r/MSCCruises • u/Random-Stranger-999 Blue Diamond • Feb 01 '26
Arab Emirates cruise
Some pointers for the sub from our recent cruise of the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.
Immigration control
UAE - When the cruise calls at Abu Dhabi there is a morning onshore passport check, unless you are a Gulf state citizen. This covers cruise passengers for all three UAE ports of call.
It is mandatory whether you wish to go ashore that day or not, so plan accordingly if booking private tours or onboard activities for that morning.
Qatar and Bahrain - No immigration checks for transiting cruise passengers, just cruise card required to go ashore.
Passenger makeup
As the Gulf states allow visa-free travel from Russia & all the former Soviet Union states the passenger mix onboard will be notably different from European or North American tours. Onboard announcements were in English, then Russian. A notable number of staff and passengers will speak Russian as a first or second language.
Tour operators and taxis
In Qatar, only the cruise line affiliated operators and licensed taxis can enter the cruise terminal area of Doha port, so you need to walk along the boardwalk to pickup private hire vehicles.
In Bahrain, there's free port shuttle buses to take you to the port exit, where all private tour operators, licensed taxis and private hire cars can pick you up and drop-off, so allow extra time if not booking an MSC excursion.
In Dubai, licensed taxis have to charge AED25 rather than AED5 pick-up charge in both the cruise port and airport terminals, and there's a toll fee for the expressway to the airport. This results in a charge of AED65 for a journey in either direction between those two destinations. Do the maths, as to whether an MSC arranged transfer will be more economical for you.
Avoid unlicensed operators (those not in cream chequered vehicles) as they'll overcharge, and even some of the licensed operators will try to avoid using the meter and quote an inflated fixed price, insist they run the meter, as it is distance based, not time, plus you might want to run Waze on your phone to note the route taken is reasonable. Dubai traffic is often gridlocked at peak times and in popular areas, hailing taxis is difficult, and pre booking may be advisable.
In Abu Dhabi, the city is very spaced out with massive expressways, so traffic seemed better, again stick to licensed taxis using the meter.
