Dripping with opulence and hailed as a floating palace, it was nicknamed HMS WAG for hosting the families of footballers during the World Cup.
But it looks like the luxury cruise liner may not have been comfortable enough for the England team’s pampered wives and girlfriends – who abandoned ship.
After 10 nights on board, the football stars’ families moved into lavish villas with private pools on the mainland or into five-star hotels.
In a vote of confidence at the Three Lions, star Harry Maguire’s family appear to have preferred a hotel a short distance from Lusail Stadium – where the World Cup final will be held.
England’s WAGs and their family members used to stay on the £1billion cruise ship but have now moved into luxury villas and hotels
Aine May Kennedy is dating English star Conor Gallagher. Ms Kennedy, 23, joined other WAGs in Qatar after having trouble with her passport
The fabulous Waldorf Astoria boasts of being “an oasis of luxury in the Arabian Gulf” with a private beach, spa and eight top-notch restaurants.
Hopefully, significantly, it is also a 10-minute drive from the 89,000-seat flagship stadium shaped like a golden Arab fanar lantern where the tournament winners will lift the trophy on December 18.
WAGs from England were enjoying new, more luxurious accommodation ashore yesterday after disembarking from the £1billion MSC World Europa cruise ship docked in the port of Doha where they have been staying since arriving in Qatar on November 20 .
It has been described as the most amazing cruise ship ever built, with 33 onboard restaurants and bars, beauty salons, shops, 14 ocean-view Jacuzzis and an incredible 11-story indoor waterslide named The Venom Drop.
The WAGs are said to have racked up a bar bill of £20,000 during a raucous karaoke session the night England beat Iran 6-2.
Leicester City footballer James Maddison and his model girlfriend Kennedy Alexa (pictured left) are believed to have been dating for more than two years, while Aine May Kennedy and Conor Gallagher have been together for almost four years (pictured right )
The Waldorf Astoria Lusail Hotel, Doha, where some of the WAGs have moved. Resort has a private beach, spa, and eight top restaurants
But with the group sharing the ship with 6,000 other passengers and needing to hire extra cabins to store their spacious wardrobes, it seems some of them have grown weary of cruise ship life.
In a video posted online, Welsh keeper Danny Ward’s partner Rebecca Naylor hinted at the regret among the Welsh WAGs who stayed on the liner when she filmed a luxury hotel before zooming her camera into the boat cruising on the water and writing conspicuously: ‘When you should have done the 10 days here and not there’.
Yesterday, a social media video shared by England defender Conor Coady’s wife, Amie, 29, showed a spectacular marble villa near a beach.
Amie, the wife of England star Conor Coady, enjoyed a break from the action as she shared a trip of snaps from her trip to the beach during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
The mother-of-three showed children enjoying the pool and dancing on a terrace as staff served refreshments, including a bottle in an ice bucket.
She and her husband also posed together for a romantic photo at the villa, located 80 km from Doha.
Kennedy Alexa, midfielder James Maddison’s model partner, also shared footage from a villa and a photo of them kissing by the sea with the caption: “Quality time with you.”
Others including Jack Grealish’s partner Sasha Attwood, 27, Jordan Pickford’s wife Megan, 26, Kyle Walker’s model wife Annie Kilner, 30, and girlfriend of Luke Shaw , Anouska Santos, 30, also moved to shore accommodation.
The players were all treated to family time on Wednesday, with midfielder Declan Rice greeting a ‘cold day’ yesterday with partner Lauren Fryer and baby son Leo, saying: ‘I have my newborn baby here with me, so I could spend the day with him. We haven’t seen our families all the time, so when we do see them, it’s really special.
A Football Association source confirmed WAGs had jumped ship, but said that had always been the plan after the group stage of the tournament.
England are now in the knockout stage, facing African champions Senegal on Sunday.
