Westysclan World Cruise 2023

There had been a distinct down turn in the vibe on the ship since the announcement that we were not going to Oman. This was probably compounded by the fact that we had had 2 quite bumpy days crossing the Indian Ocean.

The mood lifted as we entered the calmer Gulf of Oman, the pools were re-opened and everyone eagerly anticipated our arrival in Dubai.

Today our shore excursion was Top of the World – Burj Khalifa. Our first stop was at Burj Al Arab.

From there it was to Jumeriah Mosque.  This is the oldest Mosque in Dubai. It was built last century – 1987!

The digital display in the bus was telling us it was 39° outside as we continued our air-conditioned coach trip to Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa.

We have made a pact not to use the lifts on the ship, only the stairs, to get atleast 15000 steps per sea day. Today we of course had to use the elevators to ascend the 125 floors to get to the top of the World! The elevator only takes about a minute. In fact, the whole process from the entry to the top was quite smooth.

After our trip to the top we were given about an hour to check out the mall. We watched the fountain show and then went back inside to the air-conditioning.

Back on the bus our next stop was Mall of the Emirates which also includes Ski Dubai.

Mall of the Emirates contained many of the same high end shops as Dubai Mall. More interesting to us was the huge Carrefor shop – it was like a Woolworths, Big W and Harvey Norman rolled in to one. I loved browsing the supermarket section. It was a bit flashier than my Woolworths at Kingston Town!

From Mall of the Emirates we returned to the ship. We had wondered at the value of this excursion and were pleasantly surprised by the sights we had seen and the things we had learnt about Dubai from the guide.

It was still hot, hot, hot so we headed straight to the pool which, after a day in the Dubai sun, was now like a warm bath. Tonight’s Princess Theatre show was a local folkloric group.