Serenade of the Seas in Muscat

It will be sad to no longer see the Brilliance of the Seas on her regular visit into Muscat. So we look forward to next seasons visits by the Serenade of the Seas, a sister ship.

Brilliance of the Seas saying goodbye to Muscat

Here on one of the final visits we took guests down

The Gulf with Clipper Odyssey

In January last year I was delighted to give lots of talks about Oman on the Island Sky from Salalah to past Abu Dhabi. This year in November the American company Zegrahm is doing a similar cruise travelling between Muscat and Bahrain. I have been fortunate to be invited on board for a couple of weeks

Cruise Ships arrive in Muscat

While waiting for our guests to disembark I managed to get a few pictures of the arrival of two Cruise Ships in Muscat.  They offer a contrast in size and style.

Silver Wind enters Muscat Port

The Silver Wind is a firm favourite with those looking for a luxurious experience while the Brilliance excels in offering an inexpensive cruise in the sun.

Brilliance of the Seas enters Mina Qaboos

The Silver Wind just beat the Brilliance of the Seas into Muscat’s Mina Qaboos on Wednesday and so either by plan or serendipity was able to bearth at the cruise terminal

Oman’s Mina Sultan Qaboos

Port Sultan Qaboos will be redeveloped according to Oman’s Ministry of Transport

Brilliance of the Seas in Muscat

Our guests who had booked a shore excursion of Muscat from the Brilliance of the Seas two day visit to Muscat were not alone as on the next quay the Costa Luminosa docked for a single day visit . We decided to leave a bit later than normal to visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque as we hoped that the crowds would have thinned a bit when we arrived.

Costa Luminosa with Brilliance of the Seas