CLAIRE CLARKE

Hi just to confirm that on this cruise just a few weeks ago the formal nights were khasab and Abu Dhabi and not the day at sea. Nice relaxed cruise and most people dressed up but not too formal. Enjoy

Just returned and I would say most men had a jacket and tie but not always a tux. My husband just wore a jacket and tie and this was fine. Have a great time.

We just packed our two bottles of wine in our cases and no problems. Just to add that as we were on an over night flight we were take to the meridian next to the airport at 9am and were fully checked in to save doing this at terminal. Nice breakfast, sitting in the sun and on board bY 11.30 am. This was a much nicer experience rather than having to queue up at the port. Any other questions just ask.

Just arrived home after a lovely week on the Splendour. As we had been to Khasab before and had seen all the sights, we just opted for a stroll to the lulu supermarket next to the fort. This was an easy 20 minute stroll and passed a lovely sunny morning. I would like to add that the food was very nice and the size of this ship suits us perfectly. We did this route with Costa last year and preferred the splendour. Other advice would be to watch out for taxi touts at Muscat Cruise port as they charge 2 or 3 times the going rate. Just walk down towards town and agree a price you think is fair. A twenty minute journey should only cost around £10 or so. We knew the ship was older but was still lovely and clean and comfortable. Balcony cabin on deck 6 port side quite small but adequate for our needs. No problems at all or complaints of any kind. All in all a lovely week.

We had a great time - much better than expected. We had a balcony cabin this time which we loved. Bigger than many other ships. Similar formula to most other cruises except for no casual evening buffet. We had opted for late sitting so didn't really notice it. We also arrived from an overnight flight and just changed at the airport and got a taxi to port and dropped our bags off then taxi into Dubai. I noticed lots of people sitting in terminal building and some asking to get on at that time!!! They seemed a bit annoyed that they had to wait until 3pm, but no other cruise would let you on at this time so why would Costa?We returned about 6'ish and got straight on with no queues. We sat around for a short time as everyone was told that cabin entry would be 8.30pm. We thought this quite odd that they would all be ready at the same time so went and had a look and ours was ready and I'm sure others would have been too. Food the first night was awful but perfect after that so no complaints. We did take our travel kettle etc with us so that also made a difference. No problem taking water on board from ports. Great time for a great price - would now go with Costa again.