India and Sri Lanka

[AusQueen]

Has anyone done the India and Sri Lanka cruise? Can you give us a bit of feedback about it?

[jelayne]

Did it in March & it was great. Did you have a specific question?

[sbrayr]

I do. What hotel did you use in Dubai and/or Abu Dhabi?

 

 

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[rolfecms]

We flew out of Dubai at 2 am so we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express near both airport and metro line. Free breakfast and shuttle, short walk to metro. Functionally appropriate for us and priced right.

[jelayne]

We flew out of Abu Dhabi and stayed at a hotel that was on the airport. We could & did walk from our room to the terminal - the walk is totally enclosed and air conditioned. I can’t recalk the name but go to any hotel booking site and search for hotels at AbuDhabi. It was very reasonably priced, clean they had a free shuttle to a couple of sights including the grand mosque.

[RJHNorthyorks]

We did Abu Dhabi to Singapore last year. Great trip. We stayed at the Premier Inn Abu Dhabi Airport as we landed quite late. We were able to walk to the hotel. It was very good , spotlessly clean and very cheap.

[CYNSport]

We spent several nights in Dubai precruise on another line (Azamara) and we stayed at the Sheraton Dubai Creek. We really liked the location and the amazing breakfast buffet. We used taxis everywhere (I am a little bit mobility challenged), but there was a subway station nearby.

[jelayne]

We did Abu Dhabi to Singapore last year. Great trip. We stayed at the Premier Inn Abu Dhabi Airport as we landed quite late. We were able to walk to the hotel. It was very good , spotlessly clean and very cheap.

 

That’s the one we used. I am traveling today And couldn’t remember the hotel name. Heading to Dublin to board the Ship Eclipse:D

[gek]

We did Abu Dhabi to Singapore last year. Great trip. We stayed at the Premier Inn Abu Dhabi Airport as we landed quite late. We were able to walk to the hotel. It was very good , spotlessly clean and very cheap.

 

It's a fantastic place to stay when you arrive at midnight. I don't think I've ever had such a smooth arrival at any airport in the world. Straight through customs, walk to the hotel, efficient check-in and a comfortable hotel at a more than reasonable price. We were asleep in bed within 45 mins of landing.

[JWUC]

We flew out of Dubai. After disembarkation, we took a tour from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. We were dropped off at a hotel in Dubai with the couple that booked, but we didn't stay there. The hotel graciously held our bags while we went to explore Dubai on our own. We took a cab to the Dubai mall - walked around, went up to the lower viewing deck in the Burj Khalifa and walked through the aquarium. Went back to the hotel where they allowed us to use the courtesy lounge to freshen up and change before heading out to the airport. Hey Jelayne - have a great cruise!

[chemmo]

If you are planning on spending a couple of luxury days in Dubai pre or post cruise I can recommend the Grand Hyatt.

 

Whilst it initially looks expensive if you book a ‘club’ suite it does include a lot of worthwhile perks including....

 

Access to club lounge with great views.

Free breakfast in the club lounge.

Free tea, coffee, biscuits, fruit all day.

Evening cocktail hours (I think it was from 5-9pm).

Quite substantial evening snacks with cocktails.

Chauffeur private transfer to hotel from airport and to port.

Free extensive minibar in your room restocked daily.

 

Their pool area and restaurants were really nice too.

 

With the high price of even soft drinks in Dubai we found the club lounge especially enjoyable and relaxing in the evening after a full days sightseeing.

[4774Papa]

We did Singapore to Dubai in 2015 and visited four ports in India (none in Sri Lanka).

Here is my review with some great tours that I organized.

 

Singapore to Dubai

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=501167

[excitedofharpenden]

I’ve been to India and Sri Lanka a few times, most recently India on Constellation at Christmas. What to say about it? I love India. It’s an attack on the senses for sure, but it’s not for everyone.

 

If you are doing Kerala I’d highly recommend the houseboat tour. We did it privately with a company called Carnival Tours and they were excellent.

 

Sri Lanka you can do a lot worse than hire a tuk tuk driver for a few hours and go off exploring. I would highly recommend negotiating the tour time, places and price before you set off. They will try it on, but don’t give in and don’t pay too much.

 

So much more I could talk about. Tripadvisor is a great source of information as are the specific ports of call boards here on Cruise Critic.

 

Finally, on hotels, if you really want to treat yourself then spend a night or two at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. It’s impressive and quite the biggest hotel I’ve ever stayed at. Sunday afternoon tea there is great, but you’d need to book.

 

Phil

Edited June 4, 2018 by excitedofharpenden

[4774Papa]

http://www.daytoursincochin.com/cochin-backwater-tour/

We did three tours with this company and loved them.

[AusQueen]

We have been to Dubai and Oman before with Norwegian on a Holy Land cruise. After the cruise, we stayed at the Oberoi in Dubai ( very close to the Burj Khalifa). The airport in Dubai is one of the best I have seen in the world. Flying with Emirates on a very very good seat at the pointiest is priceless ! Anyway, since our Celebrity cruise will be ending at Dubai, we were thinking of going to Abu Dhabi and visit the new Louvre there. Is it safe to travel by land all the way to Abu Dhabi and back? Any recommendations on where to stay and what else to see at Abu Dhabi?