A final view of the ship. A sad goodbye after an excellent holiday. Somewhere between leaving the ship and reaching the exit to the port I lost my cruise card and the gate official took great delight in watching me hunt through every pocket and nook and cranny of my hand luggage before giving up and letting me off with just showing my passport. As usual Graham was getting highly stressed!! still nothing new there.

We met Geoffrey at Jumeirah Beach hotel and he took us to the Expat club. We sat outside and had a meal which was very pleasant. The club had a bar that was just like an English pub with snooker table. It looked as if this was a popular place for English guys to hang out without wives or girlfriends. We had a good meal. I had a steak and Graham and Geoffrey had curries. Geoffrey had apple pie for desert but was very unhappy with the portion size, but despite load...

We stopped outside the gates of the Burj Al Arab hotel for this photo shot and then left the trip to walk next door to the Jumeirah Beach hotel. We walked through the Jumeirah to view the Marina and the beach, it was just splendid and we thought of Ingrid and Trevor staying there. We could fully understand why they loved it so much as a place to stay. There was a birthday party in full swing for a 3 year old, what a place to celebrate your 3rd bithday!

As part of the trip we took a boat ride across the creek to the gold souk. We had never seen as many jewellery shops. I tried on a few rings and they were just gorgeous and Graham was keen I should buy one, but the choice was too overwhelming and we had not been prepared for the price.

This is the external view of the fort situated in the old town. It resembles the type of castle you would build on the beach.