Our quest to visit 7 continents, 100 countries, and all 50 states…
Posted in Ajman, Brilliance of the Seas, Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain on Mar 19th, 2012
Well, after nearly a sleepless night for me (to bed at 3am; up by 6:30am–perhaps I’m not over the jet lag?), we departed Brilliance around 8am. Disembarkation was about as painless as could be. We exited our cabin, grabbed an empty elevator, went down six decks, walked right off to the pier, straight through the […]
Posted in Brilliance of the Seas, Dubai on Mar 18th, 2012
We arrived early in Dubai (Libby and I were still asleep). Since we’d already spent time here and mostly planned on checking out downtown, we slept in (not a bad thing since we’ve only been going to bed around 1am) and left Port Rashid in the late morning. We headed straight downtown to the Dubai […]
Posted in Abu Dhabi, Brilliance of the Seas on Mar 17th, 2012
We arrived in Abu Dhabi a little before 8am this morning. We headed out almost immediately for a visit to the Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan Mosque, generally known more simply at the Sheik Zayed or Grand Mosque. It is named for the late Sheik Zayed, the much beloved ‘father’ of the UAE, who’s buried […]
Posted in Brilliance of the Seas, Oman, United Arab Emirates on Mar 16th, 2012
Today, we enjoyed a lazy day at sea, spending the better part of the day relaxing on our sumptuously oversized balcony. It would be a perfect, secluded oasis were it not for the chain-smoking Germans in the cabin next door. But, such is life. The sea day is a nice break, as we’ve been pretty […]
Posted in Brilliance of the Seas, Oman on Mar 15th, 2012
Our morning began early with a tour departing from the ship at 8:15am. We drove from Mutrah to the newer areas of Muscat where we visited the Grand Mosque, a gift from Sultan Qaboos to his people to mark the 30th anniversary of his reign. While the exterior is imposing yet restrained; the interior (especially […]