There’s one place on earth that appears to be defying the global economic doom and gloom.
It’s an extraordinary destination which likes to think it has everything bigger, taller and more extravagant than anywhere else.
Not unsurprisingly, it is also one of the most expensive places you’ll find on earth for eating and drinking out.
Yet Dubai is making its mark on world tourism with ongoing developments that range from the extreme to the full-blown outrageous.
Everything about Dubai is about superlatives and, from my brief experience, it is definitely worth a visit, although those looking for an authentic Arabian experience may find it difficult to come across amongst all the cranes and construction sites.
Yet the emirate has big plans to expand its presence on the world cruise map by attracting more ships.
Costa Cruises opened the way and is expanded its presence in the Gulf this coming winter while Royal Caribbean International is making its debut in Dubai from the new year.
Both will be offering fly-cruises making use of state-of-the-art vessels to cruise the warm waters off the United Arab Emirates.
The big plus for passengers is that the itineraries include time to take in all the spectacular sites Dubai has to offer – from the amazing Atlantis resort to the vast Dubailand entertainment region – all without the expense of having to pay eye-wateringly hefty cost of food and drinks in the many five and six star hotels.
For example, Royal Caribbean’s eight-night fly-cruise itineraries include two overnight stays in the city, giving plenty of time to explore the extraordinary sights.
Italian line Costa will be deploying two new 2,828-passenger sister ships, Costa Luminosa and Costa Deliziosa, in Dubai on seven-night fly-cruises this winter.
Costa Luminosa will be sailing between December 2009 and April 2010 while Costa Deliziosa, which is launched next February, will be sailing between March and May 2010.
Both Royal Caribben and Costa’s ships will make calls in Bahrain, Oman, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah to get a true Arabic experience.
While cruise lines often line to talk up their ships as being the ‘destination’, on the Dubai-based sailings, they are marketing the destination as heavily as the cruises themselves.
As the newcomer to the region, Royal Caribbean is seeking to make it mark by signing up to a partnership with Dubailand, purported to be the world’s largest tourism, leisure and entertainment destination.
The first phase now open covers five areas including Dubai Autodrome, Dubai Outlet Mall, The Global Village, Al Sahra Desert Resort and Dubai Sports City, which contains an Ernie Els Golf Club, Butch Harmon School of Golf and a cricket stadium.
These alone receive up to eight million visits a year and will be joined in the future by theme parks including Universal Studios, Dreamworks, Six Flags and Legoland.
Royal Caribbean is so committed to the region that is has just confirmed that Brilliance of the Seas will return to Dubai in 2011.
The second consecutive seasonal sailings will comprise of nine sailings from January until March 2011.
New for 2011 are sailings from Dubai also taking in Mumbai and Goa in India.
With a flying time of around seven hours from the UK and a vast number of regional flight options, Dubai comes onto the radar for families as well as couples wanting to escape the dreaded British winter.
Incidentally, it’s great news to see that Virgin Holidays Cruises is putting the Caribbean cruise gateway of Puerto Rico on the map with the start of a weekly service from London by Virgin Atlantic this winter.
The island has some of the best beaches I’ve ever witnessed yet has been relatively over-looked by UK travellers through the lack of direct flights.
I can’t think of a better value for money introduction to winter sun than Puerto Rico, especially when the island is combined with a Caribbean cruise.
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