A new country and a new continent! Asia! We arrived in UAE from Cyprus. We flew into Abu Dhabi and explored there for two days before embarking on a seven-day cruise.
We stayed in the commercial business district of Abu Dhabi. There were plenty of shops and restaurants, and it was close to the harbor.
We visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It is the largest mosque in the country and the key place of worship for daily prayers. It has 82 domes and the Guinness Book of World record for the largest rug in the male prayer room. The predominantly wool, single-piece carpet is 5,700 square meters and was hand-crafted by approximately 1,200 artisans. The project took two years to complete.
We boarded the MSC Opera for a seven-day cruise if UAE and Oman. The ship is older and without many kid activities that interest the boys. They enjoyed relaxing and eating pizza from the buffet. We have had a busy couple of months with people and activities, so the cruise is a great way to relax and unwind.
Our first stop was Sir Bani Yas Island. We spent the day on the beach reading and enjoying the sea breeze. The boys were excited about the aqua park that was on the itinerary, but it was not operating that day.
Day two was a day at sea. Henry and I participated in Master Chef at Sea and the junior version. Henry and I both ended up winning! I had to fill profiteroles with cream and plate them with chocolate and fruit. Henry iced a layered cake and decorated it with sprinkles. It was fun!
We got dressed up for a formal night. I didn’t have anything to wear, so I bought a skirt and top in Abu Dhabi for $4.
Muscat, Oman was supposed to be our third stop, but the boat could not dock due to high winds. We ended up having another day at sea. We were disappointed, but we made the most of it by relaxing. I took a nap.
We stopped in Khasab, Oman on day four. Khasab is a small fishing town at the edge of the Persian Gulf. We took a two-hour tour to a beautiful lookout point, the Khasab castle, and the small city center. We stopped at a store to buy some chips. They like trying different versions of their favorites.
We spent the last two days of the cruise in Dubai. On the first day, we spent five hours in the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world. Lucas and Henry jumped at a trampoline park, and rode a virtual reality roller coaster. Lucas and Henry tell us it is torture to go into stores when they know they cannot buy things. Michael and I enjoy browsing.
We walked over 10,000 steps and got lost several times. They had a Wendy’s at the food court, and Lucas and Henry had to have a frosty. We stayed long enough to see the fountain show.
Day two in Dubai started with a visit to the Dubai Frame. The Dubai Frame is an iconic structure completed in 2018. It is a 150-meter-high and 95-meter-wide picture frame that offers stunning views of the city’s skyline.
The Dubai Frame was designed by Fernando Donis and inspired by the logo of Expo 2020. It is positioned so visitors can see Old and New Dubai from its observation deck. Lucas and Michael are afraid of heights, but they hung in there as we walked across the glass floor.
We also walked around the Old Sook in Dubai on our way back to the cruise ship and ate lunch at the Arabian Tea House.
The cruise was great because we did not have to think too hard about where to go or what to eat. There were no dishes to wash. The ship we were on, MSC Opera, is older and smaller. It did not have much programming or amenities for the kids. There was no water slide. We were parked next to the newest MSC ship that holds almost 7,000 people and has a water slide. That started a conversation about budgets and why we did not choose to sail on that ship.
We disembarked in Abu Dhabi and headed back to Dubai for a few days.
