Dubai, United Arab Emirates

After a morning at sea, Insignia arrived at her berth at the Port Rashid Cruise Terminal for our overnight stay in Dubai. By 1:00p, the ship was tied up and cleared.

With required face-to-face formalities in the cruise terminal the #1 priority, we headed off the ship around 1:45p when the deck 6 passengers were called. It was easy-peasy, although we did end up having to stand under the hot sun for a bit before we could re-embark. Logistics-wise, I think it would have been more efficient to have everyone — passengers and crew — disembark from the same gangway and use the other gangway to re-embark the ship. Assigning separate gangways for passengers and crew, the two-way traffic created an unnecessary choke-point.

Anyway, once back on the ship, we relaxed in our cabin, enjoying the nice ocean breeze in the shade on our veranda. Why not go into Dubai? Well, with a 4:15p meeting time for the third RTW Special Event, it would have been too much of a hassle to do so … especially since we’ve been to Dubai before.

The story of the event is coming up …

P.S. I cheated. The photo is of the skyline from tomorrow (yes, a bit of digital time travel). When we arrived mid-day today, the skyline was hidden by a thick veil of desert dust/marine layer/smog. By the way, the ship with the red funnel is Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth II — fondly, QE2 — now a hotel in Dubai.Read more