One of the nice things about Costa Cruises' Middle East cruise itinerary is that you have a bit of time to see Dubai. We had all day Saturday, when guide Wahid, from Lama Tours, took my daughter Ilana and I on a tour of the city, and Sunday morning. And we'll have more time to explore on Friday afternoon, when we get back.
The city is a strange mix of new and, well, new. It's famous for skyscrapers, stunning hotels and cranes, and it certainly has plenty of those. It also has lots of cars, but Wahid skillfully manoevered us through the traffic, letting us out here and there to take pictures.
The Burj Al Arab Hotel, that's the one designed like a sail, is a must-see of course, and is excess in every sense of the word - no entry without a reservation and deep pockets, and a strict dress code to keep out the riff-raff.
We admired it from the outside and instead joined the sightseers in the new Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeirah, one of the man-made islands off Dubai's coast. It's another byword for excess - think Atlantis in the Bahamas or Disney to get an idea of the OTT design - and was full of tourists having a look-see and paying a fortune to get into the aquarium, which costs an extortionate £20 per person.
It contrasts rather with the Dubai Museum, in the Mina Bazaar area, a buzzing part of the city with shops, people and cars. For an altogether-more-affordable 70p you get an interesting insight into the history of this booming little emirate.
And it really is little. Abu Dhabi covers some 87% of the territory of the United Arab Emirates, while Dubai - the second largest of seven - covers just 4.9%. It's 4,000 square kilometres - about the same size as Cornwall - and there are 1.5 million people. And it feels like at least as many cars.
Low-rise Mina Bazaar was the last stop of our tour. Next morning at breakfast, sitting in the al-fresco bit of Costa Victoria's buffet, Ilana and I looked across to the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, around 160 storeys, 780 metres high. It's not finished, although I gather there is just a spire to add on the outside and work to do on the apartments, offices and Armani Hotel inside.
"Isn't that rather a target...." Ilana mused. A room at the top certainly doesn't appeal to me, but I put it down to my fear of heights.
At lunchtime on Sunday, Costa Victoria's bottom started to pull out from the pier while the front end was still tied up. Never seen a ship leave like that before. But it worked and we are now on our way to Muscat.
Jane Archer
