In 2012 we decided to do a cruise from Istanbul to Dubai because we had not spent any time in either place and the cruise promised to stop in Israel which was another place we wanted to see.
We flew from Chicago to Frankfurt and then to Istanbul and stayed in a nice Four Seasons hotel in the Sultanahmet part of the city very close to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.
We spent two days in Istanbul getting to know the city even venturing over the straits to the asian side of the country. It seemed peaceful with no terror threats and on the third day we boarded out ship, the Nautica, for the voyage to Dubai.
The cruise was scheduled to spend 4 days in Israel but as often happens, the stay was canceled because of tensions in Israel. One person on board said this was their third time trying to get there with all of them canceled. Instead, we spent some time in the Cyclades and then on to the Suez Canal.
It took 15 hours to make the transit of the canal with some very interesting scenery along the way. You share the canal with a lot of freight traffic and often are part of a long queue that slowly makes its way south to the Red Sea. We stopped in Aqaba for two nights and took a side trip to Petra to see the red rocks.
We also stopped at Luxor which is actually several hours away by bus. Mary did not feel well so she did not go. We arrived back at the ship at 10 PM and the crew cheered arrival which made me wonder if they were not sure we would make it back.
Sailing south in the Red Sea takes a while and we finally turned left in the Gulf of Aden and stopped in Salalah, Oman for fuel. It is mostly desert there but we did see some interesting things before sailing for the capital of the country in Muscat. Muscat is fairly modern although you can find some parts that make you feel like you have stepped back in time.
Dubai is just around the corner from Oman and you can see the Burj Khalifa rising out of the desert as you get closer to the city. When you see the city up close, it is hard to believe that not too many years ago they made their money diving for pearls. The discovery of oil put the United Arab Emirates on the map.
Dubai is one of seven emirates with Abu Dhabi being the largest in area. When the financial crisis hit in 2009, the developer of the Burj Khalifa had to borrow money from a person in Abu Dhabi to stay afloat and as a result changed the name of the tower from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa.
We stayed at the Armani Hotel which is in the Burj and takes up about the first 16 floors. It is nice but not spectacular which is good because neither was the price.
Mary was not interested but I wanted to see the view from the top so I got in line. You are greeted with information about the Burj as you wait in line and then take an elevator to the 125th floor. That is not the top but it is close enough. The view from there is really something and you can look straight down on the pool area surrounding the tower.
The city of Dubai is difficult to get around without a car. All the streets seem to be highways as opposed to streets. There is a shuttle bus you can take that stops at most of the attractions so you can get around. They have some of the largest shopping malls I have ever seen. You literally can get lost in them.
A couple of years later, we took a cruise from Dubai to Cape Town that gave us another chance to see Dubai. We highly recommend it.