With a crystal staircase, £6,000-a-week “royal” suites and luxury watch shops, it has all the glitz and glamour of any other hotel in Doha, the desert capital of Qatar. Except this one floats.
Spread over 22 decks, the brand new £1 billion MSC World Europa is the floating palace that will host the England players’ wives and girlfriends at the World Cup. Among the facilities are 13 restaurants, seven pools, an 11-deck slide and a spa complete with a sub-zero “snow room”.
There is also plenty of booze. The ship has 20 watering holes, ranging from a traditional pub serving craft beer brewed on board to plush cocktail lounges, where drink flows from dawn to dusk, despite Qatar’s strict policies relating to alcohol on land.
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