If anyone remembers our German trip a few months ago that was supposed to include a cruise with AIDA, you may remember that we never got to board that cruise, and ended up cruising with MSC instead. AIDA gave us credits towards another cruise but we had to take it within 6 months and the options were rather limiting. In the end, we settled on a 5 night Middle East cruise on AIDAcosma. Unfortunately, since the kids would be in school, they weren’t able to join us for this cruise.
February 16, 2023
Our journey started on Thursday, February 16, 2023. We flew from Houston to Dubai. We flew with Emirates in Economy class and I thought the food and service was very good. I wish we did Business class because I hear the Business class is really nice on Emirates. Maybe next time.
February 17, 2023
Today, we landed in Dubai. This was a long flight – almost 15 hours! By the time we landed, it was already night time and we were pretty tired. The moment we stepped foot out of the plane, we could tell Dubai is a modern metropolis. Everything was dazzling! We have a quick hotel stay and we are boarding the ship tomorrow. Don’t need anything fancy, just wanted something convenient, so we chose Al Khoory Inn Hotel, Bur Dubai. We booked through hotels.com and it was only $65 for the night (including all tax and fees) so honestly I was a little nervous, but the hotel turned out to be very convenient, clean, and comfortable. We booked the Superior Room, which came with all the amenities we were looking for, like a beverage fridge, water boiler, and desk. We weren’t hungry – we were well fed on the plane, so we went straight to bed.
February 18, 2023
This morning, we woke up around 6am because of the time difference. This is good because Dubai is an overnight port for the ship so the ship has been there since yesterday and we can board any time. We took a Uber to the cruise port and admired through the windows this amazing city.
We got on the ship and we were instantly in love. The ship is beautiful and there’s lots of outside space. We also got our dinner reservations made – AIDA has 3 types of dining options. 1. Buffet restaurants. 2. Specialty restaurants. 3. A-la-carte restaurants. Unlike most American cruise lines, AIDA’s buffet restaurants include free beer and wine, and AIDA’s specialty restaurants are free of charge (except for the drinks). Since we have the unlimited drink package (which was insanely cheap, about $25 a day), the specialty restaurants were no cost to us at all. We booked all of our dinners in the specialty restaurants – our cruise really wasn’t long enough to try the paid restaurants. There are 6 specialty restaurants on the ship, Beach House Restaurant, serving international coastal cuisine, Best Burger @ Sea, which obviously serves burgers, Brewhouse, a real brewery restaurant that serves beers brewed on board, French Kiss, serving French cuisine, Ocean’s, the seafood restaurant, and Mamma Mia, the Italian restaurant.
Time for lunch. We went to the Best Burger @ Sea, and it may just be the best burger at sea! Loved the variety of burgers offered here.
For dinner, we chose the Ocean’s Restaurant. The inside of Ocean’s was beautiful.
Besides the menu, there’s also a buffet bar inside the restaurant that served fish rolls, salads, and desserts.
Labskaus is a culinary specialty from Northern Germany. It typically includes salted meat, potatoes, onions, beet, pickled gherkin, and/or herring. Hamburg-style typically includes a fried egg. Teddy decided to try it and hey, he didn’t complain. This Labskaus included meadow duck, soused herring, black tiger shrimp, beetroot and fried egg.
For my entree, I ordered the Octopus, which came with cherry tomato confit, garlic and olive risotto. Delicious also.
After dinner, we were docked at Abu Dhabi – got here at 8pm. We took a quick walk around the terminal.
Back on the ship, we went to the musical show tonight called London Calling! AIDA’s nightly shows are more music focused and most of the music is in English.
Today was a great day. The musical show was amazing, the food was great and I can’t wait for our small group tour of Abu Dhabi tomorrow.
February 19, 2023 – Abu Dhabi
We had a great night’s sleep, and enjoyed a sit down breakfast at French Kiss, then got off the ship to start our excursion of Abu Dhabi Half Day City Tour with Arabian Gate Tours & Safari. It cost 420 AED total for the 2 of us, which is about $140.
Our driver picked us up at the cruise port. Then we were taken to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The mosque is one of the largest mosques in the world, with 82 white domes. It’s free to visit and it’s very crowded. The Grand Mosque is beautiful and massive, with reflection pools and amazing detail. Be prepared to stand in long lines but it was worthy of a visit. Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the man who launched this project of building this mosque, is buried here.
