Dubai desert safari, Is that a phone attached to your ear or are you just bored to be with us! Our evening session..

This evening we joined a cruise critic tour to redo the Desert Safari, we thought it would be nice to share the experience with my sister and Brian.  It was a large group that was gathering at the exit of the terminal, still in air-conditioning as it was so hot outside. 

Thinking we were being picked up in a bus, the 4-wheel drives turned up at the terminal to pick us up.  With the announcement of “Everyone follow me”, like rats we followed the Pied piper, Mr Adil Badshah (owner of the company that was used). 

We all scrambled into cars, but for some reason there were 18 passengers that were not accommodated.  Did we pick up extra’s from the entrance or was there a miscommunication with numbers nobody knows. 

Our driver's name was “Jusan” well that was what I heard from the very back seat.  Driving at speeds of over 120km we became a little concern as the whole time he was preoccupied talking on his phone.  Hang on, not one phone but 2….  “look everyone, no hands” as he scrolled through the whats app photos and video he just received.  He only ended one conversation as another call came through….  For an hour and a half we listened to his animated Arabic conversation until we reached where our safari was to start.

At least in this shot he is looking at the road.. this was not always the case.

No big instruction from Jusan, but we worked out that we were to wait at the entrance until the tires were all let down and all of our cars had arrived to start caravan through the desert. Thanks to the other drivers. Finally, we were called back to our cars and we entered the sandy desert.

Down the back of Bus!!

Cold Rock Ice-cream ... I am thinking Oreos

Passionfruit Mojito .... well why not

Please Garry leave it to the experts

 The drive was thrilling, as we traversed and roller coasted over the dunes, made more thrilling as we noticed that our driver was still driving with one hand on the wheel and the other holding his phone to his ear.

Sorry about the de mister lines... my view was only out the back window.

Stopped midway for a photo stop then off again. 

closest to a sunset we got

 To our surprise we were actually driving back out of the desert.  Stopping to have the tires pumped up again, so our camp for dinner and show was located somewhere else.

Unfortunately, we missed the sunset as we were still on the road trying to get to the evening's entertainment.

Once again, our driver left us without instruction, and we were hounded by staff trying to convince us to pay extra to sit in the VIP section.  It was not until Mr Badshah turned up to tell us that we did have a special section for us to sit and enjoy dinner and show. Grr to our driver.

 In true Bedouin fashion we sat on pillows on the ground while we enjoyed our middle eastern dinner of BBQ Lamb, chicken, Dhal, salad and rice.

Inking ... Henna Style

The entertainment was great with Belly, Tanoura (Skirt) and fire dancing. At the end of the evening, we all went out the front of the camp, and just incase our driver did not make us cross enough with his phone shenanigans, we were the last group standing waiting for him to come and collect us…. 

Aba Daba Du – bai…. Morning adventure

As promised we arrived in Dubai earlier than our scheduled time.  What an amazing view it would be as we sailed in if wasn’t for the humidity and sand haze that blanketed the city giving it a ghostly feel.  Amazing structures jutting out of the flat horizon, but it is the Burj Khalifa that dominates the skyline, the tallest building in the World… 

from certain angles  these hotels look like cruise ships docked

Burj Al Arab with the Island of the World in front

always amazing architecture

Atlantis Hotel

                                                     Looking back onto Palm Jumierah

Marina  Waterfront

 Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal

This was a different sail in as we were docking at the Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal.  A new terminal only just opened at the foot of the Palm Jumeirah.  A lovely terminal, but difficult to get anywhere.  No public transport, no free shopping centre shuttles and too hot to walk to the nearest train, which is at least 35 minutes away.

So you are left to the peril of negotiating with the greedy taxi drivers.  Now I shouldn't tar them all with the same brush, because on our return trip we had an excellent driver.

Another port where a ticketing system was used to debark the ship due to a mandatory face to face.   Having the morning to kill, we decided to catch a taxi to the Dubai Mall as Brian wanted to visit the Aquarium, and we thought it would be good for Carry and Brian to see the Burj Khalifa up close.

Telling the taxi marshall where we wanted to go and that we wanted to pay with credit card, he directed us to the next available taxi and suggested the fare would be around $30USD/ 90 dirhams.  As soon as the driver shrugged off Garry suggestion that we wanted the meter turned on… the alarm bells should have rung.

All the way our driver tried to convince us that we should do a tour with him as there is nothing to see at the mall.  Any way when we arrived he said that would $40 USD … “Oh, I thought” naively….  Went to give him my credit card and he pushed for cash…. In a momentary lapse of good judgment, I complied.  As soon as I walked into the mall…  common sense prevailed and I realized I had been done like a dinner.  This was reinforced on our return journey.

