Firstly, I apologise to those who tried the link to previous Dubai trip found in the last blog. They didnt work. Hopefully, the links are now fixed so please feel free to revisit our previous trips to Dubai. I guarantee something different each time. From a surreal Halloween party that we unknowingly gate crashed in 2011 to wondering what would happen if I drop a penny off the top of the Burj Khalifa in 2014!!
Back to the story...Just as the first person to catch in the UK and not bring it in to the country was diagnosed, a man who lived in Surrey, we were checking out of our hotel oblivious to this fact. Although today was embarkation day, the ship, the MSC Lirica, would not set sail until 10pm. For this reason, the check in time on our paper work stated 18:50. As we had to check out of our hotel by noon, we decided to wait in the lobby until 1pm before trying our luck and taking a cab to the port in the hope that the check in desks were open. The ship had been in port since yesterday so we had no reason to
doubt this. From experience, you never stick to the times indicated on the boarding tickets. We have only been caught out by this tactic once, in Cuba when we arrived at the cruise terminal at 1pm and the ship hadnt even arrived!! It wasnt due in until 3pm!! As I stated in a previous post, taxis in Dubai are cheap and plentiful. The journey took almost 30 minutes and only cost 21 dirhams (£4.20) There was no surcharge as the journey started in the city.
On arriving at the cruise terminal, there were only a few taxis and ‘early birds milling around. After passing our luggage to a porter we entered the departure hall. Wed never seen a cruise terminal so empty on embarkation day. A quick glace over to the check in desks, and I could see they were fully manned. I knew this was going to be a good cruise (famous last words!!) when Roisin showed her Voyagers Club membership card to one of the meeters and greeters: ‘Oh! A Black card. This way madam, The black card (Known as Diamond level on MSC – but the card is still black!!), as with most loyalty
Although there was a steady stream of guests arriving all day, the ship didnt seem to be getting very full. MSC are a very cosmopolitan cruise line. Due to the large number of Italians, Spanish, Germans, French and nations who regularly sail with all announcements are given in five and sometimes even six languages. On the first announcement reminding passengers of muster, I noticed Italian was not voiced. Doubly strange as MSC is an Italian Company. We learned later that the Indian Immigration were refusing to allow anyone carrying an Italian passport or who had passed through Italy within 48 hours of boarding the ship, entry into their country. For this reason, all Italians (and the Chinese guests as well!!) had cancelled their cruise or were not allowed to travel. the English/German hostess told us later that the ship has a capacity of 1,940 but due to the lack of Italians there would only be 1,400 guests for this voyage. This is going to be like a Chinese Banquet without the Monosodium Glutamate. You know its better for your
On walking through the ship to refamiliarize ourselves with the layout, it wasnt long before the sound of a strong Wigan accent filled the air and moments later, we were waving to Beryl and Brian Cooke who were sat talking to Although this meeting was by chance, Beryl and Brians presence was premeditated!! We first met them in 2009 on our first ever cruise. They squeezed passed us at the Conservatory in St Petersburg where we were watching a performance of Tchaikovskys Swan Lake.
