Short TR.
Flights:Due to the airport security kerfuffle, part of family's tickets were canceled on the TLV-DXB leg.
The downside was that part of the grp had to fly direct to AUH. Several flew direct on EY, and the rest flew via Cairo, which became a hassle as airport security gave them a tough time with continued requests to look at the passport and taking them around the airport.
The minor upside was that LY upgraded their single flight that day to a 787 so 2 of the pax who were booked originally in J were able to have a top notch product for such a short flight. Menu attached.
HotelWe prefer to avoid city hotels, so booked the Le Meridien Mina Seyahi. The hotel shares a property with the Westin, so has a lot of beachfront (facing the marina, so not a typical beachfront), small waterpark, and multiple pools.
Due to busy season, rates were running approx $400, but used a mix of 35k certs and 40k points in order to book.
Were very happy with the facilities, and would happily return. However, we have our eyes on the Lapita, Dubai Parks and Resorts for the next visit.
ActivitiesObviously, this is all subjective and subject to budgetary and time constraints, along with the ages of the visitors.
Rankings are 1-10
Global Village: 8 - Shows on the main stage weren't impressive, but the smaller shows in individual pavilions were quite interesting. Fun shopping, and some beautiful pavilions.
Dubai Miracle Garden: 7 - Unique sculptures, pleasant to walk around. It's not a botanical garden, so not a large variety of flowers, the focus is on the sculptures and the masses of flowers used in each.
Ski Dubai: 7 - Score is only this high if coming from a country with no snow, so the experience is unique for children. If you're coming from a place where it's easy to go skiing and sledding, i'd advise skipping this.
Kosher Desert tour: 4 - On the plus side, the food was good, the shows were enjoyable, and the desert bashing was fun for the time it lasted. Cons were the price premium you pay for the kosher food and lack of a belly dancing show, the 'camel ride' which involved walking in a circle with a 5 yard diameter, the long drives to the location which uses up valuable vacation time, along with the tourist trap at the first stop where the quads can be rented. We passed on doing the quads and asked the drivers to skip this part, but they refused. (The organizer told us afterwards that the drivers should have heeded our requests.)
If you want a desert experience, and the food experience isn't important, i'd advise looking at groupon for examples of providers that focus on only several desert experiences and cuts out some of the fluff. However, if the meal is important to you, and the length of time isn't a bother, then this will rate higher in your eyes.
Fountain show: 9 - We watched from the side. Eating at the Armani would probably elevate the experience even further.
Global Expo: 9 - Only had time to see a fraction of the exhibits, but enjoyed the ones we saw.