Khasab, Oman
MSC Opera was docked in Dubai for 2 days. I heard so much about this city and was eager to see its wonders. When we looked out of the window in the morning, the skyscrapers filled the horizon. At 10 a.m., we took the first free shuttle bus from the port to the Dubai Mall.
Well, the mall was huge and nicely decorated. The famous aquarium and the skating rink were there, but somehow, they failed to impress. A mind-boggling number of aquatic animals live in the two-level aquarium. Since I was no longer a child and had seen a few aquariums around the world I could only admire it as a structure that is technically challenging to build and to maintain. The same can be said about the skating rink.
The Mall itself was empty. Perhaps, the Ramadan was not the best time to visit it. However, all shops were open and even ice-scream parlors and other food places worked. The high-end shops did not have any customers. We left the Dubai Mall and walked toward the Burj Khalifa that stood out among other skyscrapers. The world tallest building broke other records, including the world’s tallest freestanding structure, the world’s highest number of stories, the world’s highest occupied floor, and the world’s highest outdoor observation deck.
From there, we went to see the latest addition to the city, the Dubai Frame. Its construction was completed in 2018. The Frame, again the largest in the world, symbolizes the link between the Old and New Dubai. The Frame was well visible from where we were and the distance to it did not seem far.
On the way to the Frame, we walked past the Museum of Future which exhibits display innovative technologies, products and ideas. We did not go into the museum but the building is very futuristic and worth seeing. The reviews of the Museum say that it is far more impressive from the outside than inside.
According to Google Maps, it was about 20 minutes from the Museum to the Frame. We walked to it, and walked, and walked, crossing parking lots, going around construction sites and highways until we realized that Google Maps is not always right and that Dubai was not meant for pedestrians. We should have taken the metro but it was too late to go back to the station. We finally got to it 1.5 hours later, paid 52.50 AED (~ $14) per ticket and stood in line to go to the top.
There is a small museum as visitors enter the Frame. After that, it is straight to the elevator that takes you 150 meters up to the Sky Deck which is observation platform with floor sections made of opaque glass.
From the Frame, we took the metro to the station nearest to the port where we again made the same mistake and tried to reach the ship on foot. The streets of Dubai really are not for walking. We could see the ship but there was no direct route to it, so we took a taxi to the port.
In the afternoon, we decided to do something different and took a free shuttle to the Souk Al Marfa, the largest market in Dubai. Many of the shops did not open until the sunset due to the Ramadan but we found a few items to purchase to remember Dubai.
Our next stop, Abu Dhabi, was the disembarkation port for us. The 7-day MSC Opera cruise was coming to the end. The cruise was a good value for money considering how cheap it was and how much we saw during these days. Before going home, we had 2 more destinations to explore on our own since we already were in the area. Our next flight was to Qatar.
