The Sultanate of Oman is situated on the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula and Muscat is its port-city capital. Since 1970, the hereditary ruler of Oman has been Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, who is much beloved in his country. He is in his 70s now, and it is his tightly-kept secret who will succeed him. Last September, Sultan Qaboos was the person responsible for arranging with Iran the release of the American hikers who had been held in an Iranian prison for the past two years. Under Sultan Qaboos over the past 30 years, Oman has pursued modernization and grown from an underdeveloped country to a 21st century state with modern facilities, highways, a university and sports complexes (football matches are free)--a major factor in the continuing development of tourism and Oman's rapidly growing importance as a favored destination. In fact, Muscat and Oman were once two different countries before he joined them in 1970.

Muscat, Oman was such a pleasant surprise as we really took the cruise to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We spent two days there (overnight on the ship) touring by bus and on foot. It was much more mountainous and rugged than I thought it would be. Muscat is surrounded on one side by striking volcanic mountains with no vegetation, and along its coast, soft sandy shores. It only rains 10-15 days a year there. If it rains two days in a row, Sultan Qaboos calls a national holiday! It was very hot when we were there at the end of March, 33C (about 92F) and sunny (and of course I was respectfully covered head to toe). There were a lot of nice white buildings, no skyscrapers like UAE, and everything was very clean. There is a high degree of respect in this society--people just follow the rules. Al Alam Palace (the sultan's main home) and the most exquisite Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque (one of the largest mosques in the world) are just two examples of the beautiful architecture in and around Muscat.

Oman is the oldest of the Gulf States with its civilization dating back as far as 5,000 years. In biblical times, Oman was the hub of the rich frankincense trade. Frankincense is still extremely popular here and is sold in the souks to residents who burn it in their homes to repel mosquitos and the diseases the insect carries. Frankincense has a strong but fresh smell. Now of course, 90% of their economy is oil. And #2 is natural gas, which is why they are stepping up their emphasis on tourism to diversify a bit. They have cheap gasoline though--Euro .24 per liter for premium; that's about USD 1.35 per gallon folks--for premium!

While in Muscat, a city of about 800,000, we twice visited the very large and winding Mutrah Souq, often thought of as the most interesting souq (bazaar) in the Gulf States. In Oman, most prices are fixed, which applies to restaurants, hotels and taxis. However, price haggling is permitted and expected in the souq. Such an interesting place to just wander around and window shop--I did negotiate and buy a small piece of art though. We saw so many families with the most adorable children here as this is where they did their household shopping. Little children on a shopping trip--some things are universal. We saw one crying because he didn't get what he wanted, one grabbing his pants and yanking his father's arm because he had to go to the bathroom, another tiny little boy playing with a truck and zooming it off some stairs right into the path of the shoppers (us). I'm still smiling thinking of those cute little tots and our lovely visit to Muscat.

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Cruise Planners has just launched our newly designed website with a cleaner look and more features. There is a new "My Trips" section that allows clients who are already booked to do things such as purchase shore excursions and share the trip with friends.

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