There goes our spring break in Dubai

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dubai?
why?
My cousin works there. Hates it. All fake and plastic and nothing to do but go shopping and out to eat. Why?
Not my idea of a good time. No culture. No history. Nada. Just a buncha new stuff. yetch.

.

Our itinerary included a desert safari with camel rides, sand boarding (like snow boarding but in the sand), traditional emirates dancing, falcon show and dinner under the stars…tour of tallest sky scraper in the world…night golf…reservation at an infinity pool overlooking the city…and a few days relaxing at Atlantis where there are beaches, water parks and Michelin dining.

It all sounded amazing and we could not wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dubai?
why?
My cousin works there. Hates it. All fake and plastic and nothing to do but go shopping and out to eat. Why?
Not my idea of a good time. No culture. No history. Nada. Just a buncha new stuff. yetch.

I lived in Dubai. I did plenty of stuff outside malls and eating out. Camping. Beaches. Exploring the mountains of Oman. Wandering through the souks of old Dubai and having excellent Indian food. There's a huge outdoor sporting scene in the UAE, I went cycling and trained for triathlons.

Yes, there's materialism aplenty but it's a choice. Your cousin is making that choice.

[Anonymous]

Dubai is worth a visit. Good stopover for a few days.

[Anonymous]

Any good deals given the situation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dubai?
why?
My cousin works there. Hates it. All fake and plastic and nothing to do but go shopping and out to eat. Why?
Not my idea of a good time. No culture. No history. Nada. Just a buncha new stuff. yetch.

.

Our itinerary included a desert safari with camel rides, sand boarding (like snow boarding but in the sand), traditional emirates dancing, falcon show and dinner under the stars…tour of tallest sky scraper in the world…night golf…reservation at an infinity pool overlooking the city…and a few days relaxing at Atlantis where there are beaches, water parks and Michelin dining.

It all sounded amazing and we could not wait.

None of those sound even remotely interesting. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dubai?
why?
My cousin works there. Hates it. All fake and plastic and nothing to do but go shopping and out to eat. Why?
Not my idea of a good time. No culture. No history. Nada. Just a buncha new stuff. yetch.

I lived in Dubai. I did plenty of stuff outside malls and eating out. Camping. Beaches. Exploring the mountains of Oman. Wandering through the souks of old Dubai and having excellent Indian food. There's a huge outdoor sporting scene in the UAE, I went cycling and trained for triathlons.

Yes, there's materialism aplenty but it's a choice. Your cousin is making that choice.

I loved that fish place on Jumierah beach where the fishermen would cook anything they caught that day 😋 Watching eclipses in the wadis of Oman. Kayaking in Dubai Creek. There's so much that's real there people don't even realize. To me that's Dubai. You will get a tourist trap experience if that's what you seek out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If kids are teenager, their idea of fun includes food and spas, and you've got the money to stay there, Dubai is a great choice. But travel insurance for any international travel is a must.

Curious what travel insurance you buy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Final update from the OP: full refund of my entire trip, including my nonrefundable hotels and flights. Our airline declined a refund three times but given the airport was bombed this morning, they relented when I called today. Guess that does not teach me a lesson never to book nonrefundable again. It is significantly cheaper so that’s the way that I have always rolled in my 20 years of travel all around the world.

I would really love to get to Dubai one day. Our entire family was truly alight with excitement about seeing this part of the world, and all of the cool experiences we were planning there.

Now to figure out where we’re going for spring break. Nothing sounds remotely as exciting to me as Dubai did. Looking at Florida, Phoenix, California, Turks…but likely sticking in the states given what’s happening in the world right now.

You were “alight with excitement”!? Have you just been trolling this board the entire time? If so, well done

Thank you. I rolled my eyes at the pretentiousness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dubai?
why?
My cousin works there. Hates it. All fake and plastic and nothing to do but go shopping and out to eat. Why?
Not my idea of a good time. No culture. No history. Nada. Just a buncha new stuff. yetch.

