4 hours ago, Artemis said:

Anne, I'd like to add my thanks for your many valuable contributions about Dubai. I just returned from my first visit, including some pre- and post-cruise time in your city. I took your advice and stayed at the Sheraton Dubai on the Creek--it was the perfect property for my needs. 

 

Hope your 2020 is off to a great start!

I'm pleased you enjoyed your visit and that the hotel was a good fit for you.  Whilst I'm the first to admit it isn't the newest, glitziest or upmarket property in Dubai it's location can't be bettered for a short stay and it's stood the test of time admirably...I find most of those Creekside properties get overlooked by leisure visitors these days in favour of the many 'new' Dubai choices...

Anne...

Well done.  Good to see and read about a visitor making the most of their visit independently.  Great tips and choice of activities that clearly made for an enjoyable and fulfilling visit...

Anne..

1 hour ago, tvmovielover said:

Hi Anne!  We will be ending a cruise in Dubai in May.  We have a long day to spend seeing things and a middle of the night air departure.  The Iftar dinners sound like a good way to end our day there.  Where is the best place to find information about which hotels etc and maybe some reviews? 

All hotels will serve Iftar dinners and as they are usually extensive buffets many just use their regular all day dining venue however, those with lots of space often set up special Iftar Tents for the duration of Ramadan.  It’s too early now to know what options will be available but a good source nearer the time would be online sites like WhatsOn or TimeOut or even a Google search for Iftar in Dubai should come up with a good selection.   
 

Anne...

42 minutes ago, enewhere said:

Hi Anne

thanks for taking all the time to help.  We will be visiting the expo for 3 days post cruise in November.  You advised cancruisers to stay along the red line in order to see the city and the expo.  We will only need access to the expo and were looking at the Marina area.  Can you advise?  

That’s fine and whilst there is no Metro station within Dubai Marina there is a Red Line station easily accessible from there.... 

Anne...

4 hours ago, mef_57 said:

Canada just posted increased security warnings for UAE, Oman, Jordan and Isreal which involves the first half of my April cruise and the area that interested me the most. Not much interested in a shortened cruise from Cyprus to Venice.

Not a nervous nellie for personal safety but hate to knowingly book something that mean potential loss of all the travel funds if having to pull out at last minute. Many insurances don't cover terrorism or acts of war. I am very possesive of my travel budget😁  currently hoping that by April things will have blown over.

I think it's way too early to speculate what may or may not happen over the coming weeks/months and what impact it may have on our travel plans.   I was over near Port Rashid yesterday and there were 4 cruise ships at the terminal all carrying on as normal with their changeover day or port call day.  All the UAE international airports and airlines are operating flights as per normal too.  Most airlines have been avoiding Iraqi airspace for some time now... I have a Seychelles cruise booked in a few weeks on a very small ship that is currently still here in the Gulf.  It sailed from Dubai to Doha yesterday afternoon and is scheduled to sail out through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Indian Ocean later this week.... I'm keeping my fingers crossed nothing happens in the meantime!!!!

Anne...

1 hour ago, G.M.T. said:

See if your hotel has a website in English / Arabic, search for the address / location in English then try to find the same information in Arabic, if successful print out the information.

 

If not emal hotel and ask them for directions / address in Arabic, print out.

The hotel the OP has booked is very close to the entry/exit from Port Rashid so it should be a quick transfer... I’m not sure how useful an address in Arabic would be, I’ve never come across an Arabic taxi driver, the majority are from the Asian sub-continent.   Hotel name, and address (street name) in English is more than enough as most taxi drivers use Google maps..

Anne...

8 hours ago, Riverroad said:

Does all of the above apply if we are just changing planes in Dubai for an onward flight to Johannesburg? We will be in transit, not entering the country.

It is unlikely that you would be asked about medications if you are only in transit however, if you do travel with anything that is on the controlled list then I'd carry a copy of the prescription as well - just in case.  It goes without saying that you shouldn't carry anything on the prohibited list regardless of whether you are just in transit or not - you never know, flights can be delayed and you may be required to stop-over!!!!

Anne...

