A Daily Blog On A Gulf Costa Cruise – Part 2

A Daily Blog On A Gulf Costa Cruise - Part 2

In part 2 of our “The Jewels of the Emirates” Costa cruise, we choose an excursion, attend a talk and dine with the Captain.

At 1 pm there is excitement as the Classica sets sail, heading for Oman, and its capital, Muscat. Most the passengers seem to have migrated to the ship’s rails to watch the enormous skyscrapers of Dubai slowly recede into the distance.

Geoffrey, Oliver and I then decide, as we knew so little about this first port of call, that we will join one of the ship’s excursion…but which one? The Tour desk on Deck 5 is really helpful, as is Pamela our English-speaking hostess who gives us comprehensive advice as what each of the seven trips involves.

We plump for “Mystical Muscat” then make for lunch at the self-service Trattoria restaurant, before donning our lifejackets and going to the Colosseo Theatre for Emergency Boat Drill practice. About 50% of our fellow passengers are Italian and I wonder how they still manage to look elegant while wearing their bright orange buoyancy gear!

There are a lot of activities listed each day and today they range from Mini and Maxi club, (for those aged between 3-6/7-11), Teenzone; a healthy walk; a Spa tour; a quiz; a seminar on weight (just after lunch) dance lessons and Bingo.

It is necessary to either register a credit card or provide some cash within 48 hours of embarkation this I do, but find there is a long queue. Luckily there is a numbered ticket system and I come back an hour later and am still in time.

Meanwhile Oliver and Geoffrey go to a talk on “Oman and the Gulf States: Between History and Mystery” given by Professor Carlo Scopelliti who explains about Pre Islamic civilisation and the importance of Frankincense in the economy of the country. It is apparently a resin, used as a perfume and originally a fashion for use on men’s beards!

The lost city of Ubar -rediscovered in the early 1990s and now under archaeological excavation is believed to have been the centre of the Frankincense trade along the recently rediscovered “Incense Road”.

We are back in the theatre in the evening in our formal wear “Dark Suit for gentlemen/ elegant dress for ladies” to meet Captain Mauro Muratore and his crew, resplendent in their white dinner jackets (who is manning the ship?).

The Captain is late as many people request having their photo taken with him. We have asked for late sitting in the restaurant and for the first time we meet Shetty our lovely waiter who looks after us so well. Oliver is off doing his own thing meeting up with the other teenagers on board.

We are told too that every evening on the ship there is a midnight buffet and asked would we like to attend. We just go and have a look at the sumptuous feast laid out and see that many people are tucking in. How do they all keep their trim figures?

You can read part 3 of my cruise on Saturday the 7th of March 2009.

Lucy Daltroff

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Posted in Cruising, Destinations, Entertainment, Families

05 Mar 2009

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