Europa ex Dubai Feb 3rd 2008

We are on this cruise, any info would be appreciated. Maybe some for my wife on shopping:)

i can't offer any 1st-hand knowledge, but i have done some research on dubai. i'm on the europa repositiong cruise out of dubai couple weeks after you.

save some money for duty-free shopping at the airport on your way home. the dubai airport's duty-free shopping is ranked #1 in the world.

one other thing i've read is to have your hotel book you on an excursion in the 4x4 jeeps with the bar-b-que, camel riding and belly-dancing.

if you are doing a pre or post cruise stay, i read on tripadvisor to avoid the hotels in the beach areas because of all the construction. try to stay in deria or the bur dubai areas of town.

the dubai airport also has a duty free store in the arrivals area where liquor can be purchased.

We did this cruise on Costa Classica in Feb this year. We enjoyed it so much we booked for Feb 08 as soon as we returned home!! We are sailing on Costa Europa on 17th Feb 08.

Shopping is just FANTASTIC in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In Dubai there are so many malls that are out of this world. The courtesy bus takes you from the ship to one of the malls.

We did excursions in Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain however next year we will do our own thing in all ports (except Fujairah which we will stay on ship and relax) The excursion in Abu Dhabi was the "Sheiks's shopping" which we paid about 50 euros pp. The last part of this excursion was a couple of hours at the Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi. However in Feb we will just take a taxi from the ship to the mall ourselves as taxis are so cheap in UAE.

In Dubai we bought the big bus tickets which are valid for 24 hours and saw most of the City this way and I would certainly recommend this as you can hop on and hop off as and when you please. We also took taxis around the City and could not believe the cheap prices they charge compared to back home in the UK!!

We were lucky enough to be seated at dinner with someone who had a friend who knew Dubai well and had recommended the Al Karama (sp?) for buying all your "fake or genuine fake" goods. This makes some very interesting shopping and I will be back in Feb for a few handbags I think!!!

The souks are also fascinating but sadly we kinda ran out of time so we intend to revisit this area in Feb.

Any other questions please feel free to ask.

I just got back from the Costa Europa repositioning cruise from Savona to Dubai 5-23 December. I fully concur with the previous thread regarding shopping in Dubai, but would recommend also the gold souq on the east side of Dubai creek, as an alternative to the glitzy malls. Regarding the Europa herself, I found it to be a wonderful ship in the real sense of being a cruise ship versus floating hotel. I thoroughally enjoyed spending 18 days aboard and had absolutely no problems.:)

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Costa Europa - Savona-Dubai repositioning - Dec 2007

MSC Opera - Norwegian Fiords - May 2007

MSC Monterey - Eastern Med - Jun 1994

Upcoming:

Costa Victoria - North to Spitzbergen - Jun 2008

I just got back from the Costa Europa repositioning cruise from Savona to Dubai 5-23 December. I fully concur with the previous thread regarding shopping in Dubai, but would recommend also the gold souq on the east side of Dubai creek, as an alternative to the glitzy malls. Regarding the Europa herself, I found it to be a wonderful ship in the real sense of being a cruise ship versus floating hotel. I thoroughally enjoyed spending 18 days aboard and had absolutely no problems.:)

 

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Costa Europa - Savona-Dubai repositioning - Dec 2007

MSC Opera - Norwegian Fiords - May 2007

MSC Monterey - Eastern Med - Jun 1994

Upcoming:

Costa Victoria - North to Spitzbergen - Jun 2008

that's great to hear. i board the europa in a few weeks for the reverse trip.

Capricruiser

So glad to hear you enjoyed your trip and you also enjoyed your time on Costa Europa. This will be our 4th Costa Cruise and we were getting a tad worried about standards after our last cruise on Costa Victoria which we didn't really enjoy.

I agree with what you say re Dubai and we will certainly be looking to spend more time at the Souks.

Capricruiser

Sorry one question I meant to ask. Were you allowed to buy the duty free they sell on the ship and take it to your cabin?? I think Costa may have stopped this practice. We were considering buying duty free at the airport and taking it on board in hand luggage.

On Costa Victoria we bought a bottle of gin in one of the ports and didn't get stopped. In UAE we will not have the option of being allowed to buy anywhere :eek:

On Costa Victoria we bought a bottle of gin in one of the ports and didn't get stopped. In UAE we will not have the option of being allowed to buy anywhere :eek:

if you are flying into dubai, there is duty-free shopping (and liquor) in the arrivals area.

