Topic Wiki

There are no issues with:

  • Having Jewish items
  • Looking Jewish
  • Bringing in food or alcohol
  • Having Israeli stamps in your passport.

List of TR's:
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/trip-notes/maldives-trip-notes-part-2-dubai-and-abu-dhabi/
Sam28 TR
UAE- Abu Dhabi and Dubai TR with lots of links for attractions and food etc (maybe s/o would copy+paste from there to here)

Kosher Food/ Restaurants:
for up to date and more info see https://chabad.ae/kosher/

TLV Restaurant - Location in the H hotel  - For reservations: Call: +97142435711  / WhatsApp: +971522209155
The Kosher Place - Location Jumeriah Creekside Hotel - For reservations, please WhatsApp +972559453118
Mul hayam
Armani Kaf - Location Armani Hotel - Reservation online or email Restaurant.Reservations@armanihotels.com (sometimes it wont show available online but over email they'll confirm)
King David Kitchen kingdavidkitchen.com
Kosher coffee Bibi


Synagogue:
PM Dan for contact info.

Things to Do:

Sites to find deals:
  Groupon.ae
  Greatdeals.ae
  getyourguide.com
  klook.com
  tiqets.com

 - Miracle Garden (need 1-2 hours) - https://www.dubaimiraclegarden.com/
 - Global Village  (Need 3-4 hours - opens at 4pm ) - https://www.globalvillage.ae/en/home-page
 - Xline - zip thru the marina (need max 1 hour from checkin till land back) - Book online in advance to secure a spot - http://xline.xdubai.com/
 - Desert Adventure - (need 6 hours - from 3pm -9pm) - Includes Quad Biking, Dune Bashing, Camel rides, BBQ dinner in a camp site while watching Cultural shows  - https://www.desertadventures.com/  - There is a Kosher catered tour that is highly recommended , every tuesday , Whatsapp +972 58-551-1911 for reservations , full Kosher BBQ and "kosher" cultural shows
- 3 Main Malls - Mall in Marina (Basic) , Mall of Emirates (huge mall - Has indoor ski) , Mall of Dubai (downtown -even bigger mall has aquarium inside and is a very high end shopping mall)
 - Gold / Perfume / Spice Souk - Marketplace in Deira area (need half a day minimum for this)
 - Burj Khalifa - View points from above - Buy tickets online in advance for best price - https://www.burjkhalifa.ae/en/index.aspx  - best to go in evening time before sunset  - Theres also a VIP option to skip the lines
 - Dubai Sky Dive
 - Helicopter ride - recommended is the 22 min flight option
 - Hot Air balloon - https://www.ballooning.ae/ - check the deal sites sometimes have a buy 2 get 1  - Early AM in the desert
 - Dubai Creek Boat ride ( need 2.5hrs - Board 8pm - duration 830pm to 1030pm)
- Dubai Gold frame 
- night boat ride along the intercostal
 - Fountain Show on the boardwalk downtown - from 6pm every 30 min (buy a ticket online/walkup to be closer to water but you can still see it without that or if you are eating at Armani Kaf, you can see from the terrace
- Yacht + jet ski rentals
- Dubai Aquarium / underwater zoo
- Yellow Boat (inflatable motor boat) Sightseeing Cruise
- The view at the palm - theviewpalm.ae
- Legoland
- Inside burj al arab insideburjalarab.com


Hotels:

Getting Around:

Notes:

« Last edited by hakohen on August 20, 2023, 04:53:22 AM »

Author Topic: Dubai Master Thread  (Read 283288 times)

Offline pbitcke

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #280 on: March 18, 2015, 10:21:14 AM »
Mini TR: Was travelling on Etihad glitch to JNB with stopover in AUH. We missed the 1 hour connection in AUH due to plane de-icing in JFK and were "stuck" in AUH from 10:00am-2:00am. We were 4 guys in our 20's travelling together. Etihad provided a taxi and up to 4 hotel rooms since we booked on separate reservations. Entering UAE we did not wear yarlmukes, but even with Israeli student visas and stamps we had no trouble whatsoever. We took 2 rooms and were given a choice of hotels in Abu Dhabi, with no option to stay in Dubai. We selected the Centro in the city center of Abu Dhabi. Knowing we wanted to go to Dubai for the day, we should have chosen the hotel offered in Ferrari World since it saves about 20 minutes of driving - but we thought we could see the sights of Abu Dhabi first and then head over to Dubai. Turns out there's not much to see in Abu Dhabi, aside from the Sheikh Zayed Mosque which we didn't want to see.

After our cab (all taxis in UAE seemed to be Lexuses) we checked into our hotel, showered, put on tefillin, grabbed some apples from the hotel's complimentary lunch and ordered an Uber to Dubai. It was a 90 minute ride, which cost us about 270AED (=~$70, split 4 ways). We had done no research and relied on the drivers' recommendation. We started in the Dubai Mall and walked around for a while. There's a Starbucks there, where we went to get drinks (keep in mind we were exhausted from flying overnight and very hungry). There's a pool area outside the mall with a music/fountain show every hour on the hour. It's cool to walk around and just see the opulence and talk to tourists.

