November 21: 🚢Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Land Excursion: Cultural Dubai
Alarm whirred at 6.30 and we were away. A sort of stumbling half stupor to get us up, through the shower and dressed. We did a changed of plan, and after @Mac's final check of every cupboard and shelf and a crawl under both sides of the bed, we decided to lock up and not look back. Found our mojo as we entered La Veranda for the last time, took up our station on the outside deck, unfurled the umbrella and enjoyed one last go at the expansive breakfast bars. No breakfast is complete, without a Coffee Connection stop, and despite the hour of 7.40 am @Mac had one last Nelson (complete with the Bailey's and Frangelico) and true to form no "order" was needed - he was greeted with "THE usual?"
Need to reset the reset to get a new non-Nelson normal when we are home.
One last toilet story
Twenty-one days on board and there are still challenges. I forget to take a note of the table number for breakfast and the white auto door handles in the public reat rooms are still posing challenges for some.
@Mac opted to use an accessibility toilet this morning for his final visit pre disembarkation. Thought he had mastered it but after setting himself up in a kingly fashion on the throne, a fellow guest was in a for a surprise as he swung to door open. @Mac had "forgotten" to engage the lock from inside so the green light was inviting a next user. Everyone involved was a little surprised. Guess it could have been worse, he could have been doing his "paperwork."
The land tour awaits
So it was a good thing we were disembarking - and we were dutifully organised and wating at 8 am in the public area right at the jigsaw table and @Loraine was able to put in a few pieces as her farewell. There is already lots of action around the ship preparing her for the new onboarding of 500 + guests who arrive today.
Once "Red2" was called we were off and running - no looking back. The final goodbyes, one last scan off the ship an identification of the luggage and finally were able to clamour on board another coach which will be our transport for the three-day post cruise adventure in Dubai. @Achmed ("white bald guy from Tunisia - I'll be easy to find" - his words not mine) was our guide and he was full of information and stories although there were some limitations on what he was prepared to say because in Dubai, "the walls have ears." (his words no t=mine.).
Perched right up front in the first two rows we started our journey through the early morning "fog" (his words not mine) and funnily enough, the "fog" persisted all day. When @Achmed shared that the population is 10 million and that the number of cars is 33 million, a reason for the "fog" raised its ugly head but was not verbalised because "the walls have ears."
Traffic was at a crawling pace as we made our way from the port through Dubai to the neighbouring Emirate of Sharjah which won the UESCO award for being the "cultural capital of the Arab world." Green everywhere, water and harbour views, multi lane highways and buildings of every shape and size reaching into the sky.
Sharjah is in sharp contrast to Dubai in terms of adherence to Islamic ways and is certainly far more conservative in relation to its acceptance of liberal western views and even dress. But it still appeared all sparking and new and was referred to by Achmed as the "dormitory" city. With lifestyle restrictions in place, including no alcohol or tobacco, for the local "non-citizens" this is a cheaper alternative for accommodation and was evidenced by the proliferation of apartments and the peak hour crawl heading towards Dubai.
It is hard to comprehend that changes that must have come into play since the 1960s discovery of oil and the 1970s emergence of the UAE. Such a transformation from small, strategically placed Arab countries that relied on fishing, pearling and stamp production to these bustling ports and commercial centres.
Two main stops in our morning adventure:
The Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization: now this was a museum! Beautifully presented in a magnificent building which once housed the Souk Al Majarrah, its magnificent dome housed an intricate ceiling mosaic depicting the night sky and the signs of the zodiac. Its expansive hallways, combined with its open vaulted ceilings combined to provide the perfect nooks and crannies to display the interactive and immersive displays that whisked you through a history of Islam and the Arabian civilization. We had an hour but barely had time to make a dent on the incredible 5000 artefacts arranged by theme throughout the seven galleries of the museum including those devoted to faith, art. coins and my favourite, calligraphy.
We didn't want to leave but it was back on board to then visit the Souk Al Arsa, the oldest souk in the UAE. Not really what we expected, but we have never been to a Souk so not sure how we formed our opinion. But it was a very long undercover series of stores - housed in two large parallel arms - and you traversed from one arm to the next through connecting walkways. Not a "local" market - rather a series of "shops" of the very very small "hole in the wall" type of configuration. One arm and the ground floor were almost totally devoted to "gold and silver" and its second floor was "carpets and rugs." The adjacent arm was more a mixture of fashion and tourist mementos. It was pleasant browsing, but every doorway was actively "manned" and you were encouraged, quietly and politely, to come inside to look and buy. The gold and silver section did have strong numbers of local ladies, complete in head to two dress, shopping for gold.
Had an hour here as well, but without much interest in a purchase for anthing mass produced, and especially anything bearing the label "made in China" we were really marking time.
And with travel time to and fro added in - that was our morning gone and it was time to eat a gain. Headed slowly back to Dubai (still in the "fog") and found ourselves a little lost as the bus driver tried to manoeuvre the oversized bus through narrow streets and endless roadworks to deliver us to the Palazzo Versace hotel for lunch. Oh my. What an eye opener. Every piece of furniture, every element of decor has been created just for this venue. It was dripping opulence and the expanse, variety and the presentation of the food had us salivating. Can't believe we have been treated like royalty for 21 days on board and we can find a new level of enthusiasm for food - but that we did.
Another short trip and it was time to line up for check-in at the JW Marriott as 500 ex Regent passengers converged on reception at the same time. Found our suite on the 33rd floor with views over Dubai Creek and up up and up in the skyline to the rocket shaped tallest building in the world Burj Khalifa.
After a quick shower (or bath) we reassembled in the foyer and with the help of Concierge Timothy, we had a booking for tomorrow for Burj Khalifa and were on the courtesy bus for a trip to The Dubai Mall. A mere three kms away (we could have walked) we crawled for 30 minutes through bumper to bumper beeping traffic to finally be dropped at the front doors of this jaw dropping venue.
Can't describe it - it is a must do place to experience when in Dubai. Shopping is floor after floor, wing after wing of brand name stores. Big, bright, shinney, vibrant displays of the best they have to offer teaming with customers all buying! Everyone seems to have shopping bags - we did too, but only because we bought chocolate. I got close on a new handbag!
But we were there to see the "things," The fountain, the aquarium, the ice rink, the waterfall. Bigger than big. We literally walked around mouth agape. It was head shaking incredible. And what were all these people doing here on a Monday night! Everything was well signed - plenty of walkways with loads of "side sights" to keep you busy - snapped #Tiffany for @Mindy, #TagHeur for @Michael and even found a "popup store" (plenty of potential for fidgets here) for @Anthony.
Ticked all the boxes for the "attractions" and got ourselves a second-row possie for the Bellagio inspired dancing fountain - wow, did it draw a crowd.
Found ourselves a restaurant, there were hundreds to pick from! Landed in PF Changs to lap up oversized servings of Asian food that really hit the spot!
Relocated the Courtesy Bus (glad we had arrived early because the doors closed at 9.20 as all seats were taken) and crawled our way back to JW Marriott and set the alarms for 6.30 am so that we can sneak in a little more personal time for our 3.30 pm Regent meetup in the afternoon.
Have to say that we have no idea how it happened - but somehow we managed to set the room alarm for midnight and were stumbling around - way ahead of schedule - thinking our sleep was done. These new-fangled touch control room management systems are a bit fancy - I've managed to permanently display the "Do not disturb" sign and can't turn it off .... that's a problem for the daylight hours of tomorrow.
Weather: 32 with a non clearing "fog" that seems to PEAK at PEAK hour
Steps: 16461
#RegentSevenSeasExplorer #RegentSevenSeas #RegentCruise
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