Costa Victoria - Jewel of the Emirates

[Kevsgirl]

We have returned this morning from the above and first of all I would like to offer some reassurance to everybody who reads these boards and are concerrned about cruising with Costa.

 

We had a wonderful week and really have no complaints. To address some issues that I have read about when looking at these boards before we departed:

 

The ship - this was the largest ship we have cruised on and liked it very much. There were plenty of places to sit and be as involved or as quiet as you wanted to be. Our cabin was a bit wee but we booked the cheapest inside cabin (husband likes the dark!) and the weather was great so we spent most of our time out or on deck.

 

Crew and Costa personnel - without exception they were friendly, efficient and enthusiastic. If we asked for something, and we rarely needed to, it was dealt with immediately and with a smile.

 

Food - we tended to eat in the buffet for breakfast and lunch and the dining room in the evening. We really enjoyed the food and found that there was always something that we were excited to order. In the restaurant we were seated not just by language but by nationality and our table consisted of 4 English couples of various ages whose company we enjoyed immensely. The food is mostly Italian in origin and cooked in a broadly Italian style so pasta is al dente, lots of parma ham, pizza, grilled vegetables, fresh fruit and very sweet cakes. We were on first sitting which was usually 6.30 (earlier then I would ordinarily choose) and service was excellent - not slow, not rushed. 2nd sitting was generally around 8.45 and I did hear complaints that this was slower with queues waiting for the restaurant to re-open although this is hearsay.

 

Drinks - we ordered the hotly discussed X1 package before we left which worked out at something like £7.50 a day per person. Drinks are expensive on board for the British due to our plummeting pound and if you are going to have more than one drink at lunch and one drink at dinner then it is definately worth it. You can use the X1 in the buffet or dining room at lunchtime and in the dining room in the evening. It is wine or beer by the glass but we never felt we were waiting for our next drink - in fact they brought a glass of beer and a glass of wine for DH everytime.

 

Nationalities - many, each with their own languages and customs. This only added to our experience. We did not find a problem with the announcements - if it didn't relate to you then it wasn't announced in your language and if it did then you just waited your turn. This was never an issue. I like to people watch and the fun gained from this increases expidentially with the number of different nationalities on board. I have been on many cruises aimed at the North American market and enjoyed them enormously but I enjoyed this just as much. I should qualify this by saying that I am British, speak fluent Spanish, am well travelled and spend a lot of time in Europe. This means that the European experience offered by Costa is in no way as alien to me as I imagine it may be to other nationalities who are used to English being the first language everywhere.

 

Ports of Call - a good selection that we felt showed you the differences between, as well as the similarities amongst, the various countries. Our favorites were without a doubt Muscat and Abu Dhabi but each port demonstrated a different side to us. There were shuttle buses in each port, often one organised to the gate by the port authority and one to a shopping centre or town by Costa. Costa shuttles cost 6 euros return per person.. In Dubai there is a free shuttle to the Dubai Mall which is organised by the Dubai Mall. If you have specific questions about ports then please let me know and I will try and help as much as I can. I have the copies of 'Today' with me so can give you more info as far as I know it. We did city tours, a beach tour, a 4 x 4 trip to the desert, we visited modern malls and traditional souks and enjoyed them all.

 

Passports - Costa take your passport on arrival and give you a photocopy which you use to enter the ship, along with your Costa card. I have never experienced this before but it is due to the stringency of the countries/ports visited. All passports are stamped with entry and exit visas and this is carried out behind the scenes so it does not delay your day in any way. When I received my passport back with its many colourful stamps I fully understood the reason for this system.

 

Security - security on leaving and entering the ship is very stringent. Passports are checked against Costa cards and you. All bags are scanned entering, and often exiting as well. I heard a number of complaints about this - personally I would prefer this to the alternative...

 

I have one complaint and one complaint only, which is outside the realms of Costas control. Passport control when entering and leaving Dubai is a nightmare - it takes hours and it is very hot. For some reason you don't hit air conditining until you are inside the departure area. Be prepared and be patient.

 

If you are departing on this cruise and have any questions at all then please post on this thread and I will do my best to help. I found it incredibly difficult to find information before I left.

[berwicker]

Many thanks for this excellent review, we are going on this cruise on the 4th April and you have given us some excellent advice.

