MSC Grand Voyages from Doha

A journey to Qatar becomes special on an MSC cruise.

A cruise to Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Qatar will introduce you to Doha, the country’s futuristic capital on The Gulf. The city is preparing to host the 2022 World Cup, enhancing its already awesome skyline with new super modern skyscrapers.
The Aspire Tower in Doha (300 meters) dominates the skylines. It is the highest building of the country, whose shape is akin to a torch. This building is located near the city of sport, which has already hosted events such as the XII Pan Arab games and which will have a central role during the World Cup. Much of Doha, including places of worship such as the new mosque in the Qatar Faculty of Islamic studies, seems to be already in the future. Don’t miss a visit to the Pearl, a futuristic artificial circular port which is being developed to the north of the city centre, and yet, as you will notice on your MSC excursion, the ancient heart of the city still beats strong.
In the historical centre of Doha you will find a Suq where everything – from camels to gold – can be exchanged, and the Al Khoot fortress, dating back to the end of the nineteenth century and now converted into a museum. During your cruise to Doha with MSC Cruises, some excursions will lead you on the discovery of the north of the country and the history of this fascinating Emirate. In Ash Shamal the Al-Zubara fortress rises up from the middle of the desert and dates back to the thirties. The building, which at first sight seems an enormous sand castle, has been completely restored and transformed into a museum. Near the fortress you can also visit the archaeological remains of another, even older, defensive structure, Qal’ at Murair. Also you will find Zubara, a village of traders and pearl divers, a settlement which dates back to the nineteenth century, and later abandoned.

The United Arab Emirates’ capital, Abu Dhabi, where your MSC cruise ship awaits your return, offers an intriguing contrast to its freewheeling neighbour Dubai, a little over an hour’s drive down the coast.

Leading attractions on your Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Qatar cruises to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates include the extravagant Emirates Palace hotel and the even more spectacular Sheikh Zayed Mosque, while the various attractions of Yas Island, home to the vast Ferrari World theme park, lie just down the road.
The blockbuster attraction at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island is a dream excursion for any F1 fans. The “world’s biggest indoor theme park”, it offers a wide range of Ferrari-themed rides and displays which will appeal both to kids and grown-ups, including the chance to drive an F1 simulator or to ride the Formula Rossa roller coaster (the world’s fastest) or to experience race-day acceleration in the G Force “tower of speed” – as well as numerous gentler family-oriented rides.
Dedicated motorsports enthusiasts will also enjoy the big display of classic and contemporary Ferraris
, and the virtual tour of the firm’s famous Maranello factory. Some 15km from central Abu Dhabi, the mighty Sheikh Zayed Mosque dominates all landward approaches to the city, its snowy-white mass of domes and minarets visible for miles around and providing a spectacular symbol of Islamic pride at the entrance to the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Completed in 2007, the mosque was commissioned by and named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, who lies buried in a modest white marble mausoleum close to the entrance. The mosque is one of the world’s biggest and certainly the most expensive, having taken twelve years to build at a cost of around US$500 million. It’s also unusual in being one of only two mosques in the UAE open to non-Muslims.

Όταν αποβιβάζεστε στην πρωτεύουσα του Ομάν, το Μuscat, όταν η κρουαζιέρα σας με την MSC σας μεταφέρει στο Ντουμπάι, το Άμπου Ντάμπι και το Κατάρ, σημαίνει ότι μπαίνετε σε μια από τις παλαιότερες πόλεις της Μέσης Ανατολής. Από εδώ στέλνονταν λιβάνια στην Ελλάδα και τη Ρώμη ήδη από τον 2ο αιώνα.

Σήμερα είναι ακόμη δυνατό να βρείτε ίχνη του ένδοξου παρελθόντος της στο παλιό κέντρο, όπου, μέχρι το δεύτερο μισό του περασμένου αιώνα, οι πύλες που χώριζαν τις διάφορες συνοικίες έκλειναν τρεις ώρες μετά την αυγή. Το Muttrah, το ιστορικό κέντρο του εμπορίου και της δραστηριότητας της πρωτεύουσας που θα δείτε κατά τη διάρκεια της κρουαζιέρας, είναι ένα από τα πιο ενδιαφέροντα και καλά διατηρημένα τμήματα του κέντρου της πόλης.

