DAY 87-ABU DHABI, UAE

We departed Dubai at midnight and moved a few miles down the coast to Abu Dhabi arriving here a little late at 7:30.  Another warm day with mid 90's temps.  Docked today at Port Zayed.

BACKGROUND INFO:
       Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE and second most populous city at 1.5 million people.  It is also the largest of the seven Emirates.  Most of Abu Dhabi is actually located on an island with its suburbs on the mainland.  It is by far the richest of the Emirates as it has 95% of the crude oil and 6% of the natural gas.  It has 10% of the world’s proven oil reserves.
        One of the most important architectural landmarks is the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.  Although not the largest mosque in the world it has to be them most opulent.  We visited this mosque in 2013 and were just blown away by it immensity and beauty.  I will add a link of those photos to this posting.   More than 3,000 workers began construction on it in 1996 but it was opened until 2007.  41,000 can worship here at one time.  Another landmark is Ferrari World, the world’s largest indoor amusement park and also boasts the largest roller coaster in the world.  You never see police cars in any of the Emirates as traffic citations are issued for violations caught of cameras.  You will even get a fine for jay walking.  As a result of this crime is low but punishment is stiff if caught.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST:
If you never look at any of my photos, BE SURE TO SEE THESE.  They are from our tour in 2013 during which we visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.  It is opulent beyond opulence!!!!  It has to placed in the top 10 most beautiful places we have ever seen during our world travels.

https://goo.gl/photos/Qi1B8bByM4SDfuUGA

WHAT WE DID TODAY:
       Abu Dhabi is the end of the fourth segment of our world cruise so passengers will be leaving and new ones embarking.  I think there is a big crew change here also.  I was suppose to be going to an 8 hour tour today which was to see the oasis town of Al Ain.  It is a two hour drive inland to see a museum and more souqs.  Decided I did not want to ride in bus for 4 hours so stayed on the ship.
       I have been working on photo uploading and the blog all morning.  We will go workout soon as is 10:30 am now.  After lunch I took the shuttle bus to the Marina Mall.  It was another amazing mall with every store imaginable.  Here is the link to the photos I took on that trip to and from mall.

https://goo.gl/photos/VhvGkJHhAAquvKLFA

       Over a hundred passengers disembarked this morning as it end of the 4th segment of our world cruise.  So more new folks joining us this afternoon.  We will be sailing at 4:00 pm with 2 sea days coming up.
       Cocktails and dinner in Compass Rose is in our evening game plan.  Also planning to go see tonight's headliner entertainer, Dema Belinski.  We believe we have seen him on a previous cruise. The Captain said prior to sailing that at 4:00 am tomorrow we would be passing through the Strait of Hormuz just off Iranian coast.  It connects the Persian Gulf with Gulf of Oman.