Jewels of the Emirates

[Greenland04]

Thanks to everyone so far for supplying comprehensive reviews (albeit one in German - have managed to translate as per instructions). Also, numerous pix showing interior of Costa Classica. Apparently, no mention of evening shows and daytime entertainment! Would be interested to know. Also, are the shuttles definitely FREE in ALL the ports of call as we are a family of 4 and sometimes like to do our own thing! Many thanks in anticipation of further reviews and pix.:)

[trishfish]

Hi there,

 

I believe that the shuttle bus is 5 Euro at one of the ports, which makes it expensive for your family.

 

:) We are flying off next weekend for this cruise, and we are really looking forward to it and will report back after our trip.

[sugarbabe61]

Hope you have a FANTASTIC time Trish. We are flying off for this cruise the week after you (17th)

 

Just relieved that BA have called off their strikes!!

 

I too will post a review upon return.

[trishfish]

:) Many thanks Sugarbabe, you have a good trip too.

 

As you say, thankfully the BA strike appears to be over.

 

It will be interesting to compare notes from a Brit point of view when we get home, I will await your comments with interest!!:cool:

[Greenland04]

Thanks for info. but is 5 Euros for a one-way trip - would love to know?

ENJOY your cruise!

[trishfish]

hi there,

 

I have navigated round the shore trips site, which is a fiddle to do, and cannot now find the port that quoted 5 euros, sorry. If I find it, I will let you know.:)

[trishfish]

ENJOY your cruise! Thank you very much, I will!!!:D

[caramelo]

Dear Greeenland,

From what I have understood from other people who have just done the same cruise: it is forbidden to take shots with a video camera nor take photod of the shows on the ship. Seemingly Costa Classica sells 3 separate videos: one of the ship; one of the day trips and the 3rd of "your cruise" for a total of 75€ or just of the day trips for onlu 30€.

Hope it is of some help. Anyone else back from this cruise who can give us opinions or tips or photos, as we are off on the 24th of Feb.

One brillant page with photos is Pams, see following link:

http://magwa.fotki.com/cruising/costa-classica-2006/

Kind regards......

[Rat]

Thanks for the great link! We're looking in doing this cruise next year and need all the information about UAE/Oman/Balrain. So please post your comments after your respective sailings. Thanks again.

[caramelo]

We are doing this same cruise starting on the 23rd of Feb., and we are also spending an extra night in Dubai. We are living in Spain and there is a very active Forum there regarding this cruise.

First go to the Google language page, which translates a whole web site within seconds!!! There can be some mistakes, but you will get the general ideas plus there are some super photos. The google site is the following:

http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en

Then select translate web site, and copy the following web site address:

http://www.infocruceros.com/foros/to...TOPIC_ID=22279

Translate from Spanish to English.

Regarding what to do in a few hours, some suggest the BIG BUS TOUR and another "crazy" but good idea is to hire the limosine for 8 people (for 3 hours between 4 people is costs approx. 35€ per person which is very cheap. Total price for the 3 hours is 650 AED Dihrams. See web site:http://www.dubaiexoticlimo.com/lincoln_taxedo.html

Anyone else who has come back from this cruise, can you give us opinions or ideas????????

[Rat]

I dying to hear your comments on your respective cruises! :) Hope you both had a great time.

 

Ray

[sugarbabe61]

We had a FANTASTIC time on Costa Classica and Dubai is amazing. Here is our review and please feel free to ask any questions.

 

COSTA CLASSICA CRUISE

JEWELS OF THE EMIRATES 17/02/2007

This was our second cruise with Costa which we selected for this particular itinerary. We flew from Aberdeen via London Heathrow with British Airways. Very enjoyable flights with good food and drinks. We arrived in Dubai at 23.30 and there were plenty of Costa staff around to help us. We were fast tracked through Passport control, right through to collecting luggage then onto the Coach. We arrived at the Dubai cruise terminal just after midnight and had the speediest embarkation ever. Immediately onto the ship and shown to our cabin which was Category C outside on Pisa deck. The cabin was very spacious with the most comfortable double bed. Our only disappointment with the cabin was that there was only one plug socket (US style adaptor required) and above the socket was a notice for no hairdryers or adaptors. Food was available through the night as there were people still arriving at 3.30am.

