On our next trip we decided to try something new. The choice was on a cruise. There are quite a lot of them, we considered different options, but after thinking about the timing, we decided to go in winter. Well you understand, seedlings and garden are not yet there, just you can go somewhere. I wanted to get away from the cold and warm up my sides a little somewhere warm. That’s how uncomplicatedly we chose a cruise on the Persian Gulf.

My expectations regarding this destination were low – while studying places and reading reviews, it seemed to me that it would be quite boring. But everything turned out to be more interesting.

Before the trip I had some fears about hand luggage on Pobeda and on Leshi’s regarding our English.

We flew with Pobeda in one way – hand luggage was not looked at, on the way back they checked at every step.

Lesha said to write my impressions of the preparation. When I started researching the topic of cruises, I discovered that it is a separate world. There are many people for whom cruises are their format of travelling. I was very surprised that they plan their cruises several years in advance. This is stability in people’s lives… I m still on a forum dedicated to cruises. There are so many subtleties and information there! By word, I ve never sat on forums before, ahah. All in all a new world opened up for me.

Flight

We flew with connection in our city. It turned out that we spent almost the whole day on the flight, so we were already tired in Dubai. We flew to Al Maktoum.

At the airport near the exit to the street, there is a small shop on the left. There we bought transport cards for public transport in Dubai at the cash desk. They are called Silver Nol and cost 25 dirhams for 1 piece. The card itself is 19 dirhams and is rechargeable. There are other types (I don t know if they are in this shop), but we decided in advance that we wanted the Silver.

Coming out of the airport to the right, we found a bus stop. There is some terminal near the bus stop, but we didn t see what was there. There was already an F55 bus there, which took us to Expo 2020 metro station. Then we took a ride on metro to Dubai Marina district. There we booked a hostel.

If before this everything was quite simple with communications (they were not much – the only thing was to ask where to buy a transport card, where the bus stop was. The rest is all clear without prompting), then now we had to talk to the receptionist. Ahahh, we ve managed to do that, for the worse. It was something like:

• “we have a reservation, a private room,
• “what time is the eviction?
• Here are our passports and payment.
• what’s the password for the wi-fi?”.

The last time I spoke something in English was at university, and even then, I was very bad at it. At school there was a constant change of teachers, so my level remained at slightly advanced elementary (according to my feelings). But nothing, it’s fine. Only that swearing is not enough vocabulary, I felt it when the taxi driver left us (but it s later).

Check-in on ship

Since morning we ve decided to take a little walk lightly. The noise of this city is definitely not similar to my Chelyabinsk. But neither to the cities, where I ve been. Yes and the smell was different, I can’t even remember what it was and what it consisted of. It s basically our first day in Dubai, everything is new. People walking around, all so different. The inscriptions are in foreign languages, palm trees are growing. I walked, looking at everything around me.

Dubai

We ve travelled back to Dubai. We have one full day left on the ship. We’ll have to leave tomorrow. And on this day, you can still leave your things here, have a delicious breakfast and go on a sightseeing tour around Dubai. We chose the sightseeing tour, which includes the modern and old parts of Dubai. It was for a whole day, it was quite intense.

We were in a hurry to see the fountain show at the Burj Khalifa. It lasted 3-4 minutes, one song. For some reason I thought it would be longer. I’m used to long shows. Here they are short and every half an hour. I then thought that it was probably even better, as there were already a lot of people in our parish. And if the performance is long (therefore fewer times are shown), then and more people will gather even more.

Miracle Garden and Expo 2020

We decided to spend our last full day in Dubai on the Miracle Garden and Expo 2020. We got to Miracle Garden by metro and further by bus. It turned out that it runs non-stop, straight to the desired destination.

At the entrance we bought tickets and found ourselves in a flower paradise. Everywhere you look, everywhere there are bright blooms. It was mostly petunias. We stayed there for about 1.5 hours. We leisurely walked around everything, took some photos yes and drove back.

Home

These days were spent on the journey back. Of interest, I spent the remaining dirhams at Duty Free. The first time I bought something there. Dates in chocolate for 21 dirhams (250 gr). Very tasty by the way, there are whole almonds inside the date instead of the seed. If I had known that it was delicious, I would have bought some at Day To Day to Day for myself at home.) There they are 7,5 dirhams each.

On the way back we had a seat by the window. We saw the city, bulk palm trees and islands. On arrival in Dubai there were also good views, but we saw very few of them (middle and outermost seats). If you want to admire the views and have the opportunity, it is better to take a seat near the window.

Early in the morning of 21 January we finally made it home.

Cruise

Cabin

There are 2 options when booking a cabin: when you book a specific cabin and when you book only a “type of cabin”, such as an inside cabin. In the first case, you know in advance where your cabin is located, whether there are any noisy places in your neighbourhood, etc. In the second case there is a possibility that you may be given a “higher class” cabin. You booked an inside cabin, but they gave you one with a window. It happens, not always, but there is a chance.

I m not super knowledgeable about cruises, but in general the cabins are of these types:

• inside (no window)
• with window (does not open, just sunlight)
• with balcony (you can go out)
• Some luxury options (well there’s a jacuzzi, several rooms, maybe something else. Not for us).

We tried living in an inside cabin. We didn t t have any inconvenience. Next time (and in case) I ll book without a specific cabin. Thought it’s not crucial to overpay for a specific location.

Food and drinks

On MSC liners. The cruise price includes meals. It is a large buffet. It’s set up for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but there are almost always a couple of display cases of food if you get hungry between meals.

There are also “mainstream” restaurants. Each person is booked at a table behind each person. It’s for dinner. You can go there and order from the menu. What you want and how much you want.

You can also go to restaurant both for breakfast and for lunch. There you do not book a table in advance, you are seated at a free table. This is less popular, as it takes quite some time.

All meals are included, but drinks are not. You can take water, tea, coffee, juices (only for breakfast) free of charge in buffet with buffet. These are also available at all times.

If this is not enough for you, you can buy a drink package.

We had the Easy Package. It includes certain cocktails (alcoholic and non alcoholic), juices, drinks in cans (e.g. Sprite or Lipton), wines, spirits. All in limited items (not quantities!). You can take them in any bars, in restaurant.

We experimentally found out where they make better cocktails, then we went there. It turns out that one and the same cocktail can be prepared differently.

If we had taken the Easy Plus Package, we could order all cocktails and drinks offered in bars (costing up to 9 euros).

By the way, if you buy the drinks yourself (without a package), then 15% extra is added to the cost. But if you only have a couple of drinks a day (or less), then it may be worth considering not buying the package.

Excursions

There is a forum devoted entirely to cruises. It’s called navimba. There I booked excursions in Bahrain and in Qatar. In general, I researched information there that might be useful.

On the ship also conducts excursions, but they are in foreign languages. The price is higher, but it seems nicer if taken in sets.