[geordygirl]

Thanks for the information, it is really reassuring as we are going on March 14th and as you said it is difficult to find. many entries on this criuse.

I hope you don't mind me asking the following questions:

Can I ask you if you took local currency for each port stop or did you take dollars or just Dirhams?

Where did you do the 4x4 and what did you do in Fujairah

If we decide not to take an excursion were there plenty of taxis to take as an alternative?

Did you have to contact your travel agency to get the x1 package

Thanks again really looking forward to it

[tudyite]

We travel on the 7th March and it is good to read some positive response to the Cruise after many poor reports written about this Cruise. Can you explain more about the X1 package you had as the only ones we could find on the company web site refered to bottles of wine packages? Also how did you find the best way to exchange currancy for the different countries?. Thank you

[Kevsgirl]

Thanks for the information, it is really reassuring as we are going on March 14th and as you said it is difficult to find. many entries on this criuse.

I hope you don't mind me asking the following questions:

Can I ask you if you took local currency for each port stop or did you take dollars or just Dirhams?

Where did you do the 4x4 and what did you do in Fujairah

If we decide not to take an excursion were there plenty of taxis to take as an alternative?

Did you have to contact your travel agency to get the x1 package

 

Thanks again really looking forward to it

 

We booked our excursions on line and on the basis of this we took a few omani rial and a larger quantity of dirhams. We also had some dollars with us that we had left over from the summer.

 

A lot of places will take dollars or euros - the souk in Muscat will definately, we did the dhow dinner cruise in dubai and they would take dollars, euros or dirham for drinks on board. There is a hop on hop off tour bus in dubai that leaves the port and you can pay for this in euros (and dollars I am sure). We didn't take a taxi but there always seemed to be taxis either at the port gate or at the final destination of the Costa shuttle bus. So for example we got the costa shuttle into the centre at Bahrain and then there were taxi drivers waiting there to meet it. In Dubai there was a taxi rank in the port at the ship.

 

We were told by the British guide on the ship that the souks are not so keen on sterling at the moment!

 

There is a currency exchange on the ship but they only deal in major currencies but it does mean you can get dollars or euros on board. There was also an ATM at the port terminal in Dubai and a currency exchange.

 

It is hard to give you definitive advice without knowing what you are going to do. We are not big shoppers so bought a couple of little bits for the kids and the odd drink. I would say that if you are doing all Costa tours then you will be fine with dollars or euros but if you are doing more under your own steam then I would suggest taking some local currency as well.

 

We were originally going to do the beach tour in Fujairah but this was cancelled - red algae in the sea I believe. So we did the 4x4. The desert bit of the tour was great fun and amazing to see but getting there was a bit of a haul. You drive there through mountains and a wadi but it is completely barren and takes a couple of hours or more. The scenery is unchanging and there are no toilets on the entire day. There are bushes and sand dunes but because everybody is in the same boat you end up biting the bullet and losing any sense of modesty that you had at the beginning of the day. They take you back on the main road and this takes about half an hour. I like to see as much of a country as I can but this is one instance when we could have done with a shorter day and just simply driven to the desert on the main road.

 

A couple we had dinner with did the cultural tour and enjoyed it.

 

There is a Costa bus that takes you to a place called supermarket Lulu for 6 euros each. Some people we know did this and they said it was a hypermarket and then from there they had a wander around and got a feel for the town. If you do not do a Costa tour here I would suggest you go for this as I am not sure how much else there is to see.

[Kevsgirl]

Sorry, I have just seen the last part of your question. We booked the X1 through Costa by email as we booked our package directly with them.

[Kevsgirl]

We travel on the 7th March and it is good to read some positive response to the Cruise after many poor reports written about this Cruise. Can you explain more about the X1 package you had as the only ones we could find on the company web site refered to bottles of wine packages? Also how did you find the best way to exchange currancy for the different countries?. Thank you

 

Hopefully I have answered some of this above.

 

With regards to the X1 you pay approx £7.50 a day per person (I can't remember the exact figure). It has to be booked for every adult in the cabin. This allows you beer, wine and water by the glass in the restaurant at lunch and dinner and in the buffet at lunch.

 

Wine by the glass on board is five euros upwards and a small beer is around three and a half euros. I think beer by the bottle was around five and a half euros and cocktails were around six and a half euros. It seems expensive because the pound is so weak at the moment.

