You don’t need one thousand and one nights to see a lot of Arabia. By taking a cruise, you can visit several countries in just over a week – seeing not only their ports fringed by soaring skyscrapers but also exploring far beyond the city limits. During a voyage around the Persian Gulf , I did everything from dune bashing to dolphin spotting, from marvelling at mosques to viewing exotic wildlife on a sandy island. There’s no need to break the bank, either, with fares beginning in the hundreds