The venues included in the tour - the mosque and FerrariWorld were fine. The mosque was beautiful and very interesting, especially for a non-Muslim like myself. FerrariWorld was also worthwhile. My only complaints about the park would be the almost total lack of signage, making it very disorienting. Being indoors compounded the problem. Also, the place was pretty much empty. There were no lines for any ride except the Formula Rosso. And I do mean NO lines. You could walk straight on. So why the complaint? The guest services desk right inside the park was more than willing to lighten my wallet by AED150 for a fast pass that was totally unnecessary. I found that dishonest and disappointing. Buyer beware, I guess.
So, with all that said, moving on to the main main reasons I am giving this tour only three stars:
1) Despite all of the forewarnings on the website that a COVID test was required, and boarding would be denied to anyone not holding a negative result, that was absolutely not the case. At no point did anyone from Gray Line, the mosque or FerrariWorld ask for the test result or even inquire as to whether or not we had been tested. This really annoyed me. I took the time, effort and expense to get a test before leaving the US, solely for the purposes of taking this excursion, and it was an absolute waste of calories.
2) We spent too long at the mosque - you can easily see the entire place in 45 mins. We spent about twice that there, which theoretically reduced the time we could have had at FerrariWorld. The online description stated 5.5 hours would be available for us to enjoy the theme park, but when we were dropped off there, we were told 3.5 hours, no more. Not cool. But it got worse.
3) Our guide, Rifky, told us that he would text us via WhatsApp between 3 and 3:30 to advise us when to be outside the theme park to rejoin the bus. He didn’t do that. So, not wanting to miss the bus and incur a $150 taxi ride back to Dubai, I left the park and headed outside at 3:30. No sign of the bus. Rifky wasn’t answering calls or texts. After reaching out to Gray Line directly at 4pm, they finally prompted him to reply to us, and he said he’d be outside the venue at 4:20. We could have staying the in park almost an entire hour longer. But it got worse again! He didn’t show up in the bus until almost 5pm!! So now, not only had we lost almost an hour and a half of time that we could have spent enjoying the rides in the park, we all sat outside in the searing UAE heat for over 40 minutes waiting for the bus. No communication of any delay - nothing!!! Just unacceptable.
In hindsight, I wish I’d paid for the private tour, but I’ll know better next time. I would not recommend this tour to other travelers.