 

The buffet is a bar service with waiters wandering around taking orders - you simply order your drink and show them your costa card which is marked with the X1 symbol to show you have the package. If you want another drink you just continue to order in the same way.

 

In the restaurant they took all our cards and details on the first night then every night after that they remembered what we drank and brought it automatically. I was drinking white wine so they just continued to top my glass up throughout the night each night. For my husband they brought him a glass of beer on a regular basis and kept his wine glass topped up so he really did well out of it! We also had water with dinner and they just gave us a bottle of mineral water each night.

 

We were there late on the Saturday night at the end of the cruise as our flight wasn't until two in the morning. Dinner on this night is open seating and we had a table for two. In this instance they simply brought us the bottle of wine and left it with us - presumably because we couldn't share it out amongst the other diners!

 

We ordered our X1 package directly through Costa and it has to be ordered something like two or three weeks before you depart. You cannot buy it on board.

 

If you prefer your wine by the bottle, or like to make more choices about your wine then simply red or white, then you can buy the wine package. In this case they provide you with vouchers for the bottles of wine which can be redeemed in the dining rooms or bars.

 

There is 24 hour tea, coffee and iced tap water available in the buffet.

[PhilbeachTraveller]

We travel on the 7th March and it is good to read some positive response to the Cruise after many poor reports written about this Cruise. Can you explain more about the X1 package you had as the only ones we could find on the company web site refered to bottles of wine packages? Also how did you find the best way to exchange currancy for the different countries?. Thank you

 

Hey tudyite, we're on the same cruise!

Kevsgirl - thanks so much for your review. I was beginning to wonder what I had gotten us into. I've sailed on Italian ships before, a long time ago, and had no complaints. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

 

Allison

[RX300JMH]

Great report thanks, I am off on same cruise on Saturday 21st Feb and now have a great incite of what to expect. Couple of questions if you don't mind.

 

Did you use the casino, and if so what were the minimum stakes for the varous games?

 

I have the X1 package that aperas to be great value, but will also use the various bars. Could you tell me roughly how much the cost of beer and sprits (Vodka & tonic etc) were?

 

Thanks for your help

[Kevsgirl]

Great report thanks, I am off on same cruise on Saturday 21st Feb and now have a great incite of what to expect. Couple of questions if you don't mind.

 

Did you use the casino, and if so what were the minimum stakes for the varous games?

 

I have the X1 package that aperas to be great value, but will also use the various bars. Could you tell me roughly how much the cost of beer and sprits (Vodka & tonic etc) were?

 

Thanks for your help

 

From my recollection, which is hazy when there is alcohol involved, a bottle of beer was 5 euros 50, draft beer was around 3 euros 50 for a small (30cl) and 5 euros or so for a large (50 cl), cocktails were around 6 euros 50 and there was a cocktail of the day for 5 euros or 5 euros 50 for an extra large glass. We didn't drink spirits and mixers but I am fairly sure everything was around the 5 to 6 euro mark. There is a 15% service charge on each drink as well. It does sound, and indeed feel, pricey but unfortunately it is the exchange rate that is the problem.

[Kevsgirl]

Some other things that I have thought of that might help:

 

There are two gala nights (the Sunday which is the captains welcome and the Thursday which is the farewell gala evening). The reason for this is that the ship is in dubai port on the final night and so a lot of people go on evening excursions or eat in the town. All other nights are 'informal' which in reality was a sort of smart casual. DH took his tux and put it on for the first night but as we were walking to dinner everybody seemed to be in suits so he went back to the cabin and changed as he felt uncomfortable. When we got to the captains welcome party probably about 15% of the men were in black ties so in actual fact he would have been fine. I wore a cocktail dress on one night and 'cocktail type trousers' on the second night with a silk blouse and was fine. Unlike other ships we have been on the buffet does not open at night although there is a pizzeria if you want a night off from the restaurant.

 

Your cabin is available to you until 4.30pm on the last day - this was great for us as we had a very late flight (not leaving the ship until 1045pm). It does however mean that if you arrive early on the Saturday your cabin will not be available to you until early evening so if this is the case I would suggest taking some hand luggage to allow you to get on with your day on arrival.