I'm not sure why you went down the 'apply to import drugs online' route as for tourists/short stay visitors arriving into the UAE with any drugs/medication that are on the controlled list here all that is required is that you carry the item(s) in its original packaging and with accompanying prescription, and doctor's letter if required, in case you are asked if you have anything with you during the entry procedures... Having never used the online option, or know anyone else who has, I have no idea why your application was rejected if the item and quantities conformed to requirements.  If nothing you intend to carry with you is prohibited then I'd just follow the normal entry procedures for controlled drugs and carry them and any supporting documentation with you and keep them to hand (handbag, back pack, etc.) in the unlikely event you get spot checked upon arrival... The authorities are not looking for, or interested in, people entering the country with small amounts of prescribed medication for personal use during their stay, they are only interested if the quantities are clearly more than for personal use during a short stay!!!!!

Anne...

17 minutes ago, mef_57 said:

Hi Anne.  Once I check in to my cruise, I have a further 30 hours or so to visit Dubai.  I planned on visiting along the Creek. How walkable is the Cruise Terminal and is it feasible to walk to The Dubai Museum? Thanks.

The Creek is quite close to the cruise terminal however Port Rashid is a secure area and you are not allowed to walk in or out of it.  Plus, it is too far to walk you’ll need to get a taxi from the terminal to Al Fahidi St. in the Al Seef Heritage area where the Dubai Museum is located however, the whole Al Seef Heritage area beside the Creek is walkable once you get there.  
 

Anne...

46 minutes ago, dbsb3233 said:

Does anyone know whether for a cruise with 3 consecutive India ports (Mumbai, Goa, Cochin) we need the 30-day eTourist visa ($25 USD) or the 1-year ($40 USD)?  From what I've read, the 30-day is supposed to be a double-entry visa, while the 1-year is multiple-entry (not 100% sure if that's correct though, I just read it on TripSavvy).  Some people say 3 consecutive India ports means it only requires a single entry, but I can't find that listed officially anywhere.  In fact, I can't find anything about # of entries anywhere on the official website, only external travel sites. 

 

Obviously I'd prefer to just get the 30-day and save a little money but if there's a real question I'll just get the 1-year to be safe.  Does anyone know for sure which is needed for such a cruise?  (We're not going anywhere else in India other than the 3 cruise cities.)

the 30 day tourist visa is fine, I used one for 3 consecutive India ports on a cruise last year as that counts as a single entry.  You only need multi-entry if you leave India and visit other countries between each of your India ports... I was told by the Consulate here that the 30 day double entry can be used for up to 4 consecutive cruise ports or entry into an India port then visiting a different country followed by re-entry to India for remaining ports.  The example I was given for double entry was on some cruise routes East to West (or vice versa) you could visit a port on the east coast of India then maybe visit Sri Lanka or the Maldives before visiting further India ports on the west coast... 

Anne...

14 minutes ago, dbsb3233 said:

We have a March cruise starting in Dubai, and we're staying 2 nights in hotel (the ship also docks an extra night).  Never been to Dubai before so I did some research.  The layout kinda reminds me a little of the Las Vegas Strip, in that the properties and things to see are huge and spread out and not very walkable.  It doesn't appear to me that there's any core "Old Town" area to stay in like many European cities have, where you can just stay there are walk around and see the best stuff.  Looks like it's gonna take transportation to see much.

 

So instead of picking a hotel near some destination, I picked one with the easiest access to the Metro.  I chose the Somewhere Apartment Hotel in the Dubai Creek area (next to the Deira City Center Mall).  The subway entrance is literally on the sidewalk in front of the hotel.  Looks like a nice hotel, although every hotel I checked looked really nice and had surprisingly good prices.  I thought Dubai would be much more expensive but there's tons of decent 4-star hotels for under $150/ni (USD) after taxes.

 

It's also very close to the airport.  After 20 hours of flights to get into Dubai late night, the shorter the ride from the airport the better.  We might even just take the subway since it looks like there's escalators on all of them (not sure about elevators).  Wouldn't want to drag our luggage up stairs. 