We wanted to visit the Burj Khalifa - tickets sell out well in advance so we had to buy tickets for 9pm. In the mean time, we took an Uber into the area of town where the "locals" live called Al Bastakiya. We wandered through the Souks (marketplace, like Shuk in Israel) where some of the merchants tried selling us traditional Arab garb and let us try it on for photo ops. We wandered aroudn until we found the Abras (small wooden boats) and took a 10 minute boat ride across the river towards the Gold Souk and Spice Souk. It cost 1 AED ($0.25) and we met some really interesting people on the boat. We ended up not going to the gold and spice souks due to timing constraints. Getting a cab/uber back to the Burj Khalifa was very difficult.

Going up the Burj Khalifa was underwhelming for me. It cost about $35, and they only let you go 124 flights up, where all you can access a tiny deck full of tourists with selfie sticks. In NYC you would see out miles and miles across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Westchester, Jersey. Here all you see is a few city blocks and then mostly desert. Maybe it's because we went at night, but I didn't think it was so great.

We got an Uber back to our hotel, packed up and had a bus waiting to take us back to the airport for our 2am flight. Only thing I regret not having time for is Dubai Miracle Gardens.

Offline damaxer91

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #281 on: March 18, 2015, 10:39:06 AM »
Turns out there's not much to see in Abu Dhabi, aside from the Sheikh Zayed Mosque which we didn't want to see.


That's the no. 1 attraction in the UAE in my eyes

Offline Markus

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #282 on: March 18, 2015, 10:40:01 AM »
Agreed. Just went to Abu Dhabi and Dubai with my wife and was underwhelmed by everything except for the mosque.

Offline DMYD

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #283 on: March 18, 2015, 11:13:04 AM »
. Entering UAE we did not wear yarlmukes,
Why wouldn't you wear a cap or something?

Offline pbitcke

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #284 on: March 21, 2015, 08:30:35 PM »
I didn't say "we didn't cover our heads"... but even if we didn't, I think it'd be fair, considering the potential consequences VS the actual importance of a yarlmuke

Offline ual902

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #285 on: March 21, 2015, 08:49:36 PM »
I didn't say "we didn't cover our heads"... but even if we didn't, I think it'd be fair, considering the potential consequences VS the actual importance of a yarlmuke

You did good, when in Dubai beware that people come from all over the ME to DXB and  you don't know who you will bump in, the best is not even make conversation with anyone just minding your own business.

Offline efflpetzel

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #286 on: March 24, 2015, 01:33:05 AM »

Why wouldn't you wear a cap or something?

Offline Emkay

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #287 on: March 24, 2015, 03:48:07 AM »


the potential consequences

Which realistically are?

Offline nobiggy

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #288 on: March 24, 2015, 05:13:38 AM »
Yeah I know. I just need reassurance.

Thank God you're still here.
I just went through AUH and I'm alive  ;)
Besides for signs in Arabic and a few Arabs you wouldn't realize it's an Arab country.

Offline Fan of Dan

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #289 on: April 07, 2015, 09:10:09 PM »
Anyone know of a driver that I can hire to take me around the UAE?

As I am flying in economy is there any way to access the Etihad lounge or other lounge in AUH? Perhaps Priority pass or similar?

Offline Chapshnell

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #290 on: April 07, 2015, 09:37:31 PM »
With the lounge club:

Al Dhabi Lounge, Al Ghazal Lounge & the Al Reem Lounge

Offline Fan of Dan

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #291 on: April 07, 2015, 10:00:16 PM »
With the lounge club:

Al Dhabi Lounge, Al Ghazal Lounge & the Al Reem Lounge
Thank you I have the lounge club so that's great.

Any way to see the artificial Palm islands from above without taking a helicopter or seaplane (such as a tall building) or is the only way to really see it from the air?

Offline Emkay

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #292 on: April 08, 2015, 03:59:25 AM »
Thank you I have the lounge club so that's great.

Any way to see the artificial Palm islands from above without taking a helicopter or seaplane (such as a tall building) or is the only way to really see it from the air?
Observatory restaurant 52nd floor of the Harbour Hotel.


Offline Fan of Dan

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #293 on: April 08, 2015, 01:43:35 PM »
Observatory restaurant 52nd floor of the Harbour Hotel.
Thanks! Can you make out the palm shape of the islands from up there?

Offline Achas Veachas

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #294 on: April 08, 2015, 01:54:24 PM »
Thanks! Can you make out the palm shape of the islands from up there?
Google found this:
https://liloneoftheashes.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/20130808_134822.jpg

(tried embedding but it's way too big)

Offline Fan of Dan

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #295 on: April 09, 2015, 02:02:48 AM »
Google found this:
https://liloneoftheashes.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/20130808_134822.jpg

(tried embedding but it's way too big)
Nice thank you!!! Seems like you can definitely get a good idea from up there.

Offline damaxer91

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Offline chucksterace

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #298 on: May 01, 2015, 02:56:25 AM »
Layover from 9pm to 3am. Suggestions?
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Offline chucksterace

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Re: Dubai Master Thread
« Reply #299 on: May 04, 2015, 04:40:33 PM »
Layover from 9pm to 3am. Suggestions?

Bump. Flight is tomorrow
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