 

Dress during the day - If you are going on an excursion to a mosque you will need full length trousers and long sleeved tops for women with your chest fully covered and full length trousers for men (short sleeved tops or t shirts are fine for them). You will also need a pashmina or scarf that will fully cover your hair for women - some mosques provide them but I found it easier just to put one in my bag and keep it with me. I also felt more comfortable in full length trousers and long sleeved tops in the souks as these are much more traditional - particularly in Oman. The rest of the time I wore three quarter length trousers and sleeves. Dubai is much more relaxed than the other countries as there are so many ex pats and it is such a clash of cultures. In all cases you will be perfectly safe but you may not feel comfortable if not dressed appropriately as there can be a tendency for people to stare at you.

[D and P's Nan]

Well Kevsgirl, it looks like you've certainly started something :)

We've never been with Costa before but due to reading your positive post last evening, I booked the same cruise today for 14th March. Your comments were really appreciated and very helpful but as much as I'd like to pick your brains for more tips etc, I'll only bother you with one itsy bitsy question please. Sorry for sounding a bit thick but I got the impression that you have to buy water at meal times. Is this correct :confused: Every other cruise we've been on the water or iced tea (US lines) is served as standard. We're not big drinkers and will generally only have wine at a celebration meal on board - usually it's water with meals followed by a short/mixer or two in the bars/clubs later :p . You said in your last post that tea/coffee & iced tap water is available 24/7 in the buffet - I thought that if this is complementary perhaps the water is at meal times too - but just wanted to be sure incase we have to look into getting one of those cards you talked about.

Many thanks again :)

[Kevsgirl]

Well Kevsgirl' date=' it looks like you've certainly started something :)

We've never been with Costa before but due to reading your positive post last evening, I booked the same cruise today for 14th March. Your comments were really appreciated and very helpful but as much as I'd like to pick your brains for more tips etc, I'll only bother you with one itsy bitsy question please. Sorry for sounding a bit thick but I got the impression that you have to buy water at meal times. Is this correct :confused: Every other cruise we've been on the water or iced tea (US lines) is served as standard. We're not big drinkers and will generally only have wine at a celebration meal on board - usually it's water with meals followed by a short/mixer or two in the bars/clubs later :p . You said in your last post that tea/coffee & iced tap water is available 24/7 in the buffet - I thought that if this is complementary perhaps the water is at meal times too - but just wanted to be sure incase we have to look into getting one of those cards you talked about. Many thanks again :)[/quote']

 

Hi - iced tap water in jugs is available at dinner, although I think you have to ask for it as you don't get this as standard in europe in the same way as you do in North America. If you want mineral water however you pay for it and this is included in the X1 card. A couple of nights we would get a bottle and then take what was left back to the cabin with us. We had a great time and I hope you enjoy it as much.

[geordygirl]

Thanks Kevsgirl for all your information it is massively helpful we are really looking forward to it!

[RX300JMH]

Off in two days, just a couple of hopefully final questions, if you don't mind.

 

On the formal nights were there many people who did not dress up and just wore casual clothes.

 

Any idea of minimum casino stakes.

 

Thanks

[Kevsgirl]

Off in two days, just a couple of hopefully final questions, if you don't mind.

 

On the formal nights were there many people who did not dress up and just wore casual clothes.

 

Any idea of minimum casino stakes.

 

Thanks

 

On the two formal nights everybody I saw was 'smart' but only a small percentage wore black tie. The men were mostly in suit and tie and the ladies in smart dresses or trousers and tops.

 

I don't know about the minimum casino stakes I am afraid as we didn't partake.

 

Hope you have a lovely time.

[tudyite]

X1 Package:

This package is available during lunch and dinner, only in the Main restaurant , it includes Glasses of White and Red wines, draught beer, soft drinks, mineral water, all served by the glass. It is only valid on the Costa Allegra Far East itinerates from the 23/11/2008. It is not available to purchase on Costa Europa Mauritius itinerates.

£53.94 per person 7nts 2009

£77.05 per person 10nts 2009

£84.76 per person 11 nights 2009

£107.87 per person 14 nts 2009

 

This has to be booked 5 working days prior to your departure, you can can call Costa Cruises to add this to your booking and we will take payment over the phone.

