Money, Money, Money. That pretty well sums up Dubai. It is really something to see - an architect’s dream world. Twenty percent of all the tower cranes in the world are in the UAE with the most in Dubai. It has 47 shopping malls with the two biggest in the world; one includes the indoor ski hill. Our guide said that is all there is to do for the rich Arabs and others that live there. They live in their huge palaces and mansions and go shopping during the day. I think I saw more Rolls Royces, Bugates, Bentleys and any other exotic and luxury cars than anywhere.
Our tour started with Tea at the Burj Al Arab Hotel. That is the huge hotel shaped like a sail that has come to be the symbol of Dubai. We were able to take pictures throughout the parts of the hotel that we saw. Sadly I didn’t get to see any rooms; I had thought the Tea would be the last stop of the tour and I had taken my travel agent IATAN certification card hoping that I could get a tour… no such luck. Anyway, it is pretty spectacular; the cheapest small suite goes for about $2000 a night (as our guided said “without breakfast!”). 
There was a row of white Rolls’ parked outside to cater to the guests needs… no doubt, shopping. Tea was just tea… finger sandwiches, scones and sweets. I did love every drop of the two cups of coffee (remember, I’ve been drinking ship coffee for over two months). If you were to book this tea on your own it costs about $150 a person… not even the little paper thin piece of gold on my sweet would make it worth that, but as part of the tour it was quite an experience. We were under a dress code for this tour, long pants, no jeans and covered shoulders, no t-shirts- ok that’s fine, everyone dressed accordingly. But, obviously if you can afford to stay there no code applies; there were many very skimpily dressed women and men in shorts that were obviously guests in the hotel.
The other part of the tour was a boat ride that we thought would take us out through the islands of “The World”… nope, we cruised along and just as we could start to see those manmade islands starting to show above the waves we turned around and started back. Why would we want just a boat ride when we have all been onboard a ship for this length of time??? Everyone was a bit put out.
The best part of the tour was just driving around through the city and looking at the buildings. They are spectacular. Our driver got us to one location quite close to the tallest building in the world for photos… it took me three shots to get it all in top to bottom from that distance. It is TALL!
You can tell this wasn’t my favorite tour but I’ve wanted to see that hotel for about 8 years, now I can mark it off the list; been there - done that.
Our tour started with Tea at the Burj Al Arab Hotel. That is the huge hotel shaped like a sail that has come to be the symbol of Dubai. We were able to take pictures throughout the parts of the hotel that we saw. Sadly I didn’t get to see any rooms; I had thought the Tea would be the last stop of the tour and I had taken my travel agent IATAN certification card hoping that I could get a tour… no such luck. Anyway, it is pretty spectacular; the cheapest small suite goes for about $2000 a night (as our guided said “without breakfast!”). 
There was a row of white Rolls’ parked outside to cater to the guests needs… no doubt, shopping. Tea was just tea… finger sandwiches, scones and sweets. I did love every drop of the two cups of coffee (remember, I’ve been drinking ship coffee for over two months). If you were to book this tea on your own it costs about $150 a person… not even the little paper thin piece of gold on my sweet would make it worth that, but as part of the tour it was quite an experience. We were under a dress code for this tour, long pants, no jeans and covered shoulders, no t-shirts- ok that’s fine, everyone dressed accordingly. But, obviously if you can afford to stay there no code applies; there were many very skimpily dressed women and men in shorts that were obviously guests in the hotel.The other part of the tour was a boat ride that we thought would take us out through the islands of “The World”… nope, we cruised along and just as we could start to see those manmade islands starting to show above the waves we turned around and started back. Why would we want just a boat ride when we have all been onboard a ship for this length of time??? Everyone was a bit put out.
The best part of the tour was just driving around through the city and looking at the buildings. They are spectacular. Our driver got us to one location quite close to the tallest building in the world for photos… it took me three shots to get it all in top to bottom from that distance. It is TALL!
You can tell this wasn’t my favorite tour but I’ve wanted to see that hotel for about 8 years, now I can mark it off the list; been there - done that.
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