June 2018 – Wanderwiles

Port of Muscat, Oman, the 2nd time. Wandering Old Muscat: the souk, a fort and an awesome restaurant with wi-fi

Muscat is an intriguing cruise port and turned out to be a favorite. Unlike the all-new mega city of Dubai that left me cold, history and local culture are still preserved and visible in the old port area of Muscat. The ship pulled into the ancient harbor dotted with old fortifications and traditional buildings with ornate wooden balconies. There’s not a skyscraper or gaudy new mega-structure in sight.

Our ship docked close to the spiffy-looking Muscat cruise port terminal on both our visits to this exotic port. Nevertheless, passengers are forbidden from walking the 50 or so yards to the building, but must instead board a port shuttle (a big, air-conditioned motor coach) even if they just want to walk into nearby Old Muscat. When the shuttle bus is loaded, it drives the <20 seconds to the terminal building and everyone must disembark and go through security. The same routine is followed for ship excursions. read more

Port of Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.: Louvre Abu Dhabi & the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Central courtyard of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

The one thing I was sure I wanted to see during our port stop in Abu Dhabi was the newly-opened (in November 2017) Louvre Abu Dhabi. With that in mind, I bought e-tickets online weeks before our arrival for 63 dirham (60+3 dirham tax or about $17.15 US each). Not wanting to use the ship’s overly-expensive and overly-structured excursions, the only question was what would we find in the way of local transportation, would we need local currency, and how would we get it if we did.

The cruise port terminal turned out to be spacious and modern with a very helpful, completely-fluent-in-American-English lady at the information desk. She told us taxis were available just outside and they were trustworthy and metered. She pointed to an ATM near her desk where we quickly got cash and headed out the main door. A minute in the taxi line and we were settled and on our way. Our cab driver spoke good English and in 15 minutes, we pulled into the Louvre Abu Dhabi parking lot. The ride cost 36 dirham (about $9). read more

Port of Dubai, U.A.E.: The world’s tallest building, malls and excess

Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building

Like everything else in Dubai, the port terminal is large and lavish with plenty of shopping available. Although the ship only told us about a shuttle to an out-of-the-way mall, the Information Desk in the terminal told us that Dubai Mall also offered a free shuttle from the port.

Dubai Mall is the city’s star mall and the location of the entrance to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. The Dubai Mall shuttle is a black motor coach offering air conditioning and free wifi. Turn right after exiting the main doors of the cruise terminal; the Dubai Mall shuttle picks up at the first bus stop to your left. It runs every 30 minutes, returning from the mall to the port from the same spot it drops you off at, on the half hour. Our friendly driver even offered us free chilled water bottles on our return. read more

Port of Muscat, Oman: Excursion to Nizwah Fort and the Omani “Grand Canyon”

Sailing into the port of Muscat, Oman, for the first time is thrilling. I couldn’t help but think, “Now this is an exotic port!” The terrain is rugged rock, a uniform tan echoed in the watchtowers and fortification walls that guard the approach to the intimately-sized harbor. Our ship docked next to the royal yacht and another yacht used to provision the first. Colonial-style buildings with ornate balconies line the harbor front along a long corniche. A blue-domed mosque adds a colorful accent to the mostly-white buildings around it. A small stone fort perches at the far end of the corniche. I was looking forward to exploring this convenient and fascinating port, but we planned to save that for our return visit in a few days. (Since our month on the Celebrity “Constellation” from Singapore to Italy was actually two back-to-back cruises, the ship would retrace its path from Abu Dhabi –where the second cruise began– to Muscat.) read more

Port of Mumbai (Bombay), India

We’d booked a small group (10 person) tour of the city of Mumbai with fellow Cruise Critic-ers. We were with the same group with whom we’d done the houseboat excursion in the Alappuzha Backwaters and Cochin so it felt like a group of old friends. The cruise terminal in Mumbai is not particularly large or impressive. They’ve broken ground on a new terminal or terminal extension just beside the existing one. Inside the terminal there is some duty free shops with scarves, jewelry and the like. There’s also another security check and immigration check before you can exit the far side. read more

Port of Mormugao (Goa), India: Old Goa and Colva Beach

12-2019 NOTE: SEE COMMENT FROM MARTIN FOLLOWING THIS POST REGARDING CHANGES FOR THE WORSE AT THE MORMUGAO PORT.

I decided that Goa was the Indian port where we’d go it on our own. Researching ahead of the trip, I’d read warnings about Goa port taxis (the “taxi mafia”) and local newspapers decried the state of affairs at the port and the port authority’s slow pace at installing a promised taxi stand with fixed prices that cruise ship passengers could trust. Happily, we arrived to find that a taxi stand was now in place and the system works smoothly and cheaply. Goa turned out to be fun, cheap, and just what we wanted. read more

Port of Cochin, India: Houseboat through the Alappuzha Backwaters & Old Cochin

Our first stop in India was Cochin (a/k/a Kochi) in the state of Kerala on the southwest coast. My first time in India, Cochin was a port I was really looking forward to and it didn’t disappoint. We loved this stop! I used Cruise Critic connections to book us with a group of ten fellow cruise passengers on a full day tour, including lunch and a cruise on a traditional houseboat on the Alappuzha (a/k/a “Alleppey”) Backwaters near Cochin. (Find details at the end of this post.) read more

Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka: Daytrip to Colonial Galle and the Galle Fort

In doing my pre-trip research about Colombo, Sri Lanka, I found little specifics on the port itself and not too much about the city of Colombo that inclined me to want to spend much time there. The one universal bit of info I came across was that traffic in and around Colombo (and much of Sri Lanka) was usually awful. Once again, cruise excursions did nothing to tempt me, but as always, I scanned them to see what the cruise line thought was worth a visit. I decided on the town of Galle as our destination and concluded that a local driver/guide was the way to go. Reviews lead me to choose Sanki Leisure and I found them easy and prompt to deal with by email. I paid 50% down via PayPal (a compromise I proposed when they first suggested an online payment company I wasn’t familiar with and read mixed reviews of). read more