The ship was spotlessly clean, older and smaller than the previous Costa ship we have sailed on (Costa Fortuna) and obviously not as grand. However the ship had character. A lot of people we met did not like the fact there was no atrium or carpet covered staircase, but for us it didn’t matter. The staff were exceptional and always had a polite smile and always very helpful. The food was OK, not brilliant, but not poor. The meat dishes tended to be on the tough side. I ate a lot of vegetarian meals which were excellent. Jugs of iced water were on the table every evening. We ate breakfast and lunch in the Trattoria self service restaurant and they had the usual omelette and pasta stations. Each day was a themed menu ie Indian, German, Arabic etc. It was our 5th Wedding Anniversary during the cruise and we got a nice celebration cake and song from the waiters!

We only went to one show which was the crew talent night which was excellent. In fact others said that was the best show out of all of them. The shops on the ship have some lovely gifts and I bought two Guess handbags which were a real bargain. We also treated ourselves to a massage which was 79 euros for 40 minutes. We used the gym each day for a 20 minute workout and the staff in there were extremely friendly and helpful.

The ports of call, first was Muscat in Oman. We did the Mystical Muscat tour and had the most excellent local guide called Massoud. The Grand Mosque was something else, absolutely out of this world. Massoud certainly made this tour for us.

Second day was Fujairah. There is only one tour here (apart from 4x4 in the sand dunes) and we read beforehand don’t bother with it. In fact Costa’s own staff told people who had booked this East Coast tour to think about changing it! We took the shuttle bus to the shopping centre which was basically one shop like a very large Matalan!

Third day was Abu Dhabi. We did the Sheiks Shopping tour which started off at a heritage centre which was quite interesting. Then we were taken to the Marina Mall which was the nicest shopping Mall I have ever seen. We had over 2 hours here. We did not think this tour was worth the 45 euros per person Costa were charging for this. Basically we could have got a taxi to this mall for a couple of pounds!

Fourth day was Bahrain and we did the Heritage and Traditions of Bahrain. We had another excellent guide Lucinda who was English and married to a Bahraini and had lived there for 12 years. This tour started off with another Mosque visit which wasn’t as grand as the one in Muscat, but we had a guide from the mosque that was absolutely brilliant telling us everything and giving demonstrations of the call for prayer. We then went to a museum which stored Old Qurans. We actually found this quite boring. We then went over the King’s Causeway and stopped for a buffet at a place that had a viewing tower where you could see both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The only disappointment was this restaurant was quite dirty. In fact we found Bahrain quite dirty, lots of rubbish lying around. Totally the opposite of Abu Dhabi and Muscat. Others from the cruise ship took the shuttle bus to the shops in Bahrain and said they more or less took the shuttle bus back as they felt it was dirty and not very nice.

Finally we arrived in Dubai and WOW what a City. Makes the UK seem like a third world Country. There was a free shuttle bus to the Burjaman shopping Centre which was another excellent centre. Here we bought the Big Bus Tour tickets which cost around £20 per person for 24 hours. We did the blue line beach tour first which was excellent. The next day we did the red line the City tour and hopped on and off the bus. The Mall we liked best was the Emirates Mall, huge and very impressive. We had a fantastic meal in there, 2 fillet steaks, fresh hot bread, fresh veg, chips, water, Turkish coffee, latte coffee all for less than £20. Incredible. At night we went to the Al Karama where you can buy the best fake bags, watches and any other designer gear. Don’t be put off when they approach you in the Street and want to take you through the “secret” door to show you all the designer handbags. It was amazing, they had Chloe, Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, in fact every possible designer you could think off. Oh and you don’t pay the first price they quote, you barter. Taxis in Dubai are so so cheap. A taxi from the ship to the Burajaman shopping centre cost less than £2.00. The building work that is going on in Dubai is phenomenal and we found Dubai the most amazing clean, safe City we have ever visited.