We were back in the car and onto the next attraction. Looking out through the car window, there’s nonstop jaw-dropping architecture, like the Al Bahar Towers, the Andaz Capital Gate (a Hyatt hotel), and Etihad Towers.
Our next stop was at the Emirates Palace. Emirates Palace is a 5 star Mandarin Oriental Hotel, featured in the movie, Fast and Furious 7.
The hotel was beautiful, with lots of gold accents. The outside of the hotel was a big fountain, with the Etihad Towers as the backdrop.
Inside hotel, there were many instagram worthy spots. Like the center of the hotel here.
Next, we were taken to Abu Dhabi Heritage Village, a reconstruction of a traditional desert village with exhibits and shops. We weren’t given much explanation on what to do or what to expect here, but if you walk around, you’ll see a glimpse of how local Abu Dhabi people used to live, with tents made of camel hair and local crafts and animals. We weren’t given much time here and it was too crowded for my liking. I would have enjoyed it if there was less people and we had more time.
In the back of the Heritage Village was a beach, with some information on how people used to build boats, etc.
This was the end of our tour and we were taken back to the ship. We were back on the ship about 2pm so we grabbed some lunch at Brewhouse, the on board brewery.
Tonight, dinner is at the Beach House restaurant. Beach House features cuisines from different coastal regions. The menu tells you which region it comes from. For example, the fruity ceviche appetizer I ordered was from the Lima area.
Next I got the Tatar Bombs – crispy dough balls filled with beef tartare, sesame, soy sauce and mango on avocado cream. They were a little hard to open but tasted very good. This dish comes from the island of Reunion, according to the menu, but honestly I wish I could ask someone who’s from Reunion and see what they would say about it. I can’t find any information on this dish on the internet, but the construction of these little delicacies is very similar to the Indian dish called panipuri.
This Thai Curry Soup dish hails from Ko Samui, an island in Thailand. It’s slightly spicy, with coconut, fried king prawns, crispy glass noodles. The foam surprised me – because we usually see the use of foam in fancy, Michelin type restaurants, but the whole thing was very good.
Inspired by the cuisines of Miami, the Beef Short Rib w/Truffle Mac N Cheese & Chimichurri came with tender beef ribs lathered in maple syrup, truffle pasta and an Argentinian herb pesto. Teddy really liked this one.
This was amazing and I love the runny egg. Menu says this is inspired by cuisines of Ko Chang, another island in Thailand. Maybe I should visit Thailand.
We went to another musical show tonight. The shows on AIDA are performed in the atrium, so it’s easy to catch the show, or come and go as you please, unlike a theater.
February 20, 2023 – Doha
Today, we arrived in Doha, Qatar. For breakfast, we went to one of the buffets on board. There are 5 buffets on this ship, and they offer some similar cuisine, as well as some foods that are only found in each one. The 5 buffet restaurants are: Bella Donna (Italian), East (Asian), Fuego (family), Market (seasonal), Yacht Club (seafood). We chose Market (Markt) this morning because it’s the biggest one. By now, I should probably mention that AIDA is a German cruise line and all written language on board are German. We use common sense and Google translate to help us navigate our time and so far it’s not been an issue. The only downside I’ve experienced is that I would have been interested in the Time Machine restaurant and show if we could understand German. Time Machine is an a-la-carte restaurant.
Today, we decided to do a private tour of desert safari and inland sea. We paid $184 for this excursion for the two of us. We were picked up at the dock, then our driver made a quick stop at a gas station and bought us some local coffee. (We did not have any cash of local currency so he paid for us.) Then we were taken to Sealine Beach to ride the camels.
We were helped onto the camels and the camel guide took our cellphones to take pictures of us. He took lots of pictures and the whole thing was fun but terrifying. I was so worried that I would fall off the camel.
Next up, Dune Bashing. Our tour guide deflated the tires in our SUV and cranked up some Qatari music. You can tell he loves what he does.
It’s a bit like drifting, if you’ve ever experienced that. The driver would take intentionally swerve around as he’s driving, then climb to the top of a dune and go down as crazy as he can. I thought the camel experience was scary. This is another level.
