Dubai with mum and 10 yr old daughter.

Some advise please.

We arrive from the Uk on Sat 9th Feb... at about 7.30am !!! (overnight flight! )

We have Sat Sun and Mon am before a cruise.

The cruise comes back on the Sunday into Dubai so we get all day in Dubai on the sunday too ! We get off cruise monday morning and go straight to airport to fly home.

We want to do the following: But in what order im not sure!!!

Emirate big shopping mall with the big aquairum, "At the Top" and the water fountains. Wild waldi water park. an old boat ride and gold spice souk. Burj , Sand dune bashing... camel ride and belly dancing.

So... my plan was to see how we feel after night flight...

Hotel room wont be ready till 2pm. ( staying in business area)

So ................ taxi to shopping mall and shop and eat, look at fish etc.

Back when we are tired and have a sleep.

Back out for evening... is it safe to do boat trip and walk around the souk evening?

Sunday go to Waldi water park... get picked up by "Fun tours" and do sand dune bashing and camel ride, henna, belly dancing etc... back to hotel by 10pm.

(fab for photos)

Monday... not too sure ?????... then go to boat.

Sunday after cruise... get off boat at 8am and do a city "tour" to see all the main buidlings etc.... Do we NEED to go with royal Caribeean or do you think we could use another tour compnay? and see water fountains. Might consider helicopter tour ( short one! just to say we did it ! :D)

Any thoughts or advice please...... Will everything be open on the days I need it to be? Is the "weekend" Fri and Sat there?

Thanks

The week-end is Fri-Sat in the UAE. The Dubai Mall is where "At the Top" Burj Khalifa, Aquarium, ice rink, Sega Republic, Kidzania, Dubai Fountains and Souk al Bahar are. I think that is a good idea to do the first day. When you get tired you can just go back to the hotel. There are two fountain shows in the afternoon at one pm and one thirty. They then start again at six pm. This area will easily fill your day.

Mall of the Emirates has the indoor ski slope and penguins. A good stop to combine with Madinat Jumeirah next to Burj al Arab though you will need a taxi to get between the two. This could be a stop on Monday morning if you sail away late afternoon.

Wild Wadi Park and/or the desert safari on Sunday is good. Keep in mind these things for timing:

Sunday is the first day of the week which would not be as busy as the week-end but if when you are here is winter vacation time in the UK the park could be very busy with tourists. I believe the park opens at 10 am

Will you get picked up for the desert safari at Wild Wadi or from your hotel?

Pick-ups for the desert trips are usually around 15:30.

If you are getting picked up at your hotel and it is busy at Wild Wadi you could be cutting it close.

Check to see what stops are on your city tour. Most include stops in the Bastakiya area of old Dubai where the old souks are. This might eliminate the need to go there yourself on the day you arrive. By boat ride, do you mean riding across the creek on an abra (a must do and only one dirham!) If you visit Burj Khalifa on your own, be sure to purchase your tickets ahead of time. They often sell out and are far more expensive when you try to buy them on arrival.

Hope this helps. Enjoy Dubai!

Thank you for sooo much info and advice ! :D :D

Definiately want to do the Abra boat ride......Sounds amazing!:) Is this better in the day or early evening? Silly question alert... when will it get dark in feb?

Yes Funtours will pick up and drop off anywhere... so will get picked up 3 3.30 pm from water park...... and they will drop off at hotel. Can keep water clothes and towels etc in jeep !

Thank you for sooo much info and advice ! :D :D

 

Definiately want to do the Abra boat ride......Sounds amazing!:) Is this better in the day or early evening? Silly question alert... when will it get dark in feb?

 

Yes Funtours will pick up and drop off anywhere... so will get picked up 3 3.30 pm from water park...... and they will drop off at hotel. Can keep water clothes and towels etc in jeep !

In Feb. the sun will set around 6 pm. Riding across the creek on an abra is fun day or night. It doesn't take long though.....maybe 5 minutes. The souks are busier at night. The Gold and Spice Souk are on the Deira side of the creek and the textile souk is on the Bur Dubai side. There are also dinner cruises that ride up and down the creek.

Earlier this year our flight arrived at Dubai airport around 6.00 in the morning. We took the metro+taxi to our hotel to leave our bags. They were very helpful and had a room ready shortly after 9 am although the check-in time stated was 2 pm. It is worth a try. It is best to book trips before arrival if possible. Friday is their holy day and some things are closed in the morning including the metro. Many hotels have their own shuttles to take guests to the large shopping malls and/or beach. We used our hotel shuttle to take us to the mall and the beach as we were a few miles from them. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza hotel which was near Emirates Towers.

Thank you for the info.

I mihgt do the water park on the Sat when we arrive, after dropping bags at hotel .... then we can relax and if need be have a nap under an umberella!!!! LOL.

Keep the shopping and sight seeing for the Sunday, before the safari trip. ... will be a bit better orientated by then too

Are shops open sunday? Guess they are as the weekend is Fri and Sat?

HI Lindyloo17,

Just be prepared as the Souks and some if not all the shops are closed on friday mornings and are not open until the afternoon as Fridays are classed as a holy day.

I was in Dubia earlier this year and on the Friday we ended up doing the hopon hopoff bus tour was was great.

chez

Thinking of taking Alphas helicopter tour from Atlantis... any info please?:)

Make reservations in advance if you to plan to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa. Reserving tickets online costs about $30 (US) per ticket on-line. Buying them there costs over $100 per ticket. also, reserve them early -otherwise, the day/time you want may be sold out.

No, you do not have to go with Royal Carribean, but be aware that a "group tour" usually means a bus tour. I made the mistake of thinking that it meant a van or mini-bus tour so we ended up doing a lot of waiting for others to join us at several stops.

You could also do the hop-on, hop-off bus. I found the loops too long, but they do include an interesting walking tour, an abra boat ride and a boat trip.