We were expecting the heat in Dubai, our next port of call, but were very surprised that there was little humidity and we had a great sunny and warm day, albeit short, to explore this wonderful mix of the sandy arab world old and new.

Dubai is the United Arab Emirates main city, there is the old town at Deira at one side of the Dubai Creek and the modern skyscraper world of Dubai city on the other.

Queen Mary 2 arrived at Port Rashid and by 7.30 am we were out in the city exploring. We had a taxi to the Creek where we boarded a river taxi with the local men going to work across to the old town. This area is the main wholesale and shopping area and we found the spice, gold and perfume souks. The arab shopkeepers standing outside to encourage you to visit their shops. The souks were all linked together in a maze style but quite modern with a roof to keep out the sun.

We had breakfast with the young arabs at a little corner cafe, we had coffee and thick toast with yellowy eggy milky stuff on top, it tasted great even if it doesn't sound like it. The arab men were all very handsome and smartly dressed getting ready to go to work and they looked at these tourists in shorts and flip flops invading their cafe with intrigue.

Our stop in Dubai was short so we took the hop on hop off bus to make sure we didn't miss any of the sights. The bus took us from Deira City over the Maktoum Bridge to Burjuman Shopping Centre on the modern side before a full two hour journey around the modern hotels and high rises.

Every few miles was a bigger shopping mall than the one before, all full of upmarket, high end stores, the largest one the Mall of Emirates had 450 plus shops and even an indoor ski slope, nothing is done on a small scale in Dubai and the arabs always aim for the biggest, best, largest "in the world".

We met our favourite bar tender, Jacob on the beach for a quick photo stop of the Burj Al Arab, the 7 star hotel, before our bus took us on to the Dubai Palms and the Atlantic Hotel at the top fo the crescent.

Fortunately we had booked online to go up the world's tallest building the Burj Khalifa because when we arrived the walk in tickets were all sold out. The Burj Khalifa is reached by walking through a huge mall. The builiding has 168 floors, reached in just 1 minute by super express elevator, the view from the outdoor platform was amazing. The skyscrapers below us just seemed like small buildings.

Time was running out and a look at the mall with its own indoor aquarium and it was a quick taxi ride to get back to the ship, with just 15 minutes to spare. The old Queen Elizabeth 2, which is going to be a floating hotel in Dubai sounded her whistles to wish us goodbye and to launch our sail away party onwards to to Egypt.

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The following is our piracy notice from the Commodore for our voyage. We're pretty sure that no pirates would want to take on 2400 passengers and 1300 crew, they would soon get fed up of all the moaning if they ate all our food!

Cunard RMS Queen Mary 2 : Cochin 30th March 2011

Dear Guest

Between the 30th March and the 6th April, from Cochin to Dubai and onto the Suez canal, we will be transiting an area well documented in the world's media for piracy, in particular the Gulf of Aden, which we will transit on the 5th and 6th April.

Onboard Queen Mary 2, we have put in place a security plan in order to protect the ship. As part of this plan, I would like to request your assistance and co-operation.

I must emphasise that the safety and security of every individual on board is my highest priority and the implementation of this procedure is an important part of the ship's security plan.

Commodore Bernard Warner : Master RMS Queen Mary 2