Hello Cruisers!
On Wednesday the 16th I woke EARLY because my meet time for my excursion was 6:45am. Why so early? My tour that day was to visit the “Oasis Town of Al Ain” which is about 100 miles from Abu Dhabi each way. So I got up, slathered myself in sunscreen (which I friggin hate), got dress, got fed, and made my way to the ship’s theater to wait. Usually, they announce “the ship has been cleared by the local officials” early in the morning. That announcement had not been made by the time I arrived at the meeting point.
And Then We Waited
Around 7:15 they finally made the announcement and our group was directed to proceed to the gangway. We got about halfway there… and waited. Finally, we were allowed to proceed to the terminal where Emirati officials were doing their immigration thing and for some reason the line came to a screeching halt… and finally moved eventually. All-in-all our tour left almost two hours late.
And Then We Rode in a Bus
Al Ain is about 62 miles from Abu Dhabi, but there was traffic. While we were riding our guide, who was very informative, talked about the formation of the UAE and about living in the UAE as a foreigner and how it’s pretty much impossible for a foreigner to become a citizen of the UAE. The highlight of the drive was seeing camels riding in the backs of trucks like you might see cows in the back of a truck in Texas.
We arrived at the Al Ain Palace, which was the birthplace of the first president of the UAE which wasn’t terribly interesting. We then drove to a stone fort named Al Jahili which was more interesting, but we didn’t have a lot of time there. Then we went to the Al Ain Oasis which was what I was looking forward to. I was hoping to learn about the pre-Islam history of the area. We saw a guy pick some dates and received an explanation of how they built a gravity-fed irrigation system from the springs. And then we left.
On the way back to Adu Dhabi we stopped at a camel market. This was fun stop. This was not a petting zoo or anything like that. It as a market where farmers were buying and selling camels just like you would find famers buying and selling pigs or cows in the US. I got some good pictures there.
And Then We Rode in a Bus… Some More
The ride back took even longer and we arrive back at the ship exhausted and nearly three hours late. (Not to worry we were in no danger of missing the ship as this was an overnight stop.)
The bottom line is what we saw in Al Ain was not interesting enough to justify the drive unlike when we stopped in Warnemude, Germany and took a bus three hours each way to see Berlin.
Ab Dhabi, Day Two
This morning, Thursday, April 17, I was scheduled for a city tour. The bus left promptly just after 8am. Our first stop was the Grand Mosque. To call that building “grand” is an understatement. That building is a great example of what happens when someone who has unlimited money has an idea and spares no expense making it happen. The building sits in the middle of a huge campus. You park what seems far away and then enter an underground complex which is in fact a shopping mall. There is a tunnel system to get to the mosque including moving walkways like you would find in an airport. Speaking of airports, while we were there, I just missed getting a picture of an Emirates A350 on final approach to the Abu Dhabi airport looking through one of the arches. It would have been a great picture, dangit!
The building really is incredible. All the window are Swarovski crystal and the three huge chandeliers are as well. The center chandelier is the largest in the World and weighs nine tons. The carpet in the main area is the largest hand-knotted rug in the world at over 60,000 square feet.
We drove around some more, went to a small museum, took pictures of the skyline and were back on the ship before 2pm. I had planned on taking a cab to a nearby mall to get a stamp from the Lego store, but I read online it’s a “Lego Authorized Store” and they don’t do the stamps. This made me less sad about missing it in Damman as couple days ago as that was probably the case there as well.
Tomorrow we will be in Dubai.
Note that I am modifying my itinerary a little bit. Tomorrow the ship will be staying overnight in Dubai as we did last night here in Ab Dhabi. As I have a very early flight Saturday, I have decided to leave the shop tomorrow night and stay in a hotel right next to the airport. It will simplify things Saturday morning.
Until we meet again, may you avoid the Kraken and have Fair Winds and Following Seas.
Eric Cable
April 17, 2025
