Abu Dhabi shore excursions

[Stormy Dan]

Can anyone recommend any of the MSC shore excursions in Abu Dhabi?

Are you far from the city centre where the ship docks at?

Any other things worth going to see that MSC don’t do trips to?

[adam7392]

Hi, Did Dubai cruise Feb 2022 on MSC Virtuosa, loved it and day after returning we booked similar this year on MSC Opera for Feb 2023.  

 

Didn't do any ship excursions in Abu Dhabi just bought a ticket for Big Bus tour Hop on/off.  Bought the ticket in the Dubai cruise terminal which was great value as they included both days in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.  Bus goes from right by the ship and takes you to the Corniche beach and the Emirates Palace.  There is also a connecting bus for the Sheik Zayed grand mosque.  We spent some time on the beach then used the bus to stop at the Heritage village, then had a look on the outside of the Palace before getting the connecting Big Bus to the mosque then directly back to the ship.

 

This year we just intend to get a local bus to the Palace and this time go inside then spend time on the beach before getting a local bus back.  

 

The part of the beach where the Big Bus drops you has a small charge but the beach is very clean and has changing rooms and showers.  The Grand Mosque is well worth seeing, entry is free but best to book a time slot online  to avoid queues.

 

The port is quite a way from anything so some sort of transport is required.  I've looked at taxis (download the Careem app which is like Uber) and looks like cost from port to the Palace is around $10-$12 for a 11km journey.  The Grand mosque is about 20km so I'd guess cost to be about double that one way.

[Stormy Dan]

Hi adam7392 thanks for that info. 
Much appreciated. Did u get a Saudi visa? I’ve been told by MSC I need to get one whether I go ashore at Dammam or not. They gave me the details on how to get it but was wondering how long it takes to come through you can apply for it online at the MOFA portal a transit visa it was called. Have u any experience of this?

[Lisichka]

21 hours ago, Stormy Dan said:

Hi adam7392 thanks for that info. 
Much appreciated. Did u get a Saudi visa? I’ve been told by MSC I need to get one whether I go ashore at Dammam or not. They gave me the details on how to get it but was wondering how long it takes to come through you can apply for it online at the MOFA portal a transit visa it was called. Have u any experience of this?

None of the transit visas are working.  It is about $40 total and fairly easy to apply for but then you never hear back.  Mine is still processing and calls to the embassy tell me not to bother.

[adam7392]

23 hours ago, Stormy Dan said:

Hi adam7392 thanks for that info. 
Much appreciated. Did u get a Saudi visa?

Hi, Although originally we were supposed to go to Dammam, the visit was cancelled some time prior to sailing resulting in having an extra day in port at Dubai.  Therefore never needed a visa.  TBH having looked at what Damman had to offer (virtually nothing!) we were more than happy with the  change.

 

I'm sure I read somewhere if you do an MSC excustion they arrange the visa - but don't trust me on that.

[Stormy Dan]

On 12/14/2022 at 6:36 PM, Lisichka said:

None of the transit visas are working.  It is about $40 total and fairly easy to apply for but then you never hear back.  Mine is still processing and calls to the embassy tell me not to bother.

How did u manage to get your photo the correct size? Every time I take the photo with my IPhone it says it is to big?

 

[perakcruiser]

I highly recommend the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi. All transport can be done by Careem. 

 

Walking distance from the ship is the fish market (more interesting that one might expect) and also the eastern part of the Corniche. 

[Nikita4]

1 hour ago, Stormy Dan said:

How did u manage to get your photo the correct size? Every time I take the photo with my IPhone it says it is to big?

 

The max size of the photo is 1 MB and the format have to be .jpg, then it works. I made 4 Transit Visa by sea two days ago and hope it will works until the 4th January... on the MSC Page is a description how to fill out the visas for Jeddah, but you can change the Port in Dammam and the zip code to 32415 and the postbox to 335. I called MSC to ask how to fill out for the MSC World Europa cruise. I hope it will works so, I paid more than 100 Euro for us 4.