Muscat, Oman

Have you ever seen a sunrise over Muscat, Oman? You sure have.

Some of the Princess excursion buses on the dock with drivers ready for the day’s passengers.

Today we were given landing cards for immigration, picked up on Deck 4 before we left the ship. They each had a unique number assigned to them. (I’ve marked out my number.) We didn’t have to show them to anyone but I’m guessing in case something came up ashore we would have to produce them?

When returning to the ship we had a drop box to put them in. 

Today was the last Hop on Hop off bus tour of our trip. We weren’t the only ones who thought the early 8:15 AM bus would be a good idea. We were crammed in that bus like sardines with only one seat unoccupied. We’ve had many instances where folks aren’t willing to give up a seat to a disabled person so I was worried about E not being able to get a seat downstairs. Thankfully the folks working the bus took pity on him and made sure he got a seat not only on the bottom level, but right up front. Being they set aside both seats for us, I felt obliged to sit next to him instead of heading up top like I usually do.

That makes all of today’s pictures taken straight out of a bus window, with just a few from the side window. As I was taking them I was bummed, thinking they weren’t coming out all that great. Now that I look at them, I realize it gave me a great perspective of the city. Both you and I can sit back, pretend we’re on a Thanksgiving drive to grandma’s house, and enjoy a tour of Muscat, Oman. (And yeah, I took a lot of pictures on the way. Happy Thanksgiving!)

Did you know Oman is ruled by a Sultan? I didn’t until today. His picture is everywhere around the city. 

Edit: Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said passed away just a few weeks after our visit on January 10, 2020. He was replaced by his cousin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said.

This huge one is right at the port.

Al Alam is the Sultan’s palace.

Look at how shiny the marble is at the palace

The Incense Burner is a lookout tower.

In Abu Dhabi and Dubai you had two options for views – new buildings or sand. Here in Muscat you have other options – rocks and mountains, old buildings or new buildings, or green space. 

Plenty of taxis were available right outside the port.

Plenty of drivers were standing at the ready, too.

Two ships in port today.

There is only one red HOHO bus route...

but it gave us plenty of opportunity to see the city from one end to the other. Muscat most definitely felt (and looked) more Middle Eastern-y to us than anywhere else we’ve been before. The dress was predominantly traditional for both men and women. The city was older looking, with all buildings white or cream in color. (Buildings can’t be built higher than eight stories and have to adhere to the color scheme.) Suqs (souks/marketplaces) were busy and full of locals. We knew we certainly weren’t in the United Arab Emirates anymore.

We move clocks forward yet another hour tonight. Ugh. But tomorrow we’re off to a sea day and that makes it a woo hoo!

Sea Day, November 27

Today was a pretty quiet day for us and for the first time on this entire cruise we weren’t at breakfast by 6. We slept in a little and made it there by 7. I also didn’t take a sunrise picture as we weren’t up early enough for that, either. (No pictures at all today, actually.)

These last couple days of Hop on Hop off buses in Abu Dhabi and Dubai were overwhelming. While E sat on the bottom section, I sat in the upper section where I could hear, see, and smell everything. There were so many new experiences that have led to sensory overload.

My brain was trying to process so many things:

• The buildings. The extreme (when I say extreme, I mean EXTREME) height of the buildings. One after another after another, all shiny and new. I have never seen so many tall, tall, tall buildings in my life. Then there was the variety of architecture. Hundreds of buildings (most likely thousands of buildings) with a unique look to them. There was also so much new construction, with many of the cranes looking like they weren’t being used. I can’t help but wonder if the ups and downs of crude oil prices are creating construction booms and busts. We also had the opulence of the mosques and palaces. I’ve never seen a presidential palace before this trip. I’ve never seen a mosque either, let alone multiple spectacularly beautiful ones. And I only saw them from the outside! I can’t even imagine the experience of entering one and processing everything I would see and do once inside.
• The superlatives. When we did our 50 state trip we found each state needed something to set it apart. Maybe the state ranked #3 in soybean production or had the longest single lane road. But in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai, superlatives were the norm of the day. I lost track of how many times I heard something was the world’s only or the world’s tallest, longest, widest, most, highest, or most expensive. In both places it was clear those building the structures took great pride in bragging rights. That the goal was to be number one in whatever it was, whether it was an office building, residential area, mall, waterpark, hotel, racetrack, etc. I did notice an interesting difference in Dubai – many times when it was built was added to the tallest-longest-widest-most-highest-most expensive description. Even though Dubai is only 30 or so years old, there are other cities out there already taking over their previously-held number one spots.
• The people. Some areas of the cities found most people wearing traditional dress while other areas had more western dress. Then there were other areas where both mixed in. A lady in a tank top next to one in a full burka. Men in their white dress, but wearing a baseball cap. So much to wonder about here. It also raised questions about western culture as well. It’s so very different than in the US where some look at those dressed traditionally in a not-so-nice way. 
• The language. Most signs were in both Arabic and English. While everyone we spoke to used English with us, we did overhear conversations not in English. Then I ran into the big problem with the blog with it not translating out of Arabic. When it was turning to Italian when we were in Italy I could figure it out but in Abu Dhabi I couldn’t. Part of the reason was that it looked like symbols and was typing right to left. I’m guessing it reads right to left? Another new learning for me.
• The shops and markets and malls. A souk is a marketplace? Yep, another new learning. As we were sitting in the Mall of the Emirates yesterday we were remarking that a mall is a mall is a mall. We saw a lot of the same stores we see at home. I was a bit shocked to see they even had a Victoria’s Secret – and they weren’t even hiding the bras in the back of the store. They were near the front for all to see, including those ladies walking by fully covered with nothing but their eyes showing. It really is something to ponder. 
• The sounds. Mostly typical big city sounds - construction workers at work, car horns, wind whistling, HOHO narration, with the addition of something beautiful - call to prayers. 
• The smells. I could smell all kinds of foods cooking in all kinds of restaurants and cafes. We’re not just talking a Burger King grilled smell here, either. So much variety. Unfortunately there was also the occasional garbage truck driving by.
• The amount of things to do and see. Dubai especially needs more than one day, no doubt. I heard from several people who found they ran out of time to see more. The trip to the top of the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world) took longer than expected because of lines. The aquarium at the Dubai Mall was nice, but took longer than expected because of the time (and hassle) of getting there. The Desert Safari was great but left no time to see anything in Dubai.  And so on and so on. A Hop on Hop off multi-day pass would have been the best way to go. The multiple routes would pretty much get you anywhere you might have heard of. With only one day, I’m glad I prioritized the green and blue routes. It really would have been great to spend one full (or at least half a day) at some of the stops.

Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai were unlike any other places we’ve been in the world. It even raised questions I didn’t even know I had! So yeah, it takes some time to process it all and my brain full. This made today a breakfast-pool-lunch-nap-TV day. We left the Persian Gulf this morning, sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, and saw Iran off our port side. (Seriously, is this really my life?)

Tomorrow we are in Oman for yet another Hop on Hop off tour. I imagine my brain will feel fuller than my stomach after a Thanksgiving turkey dinner.

Dubai

Welcome to Dubai! 

Can you find the tallest building in the world in the Dubai skyline?

 As we were sitting on the Promenade Deck this morning after breakfast we heard some terribly loud noises. We looked over the side and then remembered that today was disembarkation day for many of our passengers. 500+ left the ship with just as many joining. The poor guys working the luggage had to pick it up at the back of the ship and roll it across all the cobblestone and then up the ramp to get it into the terminal. We’re so used to seeing forklifts do all the work but not here.

Inside the cruise terminal

Today was another Hop on Hop off trip for us and Dubai has three different routes. To get to the starting point we had to first take the HOHO from the port to the Dubai Mall.

Once at the Dubai Mall we could transfer to the red or green route. Knowing today might be too much for E I knew I had to prioritize our time so I wanted the green first.

The green route was important because I wanted to see something I’ve seen on TV and read about in magazines. It’s the Burj Al Arab.

Recognize it?

Shining bright like a diamond

The green route also had a transfer point to get us to the blue route.

I needed the blue route to get to Palm Jumeirah, one of the largest man-made islands in the world. It’s shaped like a palm tree. While I didn’t get to see it from above (that would have been amazing!) I did get to see things from ground level.

I couldn’t figure out how these flowers worked. Is it a tree or a bush? Alive or fake?

I also needed the blue and greens routes because of where they intersect. That would be at the Mall of the Emirates. Why is that mall so important? Inside it contains something else I’ve seen on TV and read about. A ski resort inside the mall called Ski Dubai.

A real operating ski resort. My picture doesn't do it justice.

I don’t ski, but I wanted to see others ski. While I got a picture of it in action, I didn’t get to stay to watch. By that point we were already on mile two for the day. For most people two miles is nothing. But for E, walking across the uneven cobblestone at the port added in with the big step to get on and off the HOHO buses, and then the long walk across marble floors in the mall were taking their toll. We needed to get him a place to sit. But as it would turn out, the Mall of the Emirates doesn’t have any seating around other than in food courts and restaurants. I knew there was a food court somewhere down by Ski Dubai but I couldn’t even get him that far.

We stopped in a cafe where he had a Superfood Salad and I had a Diet Pepsi.

Yep, it’s in Arabic.

He wolfed down the salad, the bowl of bread, a Pepsi, and it still didn’t bring him any energy. (The mall did make for some great people watching. How can so many people from so many walks of life and dressed in so many, many different ways get along together here?)

Jenn, look – you could have been Jenny and Jennifer at the same time!

We trudged back to the HOHO bus to transfer to the Dubai Mall in order to get the transfer back to the ship. Where he again had to walk over uneven cobblestone.

So tough for him to walk on

I’m bummed I didn’t get to take the red route, but I’ll have to be okay with it. I still got plenty of photos of some crazy looking buildings again today. They must have a lot of creative architects in this part of the world.

How was the traffic? So. Many. Cars.

We saw lots of these signs alongside the roads both yesterday and today.

Did you know a souk is a market? I didn’t until this trip.

More Arabic/English food signs:

Tomorrow we have a well-deserved, desperately-needed sea day.