Our flight back to the UK was 3.00am so we were allowed to stay in our cabin until 18.00. Suitcases had to be out by 17.00. We had our evening meal at 18.30 and were being picked up at 22.00 to take us to the airport. Disembarkation was swift and well organised.

To summarise we had a FANTASTIC cruise and holiday, so much so we are looking to book Costa Europa for same time next year. Costa will have 2 ships, Europa and Romantica doing this itinerary next year. The other bonus was the weather which was between 22 and 30 degrees every day with low humidity. We met some wonderful people who we shared dinner with and will keep in touch. A truly memorable holiday and probably the best holiday we have experienced.

[trishfish]

Hi Sugarbabe and all,

 

 

Phew, you did not take long to write your review!! We stayed on for a further two nights, and have been so busy since we arrived back, so I am pleased to see your excellent review.

 

 

I think that we had the same tour guide in Muscat, very good, but I was not allowed in the mosque as although I covered my hair and arms with a pashmina, the lady doing the checking, did not like my bare arms under it and flicked me aside. So ladies, remember, head to toe must be covered, preferable with a long sleeved shirt. We had pre booked the Muscat and Niswa full day tour, but it was cancelled the day before so was offered the mystical Muscat tour which we enjoyed.

 

 

Our BA flight from London was delayed by 2 hours, so we were very tired when we arrived at the ship, quite disorientated in fact. As you say, the buffet was still in operation at 0300 hrs and was quite full.

 

 

The free shuttle bus in Fujairah., what a waste of time to be taken to a shop, full of tacky items!!

 

 

I agree about Bahrain, what a disappointment, I did expect it to be glamorous, but as you say, it was very dirty and dusty.

 

 

I did the Abu Dhabi city tour which was excellent. We went to the Heritage centre which as you say was interesting and then they took us to see the traditional dhows being built, but talk about Health and Safety, what Health and Safety!! Then they took us to the Cultural Centre which was also very interesting.

 

We pre purchased the X1 which we used to the full - very good value.

 

I read on one of the boards that people were worried about the amount of smoking on the ship, but did not find many people smoking at all.

 

There were about 50 UK people on the trip and apparently the same amount from the US, but only met 2 Americans who were on our tours.

 

Dubai, well what can I say that you have not said already, surprising cheaper than I expected after paying about £170 per night (sterling) for the hotel room which did not include breakfast!!

[Kruizefan]

Thank you Sugarbabe and trishfish!

 

Great review.

 

Peter

[Rat]

Thanks Sugarbabe and Trishfish for taking the time to post the reviews! :)

 

In Fujairah, what would you recommend for us to do? The East Coast tour is out, how about shopping? Are there plenty of cabs?

 

I'm assuming embarkation starts at 10pm. What's the earliest one can disembark in Dubai and fly home?

 

 

Ray

[trishfish]

Hi there

 

I am not sure what the alternative is to taking a tour. The place looked pretty poor - I did not hear of any one taking a taxi trip, but apparently there are some nice hotels on the beach in the area that you could go to for the day. One very nice gesture from the locals, as you left the ship, half a dozen ladies handed out small boxes which contained locally made clay pots which I assume you use for burning Frankincense.

 

As we were staying on in Dubai, we just had our breakfast and took ourselves of the ship with our luggage, no problem. Taxis are available at the front of the port building. Another tip whilst at the port of Dubai, there is free internet use in the Business Centre - you may have a 10 minute wait to use one of the 5 computers as it seems that it is mostly used by local and crew ship staff!!

[sugarbabe61]

There is a review on Ship Happens from someone on the cruise the week before us and they did the East Coast Tour in Fujairah and said they really enjoyed it!! Just goes to prove we are all different and what some enjoy, others won't.

