. Many people did not get a multi entry visa and they assumed the E visa was OK and they got to spend 5 days on board the ship as E Visa was not good for Ports. Only the airports.

 

Yes, I realise the 'old' E visa was not sufficient. As I stated previously, this is a new initiative from the Indian Government (only announced around December time) to encourage tourists by adding sea ports on to the current tourist visa, which only allowed entry by a few airports prior to this new ruling. At present, it is still filtering through the system so we will have to see what happens by the time we need to apply for ours later in the year ;)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Foreigners-can-enter-India-through-five-ports-on-e-visa/article16738695.ece

[RichKath]

Yes, we don't arrive until midday so it does put a dampener on what we can do in our time there :(. I did notice that we are unable to go inside the Mosque (according to the X excursion) on our particular sailing. I'll contact the tour operators and see what they suggest in our limited timeframe. Thanks again for taking the time to reply :).

 

Happy to help. I've posted all the photos I was going to, from our Connie cruise. I will add some more Oman pictures from the MSC cruise.

[RichKath]

Yes, I realise the 'old' E visa was not sufficient. As I stated previously, this is a new initiative from the Indian Government (only announced around December time) to encourage tourists by adding sea ports on to the current tourist visa, which only allowed entry by a few airports prior to this new ruling. At present, it is still filtering through the system so we will have to see what happens by the time we need to apply for ours later in the year ;)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Foreigners-can-enter-India-through-five-ports-on-e-visa/article16738695.ece

 

Hope they do change the visa, as it's a bit of a pain.

 

It was quite efficient for entry though. You handed your passport in when you boarded. Indian officials joined the ship before we got to India, checked the passports and issued landing cards for each port. Much quicker than entering the US.

[villauk]

Hope they do change the visa, as it's a bit of a pain.

 

It was quite efficient for entry though. You handed your passport in when you boarded. Indian officials joined the ship before we got to India, checked the passports and issued landing cards for each port. Much quicker than entering the US.

 

It was a little like that for Vietnam: we all had landing cards (we didn't need a visa but other nations did) and had them stamped at the ports. Then we handed them in at our last stop when boarding. It was classed as one entry because we were still in Vietnamese waters between our port stops, no other countries visited in between ;). It would be so good for us if the new scheme is implemented sooner rather than later - as you say, much less hassle ;).

[RichKath]

When we moved to Oman in 1980 we used to love to go to Wadi Dayqah. There were no proper roads, there was no map and we only had a saloon car. Some times we didn't manage to find it. After a while we decided it was too dangerous to go on our own. We never thought we would get to go back.

 

But there it was as an excursion on our MSC cruise! It went to Qurayat, Wadi Abayeen and the dam at Wadi Dayqah (built since we were last there).

 

 

Qurayat.

 

 

We went in a Land Cruiser with another couple and a driver, in convoy. The roads are now much better, but still some unsurfaced.

 

 

 

 

[RichKath]

 

 

Wadi Arbayeen, Oman.

 

 

 

 

[StreakedBlonde]

We did take 6 Celebrity excursions which is unusual for us as we usually do our own thing.

 

Question about getting off the ships for your own tours vs one booked with Celebrity - Did you have trouble getting to your own tours because of having to wait for all of the Celebrity tour guests to load off the ship? We are on a Greek Isle tour in May and have booked several tours on our own. Being 1st time Celebrity cruisers, I am hoping we can get off of the ship in time to start our tours.

 

Thanks in advance - Karen aka StreakedBlonde

[villauk]

We did take 6 Celebrity excursions which is unusual for us as we usually do our own thing.

 

Question about getting off the ships for your own tours vs one booked with Celebrity - Did you have trouble getting to your own tours because of having to wait for all of the Celebrity tour guests to load off the ship? We are on a Greek Isle tour in May and have booked several tours on our own. Being 1st time Celebrity cruisers, I am hoping we can get off of the ship in time to start our tours.

 

Thanks in advance - Karen aka StreakedBlonde

 

Are any of the ports where you tender? That's the only time you may have to wait as all the X tours and suites/elite and above are off first ;).