I just got back from the Costa Europa repositioning cruise from Savona to Dubai 5-23 December. I fully concur with the previous thread regarding shopping in Dubai, but would recommend also the gold souq on the east side of Dubai creek, as an alternative to the glitzy malls. Regarding the Europa herself, I found it to be a wonderful ship in the real sense of being a cruise ship versus floating hotel. I thoroughally enjoyed spending 18 days aboard and had absolutely no problems.:)

 

________

Costa Europa - Savona-Dubai repositioning - Dec 2007

MSC Opera - Norwegian Fiords - May 2007

MSC Monterey - Eastern Med - Jun 1994

Upcoming:

Costa Victoria - North to Spitzbergen - Jun 2008

i have a few questions -

what were the dinner dining times and were they adjusted for the long days in ports?

the costa website makes it sound as if there are fixed seating times for beakfast and lunch for the dubai cruises. is this true?

what excursions did you do in yemen, alexandria and sharm el sheik?

i'm sure i'll think of more, but i have to rush off to work now. thanks!

if you are flying into dubai, there is duty-free shopping (and liquor) in the arrivals area.

Commonsense, yes I realise that will be our only option ( or purchasing it at LHR) I was meaning there will be no way to purchase it at any of the ports of call which is unlike say a Med cruise. You just run the risk of getting it taken off you when you embark.

Capricruiser

 

Sorry one question I meant to ask. Were you allowed to buy the duty free they sell on the ship and take it to your cabin?? I think Costa may have stopped this practice. We were considering buying duty free at the airport and taking it on board in hand luggage.

 

On Costa Victoria we bought a bottle of gin in one of the ports and didn't get stopped. In UAE we will not have the option of being allowed to buy anywhere :eek:

I didn't buy any alcohol from either the ship's duty free or ashore, but I understand they would not let you take it to your cabin. In both cases they hold your purchases until the last day.

i have a few questions -

 

what were the dinner dining times and were they adjusted for the long days in ports?

 

the costa website makes it sound as if there are fixed seating times for beakfast and lunch for the dubai cruises. is this true?

 

what excursions did you do in yemen, alexandria and sharm el sheik?

 

i'm sure i'll think of more, but i have to rush off to work now. thanks!

Let's see, the dinner seatings in the Orion Restaurant were 1845 and 2100 as I recall. I had the second seating. If you want to eat breakfast and lunch in the restaurant there are set hours as well but just one seating - otherwise the two self service restaurants had longer hours. I did the 36 hour Overland to San'a excursion in Yemen (full immersion!), the local tour at Alexandria (most passengers went to Cairo), and the St Katherine's monestery tour from Sharm. Yesterday I submitted a review of my experiences which should already be posted.

Let's see, the dinner seatings in the Orion Restaurant were 1845 and 2100 as I recall. I had the second seating. If you want to eat breakfast and lunch in the restaurant there are set hours as well but just one seating - otherwise the two self service restaurants had longer hours. I did the 36 hour Overland to San'a excursion in Yemen (full immersion!), the local tour at Alexandria (most passengers went to Cairo), and the St Katherine's monestery tour from Sharm. Yesterday I submitted a review of my experiences which should already be posted.

thanks for the info on the dining times. on the phone when booked with costa, i was told late seating was 8:30, the website said 9:30 and now you report 9:00. yours is likely to be the most correct.

your yemen tour sounds interesting. it is not offered on my cruise. kind of lame ones for me. i have the 4 hour city tour booked. did you feel unsafe at all in yemen?

for alexandria i have booked a 13 hour tour that goes to cairo for the egyptian museum then onto the pyramids of giza.

did your cruise stop at sharm el sheik?

For Commonsense: The Europa stopped at two different ports in Yemen. The first was Saleef on the Red Sea where the morning excursions to Manakha, Al-Hajaraj, Zabid, and Jabal Bura and Hodeidah took off from, in addition to my tour Overland to San'a. These were all full day tours 7 to 9 hours. That evening the ship pulled up anchor and sailed south to Aden on the Arabian Sea. At Aden they offered full day tours to the city, the beaches, to Taiz, and to Jiblah, plus a half-day tour of Aden. My Overland tour hit Manakha and Al-Hajaraj before arriving in San'a for the night. The next day we visited the city and then headed south for Aden stopping at Jiblah. We got into Aden about 8 p.m. (one hour after the ship was supposed to depart). In no way did we feel threatened anywhere we went in Yemen. The people appeared very friendly and curious of tourists as apparently they don't see many foreigners, especially in the countryside and mountain villages. Contact with the locals was limited to mostly men and little kids. Several of our group had pockets full of candy for the kids who enthusiastically accepted anything from the candy to pens to fruit and small coins.

We stopped at Sharm where most of the passengers disembarked for the full day excursion to the St. Katherine's Monestery. Also offered were beach trips and the usual jeep trip into the desert to see the "authentic" Beduin village and ride a camel.

We are on this cruise, any info would be appreciated. Maybe some for my wife on shopping:)

We're happy to see a posting from someone who is going on the Feb. 3, 08 Costa Europa cruise. We have not been before, so cannot offer much in the way of suggestions. It's quite a haul for us leaving from Sacramento, CA, but we're really looking forward to it.

We're arriving lat on Feb 2 and will be staying in the Bur Dubai district for one night. We're considering going on one of those desert 4x4 excursions on the afternoon of Feb 3. Fortunately, there is quite a lot of information posted on the thread about shopping in Dubai. We would like ot hear from you and will be very happy to share information.