JO KESSEL: How I lived the high life aboard England WAGs’ floating palace

It’s hard to say which twinkles more at night: the Doha skyline or the new £1 billion cruise ship lying across the street waiting for the arrival of the World Cup Wags.

What is clear is that the 6,774 passenger MSC World Europe will be right on track when the wives and girlfriends of Gareth Southgate’s England squad arrive this week.

The Daily Mail has already given a sneak preview of HMS Wag, as the ship has been dubbed. Now we can taste the kind of treats they can enjoy.

“It’s our largest, shiniest and most bling-bling ship,” said Bernhard Stacher, MSC’s Vice President of Global Hotel Operations.

The ship, chartered by Qatar for the duration of the World Cup, has 22,000 Swarovski crystals in the central chandelier, while another 8,000 sparkle from a spiral staircase in the Yacht Club, a private enclave reserved for guests of the floating palace. 152 chicest suites.

With exclusive access to a VIP lounge, restaurant, pool and grill, it is the obvious choice for England’s glamorous entourage.

Yacht Club suites offer a personalized service with a 24-hour butler. ‘All guests have to show up – we’ll do everything else,’ says Yacht Club Director Cristian Comirla as he shows me MSC’s most opulent accommodation – one of the two 104 square meter Owner’s Suites at the front of the ship – for a minimum of £5,459 per person per week.

Booked by Jack Grealish’s girlfriend Sasha Attwood, she’ll have the same view as the captain — and a lounge four times the size of a regular cabin. In fact, there’s a hot tub on the balcony that’s roomy enough for her and a few other Wags.

There’s a lot to lure Wags out of the Yacht Club. If Charlotte Trippier – the wife of Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier – is looking for some tasty treats, I suggest asking the butler to book her at the Kaito Sushi Bar and the Chef’s Garden Kitchen to order the glazed beef rib with cauliflower puree and to settle the first seagoing hydroponic garden, which grows without soil.

Another attraction is Venom Drop – the longest dry slide at sea, which spins helter-go-kart style as it plunges down 11 decks. Maybe Kyle Walker’s wife Annie is brave enough to try.

From the bottom of the slide you look out over Stadium 974, a football field made up of 974 shipping containers, which will be demolished after the tournament.

The matches will be shown live on the big screen in MSC World Europe’s English pub, Masters of the Sea, where alcohol can flow freely as the ship is not subject to Qatar’s rules. £400 bottles of Armand de Brignac bubbly await in the glamorous champagne bar.

And what about the spa? After a dip in MSC’s largest thermal jacuzzi, the Wags can cool off in a snow room – a chilled space in every sense of the word.

The most popular products here are £140 bottles of Age Repair Miracle Drops, which are said to be good for reducing wrinkles.

‘These can be used preventively from the age of 30’, says the facialist. If money were no object, I’d pick them up – as well as a £3,100 Salvatore Ferragamo bag from the ship’s luxury accessories shop and a £22,000 Effy ring with a rare yellow diamond from the jewelry store.

HMS Wag is certainly nicer than the non-alcoholic Souq Al Wakra Hotel outside the city where the 26-man England squad will be staying.

If the guys lose, the girls will still have a blast – and if they win, MSC World Europe is the place to celebrate. There’s even a £60,000, 18-carat gold Hublot timepiece in the World of Watches shop to create the perfect blingy reward for England captain Harry Kane.