The hotel you mentioned is very close to the airport, and easily accessible by Metro - and all Metro stations do have both escalators and elevators.  The Port Saeed area around Deira City Centre is mostly commercial and the roads there can get very congested.  If you look at properties a little further from DCC along Beniyas St. it will be a little less congested and you will be in what is referred to as ‘Old Dubai’, which is much closer to the Creek, and more pedestrian friendly.   There are several hotels and aparthotels that personally I would recommend over the Somewhere Hotel.   Rates are still very reasonable, especially compared to those around Burj Khalifa and Downtown.   Ones I know personally are the Dubai Sheraton Hotel & Towers, the Hilton Dubai Creek and the Rotana Al Bandar however there are several others if you look on the usual hotel booking or review sites.... The drive from the airport is only a few minutes difference however, they are not right beside a Metro station if that is important  to you...

Anne...

1 hour ago, Skoobdo said:

Anne, I have a question for you, if you're able to help.  I'm taking two cruises starting in 2 days from Dubai. Can you tell me which Cruise Port building to enter for MSC ships?  I'm assuming as I approach the port I'll see the ship and it would be obvious (hopefully).

 

On Google maps at Port Rashid there's one labeled "Dubai Cruise Terminal" to the west and another one labeled "Dubai Cruise Terminal 3" a bit of a walking distance east of the first one.

 

When I go to the government website for these cruise terminals, they only have a map of the one on the left (west), the smaller one.  But, most all reviews mention the larger one.  I just don't want to waste money with a taxi driver going in circles, because they like that to their benefit of course 😊

 

Thanks in advance.

Port Rashid is no longer a ‘working’ port so the only ships in there are cruise ships.  I was on the QE2 about ten days ago and there was a Costa and an MSC ship over at the cruise terminal, and whilst they have numbers they are actually side by side.  Once you drive into the port you will easily see which ship(s) are there and the road from the security check-point to the terminal buildings is clearly signed and the taxi driver should know the way to the drop off point for each ship if there are more than one....

Anne...

2 hours ago, Skoobdo said:

The pink taxis are the government taxis (RTA).  They accept Careen and regular fare.  And as far as I know there's Uber too.  Haven't used Uber here yet (I walk and take the metro), but it shows up as an option to use when I go to Google maps each day planning out a long walk somewhere in town.

Uber and Careem merged about a year ago so they are one and the same thing.....and they operate under special arrangement with the RTA hence the reason you can book any via the same app.   They are trying to phase out the RTA call centre so all taxi requests/bookings will be via the RTA app and operate the same way as Uber/Careem does however, at the moment both are still in use.......Plus, you can still hail an available RTA cab on the street for immediate use....

Anne....

6 hours ago, mef_57 said:

Shh.  I am trying to stay in a little bubble of denial as to how hot it may be.  I use wunderground website for historical temps. It gives low and highs and precipitation. Humidex factor doesn't appear.  Summers in Ottawa are what I call soup season, so I know humidity - but it doesn't mean I have to like it. If too hot, The Mall is cut from the list. I would rather swelter in the souks or on the dabra.

 

 
You’ll be fine - yes it’s hot already by May but not necessarily humid.  Humidity levels are dependent upon other climatic conditions, so sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t..... 😀

Anne...

5 hours ago, Gordoncruickshank said:

We will usually stay for the night after we disembark but I always find that it is a wasted time. By the time you get off the ship get to the hotel wait to check in whenever that happens. You end up with a day in transit and then the same happens the next day going to the airport. You really need to stay for at least 2 nights to see anything.

I agree, a 1 night post-cruise stay serves no purpose other than making the trip home slower!!!  However, there are many options to get back to Glasgow/Edinburgh, from daily non-stop Emirates flights to connections via any number of European cities.  You only need  to fly via Heathrow if you restrict yourself to British Airways - which the majority of those of us who regularly fly to UK destinations other than London tend to avoid!!!!  
 

Anne...

18 hours ago, wabamun said:

We are spending 2 days (1 night) in Dubai after our cruise and need a hotel.

 

Any thoughts on the Movenpick Hotel & Apartments Bur Dubai?

 

We can get a pretty good price on this one.

