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Latest News on Dubai cruises
February 2009
It is reported that Costa Cruises is basing its newest and biggest ship in Dubai for the winter of 2009/2010.
Meanwhile, German Cruise line AIDA, which is under the same ownership as Costa, will have its flagship AIDA Diva in the Arabian Gulf this winter and next.
Royal Caribbean has announced it will operate seven-night, round-trip cruises from Dubai in the winter of 2010 on its popular ship, Brilliance of the Seas. These are bound to prove very popular with Royal Caribbean and Brilliance of the Seas regulars. They will love this new destination.
All of this shows that Dubai and the Arabian Gulf are becoming increasingly popular as cruise destinations, particularly from Autumn through to Spring.
Port Rashid, where cruise ships dock at the Cruise Terminal has very useful free internet access; a tour office; restaurant and currency exchange, of course!!
Plenty of UAE Dirhams are essential for a visit to Dubai.
With its many glistening marble-floored shopping malls and duty free shopping, it is a veritable shoppers paradise!!
Superb malls like the huge "Mall of the Emirates" are well worth a visit, just to view them and gasp at their size and splendour.
You can even watch people ski on real snow on the Ski Dubai Alpine ski slope visible through the large panoramic windows of this Mall.
We sailed on the Costa Romantica, out of Dubai, in January 2008 and enjoyed a wonderful cruise. The Costa Europa was also used on the same itinerary in 2008.
In 2009, Costa is using their other cruise ships, the Costa Classica and Costa Victoria for the same itinerary. It gives visitors a chance to revisit on a different ship.
We joined the Costa Romantica in Dubai late on the first dayof the cruise. Then, on the second day, we sailed out of the Arabian Gulf, through the Straits of Hormuz .
Next day, we visited Muscat, the capital of the independent, mountainous Arab state of Oman, which lies at the strategic entrance of the Arabian Gulf.
The day after that ,we visited the emirate of Fujairah, on the Gulf of Oman, on the Indian Ocean.
This is one of the seven member states of the United Arab Emirates [U.A.E].
After sailing back into the Arabian Gulf, we visited the glistening, wealthy, oil-rich city of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the U.A.E.
Next day, it was the small, independent island state of Bahrain [also oil-rich] along the coast. After that, it was back to Dubai, where we spent the day exploring the city.
This was a fascinating cruise on very clean, stylish Italian ship, visiting very different places. Most of the passengers were Italian, French, Belgian, Scandinavian, Dutch and German. About 150 of us were British.
It was a great way of getting to know this burgeoning, rapidly-developing part of the world. The rate of development in Dubai is absolutely staggering. They are working 24/7 to transform the emirate.
Dubai's neighbours, especially Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are also putting their oil and gas wealth to good use by diversifying and developing their economies.
Tourism is becoming a priority! So luxury hotels are going up everywhere.
As I said, there are several other cruise lines sailing out of Dubai. Many use it as a port-of-call on long voyages.
Silversea Cruises, using the Silver Whisper and Silver Wind, sail to Athens via the Suez Canal and to Singapore via Mumbai in India, amongst other destinations.
Seabourn Cruiseline, using the Seabourn Spirit, also sail to Athens via Suez and the Red Sea. Another of their cruises visits, Arabia, India and China.
Crystal Cruises sail to Athens on the Crystal Symphony via Suez, calling at Cairo, for example.
The Regent/Radisson Line use their Seven Seas Navigator on various cruises to Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro and Florida. Their Seven Seas Voyager visits Greece and Istanbul, Turkey. Other times it goes to the Greek Islands, Rome, Madeira and Florida.
Holland American Line use their HAL Rotterdam to cruise from Dubai to Cape Town, via Mombasa, Kenya.
The Royal Caribbean Line, Legend of the Seas sails to Muscat, Suez and Rome from Dubai.
Finally, Cunard's iconic Queen Mary 2 uses Dubai as a port-of-call on long voyages terminating in New York or back in Southampton.
Of course, all of these cruises call at other ports, as well as the ones mentioned above.
I only list the above facts as an illustration of the many cruise itineraries and cruise line companies using the Dubai Cruise Terminal at Port Rashid, Dubai.
Cruise traffic via Dubai is increasing annually at a dramatic rate, as its wonderful shopping facilities, superb architecture and outstanding engineering feats grab the attention of the world!