Next up, the beautiful Inland Sea, where desert meets ocean. Our tour guide taught us how to do some jump shots here.
The water was very pretty at the inland sea.
That was the end of our tour and we were taken back to the ship. We had some time to kill, so we relaxed on our balcony. Notice all balconies on AIDA have a hammock.
Also notice, there’s an ashtray on the balcony. AIDA ships allow smoking on the balcony. Blegh. Our room is cabin # 11178, a Comfort Balcony (Verandakabine Komfort) cabin.
Dinner today is at French Kiss. Usually the restaurants will have 1 to 2 menus in English. Tonight was no different. French Kiss is a French restaurant and the menu is lovely. We have two nights planned here.
I love beef tartare probably as much as I love escargot. So I got both appetizers. So good.
For entree, it was a tough decision for me. I ended up going with the Beef Filet with Cafe de Paris sauce and confit onions. Tender and yummy.
Teddy went with the Duck Breast with Dijon Mustard Sauce and Potato Pancakes. Delicious.
Desserts at French Kiss were fun, delicious, and innovative. Now we went to check out the show tonight. It’s a live show of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. We didn’t stay long because the whole thing was in German, so we couldn’t understand anything lol. Unlike American cruise line’s live shows, the German version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is actually filmed on AIDA cruise ships, at least for the time-being. (On American cruise lines, you will find TV show reincarnated, like the Price Is Right, Deal or No Deal, or Wheel of Fortune on NCL ships, but they aren’t the actual TV show, just a show inspired by the TV shows, with winnings a LOT less than what’s on TV.)
February 21, 2023
Today we will arrive Sir Bani Yas Island at 7pm and stay overnight. Tomorrow we have an animal safari booked through the cruise line. That’s the only excursion I booked with the cruise line because Sir Bani Yas Island is a private island, so there’s no outside excursions available.
This morning, we walked around the ship. This ship has all the waterslides, pools, outdoor sports for all ages. It’s crazy how much cheaper AIDA is compare to the popular American cruise lines especially considering how inclusive the fares are.
The pool is pretty crowded because everyone is on the ship right now.
There’s a kids waterpark area with a small pool and slide.
For dinner tonight, we are back at Ocean’s.
I decided to try the Cold Cucumber Soup. I like most cold soups. This comes with North Sea crabs and dill, so you know it can’t be bad.
For entree, I went for the shrimp.
Teddy went for the salmon.
When I got on AIDA, I was worried the food would be too foreign to me. Turns out, the food really isn’t that strange here. Most things have been rather familiar and the few things that were strange tasted good also.
February 22, 2023 – Sir Bani Yas Island
Today, we have an animal safari booked through the ship. I can’t remember how much it was, but I remember it was very expensive and overpriced. There’s no competition on this island – the only way to get on this island is through a cruise ship or staying at one of the resorts. Sir Bani Yas island is a natural island that has been dedicated to conservation. Many animals were introduced to the island, in addition to the island’s natural animals. I guess I imagined there to be animals roaming wild. That’s not exactly the case. The animals were definitely confined, even more so than the animals at Disney World Animal Kingdom. That kind of turned me off. For the amount of money we paid, I would have expected something more similar to the African Safari.
Nonetheless, there’s no shortage of animals to see, and the safari we rode in was comfortable.
Riding on the safari.
One more thing. The Safari ride was surprisingly FREEZING. I’m glad the excursion desk staff told me it would be cold (even though I didn’t really believe her) so I brought a light jacket. I was still rather cold.
After the safari ride was over, we walked around the beach areas. There’s an awesome swing here.
Here you can rent the cabanas on the beach. The beach here is unspoiled and not crowded. Today, they are serving lunch on the beach, included in the cruise fare.
We get back on the ship and walked by Sushi House, one of the a-la-carte restaurants. It just occurred to me that the a-la-carte restaurants are actually really reasonably priced. The hot pot here is only $26.90 a person, with all of the fixings. Hot Pot is one of my favorite cuisines. This is a no-brainer. It was SO MUCH FOOD.
It was difficult to get a last minute reservation like we did, but we were flexible on the time. There is very few hot pot tables on the ship, so if you want to do hot pot, you probably want to plan ahead of time, unlike us.
