Review: Vision from Dubai Feb 2017

We took advantage of very low pricing (starting at £649pp including flights to Dubai) to fit in a short weeks cruise for some winter sun. We flew from LHR and upon arrival were transferred to Le Meridian hotel which is opposite the airport to complete check in formalities and to enjoy a fabulous breakfast spread until they started calling us for the coaches to transfer to the port around 10.45am. Given that BA’s offering for breakfast was a bar of Nutrigrain the breakfast was very welcome. You must try the hummous!

On board the ship was cosy and generally in good condition, apart from the pool which had a very rusty surround and floor. Cabins were ready at 1. Luggage was delivered by 2.05!. We had an ocean view on deck 2 – never been down there before but found it to be very convenient. As this is an older ship some amenities were missing, such as a fridge or cooler, no tub of shampoo in the shower (only a bar of soap was supplied). You could also not see your balance on the TV screen which meant you had to keep going to GR to check it was right. 2x European plugs and 2x USA plugs. As a D+ member I received the new plate of 6 cookies, a bottle of wine, and 4 bottles of water and a further beer (as per my order). The only down fall with this cabin is the noise when using the thrusters to dock early in the morning.

Wifi cost $12.99pd and $17.99pd and was quite slow and patchy due to the mountainous terrain

That amazing skyline

A very convoluted passport process...you leave them upon check in at Le Meridien, then collect them after Oman, then submit them in a face to face process in the AD cruise terminal...and then you collect them again.

And the crew on board:

Cruise compass day 1

Day 2 was Khasab. This is a glimpse of true Arabia and for many it was too 'authentic'......aka dismissed as 'nothing there'. Having been there before we took a private tour with Dolphin Khasab Tours.

Type of tripHalf day dhow cruise morning

Timing of trip: 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

No. of Guest 2 adults

Total cost of the package AED 300/ Euro 80/ RO 32

Meeting point Khasab port, arrival lounge

Meeting time 9:00 a.m.

Met us at the port gates and drove us to the dhow. Set sail for the magnificent fjord like inlets and we saw several dolphins.

Hello,

Thanks for posting the review. Really great to get some more information, I'm going on this very cruise in a couple of weeks.

Is there any way you could make the compass clickable? They are only appearing as medium size pics in your posts and I can't quite make them out.

Cheers

Really enjoying your review and pics. Keep it coming!

Thank you! Going next week on this one.

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Muscat day 3 & 4.

We were to be in Muscat overnight. I love Muscat.......not as 'authentic' as Khasab, but still maintaining an Arabic charm. The country is very safe, and we (two ladies) went out to dinner in town and felt perfectly safe.

In Muscat you have to take a little shuttle bus to the security building, exit the bus, go through the scanner and then back on to the bus for the trip to the port gates. Sometimes they did this, sometimes they didn't!

We had booked a short 1/2 day tour with Cruising Excursions for £75 in total for 2. A lovely trip to the mosque where they are strict if you have ankles or wrists showing.

A quiet corner of the mosque

We were lucky enough to be the last tour in, they shut at 11am so we had the place to ourselves.

After a short stop at a museum it was on to see the Sultan's palace in Muscat

That night after dinner ( a little place with free wifi just outside the port gates called Café Chef A.) we walked to the souk to see it by night.

The economy of Oman is interesting: the Sultan took over from his father in 1970. At that time there were just 12 miles of road in the whole country, people were not allowed to wear sunglasses, there were only 3 schools in the country for boys only. Under the new westernised Sultan there is a 5% income tax. Education is free and if you want to go to university overseas they will pay for that too. Hospitals are free and again, if you need treatment over seas they will pay for the patient and a relation to go to the new hospital. There is no unemployment benefit.

Day 3 Cruise compass

Yes the poolside movie really was Lawrence of Arabia.

Pool party that night under the stars.

Giovannis cost $29pp and still had the old menu featuring the filetto di manzo and the sole. Delicious.

The windjammer was at the front of the ship – very confusing – but nicely laid out and we could always find a table. They had Tetleys on board (important for Brits to know the brand of tea!). The Solarium café did a nice selection of wraps, soup and the beef sandwiches.

There is a sauna and a steam room (Free) in the ladies locker rooms in the Spa area. A small gym.

Chair hogs were out in full force, with some chairs untouched for 4 hours. They did try putting stickers on the chairs indicating when the pool attendant had noticed the chair being empty but I didn’t see him removing very many towels unfortunately.

