Day 4 Thursday 21st March Dubai and move to Oceana
We were later then with the day before into the Crescendo restaurant. This morning we were in the middle of the morning rush for breakfasts. I enjoyed another cheese omelette plus lots of mushrooms.
Back in our room we finished re-packing our cases and moved down to Reception. Our cases had P&O boarding labels and I had to explain to the concierge that they were not to be placed with the other P&O cases. I had another WhatsApp message from the taxi service to tell me that our pick up would be earlier than the scheduled 11.30 am.
We sat and chatted to fellow passengers for Oceana as we are waiting for our Grey Line taxi. Out of the corner of my eye I watched the concierge and the P&O representative moving our cases again. The representative was not satisfied with my explanation that we had a private transfer. She went away and checked the cabin number and names on the cases against her lists then she came back finally satisfied that we were not stealing cases from her charges!
To Oceana
Our Grey Line minivan arrived and saved us from further troubles. This was a much more luxurious mini-van with captains seats rather than a bench seats for us in the back.
The traffic at the roadworks by the Atlantis hotel was much worse than the day before. The traffic was now clogging up the roundabout just before the roadworks. We queued and and eventually reached the roundabout where traffic from the Atlantis was blocking the road as it forced its way onto the road from the Anantara.
Once past the Atlantis we were soon off the Palm and back on the wide highway. This took his back past the Dubai Mall. Then we reached the Frame and were having to stop at a series of very busy crossroads all with lots of traffic lights.
Our driver assured us that we could go up the Frame for free as we were pensioners. He told us that the views of the old and new Dubai were amazing and it was well worth a visit.
Once we were through the gates for the port we could see the Queen Elizabeth II away to our left.
There was a large concrete apron between our road and the ship. We could see cars and coaches all parked in front of the ship and the small buildings on the quayside.
After more roundabouts and a security gate we came to the terminal building next to the Oceana. There we handed our suitcases over to the porters and made our way in. The terminal was empty and at the far end of the hall we could see the check-in desks. Once we had had our photos taken, had our credit card scanned and picked up a cruise card it was time for the port security screening.
P&O Oceana
This passed off without incident and we joined a short queue to board the ship. As we waited we chatted to one of the ship’s officers. We had sailed with him several times before on P&O Azura. He told is that this was his last cruise and that he was retiring from P&O and then going into private security practice. In the queue we were told that Azura would be coming out the Middle East and would be cruising from Dubai in a couple of years time. This sounds like a great rumour as Azura is our favourite P&O ship.
Once on the ship when unusually had our carry-on bags scanned again. The scan was again without incident and we were soon on our way to our cabin. One of our suitcases was already outside the room when we started unpacking. Quite why our cases were separated is one of the many mysteries of travelling on planes or ships.
In our room we had welcome flowers and a bottle of bubbly from P&O.
Just the one plug available in our cabin for charging all our USB connected gear.
For our cabin balcony we could see signs for a mini-mart in the small building across the car park. As our second case had yet to arrive we decided to stretch your legs and explore the terminal and visit the mini-mart.
The shops in the terminal carried expensively priced crisps, chocolate and soft drinks as well as lots of souvenir items. Outside the sun was beating down and after walking over the car park we reached the building only discover that the mini-mart was closed.
The cruise terminal’s Wi-Fi was again a no-go as I would have had to switch my phone off aeroplane mode to receive an SMS message with another code. This was not worth it for the £6 pound or more charge that I would receive from Vodafone. The terminal didn’t have a tax rebate desk it seems these were only available at the airport.
We went through the double security checks once again and then back on board we went looking for our second suitcase. Sure enough it was down the corridor outside the wrong cabin. After the last round of unpacking we went to the port lectures on Muscat and Salalah in the theatre.
On other cruises we would usually wait for the port talks to be repeated on the ships TV channels however today we decided to watch them live. We didn’t learn much except about the P&O excursions that was still available for sale and about the bans on electronic cigarettes!
Evening on Oceana
Our first drinks on board in Tiffanys in the ship’s Atrum. I started with a Bombay Sapphire gin and tonic. We had pre-booked a meal at the Beach House from our first evening. There we were joined by our family friends. The restaurant was not very busy and there we enjoyed the quiet atmosphere as compared to the noise back at the Anantara’s restaurant.
I stayed with with my favourites of shrimps followed by steak on a hotplate and a New York cheesecake to finish. Our wine was a bottle of Argentinian Malbec which was noticeably cheaper than the one at the hotel. The evening was made more memorable by the friendly service provided by our wine waiter, Fernando.
Our adventure on Oceana was truly off to a great start.
From our balcony we had views across the harbour and we watched ships being shepherded into the docks beyond Oceana.