Η εμπορική του κλίση οφείλεται στην εγγύτητά του με το μεγάλο λιμάνι, όπου θα σας περιμένει το πλοίο της MSC, το οποίο έχει πάρει το όνομά του από τον ηγεμόνα του Qabus. Αφιερώστε μέρος των διακοπών σας στο Muscat για να επισκεφθείτε τα αξιοθέατα, όπως η ψαραγορά, το πορτογαλικό φρούριο και πάνω απ’ όλα, το Souq της Muttrah, έναν από τους αγαπημένους προορισμούς των κρουαζιερόπλοιων.

Μπορείτε να συνεχίσετε κατά μήκος του θαλάσσιου δρόμου προς την παλιά πόλη του Muscat, όπου, πριν από περίπου 200 χρόνια, ο προκάτοχος του
σημερινός αρχηγός του κράτους, έχτισε το Al Alam (η σημαία), το παλάτι που ανακαινίστηκε τη δεκαετία του ’70 και έχει γίνει η επίσημη κατοικία του σουλτάνου. Πρόκειται για ένα όμορφο δείγμα σύγχρονης αραβικής αρχιτεκτονικής που βρίσκεται στο κέντρο του τμήματος του Μοσχάτου που εξακολουθεί να περιβάλλεται από τα τείχη του 17ου αιώνα.

Σε κοντινή απόσταση, στη συνοικία Bawshar, βρίσκεται το Μεγάλο Τζαμί του Σουλτάνου Qabus. Περίπου 6500 πιστοί συγκεντρώνονται για να προσευχηθούν στην κύρια αίθουσα προσευχής, η οποία διαθέτει ένα μοναδικό, τεράστιο χαλί περίπου 4200 τ.μ., κατασκευασμένο από ένα δισεκατομμύριο και 700 εκατομμύρια κόμπους και ζυγίζει 21 τόνους. Όλες οι αίθουσες, τις οποίες μπορούν να επισκεφθούν και μη μουσουλμάνοι, είναι διακοσμημένες με μοτίβα που εξυμνούν τον αραβικό πολιτισμό.

When you disembark from your MSC cruise in Aqaba, you can enjoy its idyllic, sunny setting on the shores of the Red Sea, at the country’s southernmost tip.
From something of a dowdy backwater, in the last decade or so Aqaba has transformed itself into a pleasant, if still under-resourced, leisure destination. Hotels at all grades are springing up in the town as well as at luxury waterfront developments up and down the coast; investment is coming in to improve the city’s infrastructure and facilities. Some of the best diving and snorkellingin theworld is centred on the unspoiled coral reefs that hug the coast just south of the town – an engaging contrast with the nearby desert attractions of Petra and Wadi Rum.
The city centre forms a dense network of streets and alleys clustered just behind the beach road (called the “Corniche”). A shore excursion on your MSC Grand Voyages cruise can also be the opportunity to discover Petra. Tucked away in a remote valley basin in the heart of southern Jordan’s Shara mountains and shielded from the outside world behind an impenetrable barrier of rock, Petra remains wreathed in mystery.
Since a Western adventurer stumbled on the site in 1812, it has fired imaginations, its grandeur and dramatic setting pushing it – like the Pyramids or the Taj Mahal – into the realms of legend. Today, it’s almost as if time has literally drawn a veil over the once-great city, which grew wealthy enough on the caravan trade to challenge the might of Rome: two millennia of wind and rain have blurred the sharp edges of its ornate classical facades and rubbed away at its soft sandstone to expose vivid bands of colour beneath, putting the whole scene into soft focus.

Discover the ancient history of this cultural, intellectual, political and economic metropolis famous for its temperate winters, white sand beaches and magnifi cent scenery.

Discover the culture and colour of Civitavecchia, an MSC Mediterranean Cruises destination. This Italian gem is an enjoyable flight from many European and non-European cities. Celebrated for its 16th-century Michelangelo Fort, ancient Taurine Baths, and marble Vanvitelli fountain, the port is a convenient starting point for visiting Rome, Italy’s regal and romantic capital.

One of the busiest cruise ports in the Mediterranean, the seaside city of Barcelona is known for its iconic architecture, colourful culture, and world-class drinking and dining.

Explore Antoni Gaudí’s surreal Sagrada Família, the famous boulevard of the Ramblas, the medieval Barri Gótic, and the Museu Picasso. But there’s even more to discover in this sprawling Spanish city, an MSC Mediterranean Cruises destination: from hidden tapas bars and fabulous food markets to Europe’s biggest football stadium.