My review of the cruise “Pearls of the Persian Gulf” will start with a story from the first day of the voyage. Why such details, you may ask? This is not a description of the itinerary, but a real review, which will give understanding to those who are going on this cruise for the first time. What expenses you can expect, what service you can count on, what countries and cities you will see on this voyage and my conclusions and impressions.
The journey and boarding
Let’s designate some sums at once. The cost of the cruise in my case was a little less than 100K, to be more precise 98 tonnes of roubles for an inside cabin for two people. This is without extras and service charge.
In addition, I ordered a bottle of sparkling wine and a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries (42 euros), a tip of 84 euros per person, the travel agency, represented by Nastia, made a gift – 2 tickets to a fancy show (15 euros per person). It is something like circus Cirque du Soleil, but a different troupe of artists and show.
Taxi in Dubai
Taxis are a separate topic. For tourists, this is the most convenient way of travelling around Dubai. I didn’t see much public transport, except for the metro, and even then it doesn’t go everywhere. There are definitely no trams or trolleybuses, and buses are more likely to be sightseeing or intercity buses. I won’t say for sure, but I haven’t seen the bus stops we’re used to with a list of city routes.
So here’s the thing about taxis. There are state taxis and private taxis. If you want to ride in a Lexus or another luxury car, you should go to a private taxi. It is far from certain that at the end of the journey you will be charged the amount you agreed upon when you boarded. Taxis with a government guarantee are much more budget-friendly. They almost all look the same. As a rule, it is a Toyota Camry or Corolla, light cream-coloured with a red roof. Comfortable and fast (if there are no traffic jams), it will take you anywhere in the city. There is a tablet on the front panel, where the counter is ticking and the driver’s name and photo are indicated.
The trip to the harbour
The taxi driver seemed to be a novice. He had been wandering around the seaport area for so long, even though he was using a navigator. There is a lot of development going on there and probably they often block one road or the other. In short, I gave 70 Dirham to the meter, although he returned 3 times and started from a certain place.
And here we are at terminal 3 of the cruise port Rashid, here stood our moored liner MSC Virtuosa. And next to terminal 2 another liner MSC Opera following a similar route “Eastern Tale” departs.
It’s a huge building with a lot of check-in areas, baggage check, retail outlets and God knows what else. At around 1pm we checked in, there were very few people, everything was quick and uncluttered.
What currency to take
Having read the reviews, it turned out that you should take dollars, now I will make mine. If we are talking about the UAE, buy dirhams at once. In Abu Dhabi and any other emirate nobody needs your dollars because the local currency is stable for decades like no other in the world. The only place where we needed “Baku rubles” was in Bahrain and Qatar, and that on excursions. It is very expensive to buy anything there.
This was my first time checking into an inside cabin. On previous cruises travelled in balcony rooms, although I booked an inside cabin twice, but always upgraded to a balcony cabin.
First impressions are certainly not the same. Very little space, extremely dark, even if you switch on all the lights, including wall sconces at the head of the bed. If you drop a small item on the carpet, it is impossible to find it. That’s what happened to the key for changing the SIM card of a smartphone.
Shaving, and Svetlana’s make-up, exclusively in the bathroom. It’s the only place in the cabin where you can see anything. The desk is smaller and has only one drawer with a hairdryer in it. The wardrobe is also much smaller, with life jackets and a safe.
But it was very pleasant to see a welcome bottle of champagne with a plate of sweets on the table. For what such attention and preferences to us, you will learn from the following articles of my review of the cruise “Pearls of the Persian Gulf”.
The rest of the day
As per boarding rules on the first day, passengers are briefed on the first day learning life-saving actions in case of an emergency. I was surprised how nowadays, this happens. People are not gathered on any deck or lounge, but simply all watch the clip on the TV in their living quarters. It’s extremely convenient, but you still have to confirm it. First, they tell you the phone number to call immediately after watching the video. Then you still have to go to the assembly point at a certain point on the ship and show your cruise card, it is scanned and from then on you can use it on the ship.
After boarding, we grabbed a bite to eat at the general buffet restaurant. Since the first cruise, we have nicknamed it “the dining room” among ourselves. We went out to the pool and admired the liner and the harbour surroundings.
We were tired, of course, with the night flight, sorting things out, briefing, change of climate and, most importantly, temperature. We flew out at minus 20 and landed at plus 25 degrees.
But I found the strength to go out in the evening to a restaurant à la carte, Svetlana stayed behind to rest. I got acquainted with my table neighbours in the restaurant, the company always tries to seat people from the same country. Two lovely couples became our friends for the duration of the cruise, but more about that later.
There were no special events that evening and I went to relax as well. Here in brief is the whole review of the beginning of the cruise “Pearls of the Persian Gulf”, and there is a lot more to come. Already tomorrow morning, we had a stopover in Doha, Qatar waiting for us. And that means sightseeing, excursion and a lovely evening on board the cruise ship.
