Dubai as a holiday destination

kizzyr

Myself and my OH are still trying to decide where to go on our holidays this year. Dubai came up as a place of interest last night when we were discussing the problem.
Have any of you been to Dubai? If so what did you think of it? Who did you fly with? What were your hotels like? Basically any information anyone has would we well received.

mariannewims

Hey there,

I've been to Dubai twice, both times en route elsewhere so only for a few nights.
I flew with Emirates both times-amaaaazing service! Really comfy, great individual enterainment systems, good food and they go out of their way to make it comfortable and enjoyable for you. It was only about 6 hours from London anyway, so it flies past (pardon the pun ;-) ) I believe Ethiad fly direct from Dublin-Abu Dhabi now so that could be an option. Otherwise, Emirates fly from Glasgow to Dubai now so that could be a good option to avoid the hectic London airports.

I stayed in 2 different hotels in at the beach in Dubai and both were exceptionally good. The hotel owners out there are really trying to out-do eachother and build more and more lavish hotels so they are all 4 or 5 star standard. I stayed in a basic budget hotel in the city for one night on arrival the first time too, this was fine and very cheap, but had no pool and was in the middle of town so not suitable for a holiday really. You need to be on the coast if you're there for any length of time.

What month were you thinking of going? It was stinking hot when I was there first-in September. Everywhere is air-conditioned, but once you step outside, it feels like someone is blowing a hair-drier directly on you and is quite unpleasant! It was high 30's/low 40's at that time. Second time I visited was in January and that was perfect... Hot but not unbearable-high 20's-low 30's.

I'd think about how long you were going to spend there and what sort of holiday you were looking for before booking anything. I spent 3-4 days at a time there and that was enough for me-but as I said, I was going on to other destinations both times. There aren't a huge amount of sites in the city if you want an active holiday. The souks are interesting, it has amazing shopping and it's a great place to chill out and soak up the rays while enjoying good food and drink... but you won't be running around cramming in cultural activities all day every day. For me, a week would be ideal, any more and I think I'd be bored. However, Dubai is in an ideal location to mix a longer holiday with another destination if you were looking to go for 2 or 3 weeks. Oh-I'm not that keen on aqua parks generally, but there's an amazing one in Jumeriah called Wild Wadi Waterpark that's a must! You can also do trips out into the desert but I haven't experience of these.

Hope this is of some help...
Feel free to ask me any questions!

Mar.

piskins72

yes I have to agree also with flying there with Emirates, you cannot beat their service and their entertainment system, the flight really does go fast when u have all the options on their ICE ( thats what its called) system for movies etc..

I also flew there en route back from Mauritius so was only there briefly for 3 days as well, I would go back most certainly!!! we were there this time of the year so if u are thinking of around now in the next few weeks, firstly Ramadam will be on and also its HOT HOT HOT!!! you would walk out the door of the hotel room into the air and your sun glasses would immediately fog up!!!

Some of the excursions were restricted slightly with it being Ramadam, like the Bedwan nite, it was toned down a little, deffo recommend the dune bashing as its great fun!! u can do sandboarding also at this.

I stayed in the Jebel Ali Resort, which is a good bit outside the city itself, but it is a nice resort, there is a shuttle service to the Mall of the Emirates also, price wise the main shopping is much the same as here, but its the soukes where the likes of jewellery and that are a lot cheaper!!!

PM me if you want more info also!!!

kizzyr

mariannewims wrote: »

Hey there,

I've been to Dubai twice, both times en route elsewhere so only for a few nights.
I flew with Emirates both times-amaaaazing service! Really comfy, great individual enterainment systems, good food and they go out of their way to make it comfortable and enjoyable for you. It was only about 6 hours from London anyway, so it flies past (pardon the pun ;-) ) I believe Ethiad fly direct from Dublin-Abu Dhabi now so that could be an option. Otherwise, Emirates fly from Glasgow to Dubai now so that could be a good option to avoid the hectic London airports.

I stayed in 2 different hotels in at the beach in Dubai and both were exceptionally good. The hotel owners out there are really trying to out-do eachother and build more and more lavish hotels so they are all 4 or 5 star standard. I stayed in a basic budget hotel in the city for one night on arrival the first time too, this was fine and very cheap, but had no pool and was in the middle of town so not suitable for a holiday really. You need to be on the coast if you're there for any length of time.

What month were you thinking of going? It was stinking hot when I was there first-in September. Everywhere is air-conditioned, but once you step outside, it feels like someone is blowing a hair-drier directly on you and is quite unpleasant! It was high 30's/low 40's at that time. Second time I visited was in January and that was perfect... Hot but not unbearable-high 20's-low 30's.

I'd think about how long you were going to spend there and what sort of holiday you were looking for before booking anything. I spent 3-4 days at a time there and that was enough for me-but as I said, I was going on to other destinations both times. There aren't a huge amount of sites in the city if you want an active holiday. The souks are interesting, it has amazing shopping and it's a great place to chill out and soak up the rays while enjoying good food and drink... but you won't be running around cramming in cultural activities all day every day. For me, a week would be ideal, any more and I think I'd be bored. However, Dubai is in an ideal location to mix a longer holiday with another destination if you were looking to go for 2 or 3 weeks. Oh-I'm not that keen on aqua parks generally, but there's an amazing one in Jumeriah called Wild Wadi Waterpark that's a must! You can also do trips out into the desert but I haven't experience of these.

