Dammam Saudi Arabia -Al Ahsa oasis trip review and helpful hints

[little britain]

I was lucky enough to be one of the first cruise ship passengers to dock into Dammam on 1/25/23

 

 

Early arrival - off the ship by 7am to be greeted by smiling faces all welcoming us to Saudi. First surprise was there were ladies working alongside the men at immigration- some without their face covered. Saudi is getting modern!

I thought as a rich country it would be all manicured pavements and flowerbeds like Dubai, but it was rather dirty, a lot of rubbish and bits of tyre 🛞 all along the roadside. 
We had booked the Al Ahsa oasis trip. A 2hr drive to first stop at a souk. Again overwhelmed by the welcome and friendliness of people: shouting “ welcome to Saudi” out of their car windows and taking many photos of us foreigners! 
We had a fabulous lunch in a boutique type hotel and then were driven to the impressive Qarah hill caves. 
A long 2.5 hr drive back. But what a day. 

Definitely do not miss an opportunity to see this amazing country! Don’t waste a day staying on ship! 
 

Fuel ⛽️ is 47p a litre and 16p for diesel! 
 
You MUST have a visa- could be purchased  online for $22 and the ship printed it out for you. The visa only gets approved when the ship’s manifest is sent to the Saudi authorities 2days prior to the port call which caused much panicking onboard. 
 

Link for the visa - 

https://visa.mofa.gov.sa/

We got passport stamped in and out.

 

I was surprised that MSC did not give more guidelines regarding dress… one lady turned up in a short sleeve above-the-knee dress 🤦‍♀️… women should be covered from wrist to ankle and men should wear long trousers. Heads do not need to be covered. 

 

 

MSC also offered a Free shuttle bus to Khobar. This was apparently more touristy and new with fountains snd walkways snd many restaurants.  First shuttle left 07:30 and last return shuttle from Khobar to ship left at 15:00

 

The port are is not accessible to taxis or Ubers. 

Edited February 8, 2023 by little britain

[little britain]

[little britain]

The caves and desert 🐪 

[Izzywiz]

Thank you so much for posting the information and the photographs. We are due to have a day in Jeddah in May 2024 so it is really interesting to read about your experience. I will make a note of the dress code as this is particularly useful a look forward to reading more about Saudi.

[mchell810]

On 2/8/2023 at 12:14 PM, Izzywiz said:

Thank you so much for posting the information and the photographs. We are due to have a day in Jeddah in May 2024 so it is really interesting to read about your experience. I will make a note of the dress code as this is particularly useful a look forward to reading more about Saudi.

 

Regarding dress code: If visiting a mosque women must have their hair covered as well.

 

@little britain Thanks especially for the information regarding the visa.  May I ask: was Dammam your only stop in Saudi Arabia?  Was your visa good only for that day or would it have worked for multiple days (if you stopped in other ports)?  Thanks.

 

[little britain]

9 hours ago, mchell810 said:

 

Regarding dress code: If visiting a mosque women must have their hair covered as well.

 

@little britain Thanks especially for the information regarding the visa.  May I ask: was Dammam your only stop in Saudi Arabia?  Was your visa good only for that day or would it have worked for multiple days (if you stopped in other ports)?  Thanks.

 

Yes Dammam was our only stop with the cruise; however after the cruise we caught a flight to Riyadh to visit friends so we had bought the full year multi entry visa which was about £120pp.

I believe the day entry one is one and done. 

[mchell810]

6 hours ago, little britain said:

Yes Dammam was our only stop with the cruise; however after the cruise we caught a flight to Riyadh to visit friends so we had bought the full year multi entry visa which was about £120pp.

I believe the day entry one is one and done. 

 

Thanks for this.  One more question:  When you applied for that full year was it approved ahead or did you have to wait until onboard?  I am thinking I will just go ahead and get the longer approval but would hate to have it "pending" until I am actually onboard.

Edited February 10, 2023 by mchell810

[little britain]

9 minutes ago, mchell810 said:

 

Thanks for this.  One more question:  When you applied for that full year was it approved ahead or did you have to wait until onboard?  I am thinking I will just go ahead and get the longer approval but would hate to have it "pending" until I am actually onboard.

Applied on line and received confirmation literally within minutes! Printed off the confirmation they send you.

[mchell810]

Appreciate your replies; it's really helped me make a decision.

Thanks

[kirkandmimi]

On 2/10/2023 at 7:30 AM, little britain said:

Applied on line and received confirmation literally within minutes! Printed off the confirmation they send you.

 

Thank you for posting. We are heading to Dammam in December on an NCL cruise. I just started looking into the Visa requirements, including making sure we didn't have an Israeli passport stamp from our trip last year, and it looks as though we need an e-marine visa:

 

In 2021, Saudi Arabia allowed cruise ship passengers to apply for an e-visa to visit and stay in Saudi Arabia. However, it is worth noting that cruise travelers need several travel documents to show the border control agents. This includes:

• An approved marine eVisa for Saudi Arabia.
• A valid passport with six months left in its expiration.
• Proof of a purchased cruise ship ticket.

 

Did you do have to do this? It's very confusing online... Obviously I'll research more, but just curious how your cruise ship handled it.