Alex71

We did a tour through Get your Guide in Abu Dhabi that included the mosque, the Etihad Towers and the Palace. Overall good tour to get an overview and see the most important sights. On earlier trips to Dubai we did desert safaris also through GyG, which were great, especially if the quads are already included. In Qatar, Uber is super cheap. I'd just take an Uber to Souq Waqif there.

Just back from the Toscana as well. At least on our cruise, the suggested dress code was pretty much ignored by everyone, whether it was white, Arabian or elegant. Overall great cruise. Wadi Shab, which we had booked via Oman Sunshine Tours, was amazing. Best excursion of the cruise.

Thank you, yes, I guess I'll have to get some beforehand or I'll have to ask the driver to stop at an ATM. As I won't be back from a business trip in time to board in Dubai, I'll now fly to Qatar and board there. But it's probably better to exchange Euros for the Oman currency before leaving.

Question regarding the port in Muscat: I booked a tour to Wadi Shab with a local company that requires cash payment in the local currency. Have you seen an ATM in port? I wasn't able to find anything online. Or does Costa offer money exchange on board at decent rates?

Doha also has a brand new metro system. A day pass apparently costs only 9 of the local currency, which is the equivalent of just over 2 EUR or USD. The Uber fare estimator also shows ridiculously low amounts although I'm not sure if this changes when a large ship is in port. We plan on using the metro on the day we have there before embarkation.

I can seccond that. My son injured himself playing soccer and had to spend the remainder of the cruise on the Toscana in a wheelchair. We were given the option of switching to a wheelchair cabin which was about three times the normal size. The bathroom was also larger. It was on the lowest deck, though. In the end we decided against it as we had already settled into the other cabin and he was doing ok jumping around on one leg. The crew was super nice and did everything they could to help him.

Thank you! Glad they were able to somewhat accommodate. I had to change my plans as I'll be coming back from a business trip on Thursday. Now getting on in Qatar where I was allocated a boarding time of 15:30. Anyone else on the Feb 19th departure and interested in sharing a tour to Wadi Shab in Muscat?

Perfect, thank you so much for your response. Yes our, disembarkation time in Savona was around 9 am so was hoping Dubai would be the same and we could be on the way to the airport around 9:30 and to then still have roughly three hours there before departure.

Thank you ver much! And they let you on an hour earlier without problems? I remember AIDA once made us wait outside the terminal until our exact embarkation time. Looking at a return flight leaving around 13:00 hrs. Do you think that would be easy enough to reach?

Just in the process of booking this for the Departure on February 24th. Were you given a specific embarkation time or were you able to check in at any time on that first day? Looking at a flight with which we'd be arriving shortly before midnight the day before, so assuming we won't be at the airport hotel before the eary moring and will likely want to sleep in a bit before getting a taxi to the port.

It seams the package is cheaper when purchased upfront. If booked individually, they seem to be the same price.

Sounds great! I'm also keeping an eye on that trip. I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time.

Thank you for sharing your experience, @Janet&Carl. Does sound very good. The Suez Canal would be one of the things I would most look forward to, alsong with the Stop in Israel.

Looking into a repositioning cruise from Valencia or Savona to Dubai. Can anyone share experiences with this type of cruise? Is the same weekly menu repeated every week or is the food more varied than usual? Are there any other differences compared to the usual one week cruises?

Hope your are enjoying your trip. My son had injured his foot on board and could not walk. Everyone was wonderful to him. Crew members even helped push him around in a wheelchair. Medical facilities on board were also very good.