[katedoll]

I just want to thank Kevsgirl for doing such fantastic posts. We must have been on the same cruise - didn't we have fab weather. Hope you don't mind me jumping on your thread, but I would like to add a few tips too, if you don't mind:

 

- just to confirm the buffet (on deck 11) is open 24 hrs and has free tea, coffee and cold water to help yourselves. (Although we did find the cold water some times luke warm, even though you were meant to be able to get ice from it too.) There is also free tea, coffee and cold water out the back of deck 11 in the 'open restaurant' at dining times.

 

- food quality and restaurant staff are fantastic. Food was really amazing, esp the pastas at lunchtime.

 

- someone asked about minimum bets on the casino, from memory there were definitely 1 euro tables minimum, but I think like most casinos the min bet varied on different tables.

 

- one thing I wished we had done before we went was printed some maps of the ports of call off the internet. The ship does give you a map, albeit it is so poor that it wasn't of use at all. If we had just spent some time printing off a few detailed maps with road names etc, we could have been a bit more adventurous walking round - esp so in Abu Dhabi (which is like Dubai, pretty afluent and easy to walk round) and Bahrain (which we found sandy and hustly bustly and a more traditional Arab place). Muscat is pretty small, so a map wouldn't be so needed there.

 

- we took local taxis in most ports I'll give you a few tips re the ports we visited. Abu Dhabi - we did a 1 hour city tour for 100 dirhams (dhs) and asked to end it at Marina Mall, a large, good modern mall. Then got taxi from the Mall back to the boat. (Loads of taxis at the Mall). Worth driving out to the new Grand Mosque (looks amazing, like the Taj Mahal). Our favourite port - nice Corniche promenade along the front if you fancy a walk. You can't walk from the port entrance and need to get a taxi to the city centre.

 

Bahrain - we got the Costa shuttle bus to the centre of Bahrain and had a wander round. Very old Arab feel to the city, found the souks (from the mini bus drop off head forward and to the left - down a few little alley ways, by the side of building site alleyway) worth going round the souks if you like that sort of thing. I wore a pashmina head scarf in the souks just to avoid the stares really.

 

Fajarah (sorry can't remember the spelling). A complete waste of a cruise stop, and everyone we spoke to agreed. We got the Costa bus to Lulu mall - which is in fact a very poor excuse of a hypermarket. The trips didn't seem to go down with passengers better. I wouldn't know what to suggest here - everything seems a long way from the port and it seemed to be an Emirate with not much to see. Maybe stay on the ship?!

 

Muscat, Oman - again took a 1 hour city tour for 100 dhs. Really interesting - firstly stopped at the souks, out to the Palace, then a post 5 star hotel for a look round and a stop at the museum. We squeezed a lot in to an hour. Nice port stop. There is a nice promenade on the front too, if you fancy a walk. (Don't walk to the souks from the port entrance - just too far in the heat).

 

In all these places don't be frightened of getting taxis - they are really a good way to see the cities. If you are a bit adventurous you can get a lot out of it. If you don't mind spending more, of course the cruise tours have advantages - ie you don't have to organise anything and it is all done for you - each to their own I guess. But we were happy with taxis. They are everywhere, esp in Dubai where you flag them down like in London. They are outside all the malls and hotels in Dubai and queue up right where the ship docks up. The one and main tip for getting taxis is make sure the driver speaks pretty good English. You can do this when you are negotiating the price. Ask him to show you on the map where he would take you on a 1 hour city tour (or 2 hours if you want) and see if it is the same places you want to visit. If he can't show you or communicate to you in good English, I would just give him a miss and walk onto the next taxi driver.

 

Ok, on to other tips:

 

- we bought a couple of large 2 litre mineral bottles of water (2.50 euros each) on the ship. Then we were reluctant to keep spending this money to buy more water, so I nipped to the gym which has a water dispenser where you can easily refill the bottles up. No one said anything. I did see others do this in the buffet which gives free water, but the dispenser is not so easy to fill up bottles from.

 

- X1 is only Carlsberg beer (no other beers) and only 1 choice of red or 1 choice of white wine. So if you are looking to save money and you like a drink with your lunch/dinner X1 is fab, if you are more choosey with your wine/beer you may not be happy with this. We found X1 fine for us - we ordered a last beer/wine just as leaving lunch - and took it to the pool, and the same in the evening and took our last drink to the bar we wanted to sit in after dinner.