February 23, 2023
Today, we are docked at Dubai at 2pm and will stay here overnight tonight and tomorrow night. This morning, we had a lazy morning and had some breakfast at Yacht Club.
Today we have a Half Day Dubai City Tour booked. This is a private tour and cost us $171 for two people. Our driver promptly picked us up as soon as we docked, then we were taken to the Dubai Marina Walk, a beautiful area to walk around.
There are lots of great looking restaurants and cafes around here and many places to take pictures.
There’s boat rides available here too.
Our driver picked us up and took us to Bluewaters Bridge, which connects to Bluewaters Island.
The famous Ferris wheel, the Ain Dubai, is here. Ain Dubai is the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, but it has not been running for quite sometime. No real information is given on when it’ll be running again, but the wheel still lights up the night sky every night.
Next, our driver took us to a huge shopping mall called Souk Madinat Jumeirah. Souk Madinat goes on forever, and has lots of shops selling whatever you might want to buy, especially saffron.
Souk Madinat shops are surrounded by water. They also have boat rides here. I liked this so much that I decided to come back next day to do the boat ride.
From Souk Madinat, you can see the world’s only 7 star hotel, Burj Al Arab.
Next the driver took us to Jumeirah Mosque.
The Jumeirah Mosque is the most photographed mosque in Dubai. Unlike most mosques, Jumeirah Mosque is open to visitors of all religions.
Next, we were taken to the Bur Dubai stop and the guide helped us to ride the Abra – the water taxi. This is what abra looks like:
Let’s just say I’m glad we didn’t have to go far. The water is very calm here – I think all the waterways are man made so there’s no waves.
The water taxi dropped us off at the Dubai Spice Market (Souk). I’ve never seen so many spices in my life.
We were given lots of samples, and in real tourists style, we bought more than what we bargained for. We bought one tub of tea for sleeping, one tub of tea for energy, another tub of tea for I don’t even remember what. Unfortunately all tubs were identical so now after getting home, I don’t know which tub is for what… Oops.
Next to the spice market is the gold market. If you like shopping, you can easily spend all day here.
Tonight’s dinner is at the Michelin starred restaurant, Armani Ristorante, inside Burj Kalifa. Our private driver drove us there as our tour came to an end and dropped us off. By now, we can see Dubai at night and it’s absolutely beautiful.
Armani Ristorante – 1 Michelin Star Restaurant
The opulent Armani Ristorante, inside the tallest building Burj Kalifa, was absolutely a worthy experience. The kitchen was bright behind a glass enclosure inside the spaciously seated restaurant. We ordered the Degustation Menu, which is what Michelin recommended. This is what we were given:
Amuse Bouche
First Course: Uovo Di Montagna
First course was a deep-fried mountain egg, topinambur, endive, and black truffle. I can eat these all day. So good.
Second Course: Ravioli
Second course was a ravioli course with blue lobster, baby zucchini, and bisque reduction. Blue lobster is a blue colored crayfish that is endemic to the Florida region. I savored every bite of this. Wish it was bigger.
Course 3: Rombo Chiodato
Third course was a pan-seared turbot with chicory, pumpkin, and almond milk sauce. Turbot is a flatfish that’s very tender. The almond milk sauce here was so delicious.
Course 4: Costolette Di Wagyu
Costolette is Italian for ribs. So this dish is the wagyu braised short ribs, with celeriac black truffle, and parsley gremolata. Tenderly delicious.
Course 5: Cioccolato
Now we are onto desserts. Not a lot of food, but I’m not walking away hungry. The name of this course, Cioccolato is chocolate in Italian. It came with passionfruit and dark chocolate ganache, cremoso and exotic sorbet. Everything was very good.
The Degustation Menu was 625 Dirham per person, roughly $170 per person. Water wasn’t free, so we bought a big bottle for 45 Dirham. Total out of the door, this meal was about $353 for the two of us. A little high, but reasonable, considering you are inside the tallest building on earth.
We walked around the area, which had lights everywhere and was super pretty. Then we took a taxi and went back to our ship.
