Middle East Cruise on Costa Toscana
– Day 5 Muscat
-MiddleEast.Oman.Muscat-
Day 5 – I have to say I was pretty excited to visit Muscat, Oman. I have been fascinated by the country’s landscape after seeing pictures of the country. It does look harsh and rocky but a beautiful terrain nonetheless.
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Table of Contents
Day 5 - Morning Sailing into Muscat
The ship sailed into port pretty early in the morning – at 7am. I had booked an external shore excursion with pick up at 9:30am , so we had some time for breakfast and of course coffee before. I heard before hand that the port in Oman could take some time before we could go outside- therefore I decided to go out earlier at 8:15am.
Though it was not easy to decide what to see in Muscat – I decided to do the boating trip to catch some of those beautiful landscapes from the sea.
Shore Excursion in Muscat.
Rainer did not join me on this excursion but he accompanied me to my meeting point and we set out. Upon our exit from the ship, there were free shuttle buses waiting for us. In Muscat, it is a little bit different – we had to remember the license plate of the shuttle bus and it first made a stop to the port building where our belongings were scanned and we had to board the same shuttle which would bring us to the port gate.
There was a money exchange in the port building and I took the chance to change my Euros to Omani Rial.
Upon reaching the port gate, we were descended upon by taxi drivers wanting to bring us on a day tour – of course we were declining and disentangled ourselves to follow the road left heading towards the new fish market.
If you do decide to take a taxi, here is a link for some tips. Anyway a good rule of thumb is to agree on the price before getting on. Good to know is that a lot of the drivers do not speak English so have your destination on hand by showing them on the map etc.
New Fish Market
The pickup point for the excursion was opposite the Fish market and since it was not yet time, we took the chance to walk around. As it was early in the morning, the market was in full swing – it has all the markings of a fish market, smell included! Not the most appetising thing first thing in the morning but it brought back memories of our Malaysian wet markets.
And it is here that we observed the locals getting a start on their day : some men were drinking at the side chatting with each other while people were inside choosing the best fish to bring home.
The pickup point for the excursion was opposite the Fish market and since it was not yet time, we took the chance to walk around. As it was early in the morning, the market was in full swing – it has all the markings of a fish market, smell included! Not the most appetising thing first thing in the morning but it brought back memories of our Malaysian wet markets.
And it is here that we observed the locals getting a start on their day : some men were drinking at the side chatting with each other while people were inside choosing the best fish to bring home.
Marina Bandar Al Rowdha
When it was almost time we went across the road to wait for the pickup. Time went ticking by and I did not see anyone. Not far from us, there was a family of three picked up by a taxi and waiting. I have read about the friendliness of the Omanis but this was confirmed when 2 men who went into a small shop and noticed that we have been waiting there for a while and asked if we are all right. I explained I was waiting for a pickup and all was A-OK and they gave us bottled water they had just bought! How very kind of them to strangers I thought. I made up my mind there and then that I liked Oman a lot!
In the end, it turned out that the people in the taxi was waiting for me! It was good that I decided to approach them and ask. The taxi driver could not speak any English but there was a representative there who did.
The taxi dropped us off at the Marina to board the boat. The fees were collected from us over there. With my research I found a slightly cheaper tour that brought us dolphin watching and snorkelling. The cost was OMR22 (53 Euros) including pick-up and drop-off. Here is the link if you are interested to do the same.
For other ideas for shore excursion – check out below.
The Boat Ride
The boat rode over the waves pretty fast and some people on the boat got sick while others who were sitting in the front got pretty wet and had to seek shelter behind pretty soon. I had some mints with me and offered them to the ladies sitting near me as they battled seasickness. After what seems like an endless journey, we spotted the dolphins. We got to see more interesting sights on the boat trip too. Have a look –
Drive through Muscat Center
We drove back with the taxi that drops us back to the port. I could admire the wide and clean roads along the drive. It was not a very long way from the Marina back with the car and gave me an opportunity to look at the impressive landmarks on the way, such as the National Museum of Oman , passing through the Muscat Gate Museum and the Mutrah fort just to name a few. Just watch it – to see what I mean.
Back on Costa Toscana
The boat trip was not very long it was from 10am – 1pm and by 1:30pm I was back on the ship. I enjoyed the buffet lunch – seriously Costa does have great food on board. After that the rest of the afternoon flew by as we went around the ship.
We had a drink package included and so we picked up our bottled water every day and might as well have an alcohol-free Heineken while we are at it.
Soon it was dinner time again and we went to our reserved spot and was once again served by our very nice and competent server who remembered that we preferred to have sparkling water while we dined. The desserts are to die-for..
We typically go for an evening walk on the upper deck of the ship just to catch the evening breeze and also because there are less people during this time. Most people are at dinner or at the shows. We check the programs and decide on which one to join later on.
-end of Day 5-
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