 

- We have done an Ocean Village cruise and it was interesting comparing the 2 - entertainment on OV is far better. The entertainment on Costa was pretty poor really - Songs from the Shows, Belly Dancing, Puppet show. No comedians on Costa, which we liked on OV.

 

- The checking in procedure is quite slick on Costa, yes they do take your passport and give you a copy of your photo page to use to enter the ship with your Costa Card, but that is all fine. Just remember to go to the Plaza Lounge on the last morning, to pick up your passport!

 

- Depending when you check in you may not get your bags until 8pm outside your room. We took one large suitcase and one smaller 'pull along one' with our day clothes in so we could just get sandles/teeshirts out before they took our bags away. Also handy in that the smaller bag would fit in the large suitcase in our cabin, and that large case could fit under the bed to save space in the cabin.

 

- We were on Virgin flights and got into Dubai around 10am and we had a 'service room' for the first day, before getting our proper cabin at 8pm. That was a godsend for a little sleep after a night flight. Not sure why we got this cabin, if it was a Virgin thing or what, but it was good.

 

-You get your cabin on the last day until 4.30pm as Kevsgirl says, and you are allowed to stay on the ship until 10.30pm. We decided to postpone the flight home by 4 days and booked into a Dubai hotel so checked into the hotel, then came back to the ship for free dinner/drinks on the last night - only cost was a taxi there and back!

 

- As to currency to take - Dirhams is needed for the UAE states, and in Muscat and Bahrain they all seemed happy to trade in Dollars. (Our rep said Euros would be OK too, but I'm not so sure - Dollars seems the currency which was sought after).

 

- Also, as Kevsgirl says there are 2 'posh' dinners. The first was not the day we arrived but the next day. Really don't worry about what you wear for this - my husband wore a suit and tie but it was a complete mix. He wished he had worn a modern stripey shirt/cufflinks with no tie and trousers, rather than his work suit. As long as you don't have jeans on, you'll be fine. Lots of women just wore black trousers and a pretty top and fitted fine. Blokes tended to wear suits with ties or DJs, or chinos with nice shirts was absolutely fine.

 

Think that is it for top tips!

 

We felt that the Reception staff were really rude (one elderly couple only had taken Nationwide Debit cards, no Credit cards - they didn't realise a Costa didn't accept Debit cards for payment at the end of your holiday - and the Reception staff were so rude to this poor elderly couple who didn't understand the difference between Debit/Credit cards). But I don't want to put anyone off a Costa cruise - overall we would definitely do it again - we just wished we had known the tips above before hand. Yes the service charge is a lot, but you know that when you book.

 

Have a good cruise, enjoy it and don't worry about it. Any question let me (or Kevsgirl!) know.

[katedoll]

One other thought - we continually carried on water and cans of coke in our bags (through the scanner) each time we boarded the ship when in port and no one said anything. We did it by accident the first time, and realised it seemed OK, so just kept doing it. We figured the most they would do is take the water/soft drinks away, and it was a gamble which paid off fine.

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

 

Bahrain - we got the Costa shuttle bus to the centre of Bahrain and had a wander round. Very old Arab feel to the city, found the souks (from the mini bus drop off head forward and to the left - down a few little alley ways, by the side of building site alleyway) worth going round the souks if you like that sort of thing. I wore a pashmina head scarf in the souks just to avoid the stares really.

.

 

 

Hello

 

You need not wear a scarf in the souk or anywhere in Bahrain unless you are entering a religous centre where the dress code specificly specifies it. I dont know if you noticed but the souk is full of Filipinos and Indians which dont wear a scarf?!!

 

Also, anyone who has any questions about what to do in Bahrain please ask me :o:D

[katedoll]

As I said I wore a headscarf just to avoid the stares. The Indian guys seemed to stare at white women more than other Asian women. I found this a little overbearing and found wearing a headscarf seemed to stop them staring quite so much.