While the boys visited the aquarium, us girls had a little retail therapy, well as much as our budget would allow. After meeting with the boys we headed out for a close up of the Burj.

Finding the taxi pickup point, the nice gentleman that opened the door for us, did his best to convince us that we would be better off with a private car that for a guaranteed 120 dirhams would get us back to the ship…  Hmm “but what about these taxi’s” I questioned still feeling the sting from the morning…”oh Madam they could charge you anything from 120 – 130 dirhams, the cars are guaranteed”

We took our chances with the taxi… and well did it pay off, the polite driver got us safely back to the terminal, for the grand metered cost of 62 dirhams ( about $25 AUSTRALIAN!) and he happily accepted credit card… He is obviously new, he even apologized he could not chat as his English was not the best.

So if there is any words of Wisdom that I could impart to you all, it would be, stand your ground, make sure the meter is turned on before you leave the terminal, don’t let them intimidate you…

Musings from Around the Ship

Musing 1 - We have a cabin that we pass on the way to ours and every day there is a new Cartoon posted on his door… makes for great entertainment ….

Musing 2 – Gone are the big wooden deck chairs on deck 7, the Promenade deck.  Princess has decided to go with the Ikea Scandi look.  Quoted as going more environmentally friendly, the big wooden chairs that no one in Colombo wanted, are being offloaded in Dubai destined for landfill no doubt.  These aluminum frame chairs will be easy to clean and maintain. Let's hope for no big gusts of wind whilst the walkers are powering their way around the deck.

Musing 3 -  Ice carving up on Deck … always a family favorite… always a swan !

Musing 4 -  Tropical Fruit Extravaganza…. I love these as I get to taste the fruits we don’t normally have at home…

Musing 5 -  Rock the boat, don't rock the boat baby
Rock the boat, don't tip the boat over
Rock the boat (woo)

Goodness me finally a bit of movement on the ship,  ooh we must be in the Bay of Bengal….  But I would have to say, considering the movement in the pool, the rocking we are feeling around the ship is quite mild… The Coral Princess obviously handles the sea really well and she must have a good set of stabilizers, and considering we have been told we are supposed to be limping along it is not often you see her under 19 Knots

Musing 5 -  Captains circle parties seem to have taken on new criteria…  After receiving our invitation to the event, I asked my sister what date was their party.  Well, apparently only Platinum and Elites are invited now, which I think is really sad for the other loyalty members.  How much would it cost for priceless PR?

Anyhow,  the party was held over 2 days, and on our day we were lucky enough to have Captain Perra attend, day 2 had the Staff Captain speak…  I am thinking he is also a very nice man in need of a decent hairdresser as he always looks a little windswept.

I always enjoy these events as you always get a bit of trivia about the cruise.  We are approximately 800 elites, 400 platinums,  and another 600 of Blues, Golds, and Rubies … so not a full ship or there are a lot of solos onboard.

He touched on the fact that extra engineers and parts were arriving in Dubai to solve this generator problem. To win some browny points he mentioned that it is looking good for an early 9am arrival in Dubai instead of 12 noon. I think think this will work in their favor and may be the reason for missing Oman so they could have 2 full days to work on the generator in a stationary position…

Musing 6 - As many of you may have read in the past that there is unusual, quite loud noise around the back lifts which affects the surrounding cabins on the starboard side.  We are further towards the back and can’t hear it, but have experienced it when using the lifts.  Not all the time but in certain see conditions.  We had a note saying that even though creaks and bangs are normal noises on a ship, they were closing that section of the ship to run repairs while in Dubai…  Hmm after 10 years of cruising, certainly not a noise I have heard before….  I will let you know if I hear it again.

Musing 7 – Damn it, I missed it .. they had a towel animal-making display and I forgot about it, and remember when it was over… racing down to the Atrium I manage to the odd animal scattered around the room where guests got to keep them…

Musing 8 – Finally lobster on a formal night.  No more can I order a Surf and Surf, instead of a Surf and Turf, as this now incurred an extra charge for each extra lobster tail.  Probably just as well as my piece of tenderloin was cooked to perfection (rare) and was just a joy to eat.

Musing 9 -  We have had a few production shows and Motor City was very good … considering it was the first time this ensemble had performed it…

Musing 10 – Joachim’s & Johan’s Culinary Show.

It has been a while since I attended one of these, and although the staging has changed, the format is much the same. Lots of humor, raging flames, and a Black forest play-off between the Maitre D and the Sous Chef.  No prize for who won!

a little heavy-handed with the chilli

hmm whos is who?