 

There were plenty of cabs at the Shopping Place in Fujairah. In fact we were going to walk to some of the other shops that were across the road from where the shuttle bus dropped us off. We were then kind of hounded by taxi drivers wanting our business.

 

If you have flights booked through Costa then they have scheduled time for disembarkation. Our flight was 3.00am and our meeting point was 10.00pm. They announced our coach was ready about 9.50pm. If you have your own flights booked you can disembark whenever you like. A couple from our table booked their own flights and were leaving earlier in the day.

 

Well we enjoyed this trip so much yesterday we booked for 2008, same date, same itinerary on Costa Europa. The countdown begins :D

[Greenland04]

Hi Sugarbabe and all,

 

 

Phew, you did not take long to write your review!! We stayed on for a further two nights, and have been so busy since we arrived back, so I am pleased to see your excellent review.

 

 

I think that we had the same tour guide in Muscat, very good, but I was not allowed in the mosque as although I covered my hair and arms with a pashmina, the lady doing the checking, did not like my bare arms under it and flicked me aside. So ladies, remember, head to toe must be covered, preferable with a long sleeved shirt. We had pre booked the Muscat and Niswa full day tour, but it was cancelled the day before so was offered the mystical Muscat tour which we enjoyed.

 

 

Our BA flight from London was delayed by 2 hours, so we were very tired when we arrived at the ship, quite disorientated in fact. As you say, the buffet was still in operation at 0300 hrs and was quite full.

 

 

The free shuttle bus in Fujairah., what a waste of time to be taken to a shop, full of tacky items!!

 

 

I agree about Bahrain, what a disappointment, I did expect it to be glamorous, but as you say, it was very dirty and dusty.

 

 

I did the Abu Dhabi city tour which was excellent. We went to the Heritage centre which as you say was interesting and then they took us to see the traditional dhows being built, but talk about Health and Safety, what Health and Safety!! Then they took us to the Cultural Centre which was also very interesting.

 

We pre purchased the X1 which we used to the full - very good value.

 

I read on one of the boards that people were worried about the amount of smoking on the ship, but did not find many people smoking at all.

 

There were about 50 UK people on the trip and apparently the same amount from the US, but only met 2 Americans who were on our tours.

 

Dubai, well what can I say that you have not said already, surprising cheaper than I expected after paying about £170 per night (sterling) for the hotel room which did not include breakfast!!

 

Hi Trish

 

Regarding your X1 pre-purchased drinks package. Did you book through your TA or Costa? Is it permitted to order more than one drink at mealtimes or between the 5.30 - 8 p.m. time I have read about? Would love more details thanks.

 

Greenland04 (on board Easter)

[trishfish]

:)

 

Hi there,

 

We booked the package by telephoning Costa about 4 weeks before we left the UK.

 

We were on the early sitting for dinner, so waited until we arrived in the restaurant to order our (free) drinks. I assume that if you go to the buffet for a meal, ( not sure what time it starts) you could get an earlier drink but we never considered this, but on our last night on the ship, we went straight to the Al Fresco buffet and sat on the deck and the bar boys and girls brought us drinks until the buffet closed at 2130 hours.!! :eek:

 

All the staff knew the X1 package and the staff got to know us, especially at lunchtime, when we used the outside dining area.

[Kruizefan]

Hi Trish

 

Regarding your X1 pre-purchased drinks package. Did you book through your TA or Costa? Is it permitted to order more than one drink at mealtimes or between the 5.30 - 8 p.m. time I have read about?

 

Hi Greenland,

 

we booked the X1 package thru our TA who called Costa.

 

You can order as much as you want.

 

Peter

[trishfish]

:D Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!

[Greenland04]

Hello again,

 

Many thanks for info. Will contact my TA tomorrow.

[sugarbabe61]

Greenland

 

Would love to hear how your cruise went?