[PhilbeachTraveller]

Hi Kevsgirl or Katedoll

 

We (well, my SO) is getting all in a tiz regarding embarkation. We have friends in Dubai who are meeting us at the airport; we arrive about 7.30 am. We were told by Virgin Cruises that there 'might' be a place we can leave our luggage until we can check in about 3 pm - is there? Not a huge problem as we can just leave our cases at our friends' place. Can we check in any time after 3? (I know our room isn't available until 8). Also what sort of security is at the port itself? Is there anyone checking tickets at the 'gate' - we'll be in a private car so not sure what the procedure is. Do we have to be on the ship by a certain time in the evening?

 

Sorry for all the questions, but want to get SO out of panic mode and let our friends know the options.

 

Thanks

Allison

[GloucesterGirl]

Hi

 

We too are just back from this cruise and we all had a great time. Not much I can add to the great reviews already given here except for a few points.

 

We were told that we would have to get a taxi from the airport and it would be about 100 dirham, however there was a Costa bus waiting there when we arrived and we were told by Costa staff to just get on it - great a free ride - what a good start to the holiday! Others we talked to only paid 50 dirham so it can vary. Tip - Do not use the porters unless you really need to as they have a fixed charge even if they only move your cases 20 yards!

 

Our room was an inside cabin and very quiet - except for one night when there appeared to be clog dancing up on the pool deck. It was very clean but too small for four people trying to get ready for dinner at the same time and so we would go for two cabins next time. We too found the food excellent, particularly the fruit, so you may have to exercise some self control if possible.

 

We really liked the mix of nationalities and did not mind the various announcements. They really like to party and there were always people dancing to the various bands/singers so it was very easy to join in without being embarrassed. The noise around the pool got a bit much sometimes so we took ourselves off to the front of the ship where it is much quieter.

 

We have two teenage girls who were quite worried that they wouldn't meet any other children of similar age but being half term there was a great crowd of teenagers and they really enjoyed themselves. In fact they quite often came to bed well after us - but then they slept in later .... The teen zone did not start until about 11.30pm.

 

Our girls really liked dressing up for dinner especially on the two formal/gala nights and it was the one time when we could actually talk to them as they disappeared off with their friends immediately afterwards. Nobody around us dressed up in DJ and my DH wore nice shirt and tie and felt fine. Restaurant staff were fantastic.

 

We did the Fujairah 4x4 and agree that the drive to the dunes was way too long. We wish we had done the 4x4 in Dubai as it included camel ride, sand surfing and belly dancer over BBQ but because of our flight times we would not have had any time in Dubai to see anything else.

 

We enjoyed Muscat best of all. We walked to the souk (from the ship you can see the green dome just past the blue domed mosque) and it only took about 10-15 minutes, where we bought saffron and pashminas. Jewellery there was the best we saw too. All traders took dollars or euros so we did not need any local currency.

 

We bought a drinks package on board which gave us wine with dinner and bottled water. Carafes for 8.5 euros for 0.5 ltr (+ 15%) were also available.

 

In Dubai we took the free bus to the Dubai Mall. Very nice but mostly very expensive shops. So we took a taxi to the Karama souk where we were told we could get fake designer goods. We were taken out of souk into block of flats (getting nervous now) but once inside it was designer heaven - lots of Chloe, Guess, Chanel, Gucci, Prada handbags/purses/wallets etc - and Rolex, Tag watches which nearly tempted DH. Girls were besides themselves so beware.

 

This was our first cruise and only booked at the last minute from an advert in weekend paper because we wanted some winter sunshine, but overall we were very impressed and would happily go on another cruise next year.

[katedoll]

Hi

This is for Philbeach Traveller.

 

I presume you are flying form the UK to Dubai for the Jewel of the Emirates cruise where you land in Dubai on early Saturday morning and ship sails Sunday lunchtime over to Oman - yes?

 

If so, this is the cruise we have just come back from, and we also had friends in Dubai who were able to 'ferry' us around in their own car. I hope the following helps:

 

I presume your friends are meeting you at Dubai airport in their own car. That is fine. I would suggest they drive you over to Port Rashid (where the ship will be - 'parked' next door to QE2 which is the black/red smaller ship). When you get to the entrance to the port there is about 6 'booths' (like we have at a toll bridge) and you'll have to pull up to one of those and wind your window to speak to one of the security people there. Show them your tickets and say you are dropping off people at the Costa ship. Tell them the driver is returning straight away. We did this when our friends took us back to the ship several times, and it is absolutely fine. Once through that security it is about a 2 mile drive to the ship. First time we did it in a taxi so knew where to go, it is pretty much only one road, but do read the signs as there are a couple of 'cul de sacs' but you know which way to head because by this time you can obviously see the ship in front of you!

