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AIBU?

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Original poster

DH thinks we're going to get arrested in Dubai

714 replies

willyougobacktobed · 04/04/2019 18:34

Going to Dubai next week for Easter on a mini break with DH. As a tactile couple who enjoys a couple of drinks with dinner he's getting really anxious that we're going to get arrested if we a) unthinkingly give each other a peck on the cheek or b) share a bottle of wine and have a giggle.

He has googled their strict laws and legal systems LOTS.

I think he's BU, his worries and mithering are making me not look as forward to a holiday I've saved hard for as much as I otherwise would.

Are we going to get arrested?!

OP posts:
BrassBed · 05/04/2019 00:00

19, yes. I used to live there.

VanillaBlossom · 05/04/2019 00:01

Sorry haven't read the 9 pages long but that's exactly why I'd be afraid to go...incase I kissed etc my husband or acted in a certain way...that's no holiday for me to be on guard and frightened.
I've never fancied the place, so synthetic....give me cane furniture, palm tree umbrellas and 70s bars anytime,,,,! 🌴

IAmNotAWitch · 05/04/2019 00:07

Dubai's laws make it clear that as a woman I am not welcome.

So fair enough, I will stay away and we will both be happy.

MrGHardy · 05/04/2019 00:07

Why even go there in the first place? It's hot af, you go from one air conditioned place to another with maybe beach in between, it's a sterilized place in the desert. And not exactly good value. You sound like you enjoy things that get you in trouble in that country, so why go? But hey, your choice.

PrimeraVez · 05/04/2019 00:21

Some of these posts are ridiculous. So many misconceptions. I have lived and worked here for nearly ten years, originally as a 20-something who was out on the piss every night and now as a mum of 2 small kids. I don’t recognise 99% of what is being said.

And no, I don’t have a ‘servant.’ I have a nanny who I pay more than a lot of people in the UK earn. And no, I don’t live in a ‘gated community.’ I think some people are confusing the UAE with Saudi and they are very different.

OP, as long as you aren’t paralytic and giving your husband a blow job in the middle of the street, you should be fine.

Gth1234 · 05/04/2019 00:25

If you have to worry about that, you would be better off staying in the UK

SandyY2K · 05/04/2019 00:27

I've been to Dubai a few times. I like it and had no problem abiding to their rules. I've been with my DH and didnt feel restricted. Holding hands is not an issue, but if you're planning on full on snogging in public...think twice.

There are laws on alcohol too, so be careful. Drunken behaviour will not go down well, so keep that to your private rooms.

Behave respectably and you'll be fine.

You also can't wear strappy tops/boob tube type tops in the main shopping mall.

Cheeserton · 05/04/2019 00:30

YABU. Give your money and business to less draconian states.

Nat6999 · 05/04/2019 00:47

I went to Dubai in 2011 when my partner was playing in a professional sports tournament. I found it very different to what I expected. Just be sensible, I wore maxi dresses with a bolero type top over to go out to malls & at night. When we went to the beach I wore a t-shirt dress over my beachwear with short sleeves that finished below my knee. In the hotel, I wore usual shorts & vest tops to go round the pool but never wore them outside the complex. If we went out at night we had a meal & maybe 2 drinks as they were very expensive, most nights we stayed in the hotel as our meals & drinks were included. We never got drunk, we were careful, most of the time we went out on accompanied trips with a courier who was very good at advising on how to behave. We never had any problems but I don't think I would like to go there independently.

NunoGoncalves · 05/04/2019 01:17

I really can't see what attracts people to dubai

Shopping malls! Skyscrapers! Extravagant displays of wealth! Opulence! Oil money! Hurrah!

ittakes2 · 05/04/2019 01:38

I have been to Dubai and other Emirates countries and my friends live out there. It never occurred to me not to kiss or hold my husband’s hand in public! We would not kiss passionately in public but don’t in the uk either. You are allowed to drink in hotels - they wouldn’t serve you alcohol if you weren’t! I have never altered my behaviour in a hotel - in hotels they accept people wear swimming suits, drink etc.

BabyDarlingDollfaceHoney · 05/04/2019 04:11

YABU for giving money to support a tourist industry in a country that subjugates women, functions with such extreme economic inequality and prosecutes homosexuality.

You don't need to have a blase attitude like yours to get arrested there. They arrest women that have been raped.

Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow · 05/04/2019 04:15

I’m sure you will be fine.

But WHY anyone would want to go to such a place built on misery is beyond me.

Alokozay · 05/04/2019 05:04

We have lived in Dubai since 1992.
We have loved it. Safe, friendly, diverse.
It's been a very interesting time and we have seen massive growth in the emirate.
Most of the negatives on here are absolutely wrong.
You can hold hands....many Emirati couples do.....show affection, feel safe, drink alcohol, dance, party. Our gated communities are not like Saudi! Nothing like. And they are not gated to protect us from crime or violence. Security guards are everywhere, but more to help and support people.....not heavy handed dictators.

Mud slinging based on the Daily Fail is not an educated assessment.
Many, many friends have visited over the decades and all have enjoyed themselves. Seeing Dubai and the six other Emirates that make up the UAE through our eyes and those of our children.

Ellenborough · 05/04/2019 06:12

The problem with Dubai is that rich westerners live the life of luxury so they conveniently ignore the horrific abuses of those less fortunate.

That applies to rich westerners (in fact just rich people full stop from any part of the world) EVERYWHERE. You could go just about ANYWHERE in Africa, Asia or the Middle East and find affluent people living in their affluent bubble and ignoring (or just pragmatically accepting) all sorts of dreadful or questionable things that wouldn't happen at home.

I really don't understand why people on MN get so fucking agitated over Dubai, queuing up to jump on the thread and vent their spleen about somewhere they've never been, when they don't do the same on threads about other places that are no better in many respects.

PregnantSea · 05/04/2019 06:13

Having been to Dubai, my advice is to take their laws seriously and respect their local customs.

If you stay in your hotel then you should be ok having a drink and holding hands, but I really wouldn't advise this is you plan to leave the hotel. Do not wander around outside the hotel after having had a drink.

Why are you going to Dubai anyway? There's loads of nice places you can on holiday where you aren't beholden to the barbaric legal system of the Middle East. Seems like an odd choice to me for someone who likes a drink and is very tactile with their partner...

Babynut1 · 05/04/2019 06:18

I wouldn’t go there in a million years.
Backwards religions and views. Disgusting humans rights records.
Awful place x

Jazzybeats · 05/04/2019 06:19

We went there recently.

Moral issues aside for a minute and to give you practical advice - the hotels are reasonably relaxed. You can have a drink and a “giggle”. Don’t get handsy though and if you want to get drunk do it in your room.

Outside of hotels - you can drink, but my strong advice is stick to 2 or 2 glasses and avoid overt PDA’s. Peck on the cheek - probably fine. Tonsil hockey- not so much.

Dubai isn’t as conservative as the rest of the UAE but it is significantly more than any other city I’ve been to. It’s also a pretty soulless place... we didn’t enjoy it much.

Livingoncake · 05/04/2019 06:29

I suspect the OP’s husband is “mithering” her because he feels she’s not taking it seriously.

Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow · 05/04/2019 06:52

That may be true ellen but many of us choose where we spend our cash wisely.

I remember reading about the plight of Africa’s labourers in Dubai but I suspect they are trapped in many similar places. Passports confiscated and unable to get home.

I couldn’t visit and enjoy myself knowing of such misery. The fact that women are usually viewed as akin to animals doesn’t help either.

Enjoy your trip!

Ellenborough · 05/04/2019 06:54

Well then Called I suggest you widen your reading to include other places. Pretty soon you'll be spending all of your holidays in wet Wales.

Enjoy your trip!

GucciDay · 05/04/2019 07:04

'queuing up to jump on the thread and vent their spleen about somewhere they've never been,'

Many people have been. I know I have. I found an ott bling place with expats loving the sun and the malls. I wouldn't care so much if they owned it 'yes it's a souless, corrupt place and if you accidentally find yourself on the wrong side of an influential person you've had it' but they don't. It's the constant 'its lovely and very respectful to women' crap that's tedious.

luckyrabbits · 05/04/2019 07:05

Two of my friends got arrested there for being tipsy in a hotel. I wouldn't go

Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow · 05/04/2019 07:07

So we have forced labour building government buildings in Western Europe do we? Women arrested for being raped? Anti gay rhetoric?

I won’t go onas it’s too depressing.

Enlighten me, please!

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