With only one week left until the big start, there is a wave of anticipation sweeping both land and sea.
The Middle East has been waiting with bated breath for the Qatar World Cup, which begins in just one week.
A once-every-four-year sporting extravaganza is expected to draw almost 1.5 million football enthusiasts from all over the world to Doha.
The first of 64 games that will be contested by 32 teams over the course of 28 days will be played between the host nation and South American squad Ecuador on Sunday.
The brand-new, 22-deck MSC World Europa, which will be home to more than 6,700 fans, is one enormous ship that dominates the skyline.
Making waves at the World Cup
They will be the ship's first paying passengers and will profit from traveling on one of the most cutting-edge cruise ships in its class.
On Sunday, the opulent World Europa liner underwent a formal christening ceremony.
The first two weeks of the World Cup are completely booked, according to Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC Cruises.
"After that, we'll see because it will depend on which nations go to the tournament's following round.
"It is obvious how much money Qatar has invested in hosting this tournament for millions of fans.
"It makes sense to genuinely accommodate the influx of people. It was the ideal time to use these ships to give fans an additional 10,000 beds.
World Cup supporters have purchased small studio cabins for about $350 per night.
The MSC Opera and smaller MSC Poesia, a vessel seconded from Australia to help bridge Doha's accommodation gap for what would be the largest event staged in the Middle East, will accommodate an additional 2,300 spectators. There, overnight rates for cabins begin at about $175.
According to Mr. Onorato, "These vessels will be the ideal setting for people to use as a base to later visit Doha and its cultural landmarks."
A zone for roving football fans
"We are coordinating our efforts to control the flow of spectators and provide them with assistance as needed while they are watching sports.
"There will be a wide variety of events, and the ships will make the ideal location for fan zones.
We anticipate that a lot more families will want to visit now that the Hayya card is free to people without tickets. It will come alive with enormous screens broadcasting each of the matches.
After the competition, the World Europa will start taking passengers on winter cruises from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Dammam in Saudi Arabia.
It is one of the largest cruise ships currently in service, measuring 333 meters in length and 68 meters in height.
It emits less carbon than ships of a similar size since it is powered by liquid natural gas and solid-oxide fuel cells, and it has a mechanism to moderate underwater radiated noise to lessen its impact on marine life.
The ship has a water park, bumper cars, a skating rink, 13 whirlpools, 13 eateries, and seven pools.
Even the longest on-board metal slide, which descends 11 decks, is on this ship.
All three ships are docked in Doha's Grand Terminal in West Bay, in full view of Stadium 974, a 40,000-seat stadium that was constructed out of 974 previously used shipping containers and is called after Qatar's dialing code.
Mexico will play Poland on Tuesday, November 22, and Portugal will play Ghana the following day in the stadium's inaugural game.
The head of Qatar Airways and chairman of Qatar Tourism, Akbar Al Baker, declared that the nation is prepared for the major event.
Because this is the biggest sporting event ever, rest confident that Qatar is adequately prepared for any occurrence.
"We wouldn't have received this from Fifa if they weren't completely happy that we are ready in every way to organize the extremely large public event.
When it comes to individuals being sick or in an emergency, our ministry of public health is completely capable and prepared to handle any situation.
"At the height of the pandemic, we already demonstrated to the world our readiness for emergencies.
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