 

By this time it should be around 9am and you will see a big white marquee in front of you (and also a line of taxis who will have picked other people up off your flight and will be taking them to the ship). Your friends can park up here (there is a massive empty car park) and you can go into the white marquee to check in and leave your bags. I don't think your friends will be able to go in (as it has duty free alcohol in there and they check your tickets as you go into the marquee) You can check in very early, you don't have to wait until 3pm. You will go thru a security scanner thing and there are Costa reception staff there to help you. You should have filled in the card you get in your ticket booklet (we forgot and had to do it when we got there). At this point they take your bags from you - well we put them in a pile of other bags - and we saw Costa staff take them all away on a little lift thing in one go - and they arrive at your room around 8pm. So as the marquee is so big we opened our bags on the floor (other people were doing this too) - took out our sandals, suncream and shorts etc. You can do this from early that morning, we weren't the first at 10am.

 

Hope this isn't too long! You then go to a Reception desk and they give you your 'Costa card' and take your passport (and give you a photocopy to use to get on the ship as it has your photo on). You can then either go and wander round the ship - we had breakfast and sat by the pool - or go back out and explore Dubai. Up to you. You just come and go on/off the ship as you please whilst it is in port in Dubai - use it like a hotel.

 

There is the open top tour bus which stops at the white marquee whilst the ship is in dock, so you could always jump on that.

 

Then when you have dropped your bags off I guess you'll join your friends in the car park and go back out the security into Dubai. You'll need to show the security guys at the entrance your Costa cards every time you come and go, but that is fine. They are use to it.

 

There is no time limit to come back onto the ship that night. You just need to MAKE SURE you are back for the lunchtime sailing on the Sunday. I guess you'll also want to unpack and see your cabin etc. It doesn't matter if your bags are outside your room until the next day - we saw bags outside people's room on Sunday morning - ie people who hadn't unpacked, it is very much just do what you want, you are on holiday!

 

If you are on this cruise I think you are, you'll also arrive back in Dubai at Friday lunchtime at the end of the cruise. Friday is the 'day off' in Dubai (like our Sunday) so we joined our friends as soon as the boat docked on that Friday for a bbq in Saffa Park. It docked earlier than scheduled - arbout 12 noon, and you can get off about 20 mins later. Then you can again come and go as you please until you go for your flight. The entrance to the ship is open 24 hours when in port, so feel free to come and go as you want. (I presume your friends will want to pick you up too from the ship, but they won't have your Costa cards to get into the Port. I presume if they wave a few Costa leaflets to the security Guard and explain he is picking up friends from Costa cruise it should be OK). Can you both have mobile phones to chat to each other if there is any problems, I'm sure there won't be though. It is too far to walk from the Security point to the ship - about 2 miles maybe.

 

Two other points - we had a 'service cabin' for the day that we arrived. ie not our normal cabin, but they gave us one to freshen up in and use until 8pm when our cabin was available. No idea, why we had this, maybe cos we were with Virgin? but it was nice to have, you may have one too.

 

Also, on the last day of the cruise a lot of people had to leave for 10am flights, but we had extended our holiday and just moved our flight home back by 5 days and we stayed in a hotel in Dubai. We went and checked into the hotel but came back to the ship (by taxi as they are so cheap) to make use of the free food and drinks with dinner. All it cost was the price of two taxis!

 

Have you thought about the X1 card for drinks - it saved us loads!

 

Have a lovely holiday - any more questions, just let me know or send me a personal message if you can do that.

 

katedoll x

[PhilbeachTraveller]

Thanks Katedoll, that was really, really helpful. I've forwarded the info to our friends in Dubai and it all sounds pretty straightforward. Our return flight on Saturday is at 9:40 am or something so means we'll have to get to the airport for about 6.30, but I guess there'll be a few people in the same boat (no pun intended). Still considering the X1. I'll come back to you if SO has any more questions!

Gloucestergirl - thanks for the review. Glad to here SO doesn't have to take his DJ or even his summer suit.

Only a little over a week to go - can't wait!

 

Allison x