Day 98 - Dubai, Gala Dinner

Day 98 – Friday 18^th April 2014 – Dubai, Gala Dinner

Tonight over four hundred of the world voyagers have been invited to a Gala Dinner being held in the Madinat Jumeirah Hotel, situated near the beach and not far from the most expensive hotel in Dubai, which is shaped like a sail and called Burj Al Arab.

Madinat Jumeirah Hotel

   

Reception Area

  

At 17.45 we all piled on to the many coaches for the half an hour journey to the hotel, to be greeted by the Captain and his senior officer, plus a representative from Cunard. 

Rig of the Day

The outside reception area was full with guests, waiters handing out drinks and canapés to everyone.  There were two young men, dressed in their white Arab robes, with hooded falcons clinging to their forearms.  In conversation with these two, I found out the age of the birds, names, and how often they took them out and train them, very interesting.  You could also have your name written in Arabic, enough people have problems with my name in English, and I gave this one a miss. 

Inside Reception

The outside was getting too crowded and we headed inside and positioned ourselves not too far from the dining hall.  From here the waiters were busily re-charging their trays with wine and canapés.  As we were the nearest and first to be asked, our glasses were never empty and if desired, never without food.

Dining Room

At 20.00 we were all led into the main dining area, a magnificent room and each allotted table contained eight guests.  Speeches were given by the Captain and the Cunard representative before we commenced our meal which was wonderful, all of the courses were excellent, and I could not finish it all.  While dining, the wine waiters just kept coming and the glasses were never empty.

Belly Dancers

During coffee and tea the floor show began, first off were the drummers followed by the belly dancers.  The most unusual; a man who never stopped spinning, while his skirt whirled around, other hand held skirts were spun above and around his head.  Eventually all of his costumes were light up, as he spun and the effect was spectacular.  When he stopped spinning, we expected him to fall over, but he did not, and received a rapturous applause.

Time for the guests to get involved now, as the band continued playing and the guests took to the dance floor and joined in the fun.  This continued for quite some time until the coaches arrived to take everyone merrily back to the ship.

Cunard had done us all proud, the splendour and the great atmosphere generated, will stay in the memory for a long, long time.