Winter Sunshine Arabian Gulf Cruise
After a short 30-40 minute we arrive at the port. Dubai has its own purpose built cruise terminal which is huge with a few shops, excursion desks, toilets, lots of open space, seats and a check in area for the ship.
We stayed in a suite onboard which meant we have priority boarding on arrival so we pass the long check in queue and head to the shorter priority lane, 20 minutes later we were on the ship and it is still only 1030. It is too early for our cabin to be ready so we headed off to the buffet for breakfast, the buffet offers a huge choice from fruit, freshly made pancakes, fresh omelettes, cheeses & meats to freshly baked bread of every kind, I could of stayed here for hours!
My top tip when travelling to Dubai on the overnight flights is to take a change of clothes and your swim stuff in your carry on bag so that you can get changed as soon as you arrive, enjoy the sunshine and use the facilities, this is even more so on a cruise as you will not see your case which you put on the bus at the airport again until it arrives in your cabin later that day and with thousands of cases to get on the ship and deliver to the right place this can take a few hours.
Cabins on this cruise were available from lunchtime but each cruise is different, this gave us time for a quick power nap before getting ready for quick explore of the ship and dinner.
A nap I hear you say! In my defence Dubai is 4 hours ahead of the UK and everyone has to attend a life boat drill on board before the ship can sail, with the various different flight arrivals our life boat drill was set for 2300 and there was no way I would stay awake that long without a nap especially after flying overnight with no sleep.
MSC Bellissima is a new ship with her naming ceremony and maiden voyage having a taken place in March 2019. The ship is stunning with lots of space, the latest technology, lots of light, beautiful décor, lots of different areas to sit and relax both inside and out, a choice of bars, speciality dinning, pools areas with slides for kids, kids clubs there is even a Chocolate shop with their own Chocolatiers where you can indulge in the most delicious hot chocolate or bespoke chocolates and not forgetting the famous Swarovski Crystal staircase in the atrium,
We had a suite with balcony and hot tub located at forward part (pointy end) of the ship, the cabin was large with a separate bedroom and lounge area with sofa bed not forgetting a huge balcony complete with large hot tub, this was plenty big enough for everyone not to be in each other’s pockets.
MSC offers three choices of dining, two set dining times where you will be the same table each evening with the same people at the same time, or anytime dining which gives you the flexibility to dine when you want each evening with your family. We chose the anytime dining rather than being tied to a set time and also meant we were able to use the speciality restaurants when we wanted. I can thoroughly recommend the Steak and Tapas restaurants great food and atmosphere in both.
Over the next 7 days we sailed around the Arabian Gulf visiting Abu Dhabi, Muscat & Khasab in Oman, Sir Bani Yas Island and then back to Dubai for an overnight in port. I tend to head ashore in the morning before it gets to hot and then back on the ship for an afternoon of sunbathing.
I left the ship in……
Abu Dhabi: I had afternoon tea at the Emirates Palace the only 6 star hotel in Abu Dhabi omg, it was amazing and I would definitely do this again
Oman: I did a half day city tour on a coach. It was 4 hrs long and took us around the old Quarter, a Souk, the Sultans Palace, Opera House and Grand Mosque
Dubai: Rather than an excursion in Dubai, I took the open top hop on hop off bus from outside the cruise terminal into the city and stayed on the bus for two of the different routes which took you all around the city, Jumeriah Beach, & the Palm. Had I been there longer I would have got off at a few of the stops, but I only had one day, then in the evening I went back into the city via Taxi to the Dubai Mall to see the fountain show at the Burj Khalifa.
I have cruised a number of times with various cruise lines and each one is different, each cruise line caters for different people and depends what you like and what you are looking for. MSC is Italian owned, it is international with its clientele with guests mainly from Italy, Spain, Germany and the UK, the ship is busy and has a party atmosphere to it, the dress code is casual even on the formal night it is a more casual formal than other cruise lines I have been on, if you like to dress up then this is not the cruise for you.
If you are looking for a laid back cruise with a casual feel, that has a busy go go go atmosphere, beautiful big ships, then MSC is for you with a big choice of destinations around the world for you to enjoy.