February 24, 2023
Today we had initially planned on going to the desert camp and do some quad biking, but last minute decided to change plans and do another full day of city tour – we had so much fun yesterday and felt like there’s so much more to see! We hired the same driver as yesterday who came to pick us up in the morning. Today, my first goal is to ride the boat at the Souk Madinat!
The boat ride is 20 minutes long and very peaceful and romantic. We were one of the first rides given, and we were given a private boat to ourselves!
The boat goes through many bridges. The area was super quiet when we went by.
Another bridge we had to go through.
Our boat captain was super nice and took lots of pictures of us.
Now the boat tour is over. Next stop, Ski Dubai, at the Dubai Mall of the Emirates. Ski Dubai is an indoor ski park that lets you do some winter activities. The entrance fee covers your equipment needs, like outfits, shoes, gloves etc.
We did the bobsled, giant snowballs, and the icy body slide.
The bobsled was pretty scary. We did have a lot of fun here.
Next, we went to visit Burj Khalifa. The tallest building on earth. There are many different types of tickets you can buy for visiting Burj Khalifa. The 3 most popular options are as follows:
- Visit 124th and 125th floor. This may seem like a pretty good option because it’s a lot cheaper than the other two options, roughly $45 a person. However, this ticket doesn’t give you any express access, and lines are often 2 hours long, going up AND down. Everyone’s time is valuable on vacation, so I don’t recommend this.
- The VIP ticket, which takes you to 124th, 125th, and 148th floor. This is about $110 a person, and includes “express access”, and it’s lead by a tour guide. The guide will take you to the express elevator, bypassing all of the people standing in line from the above option, and tell you a little history. You’ll be whisked directly to level 148th, which is the world’s highest viewing platform. After you finish there (you are given about 30 minutes), you can work your own way down to 124th and 125th, where you will see lots of people. You can spend as much time as you like here, then you can go to the VIP elevator to come back down.
- The Lounge ticket, which takes you to level 152, 153, and 154. This is the highest level you can get as a visitor. This ticket gives you express access with a tour guide, and lounge access with unlimited non-alcoholic drinks, canapes and desserts. You get one alcoholic drink as well. With this ticket, you can also visit floors 124, 125, and 148. This ticket is about $230 a person.
This was a difficult decision to make. Option 1 is out because I’m not interested in spending 4 hours of my day standing in line. Option 2 seems to be a good middle ground, but what’s the point of visiting the highest building in the world if you aren’t going to go to the highest floor possible? After some discussion, we decided to go with option 3. This day just got a lot more expensive.
There are many tall buildings in Dubai, but the Burj Khalifa is noticeably higher than all the rest.
I don’t regret our decision of buying the most expensive ticket, although I thought it was a little ridiculous to not serve us unlimited drinks (and the drink menu was quite pricy!) for how much we paid for each ticket, but I guess they don’t want people to just lounge there all day. I also thought they should give everyone a gift commemorating the experience, instead of wanting over $100 for a picture.
After Burj Khalifa, our driver took us to the next destination, Burj Al Arab. Burj Al Arab is the world’s only 7 star hotel. Since today is already officially the most expensive day of our lives, we might as well go all out and visit Burj too. There are a few options to go inside of this magnificent building.
- The Inside Burj Al Arab Tour. This is a 90 minute tour that takes you through the Royal Suites, and a tour guide will tell you about the history and culture of the hotel. This is roughly $70 a person.
- Get a dining reservation. If you have a reservation for one of the restaurants inside the Burj, you would obviously be able to go inside the Burj. The cheapest dining option is the afternoon tea.
- Sky Tea, located in the Skyview Lounge, on the 27th floor.
Every option runs you about the same amount of money (with the option of spending more if you choose to dine or drink, of course), but the first option will be more educational, and no indulging. We decided to go with the first option since we have a big dinner ahead of us.
There were many photo ops on the tour. The Royal Suite was of course, gigantic.
The Royal Suite features two floors, a library, a cinema, multiple bathrooms, and here’s the lounge:
Here’s one of the three bathrooms:
The Royal Suite has two master bedrooms, one for the man, and one for the woman.
At the end of the tour, we were taken to the onsite coffeeshop, UMA Cafe, for a chance to have a drink and enjoy the view.
