Luxury Yacht Club sailing in the Arabian Gulf
The Yacht Club is an exclusive area on the 16th Deck - right at the bow of the ship. There are around 50 suites, all with 24-hour butler service, with access to a private concierge, lovey spacious Top Sail lounge with great views and an exclusive restaurant. Guests of the Yacht Club can enjoy the luxury of a private yacht whilst still having access to all the things a big ship can offer - so we could go to the main buffet restaurant at any time for pizza or a snack or have waiter service at breakfast in the exclusive Yacht Club Olivio restaurant with its lovely views of the sea. We could use the main pools, or we could head back to the One Pool Deck where there were plenty of free sunbeds around the private pool, waiters to serve your favourite cocktail or coffee, and at lunchtime there was an open-air buffet with freshly prepared pasta, fish and salads.
Wherever we went, Yacht Club guests had priority - we even had our own elevator! It was easy to organise excursions by speaking to the concierge, and we were given priority access to tenders and coaches on land. As Yacht Club guests, our cruise was "all inclusive" of all drinks and food - although we would have had to pay a supplement to eat in the speciality restaurant, just like other guests.
After leaving Dubai we sailed overnight to Abu Dhabi for the day, where we took advantage of the shopping malls in the morning before heading back to the luxury of the private pool deck. The following day we arrived at Sir Bani Yas Island, where we had pre-booked a jeep safari. The island has been transformed into a wildlife sanctuary by Sheik Zayed, who planted millions of trees and introduced Giraffe, Cheetah, Hyena, Oryx and Ostrich who roam freely in the 4,000-hectare wildlife park. We were lucky enough to see them all! We had a lovely lunch on the island, which is well set up for cruise guests with a fabulous beach area, waterpark in the sea and again, a separate beach for Yacht Club guests with waiter service.
The next day we had a relaxing day at sea, before docking in Doha the following morning. Desert safaris and city tours were an optional excursion today, but we were too busy relaxing and soaking up the rays, so we just stayed onboard! Our food was excellent always - very Italian in style, reflecting the heritage of MSC as a company. Most of our fellow passengers were a mix of Europeans and a few Americans and British - it made a nice change.
The itinerary ends with an overnight stop in Dubai, where we spent the morning at Wild Wadi waterpark and explored the city in the afternoon before returning to our ship for the final evening. An early afternoon flight home meant that we could have an unhurried breakfast in the Top Sail Lounge before disembarking at our leisure.
We all thoroughly enjoyed this cruise - being pampered at each step but having access to so many activities and facilities in the main part of the ship.