April 18, 2025

I awoke early Friday morning with the ship parked next to the metropolis that is Dubai. I slathered myself in sunscreen (again), got dressed, and managed to grab a quick breakfast before the time of my excursion.

The “Big Bus”

The excursion for the day was the “Big Bus” get off/on which should not be confused with “hop on hop off” which is a different company.

The bus from the cruise terminal took us to the first stop on the loop, the Dubai Mall, home of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. I got some good pictures of the wild architecture of the city on the way.

A HUGE Mall

I went into the mall with a mission: find the Lego Store. It got there a couple minutes before it opened. It was a smaller store than I’m used to in the US, but they had a lot of sets that are hard to find in the US. No, I didn’t buy anything. Between having to ship it to Charlotte and the weak dollar against the UAE dollar, it would not have been worth it. They did, however get a “print a fig” minifigure which is a thing I did in Billund, the home of Lego in Denmark, last year. You can “design” what you want printed on the minifig’s front and back torso, then select a head, hat, etc. I got one that says “Eric, Dubai Mall, 2025.” I mean why not? Small, light, and doesn’t cost a lot.

I then went back where I entered the mall expecting to take the bus to the tower, it was then explained that I had to walk to the other end of the mall and it was there. To say the mall is huge us an understatement. It goes on and on. Lots of “regular people” stores and some really “rich people” ones as well. What really caught my eye was the Patek Philippe store. I took a picture of one of the watches in the window and googled it… $75,000. I guess I gotta keep buying PowerBall tickets LOL.

Other US-stores I saw along the way included Texas Roadhouse, KFC, Cheesecake Factory.

No… that’s too much

Finally I found the ticket kiosk for the tower. I was then basically told “$75 to wait in line for three hours, $200 if you don’t.” I decided I’ve been to the top of the Sears Tower (I refuse to call it Willis Tower) in Chicago enough times and this one wasn’t worth the money or time.

I had some lunch, bought a refrigerator magnet (of course), and by the time I got back to the bus it was already 1pm. I rode about 1/3rd of the way around the city and finally got off and took an Uber back to the ship… which was a pain in the butt as the Uber system tried to take me to the wrong terminal. All’s well that ends well.

I got back to the ship around 3pm

I started to pack and took a shower before the 5pm solo cruiser meeting. At the meeting I agreed to meet part of the group at the steakhouse on board at 6:15 and then completed most of my packing.

I left the ship at about 8:20. A cab took me directly to my hotel, Mövenpick Grand Al Bustan Dubai, near the airport. It’s a very nice hotel and it was a little sad I wouldn’t be there longer. After a quick call to Jessica, I passed-out at 9pm as I had to wake at 3:30am to get my flight.

I am typing this on my flight from Dubai to Amman, Jordan on my way to Cairo, but that story I will save to tomorrow’s post.

Until we meet again, may you avoid the Kraken and have Fair Winds and Following Seas.

Eric Cable
April 19, 2025