Firstly, i'll summarise myself. I like to know what i'm getting on a holiday, and enjoy nice dry heat destinations. Prior to 2011, i'd never taken a cruise, and my winter resort holiday to Marsa Alam, Egypt in December 2011 was negated because the airlines were only flying there from Gatwick. So i took my 1st cruise with P&O to the Caribbean. I enjoyed the opportunity to see different places on one holiday, so have taken to it.

We took this cruise opportunity as it allowed the transit of the Suez canal, at a nice time of year weatherwise. We flew Emirates to Dubai. I've flown with them before, but felt a little let down this time. It just didn't seem as exclusive as i'd remembered. We found the airport nice, and as we'd booked the flights ourselves, took a taxi to Port Rashid. The cost was 55 dirhams.

We arrived inside the cruise terminal at about 8am. As Favolosa had been in port for some time, we hoped to get on board asap. However, we were advised the official embarkation time was 8pm! But that an earlier embarkation was now available at 3pm. After hanging around, the staff finally got agreement to check in at midday. Phew!! Read more