In a previous life, almost 40 years ago now, my journalistic efforts were concentrated on music rather than travel, reviewing concerts and records, interviewing stars from David Bowie to Elton John, Noddy Holder to David Essex.
I was living the rock star lifestyle for a while; at one stage I very nearly left newspapers to take a job with Island Records, and I watched Richard Branson’s empire start to grow from a discount record store to a major music label.
I’m about to get that buzz again. Tonight I’ll be making the most of Virgin Holidays Rockstar Service, flying to Dubai, where I’ll be staying a couple of nights at the 1,500 room resort of Atlantis, The Palm before boarding Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas for a seven night cruise.
I’m looking forward to a 4×4 adventure in the desert when we visit Fujairah and a ride on the world’s fastest rollercoaster at the Ferrari theme park in Abu Dhabi. Mrs Greybeard will want to go shopping at the souq in Muscat, Oman, and back in Dubai we’ll take a dizzying ride to the top of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa.
Should be almost as much fun as the Virgin commercial (above). I didn’t realise they used a Captain Greybeard lookalike for a drummer – they could have had the real thing if only they had asked.
I’ll be working as well as playing. Check back here next week for updates .
About the Author: John Honeywell
John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.
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