Having always wanted to pass through the Suez Canal, and with my wife wanting to visit Petra this cruise to Civitaveccia seemed ideal, tagging on the next part back to Dover meant the added bonus of no flying home - great.

Our holiday started with a couple of nights in Dubai at the Ibis, Deira City Centre which is well situated for both Airport and Cruise Port being between the two. Also has a shopping mall opposite the hotel, a direct bus service (No 27) to the Gold Souk Bus Station from the nearby Metro Station (the Metro entrance across the road from the main Mall entrance); the Metro has a closer entrance to the hotel just on the corner of the main road junction 300 metres away, and is handy for reaching the Dubai and Emirates malls.

As a bonus we had saved enough by booking our air fare direct with Emirates, rather than the cruise line, to pay for our complete stay in Dubai. Read more