Shops were open when we were in port in Muscat overnight and also in Dubai overnight.

After a day at sea, with the 2nd formal night we arrived in Abu Dhabi.

We caught a cab to the Mosque for 60AED and then we hired free abayas for those who were not suitably covered. Interesting to note that they would not allow any tee-shirts with slogans on them or trousers with cartoon animals or decorations. My friend was wearing Thai type trousers with elephants on them and she had to wear the abaya.

We then hired free headsets and did a self guided tour. You have to leave your driving licence as security. The mosque also offers free tours on a Saturday at 10:00 am - 11:00 am 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm. No need to book the inflated shore excursions in this port!

3 incredible chandeliers.

After the tour we caught a cab to the fabulous Emirates Palace hotel for 40AED and we had tea there. Cab back to the ship only cost 26AED. Note that in AD there is a 20AED surcharge to leave the port so it is always more expensive to leave than to come back! The same applies in Dubai port too.

On Saturday and Sunday they showed live UK football matches on the big screen. No rugby though. :(

Entertainment in general was pretty weak, with the exception of the Big Band sound and the entertainer Gary Williams who did 2 shows. The RCI singers and dancers were very amateur (IMHO) and there was no aerial show in the Centrum despite it looking as it all the equipment was there. The Captain was very visible and personable and even sang in the Centrum one night.

Thanks for posting this! I have family with unused condos in Dubai and keep eyeballing the cruise (in February always) and need to just do it. I have never cruised that region and I'm always excited to try it but never see great reviews on it.

Thanks for this Lesley. We have booked a dhow for 11 of us with Dolphin tours in Khasab. Also looking to do the mosque in Abu Dhabi by taxi. Glad to hear all tours are good.We travel on 20th March do not too long now. How is the food on the ship?

Great review LB !! Thank you x

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Nice review and photos.

Thanks for the review. I have been looking at the Vision out of Dubai and how cheap a 7 day cruise only is. Shame still need to add flight price onto the cruise only price.

The list of D+ benefits in the cabin did not show the 30% discount on beverage packages. As advised by this fine site I asked a barman to print out a list and there it was!

We had a great bridge tour led by the very personably Captain Marek - very informative, especially as we were sailing through one of the most crowded shipping channels in the world as you can see from the 'clutter' on the screen

Day 4 cruise compass

We were the first cruises of this Dubai season to make the required numbers for the M&M. They did a good job with some nice prizes. The CD was a young girl called Angelle from the Netherlands. She did a good job but she did keep screaming 'are you having a good time'...'. Unfortunately thelack of a sign up shows that most people on board are non cruisers. There were a lot of moaners and I did hear 'Its not like this on P&O' several times! There were also several large groups from the traveller community on board.

So finally to Dubai.

We docked on Sunday morning and had to recollect our passports. As mentioned a cab carries a 20AED surcharge to leave the port. We went to the Gold Souk for 38AED and then to the spice souk and then across in an abra to the other side of the creek. From there we went to the Sky Train and went to the Burj Khalifa. Transportation is cheap and efficient. They even have pink cabs driven by lady taxi drivers.

This was to be our blow out of the cruise. We had booked afternoon tea at At.Mosphere in the Armani Hotel. This experience costs 490AED pp but for that price you do get 1/2 bottle of sparkling grape juice included (you cannot advertise wine in Dubai!). Take a lift to 123rd floor and then walk down the glass staircase to 122nd. Far to much food and an amazing view.

Looking down from 122. You can see the outline of the mechanics for the fountain show.

After tea we went to Souk el Bahar which is a area off the Dubai Mall with fabulous views of the fountains which go every 30 minutes or so. Then back to the ship!

Our flight was at 10.05am and RCI had put us on a transfer at 6am! We ignored that and strolled off leisurely at

7.30, in a cab immediately and we were at the airport by 7.55. The cab cost 65 AED.

Day 5 cruise compass

Thanks for this reveiw its very informative just what we were needing, we do this cruise on the 27th Feb-counting the days! :)

Fascinating review, we are on the vision in March. Can you tell me how much the deluxe drink package was to purchase on board ?

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Enjoying this review. We don't see many reviews from Dubai.:)

Fascinating review, we are on the vision in March. Can you tell me how much the deluxe drink package was to purchase on board ?

 

 

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Day 6

Boogie Wonderland was awful - left before the first song was over to save the assault on my eardrums.....