2010 World Cruise/Exploring Ancient Empires: Second Day In Dubai

Monday, March 15, 2010

NOTE: We have included pictures from today and yesterday. You’ll see some pictures of the Ski Slope and a few other pictures from the Mall of the Emirates. We also included a picture from our dinner with Anne last evening and some additional pictures fro m the Dubai Mall which we visited yesterday.

We enjoyed our time on the ship yesterday afternoon and evening.

We had a very nice time at dinner with a member of cruise critic who came on board the ship. We met Anne at the pier at around 4:30 PM. We had made arrangements with Crystal Cruises several months ago to get approval for her to visit us on the ship. She was listed at the security checkpoint on the pier and at the security entry on the ship so in just a few minutes she was on the ship. We walked around the ship for a little while and pointed out some changes that were made to the Serenity since she last sailed in 2008.

Afterwards, the three of us dined at Silk Road. We enjoyed a fabulous meal and a wonderful conversation. After dinner we walked Anne back to the cruise ship terminal. As we walked with Anne it was very nice to see the various cruise ships all lined up along the pier including a very new Costa ship, and the same Royal Caribbean ship that was in port with us the other day in Abu Dhabi and the Queen Elizabeth ship.

When we got back to the ship we saw the last portion of the variety show. It was quite good. We then found Lynn and Allen and walked them back to their room to wish them a very safe flight. We thoroughly enjoyed the time the four of us spent together during the course of this leg of the World Cruise. We also spoke with friends Bob and Glo and also to John. Yesterday afternoon and last evening we also gave our best to some passenger’s who are departing the ship today. This included some passenger’s who we know from sailings prior to this year and others who we met for the very first time. Some have been on one leg of the World Cruise while several have been on two to four legs. We look forward to sailing with them again on another Crystal cruise.

Today marked the end of the fourth leg of the World Cruise and the start of the fifth leg of the World Cruise.

A fair amount of passenger’s are getting off today as some took one leg of the World Cruise while others took four legs of the World Cruise on in some cases something in between this. During the course of the forth leg of the cruise we sailed from Mumbai to Dubai and we sailed 2,498 nautical miles or the equivalent of 2,873 land miles.

The next leg of this World Cruise totals nineteen (19) days. After leaving Dubai we visit Khasab, Oman followed by Al Fujairah, UAE that are both Maiden Ports of Call for Crystal Cruises. When then have four consecutive sea days in as we cruise the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. We then stop at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which is another Maiden Port of Call for Crystal Cruises followed by a day at sea before we arrive to Aqaba, Jordan. We then have an overnight in Safaga, Egypt which is the gateway port for getting to Luxor and Karnak. This is followed by the transiting of the Suez Canal, a day in Alexandria, Egypt, a day at sea, a day in Ashdod, Israel, another day at sea where we will end this leg in Athens, Greece. This is another very exciting itinerary.

We awoke early this morning to begin our day with our morning workouts. Keith was the first to arrive to the Fitness Center for a nice long workout on the Elliptical Machine. For the majority of the workout, no one was in the Fitness Center. Then about fifteen minutes before ending the workout there were about five guests on treadmills and one guest lifting weights. Today was the first day that Keith worked out without the ankle brace that he has used for quite some time. Maybe in a couple of weeks he’ll be back to the paddle tennis court.

After the workout, Keith stopped by the Lido Café for some coffee to bring back to the room. Lido Deck Steward Clark assisted Keith and they had a nice conversation. Since many passengers were getting ready to get off the ship, the Lido Café was very busy so there were additional Crystal personnel helping out upstairs.

Afterwards, it was Anne Marie’s time for her workout on the Treadmill. Like, Keith she brought some coffee back to the room.

While Anne Marie was working out Keith did some laundry.

We both enjoyed another nice and relaxing breakfast in our room. We had a very nice chat with Alexander. He had the opportunity to visit the infamous hotel in Dubai last evening and thought it was the finest hotel he had ever been to.

Today, we took a taxi from the pier over to the infamous Mall of the Emirates. One of the items that is featured by this mall that you will not see in most malls around the world is none other than an indoor ski slope. For those who enjoy skiing it is a nice opportunity to ski in the middle of the desert. Obviously, the height of the slopes is not like outdoor skiing but nevertheless it still is skiing including the fact that it is quite cold on the slopes.

The Mall is quite nice and has a variety of stores but is not as upscale as the mall we visited yesterday.

We also waned to mention that the mall we went to yesterday had a tremendously wide range of stores, some of which we do not even see in malls within the United States of America. For example, while some shopping malls based in the USA have a Dell Computer Kiosk this mall has a full-fledged Dell Computer Store. There is even an LG store selling all sorts of electronics.

On our last visit to Dubai we visited many of the tourist areas. Last time we took an excursion that took us out to the Sand Dunes, where we spent a couple of hours driving up and down all sorts of sand dunes in 4x4 vehicles and we had a nice dinner on the desert which included entertainment. We also visited other areas in Dubai on our previous trip including the infamous spice and gold souks. There is also the Al Fahidi Fort and Dubai Museum which is believed to be the oldest architectural masterpiece in Dubai. There is the infamous Burj Al Arab Hotel, which is known around the world. Another infamous building is one that we saw which is one that is recognizable which is the Burj Khalifa Skyscraper, which is the tallest building in the world. Another attraction is the Jumeirah Mosque, which is located in Dubai’s beachside area.

Dubai features many attractions in its desire to be known as the tourist capital of the world with an eye towards attracting large throngs of tourists from areas such as Europe. It was built with the realization that there is a finite amount of oil which some estimate only has a reserve of ten to fifteen years while some believe it will last a little longer than that. The challenge that this city has is all of the office buildings that have been put into place with very little demand. On top of that is the entire infrastructure. Time will tell whether or not Dubai will be financially viable.

After spending several hours in downtown Dubai we took a taxi back to ship for lunch. We had lunch at the Lido Café where we each enjoyed nice salad entrees. Our waiter from the Main Dining Room, Therese, is back working at the Lido Café and she helped us today. The Senior Waiter Pedja will also be up there as well.

On our way out we ran into a familiar face, which is a Lido Deck Steward, June. He is now back on the ship after enjoying a nice vacation back home.

During the afternoon we greeted some new passengers who boarded the ship who we know from previous voyages. Anne Marie also made time for her hour-long afternoon walk on the Promenade Deck while Keith read, wrote, exercised and followed up on a few items.

A short while after the new Costa Ship departed from the pier, our ship was moved to take the place of the Costa Ship. This was done for the convenience of the guests as our new location is closer to the Terminal Building.

Keith also took a long walk over to where the QE2 is docked and will post some pictures tomorrow.

Keith got a very good chuckle, this afternoon. He was talking with the lead dancer Natalie about how she spent her time off the ship in Dubai when a fellow passenger came up to Natalie and Keith. The fellow passenger mentioned that he is looking forward to this evening and was wondering if I would be tossing Natalie during one of our dances. Yes, you guessed it. He mistook me for the lead male dancer Curtis. If only Keith could dance as well as Curtis and go back in time to be at the same age as Curtis. This made Keith’s afternoon. J