Our first review will be dedicated to MSC Cruises , cruise on the Persian Gulf on the MSC Opera 4* liner. The route was chosen Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Abu Dhabi/Sir Bani Ias/at sea/Maskat(Oman)/El Khasab/Dubai. Our tour was chosen completely by chance a couple of weeks before departure we found on the off site good discounts up to 60% on the cabin, where everything was already included (except drinks)+included port fee.
Yes, yes, that’s the price you can buy a cruise for a few days before departure on the official website).
Not thinking long we went to airmail and found the prices for tickets to Dubai and back. Of course the price for tickets on the next departure dates did not please us. From Warsaw Aeroflot direct flight was about 100000 one way per person. But we are not looking for easy ways) Having time was chosen route with a long interval to walk around the cities of Sochi-Baku, Baku-Dubai (30000r / person one way) Back Dubai-Yerevan, Yerevan-Min.Unfortunately we missed Baku, because as it turned out before the flight it was the only country with covid restrictions, where only certificates with antibodies or valid vaccination were accepted, so we were not released from the transzone and walked around the beautiful airport for almost 24 hours waiting for the flight).
On arrival in Dubai we took a taxi from the airport to the port. By the way, our Uni Pay card is accepted in UAE, just in case we used it too, as we didn’t quite realise how much cash we would have to spend. Taxi from aeroprot was 80 AED. Check-in on the liner is from 14-17:00. At 19:00 it is already departure. Check-in is fast, suitcases were handed over, they were brought to the cabin. At check-in you are inspected, you can’t bring alcohol with you, you are allowed 1 bottle of wine, the rest is confiscated. Of course, there are ways to bring on board alcohol, if you have not paid for a package of drinks. I recommend buying a drinks package immediately, when you book a cabin you often get a 15% discount on the drinks package. On the liner to buy any service or drinks is more expensive by +15%. Of course we regretted that we missed the opportunity to buy drinks at once counting on Duty Free on the liner, but it is much more pleasant to sit drinking coffee or wine in any operating cafe at any time. And there is an opportunity to buy alcohol in Duty Free, but you can pick it up only on departure).
At check-in you are given a cruise card, which you can use to pay in any café or restaurant on board, as well as at the entrance and exit to the port it is read out. It is also the key to your cabin.
At the end of the cruise at the reception you are billed with this card. To the bill plus 15 euros per day per person “tip” to the staff. This is not disputed.
If you hesitate to take the Internet or not, it is better to take, also at a normal price when buying a cruise package with Internet. The cheapest package is enough for social networks and YouTube, websites, buying tickets, etc. If you don’t buy it, you can only connect to free wi-fi in the UAE port. In Oman there is a weak one, and not everywhere. There is none at sea)
1 day – at night departure of the liner to Abu Dhabi, from the evening in the cabin bring a poster of entertainment programmes for all tastes – with the time of arrival of the liner and departure to the port the next day. Taking into account that passports are taken away at check-in to mark the crossing of another country, it is better not to be late for the liner).
You are also assigned a table in the restaurant with the time of visit. We actually went there the first couple of days. Beautiful serving of food with a long wait.
All the same dishes can be taken on the deck above on a ribbon buffet on your own) Of course struck by the variety of dishes, and a lot of cafes, in principle, queues for food has never been and. From free drinks you could take in the morning only coffee and juice. We bought them during the day. During the day we were on the liner only once – when it was sailing in the sea for 24 hours. We also recommend to think over your programme with excursions, it is also better to buy it earlier from the tour operator. In Abu Dhabi we chose an excursion with a visit to the Great White Mosque. We liked the excursion, it came out about 100 euros per person, bought earlier at home).
2 day island Sir – Baniyas. Woke up in the harbour with a very beautiful view of the island. We came down with swimming costumes, the island is designed apparently for such stops of liners) A lot of sun beds, entertainment, animation … our chefs have unfolded there a Swedish line, so that people did not stay hungry. We spent the whole day on the beautiful beach sunbathing and swimming.
Beach line of the island
3day – 24 hours at sea, all day we sunbathed on the upper decks, bathed in the pool. We went up to the night club, but evening events all such on the amateur. Basically latino, and the majority of holidaymakers are pensioners from Europe…. you could meet even in a night club, from the soul for them rejoiced. Rest on the liner rather family, and on pension…we came to such conclusion) We also visited the theatre, there were every day interesting dance concerts of different directions. We went down to the casino, walked to the duty free zone for shopping.
Day 4. We arrived at the long awaited port of Oman, the city of Muscat. We had a paid excursion to the palace of their ruler. The excursion itself was before lunch. I liked the local guide, he told interesting stories and drove me around different places.
He dropped us off near the local market near the harbour and we went for a walk….Walking around the market did not bring any pleasure at all, there were a lot of bidders, and we did not want to bargain. We bought some local coffee in the local supermarket for souvenirs for relatives, went for a walk to the local beach for sunbathing and returned to the liner
5day we woke up in El Hassan, and having got acquainted already with local tourists on the liner, who are not the first time in the cruise, we were advised on the spot to buy excursions from the locals on the fjords (boats) on the islands of Musandam to watch the dolphins.
Arabian fjord
We had already gathered a company of about 10 people and we were able to negotiate for a company excursion for 120$. At 12$ per person, such excursions on big fjords at the tour operator start from 50$ it was one of the memorable best excursions during the cruise) we chased dolphins, watched the beauty of the bay, stopped for lunch on the island, bathed in the clear water, looked at the fish
Day 7 , we returned to Dubai where the liner stayed for another 24 hours and we had the opportunity to stay on the liner with access to the city, which we enjoyed walking around before returning home.
This cheque was waiting for us before departure, mainly our drinks during the trip, and the service charge for the week at 84€ per person, is compulsory.
I want to sum up : good experience, smiling and positive staff, floating hotel with excellent food and animation, did not feel the presence of a large number of holidaymakers (about 3500). Will we go on a cruise again!? Maybe, but on a different route, and probably not soon) thanks to all who read, if you have any questions – write comments, we will be glad to help.