From here, we were shuttled back to the front of the hotel and our driver picked us up for dinner. Tonight’s dinner is at another Michelin starred restaurant, Hakkasan, which is located at the 5 star hotel, Atlantis, the Palm.
Hakkasan
When we went to Hakkasan, there were two tasting menus available. One was the Dragon menu, for AED 498 a person, the other was the Pearl menu, for AED 698 a person. I made the mistake of choosing the Pearl menu, because it was SO MUCH FOOD.
Course 1: Supreme Dim Sum Platter
First course came with quite a show. Inside the dim sum steamer, there was Kaffir Lime Lobster Har Gaw, Abalone and Chicken Shu Mai w/Caviar, Truffle Chilean Sea Bass, and Wagyu Beef Preserved Mustard. Everything was amazing.
Course 2: Fried Soft Shell Crab
Course 3: Hakkasan Signature Peking Duck
The best part of a Peking duck is the skin. I love how each individual bite had a piece of skin on top. The problem is, I’m already getting full at this point.
Course 4: Wok Fried Canadian Scallop w/XO Sauce
This was a little too salty, but honestly, at this point I’m just glad the serving size wasn’t bigger.
Course 5: Wagyu Rib Eye
This came with an Osmanthus sauce. I barely touched this course. Soooo much food…. (We were actually served this course after the next course, even though on the menu this was supposed to come before.)
Course 6: Grilled Black Cod w/Truffle
I think this was the point I realized there was no chance I could finish everything. Especially when I saw on the menu that rice was coming. Ha. The cod was good, and the truffle was amazing. The whole thing melted in the mouth.
Course 7: Wild Mushroom Stir Fry
Wild Mushrooms with lily bulbs and macadamia nuts. I picked at a few pieces of mushrooms and really regretted not getting the smaller menu.
Course 8: Fried Trio Organic Wild Rice
The trio of rice included Thai brown rice, Red Vita rice, and Riceberry rice. I didn’t touch a bite of this.
Course 9: Dessert
Dessert was a chef selection of some kind of lemon dessert. I had one bite and it was very good.
This whole meal set us back roughly $415. The food was very good but I just couldn’t eat it all. Our biggest complaint for this restaurant was the music. I loved the interior of the restaurant but the music was so loud and even though I’m a fan of techno music, I didn’t find it suiting for a fancy, Michelin restaurant. We’ve been to a few Michelin restaurants and usually, I walk away barely satiated. I know Michelin inspectors are required to finish all of their food. I guess whoever inspected this place had a big appetite!
The Atlantis Hotel was beautiful inside. We walked around the hotel which had a shopping mall attached after dinner.
February 25, 2023
Today we have to leave our wonderful cruise ship and head home. Our cabin number was 11178. It was a comfortable balcony cabin and suited our needs well.
As we were leaving, we noticed there was a new card on the cabin next door to us. It looked like this:
Don’t know who she is but I thought it was cool that they would give a single crewmember a pretty nice room!
February 26, 2023
Today, we landed in Houston. To avoid having to rush and transfer, we had planned to spend the night at the airport hotel in Houston and fly out in the morning. Teddy ended up regretting this decision because he was just so ready to be home. I, on the other hand, was looking forward to stretch my legs in the hotel after such a long flight. Teddy had been away from home much longer than me since he had to work at his Houston office before I joined him on this Dubai journey.
The hotel was very convenient – the airport shuttle stops by the hotel so you don’t have to worry about transportation. We got a kick out of their privacy door tag.
February 27, 2023
Today, we are home at last. Going into this trip, we didn’t know what to expect at all. Honestly, Dubai (or Doha) would have never been on our radar if it wasn’t for the fact we had to rebook with what’s available and our options were just so limited. What a pleasant surprise that was. The amount of wealth seeping through every corner of Dubai and Abu Dhabi was just indescribable. Cruising on a German cruise line without the knowledge of German language definitely put us a little bit outside of our comfort zone but we still enjoyed it very much. I wouldn’t hesitate to sail them again to be honest, especially considering how much cheaper they are compared to American cruise lines. The most adjustment I had to make was the fact you are given two separate comforters even when sharing a bed. Growing up, my mom always told me to have two separate comforters – she told me one comforter, no one’s comfortable. Well, I guess I’m more used to one and once you are used to something, it’s kind of hard to switch.