Day 87 - Saturday March 25 Dubai Day 1

Dubai Day 1 photos

position at 8:00am: N25 15.43 latitude E55 16.27 longitude
(Dubai in the UAE)
temperature: 68F, 83% humidity, partly cloudy with some breeze
distance since FLL: 28,493 miles

The ship was rocking and thumping and cracking overnight. The wind was howling in around our balcony door and waves were spraying up onto the balcony. Who would have thought that the Strait of Hormuz would be so dramatic? The weather info on the TV said the wind was hitting the port side at about 90kmh. We rounded Oman and went through the Strait around 11pm-1am. We did not go out to see if you could see lights from Iran on one side and Oman on the other. Looking at the schedule, it seems that we will probably be asleep when we sail through the Strait on the way out as well. So, we probably won't get to see anything. This is the first rough sailing we have had in weeks and we had gotten spoiled. By the time Clay was on deck walking this morning, the seas had calmed but it was still windy. It was also 68 degrees which is much cooler than the 78-82 that has been common lately. There is an older Japanese couple who walk earlier. They looked like they were dressed in snow suits with the wind puffing up their windsuits.

Debbie was a slow starter again today. With the chill wind, she decided to not go up top to watch the sail in. We had breakfast late in Compass Rose because it is Saturday. Debbie had raspberries and a double order of Swedish Pancakes. Clay had his usual 2 eggs over easy with 3 link sausages and 2 pieces of white bread toasted.

We arrived in Dubai a little ahead of schedule. We docked on the startboard side. This is a huge port and they have a dedicated cruise terminal building that is very nice. There is an ATM inside as well as a few free Internet terminals. We had a large welcoming committee. There was a band of sheiks playing drums and bagpipes. There was another band of bedouins playing drums and singing. Inside the terminal we were welcomed with perfumed oils, incense and roses by some beautiful young women in beautiful costumes. There were 3 free shuttles being operated from the terminal to 3 different locations but none of them started before 9:45am. It was about 10:15am when we got on the RSSC shuttle to the Gold Souk area. They drive on the right here.

Debbie is in the market for a new gold bracelet. So, this was the place to be. We got lost to start and Clay got a big purple Dubai T-shirt at the "first customer" price. ;) Debbie asked the man who sold it to him for directions to the Gold Souk, so that was worth something too. Around the corner, Debbie found a T-shirt she wanted and the asking price was less than Clay's final offer threat at the store around the corner. ;) Later in the afternoon, Debbie bought another T-shirt for her brother and the asking price was so low that we did not even negotiate. Clay's head nearly exploded. So, the Gold Souk. Amazing. There is a lot of gold for sale there. But, nothing for Debbie. She tried on one bracelet, but was not fond enough of it to even ask for a price. She was looking for an everyday, gold link-type vs. bangle bracelet and there just wasn't much of that. Gold bangle bracelets, now, literally truckloads of those, but that is not what she wants. Then, we walked through souks of different varieties. Textiles, spices, watches, shoes, plastic junk... Finally, we wound our way to Dubai Creek and walked up and down the dhow wharf and were amazed at the big screen TVs being transported on old wooden boats. Then, we took an abra to the other side for lunch. Abra is a small wooden boat that just ferries people from one side to the other to 2 docks on each side. It cost 1 UAE dirham for the 2 of us. It took about 5 minutes. We had lunch at Bayt Al Wakeel. It was in an interesting building that was built in 1935. It was an old wind tower building. This was an early, basic, non-electric form of air conditioning. They did not have the wind tower working though. We ate on the deck overlooking the creek and watched the boat traffic. We had 2 Shwarma plates, one chicken and one lamb and a Coke and a Diet Coke. They came with a big piece of flat bread. We were there long enough for the shady spot we were sitting in to become a sunny spot and then some. Debbie got a sunburnt nose. They total price was about $18US. Thee women sat at the table next to us and they ordered 3 sheeshas (water pipes)! They each had a different flavor if that is what you could call it. The waiter got to smoke plenty while he was setting them up and keeping them going. He emptied and relit them halfway through and with the nice breeze we got covered in ash. It was definitely a we're not in Kansas moment.

All the shops close down in the midday, so we were headed to a museum that is open all day. We walked through some more souks and most of the shops were closed. We went to the Dubai Museum in Al Fahidi Fort. Admission was 3 dirham each. It was an interesting and well done museum. Everything was well signed in English. It had artifacts from the 3rd century BC to last century. They had a lot of dioramas and these were just a gas. You walked on sand and in semidarkness. It was fun and we enjoyed it.

Debbie was really dragging after this and thought that if we started walking back towards the ship's shuttle bus stop now that we would be back to the ship just in time for dinner. We were a little early, but that was alright. We walked back downstream on the creek and past the museums that we want to visit tomorrow. Then we located the pedestrian tunnel under the creek and used it to cross back over. Then, we just had to go under the street in another pedestrian tunnel and through the bus depot parking and our shuttle bus was there waiting. We were the last ones to get on before it left. We don't know if there was some schedule for these, but they seemed to be running about every 30 minutes. The other 2 shuttles from the cruise terminal go to the Mercato Mall and the Deira City Center Mall.
The weather today was just about perfect. It was not too hot and it was sunny with a nice breeze that you could catch almost everywhere. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day to just take our time and wander and absorb the sights and sounds and ambiance of the place. Everyone spoke to us in English and many asked where we were from. The odd thing is that most of them were from somewhere else! Not sure if we ran into any native Emiratis.

We went to dinner right at 6:30pm at LaVeranda and finished quickly. We will be early to bed tonight. We had a long day of easy walking, but Debbie is not breathing well with the chest cold and of course, spice souks and incense and perfumes and then sheesas smoke and ash treatment! We will hope for a long, good night of sleep and a late start tomorrow. Tomorrow evening is our big World Cruisers' Special Event. The reception at the Burj al Arab. Roger said in his tour talk that the hotel was not allowing not houseguests onto the property without advance reservations because they were overbooked for the Dubai Cup horse race this weekend. Guess we'll skip the big race, too. We will look forward to having a look at this famous hotel though. This is a cruise end and begin point for the segmenters. There seems to be a lot of activity. We have not heard any numbers about how many are leaving and how many are joining. If we hear, we will post it. Other news. When the bands were taking turns playing this morning, an ambulance backed up to the gangway. After breakfast, we came out and it was still there. We were going to go into the terminal building to check things out and we happened by as an injured young Filippino woman was taken down the gangway on a stretcher. She did not appear to be sick but rather to be in pain. They lifted her legs to move her from the ship's equipment to the ambulance and she was clearly in agony. It was very sad. We did not recognize her and do not know what happened to her. On the shuttle bus ride back to the ship, some other passengers were talking about a fire on the ship with an injury. But, we do not know what happened to hurt the young woman. It must have been terrifying for her to be in so much pain and carried out in the sun like that on the dock and driven away from everyone she knows. We felt just awful for her and wish her the best. This seems like a place that would have excellent medical facilities and we hope that she is well cared for and makes a speedy recovery.

In other news, we wandered what they did with old jigsaw puzzles. Well, they recycle them as we have seen a repeat.

Dubai Day 1 photos