Hope this is of some help...
Feel free to ask me any questions!

Mar.

piskins72 wrote: »

yes I have to agree also with flying there with Emirates, you cannot beat their service and their entertainment system, the flight really does go fast when u have all the options on their ICE ( thats what its called) system for movies etc..

I also flew there en route back from Mauritius so was only there briefly for 3 days as well, I would go back most certainly!!! we were there this time of the year so if u are thinking of around now in the next few weeks, firstly Ramadam will be on and also its HOT HOT HOT!!! you would walk out the door of the hotel room into the air and your sun glasses would immediately fog up!!!

Some of the excursions were restricted slightly with it being Ramadam, like the Bedwan nite, it was toned down a little, deffo recommend the dune bashing as its great fun!! u can do sandboarding also at this.

I stayed in the Jebel Ali Resort, which is a good bit outside the city itself, but it is a nice resort, there is a shuttle service to the Mall of the Emirates also, price wise the main shopping is much the same as here, but its the soukes where the likes of jewellery and that are a lot cheaper!!!

PM me if you want more info also!!!

Thanks to both of you for answering I really appreciate it. We were thinking of going in October and I have to say I never even thought about Ramadan. I always thought that was December anyway Either way its something worth considering.
We're both (boyfriend and myself) absolutely wrecked at the moment and in need of something really really relaxing for a few days before we actually move our lazy selves and do anything. So it would be few days of relaxation with reading of books etc then some sight seeing, nice dinners, scuba diving/ snorkeling that kind of thing. We had thought about 10 days in Dubai and then a weekend in Amsterdam or Berlin on the way home.
I think a big question for us is how expensive would it be? Will it be a crazily expensive trip or something that costs a fair bit but is worth it anyway? Did you book the trip yourselves or go through an agent?

piskins72

as regards cost of getting there, your best bet would be to look up the long haul travel agents and that and see what kind of deals they have, I think most of them show a quote for 5 days or that, but it would give u an idea of the cost

its normally on a B&B basis or Half board basis, I havent really seen any Dubai hotels that offer AI, costwise its 4.54 dinar to 1US doller, its a set rate, when we were there we didnt find it much cheaper than ireland TBH, but others mite find different.

Ramadam doesnt make much of a differnece to visitors, but you are made aware of it by the ground handlers there, when we were there it just had started. there is lots of trips and excursions you can do, a hot air balloon ride being one which was offered to us.

if I was going again just to there I would probably book the flights and hotel myself directly, but again it depends on what prices a tour op would offer as opposed to booking directly!

boardsie08

I'm going to Dubai on Monday, haven't been before but I'm really looking forward to it, been wanting to go to Dubai for ages now!

So I'll let you know how I get on when I'm back in two weeks time!

Btw, Ramadan won't be on in Oct this year - it changes every year, each year starting earlier. Ramadan will be over around Sept 30th/Oct 1st - again this date varies as it goes according to the cycle of the moon.

Oct should be nice for weather, I was a lil apprehensive about the weather in Sept first, but given the miserable "summer" we've had this year I doubt I'll be complaining about sun and heat when I finally get there!

piskins72

yeah that was what I forgot to say that it moves depending on all of that!!

I was there around this time 2 years ago and temps were hitting 40 and humitidy 98% so you wont have any worries about bad weather LOL .... I wish I was going 2!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tipsy Mac

I'd avoid going at it on the beach

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Dubai-Briton-Says-Sorry-Over-Sex-On-Beach-Arrest/Article/200807215034192?lpos=World%2BNews_5&lid=ARTICLE_15034192_Dubai%253A%2BBriton%2BSays%2BSorry%2BOver%2B%2527Sex%2BOn%2BBeach%2527%2BArrest

mariannewims

Hey Kizzy,
If you're into snorkelling/diving, Dubai isn't a great destination... how about a few days in Dubai and then heading on to the Maldives? It's only about 2 hours away and your flight wouldn't be much dearer to book to Male via Dubai as it would to get to Dubai alone. The Maldives has a rep for being crazy dear, but it's not all that bad if you can find a decent travel agent to get you a good deal! Thomas Cook are pretty good to have a chat with an check out the various options...
Just an idea, but the weather would be beautiful there in October and it's defo a great chill out location!

Hope you have a great hol,
Mar.

kizzyr

mariannewims wrote: »

Hey Kizzy,
If you're into snorkelling/diving, Dubai isn't a great destination... how about a few days in Dubai and then heading on to the Maldives? It's only about 2 hours away and your flight wouldn't be much dearer to book to Male via Dubai as it would to get to Dubai alone. The Maldives has a rep for being crazy dear, but it's not all that bad if you can find a decent travel agent to get you a good deal! Thomas Cook are pretty good to have a chat with an check out the various options...
Just an idea, but the weather would be beautiful there in October and it's defo a great chill out location!

Hope you have a great hol,

Mar.

Now that sounds like a good idea and certainly something worth looking into.
Thanks for all your replies guys, I'm really starting to feel like I might get to go somewhere great this year after all.

willowthewisp

Hi guys, going there on my Honeymoon in September, (yes I know its Ramadam), for anyone who's done the dune bashing there, who did you go with?