I lived in Dubai. I did plenty of stuff outside malls and eating out. Camping. Beaches. Exploring the mountains of Oman. Wandering through the souks of old Dubai and having excellent Indian food. There's a huge outdoor sporting scene in the UAE, I went cycling and trained for triathlons.

Yes, there's materialism aplenty but it's a choice. Your cousin is making that choice.

NP. I also lived in Dubai. It was my not favorite of the countries where I've worked.

Oman is a different country, so it's great that you enjoyed Oman's mountains, but the fact that a nearby country is nice to visit doesn't really prove your point that Dubai is a nice place, now does it? That's like responding to someone's criticism of the US by saying, "Yeah, but when I lived in the US, I loved visiting Canada!"

There are only so many times you can walk through the "souks of old Dubai" and sample "exellent Indian food." Global Village and many of those little shops in "old Dubai" now resemble a tacky kind of Disney-fied version of Dubai, with every stall or vendor peddling the same cheap tat, massed produced trinkets that are not "authentic" at all. Don't get me started on the massive trade in stolen phones and electronics that is allowed to continue in Deira (google stolen iphones and how they end up in Dubai and China).

As for the beaches, they are a stunning example of...the government's propoganda and tight control of the media, which has thus far somehow ensured that the Dubai's terrible air pollution problem isn't acknowledged or even known by the hoards of tourists they want to come and feel comfortable sitting outside in the polluted air. The air is better in winter than summer, but never good, and much of the time it is in the Unhealthy range and sometimes worse. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/04/air-pollution-is-dirty-secret-in-uae-says-rights-group

As for outdoor sports, let me repeat again: Dubai has an air pollution problem, and the government tightly controls the media to muzzle any facts that might tarnish Dubai's image: just pay attention now to the cases of Westerners who are being jailed for daring to photograph or take videos of what is going on now with drones/missiles. If you want to go run or bike outside in this during the months of the year when the weather makes that possible, fine, they are your lungs, I guess.

I could go on. But I for one am pleased that the UAE's Orwellian clampdown on any criticism of Dubai, their draconian control of the "image" of that shiny sandbox, is being exposed now. There are now people in jail for daring to record or speak the truth of the attacks, and they are being jailed and suppressed because the UAE authorities would rather have people remain in Dubai, in danger but unaware of the full magnitude of that danger, just so the tourism industry can maybe survive. That about sums up what Dubai is all about, I thinik.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c743g4yn4k8o. You can google for more. There are mulitple people imprisoned for this now. A friend who is still in Dubai tells me that there are plain-clothes policemen in areas where drones have hit, just to make sure people aren't standing around filming or photographing the debris left, and people are getting warnings for what they are posting on social media. Do you really want to visit a place like this?

[Anonymous]

What teenager goes to a spa?

[Anonymous]

What a stupid spring break trip idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a stupid spring break trip idea.

But what about the camels!? She was going to ride a damn camel.

[Anonymous]

I thought dubai is under attack now, in war zone.....yes or no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dubai?
why?
My cousin works there. Hates it. All fake and plastic and nothing to do but go shopping and out to eat. Why?
Not my idea of a good time. No culture. No history. Nada. Just a buncha new stuff. yetch.

I lived in Dubai. I did plenty of stuff outside malls and eating out. Camping. Beaches. Exploring the mountains of Oman. Wandering through the souks of old Dubai and having excellent Indian food. There's a huge outdoor sporting scene in the UAE, I went cycling and trained for triathlons.

Yes, there's materialism aplenty but it's a choice. Your cousin is making that choice.

I loved that fish place on Jumierah beach where the fishermen would cook anything they caught that day 😋 Watching eclipses in the wadis of Oman. Kayaking in Dubai Creek. There's so much that's real there people don't even realize. To me that's Dubai. You will get a tourist trap experience if that's what you seek out.

Oman is another country. That is not Dubai.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any good deals given the situation?

No because flight traffic is still limited so flight prices are high. A number of stranded people (transit pax, and visitors) trying to leave, along with some local residents getting out of harm's way.

The daily flight from IAD has run only once this month (on 3/5) and all other days has been cancelled.

Good prices on hotels once you're there though.