 

Thanks. Glen.

 

 

By coincidence I just drove past that hotel on my way back from Port Rashid this morning.  It isn’t in one of the traditional tourist locations, but it’s only a short drive from the port, a fairly short ride to the airport and midway between Old and New Dubai for sightseeing.  As the above poster noted, most hotels here are fairly new and reasonably well appointed so for a one night stay if you’re happy with any reviews and the room rate then go for it...

Anne..

6 hours ago, Luvaz said:

Thank you in advance for any help. We're staying in Dubai for 3 nights after a cruise. We have reservations at the Millenium Plaza but thinking of switching to the Vida Creek Harbour. We are 6 seniors and like shopping, eating and the usual sightseeing. What are your thoughts between the 2 hotels? Pricing is the same. There are so many options on where to stay it's very difficult.  

Whilst the Vida Creek Harbour is a lovely new property with amazing views (I stayed there for an overnight 'staycation' a few weeks ago) I would not recommend it for a first time visitor with those listed interests.  It is located in a new development (Creek Harbour) which is still very much a work in progress with only the hotel, marina, promenade walk and a couple of the residential towers beside it completed, no shops, restaurants or cafes, etc. other than the hotel restaurant.   I know the place but it's not easy to find for anyone who doesn't know the area as they are still constructing the interchange and road network that leads to Creek Harbour.  Perfect place for a restful weekend but not really ideal as a base for an 'active' visit.... Whilst not in such a peaceful location or with the views from the Vida Creek Harbour, the Millennium Plaza has easy access to the Metro and taxis, etc. is only a couple of Metro stops from Dubai Mall, Dubai Fountains, Burj Khalifa etc. for sightseeing, shopping, restaurants. etc. etc.    

Anne...

2 hours ago, Skoobdo said:

Just so you know.  All the suggestions you have been provided are good.  It all depends on when you say you have a few days so you can see the city.  Well, depends if you're talking about the entire city or mostly the newer parts.

 

If you want to immerse yourself in the traditional part of the city I would suggest staying over near the cultural village, museum and fort area which is near the creek and souks.  The creek is where all your day to day trade and activity occurs between Dubai/Diera the older city.  I'm partial to the older part of Dubai. It's just more authentic.  I actually like staying at the Arabian Courtyard and Spa Hotel.  However, right now I'm staying out near the airport to collect some hotel points/status and will be catching a cruise in 2 weeks on MSC.

 

However, if you want to embrace a more luxurious part of Dubai, and pamper yourself, as the last poster indicated, the Jumeriah hotels would be something to look at away from the the older part of Dubai.

 

No matter where you stay, you'll have fun pack days that will wear you out.  Enjoy your cruise and Dubai.

I absolutely agree with you.  Unless people ask for recommendations in a specific area, or for information about a specific hotel, I always try to steer them towards properties in and around the Creek too as that was central Dubai when I first came out here and it's still my preferred location!!!!  In addition to the Arabian Courtyard Hotel & Spa there are now two of the Jumeirah Group's newer second tier properties in a similar location - the Al Seef Heritage Hotel, the Zabeel House Al Seef and Zabeel House Mini.  Across the Creek on Deira side there is the Dubai Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Hilton Dubai Creek and the Al Bandar Rotana, all very nice hotels and easily accessible from the airport and only a short drive to the cruise terminal - and more reasonable than the Downtown area hotels...

Anne...

2 hours ago, Mckwonghie said:

Thanks! I will check it out

Very close to the other recommendation you were given is The Canvas Hotel Dubai, (MGallery by Sofitel).  

Anne...

Chris,

Further to my earlier email, as a previous guest at on of the Vida hotels I just received an email promo for a Friday sale Emaar hospitality will be having this coming Friday for the Address and Vida properties for stays thru August 2020.  Maybe worth investigating if you can work around the booking window timings....Here’s the link to their website.. 

https://www.emaarhospitality.com/en/campaigns/the-friday-by-emaar

Anne...

1 hour ago, little britain said:

Thanks Anne.

Do you know how much the metro ticket is please? I think it is AED4?

 

As she is elderly could a cab be another option?

I don’t know but as it’s only one stop then it should only be a few Dirhams.  Yes, she could get a taxi but it will be considerably more expensive as there is a fixed Dhs.25 airport surcharge fee plus whatever the metered fare is.... and whilst the terminals are next door to each other the route to drive from one to the other would be quite circuitous!!!  
 

Anne...

51 minutes ago, Rocky2103 said:

Hi All,

 

Does anyone know if you can get a transit visa if you are cruising and staying only 1 or 2 days in port (India, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique)?

 

I have contacted Azamara (no help), my travel agent (can only help USA citizens, we are from Australia), have contacted a few consulates (they are saying we don't need them but their websites say you do!). The issue we have is that the visa's are very $$$ but the cost comes down if you only do transit, at the moment, the cost of normal visa's is more expensive than the cruise 🙂 !

 

Any info would be appreciated!

 

Cheers

Raquel

You will definitely need a visa for India.  I did a cruise that included Indian ports last year and even though the cruise line said we needed a costly 'paper' visa that was not the case and the much less costly online evisa worked perfectly fine...https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/    I travel on a UK passport but I'm pretty sure the same facility is available to Australian passport holders. The application process is a bit of a pain but once you've completed the form, added the attachments and made online payment the evisa is in your Inbox within 24 hours.  I haven't been to any of those African ports via cruise ship but I would be surprised if you needed visas in advance especially if you only have one day port calls.   Does Azamara not use a visa agent that they can at least refer you to even if they only process for US passengers???

Anne...

11 hours ago, cheeka said:

We have a few days in Dubai before our March cruise departs.  To say there are a multitude of hotels available, is an understatement. LOL

Any suggestions from those of you who have already stayed in the city? We want to be near the downtown Dubai fountains which seem to be

 where many tours start from.   Ive been looking at the Ramada but reviews are inconsistent.

Your suggestions would be most appreciated.

sincerely from,

Chris

cc name: cheekabebe

agourah@shaw.ca

Most of the hotels very close to the Dubai Fountains/Dubai Mall are quite pricey.  Have a look at the Vida Downton or Al Manzil Downtown.  They are both on the Sh. Moh'd Boulevard but priced a little lower than the 'luxury' choices.  Also very close to Dubai Mall - the next block is the fairly new Rove Downtown.  The Rove hotels are owned by Emaar, the developers of Downtown, and are a midscale option to their luxury Address Hotel properties.  Another option on that block is the Roda Al Murooj - very close to Dubai Mall but far enough to make a price difference.

Anne..

I believe there is a shuttle bus between the two terminals but don't know where it operates from or whether it is for flight ticket holders only however, as the above poster suggested the Metro is an easy option.  The directions to the Metro are clearly indicated in both terminals and it's a two minute ride...

Anne..

5 hours ago, Utdutd20 said:

We will be cruising from Dubai early December on the MSC Bellissima.  We have decided to do the Dubai Mall area and go up the Burj Khalifa on embarkation day as we do not sail till 11pm.  
We return to Dubai the following week and are due to dock at 9am for an overnight stay before we disembark on the Saturday.  
We are considering doing the Big Bus Tour so we can see as much as possible of Dubai on the Friday.  However as there are 6 of us I was wondering if a private taxi tour would be better.  Problem  is I have no idea how to organise this.  Are there Taxi’s at the port offering guided tours as there are in other cities and if so what is the likelihood of getting one that can accommodate 6 adults?  Can anyone suggest / recommend a company to contact before hand to book a private tour.  
Any help or advise would be much appreciated.

Yes, there are taxis at the cruise terminal however you are unlikely to find an MPV that would comfortably take 6 passengers.  Also, the taxi drivers are just that and many are relatively new arrivals who make good use of SatNav to get around the city so I would not recommend them as guides for a day tour!!  There are several tour companies who do take visitors on guided day tours and you can easily check on them by either doing a Google search or by checking options and reviews on Tripadvisor.   I think one of them, Arabian Adventures, may even have a desk within the terminal building as several of the cruise lines contract them for their shorex...

Anne...