DH thinks we're going to get arrested in Dubai

[willyougobacktobed]

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?!

Your DH is NBU.

We have lived in Dubai.

He is right to be paranoid. You may or may not find your selves on the wrong side of the law, it is a risk you take. It could be as simple as some one not liking the look of you.

I think your husband isn’t BU - you will have to be careful. Of all places, Dubai wouldn’t be my destination of choice for a romantic break for two.

Wow- this very benign and legitimate question escalated!! Good grief. Anyhow, OP, rest assured, you are going to have a lush time in Dubai and no one is interested in arresting you ( married or not FYI) . Maintain a very standard level of decency ( by this i mean dont walk around shopping malls in a bikini, dont have sex on a beach/ taxi/in a bar/ dont get into a fight/ dont stagger around on the streets at 2am vomiting and swearing- easy enough i think!). Holding hands, Being tactile and drinking is all TOTALLY fine. At worst, if you get really pissed and go in for a ‘pash’ at a bar, a very polite person will ask you to stop, probably not though. In Dubai its about respect- get caught out being a bit inappropriate apologise, get another bev!
Your biggest problem, if you are quite a drinky pair, like me and my dh is the cost of booze. Wow. Its insane, and the wine is pants ( £60 for a bottle of cat piss) . Top tip- when you get out of arrivals on your left is an offy- stock up with your faves for drinks on balcony etc. Time Out mag is key- every night somewhere in Dubai ladies drink for free, and Tuesday is ladies night in every bar. Time Out mag is fantastic for what to see and do as well. Restaurants not serving alcahol tend to be cheaper and perhaps a bit more ‘ local’, which is nice.
I promise you, Dubai is welcoming, and you have to be mega obnoxious to attract severe penalties.
Not interested in a row with anyone thanks. Have a blast OP- the weather is at its best this time of year.
P.s- if you do get wine at the airport, put straight in suitcases- hotel might get stroppy about it at check in- they like you to spend your money on their booze!

OP, having read your posts I’m convinced that the best way to show your husband affection would be for you to promise him that you won’t be ‘tactile’ with him in public while in Dubai, to alleviate his fears.

Why prop up a country that has human rights violations as long as your arm? No you can’t relax in countries like this... you can upset a local doing the most innocuous thing and if they choose to take it further you can get arrested at the drop of the hat...
Don’t you people read... and don’t you have a conscience... buildings built by workers living in awful conditions and having their passports withheld...
there are shops ... sun and far better sites in hundreds of other places in the world... and no we aren’t perfect over here but we can at least get equal treatment and protection in law and fight injustice and speak our minds.. good luck😤

Check the laws out along with the penalties for ignoring them. You are usually okay inside your hotel though rowdiness is still frowned upon. Seems a strange place to go when you find it hard not to show public displays of affection.

Really ... tell me why do people spend their money going to countries that restrict not only your freedom but those of the people born there...
Can women do what they want in Dubai ?
Can gays walk about holding hands ,.. married or not ....
I don’t get people who love holidays living confined to hotels.or resorts .. but it’s your choice... why fly abroad to sit with the same people like you and why fly to shop in malls selling the same shit you get everywhere!!!! Sad

'but ask the same question on India or China and not a peep. Why is it only Dubai subject to this rhetoric? '

Because they aren't sold as cosmopolitan, high end glossy holiday destinations! Dubai's inhabitants pretend they are all living a fabulous, free, western life yet scratch the shiny surface and it's all a bit fake.

Keep to drinking, flirtation etc to your hotel. Presume your passports are in the same surname?

I know quite a few people who have worked/are working now in Dubai and friends/relatives who have visited. My niece got married there. Clear rule. Stick to international hotels who will serve alcohol without a qualm. Outside of that, do not drink alcohol, wear clothing which is other than modest and do not critique the Goverment anywhere. You will be fine. Enjoy the trip. Its an interesting city and do go out to the desert if you have time.

I've lived in the UAE for the last 13 years.
Yes, women's rights are not of a developed country, but developed countries didn't morph into what they are now without having had previously shocking rights for women before. UAE has only been around for 47 years. A lot to learn and they are learning. I work in the construction industry and there are standards for workers and they're pretty good! Cinemas, cricket pitches etc etc. Yes they weren't always like that, but they are now because they have learned. Like what the UK HAS DONE.

I recently visited two centres for trafficked women to give donations from our company to mark International Women's day. The country is making a concerted effort to help and stamp this out. But as I said, it's a young country and it's learning. A lot faster than one of the first countries to adopt slave labour, might I add.

Yes, I've enjoyed a tax free salary here, I've spent most of my 20's living here, getting smashed at Friday brunches having the time of my life and also having the opportunity to travel to countries that I never would've dreamed of. Now I have a family and again, a fab place for children. I've never felt as safe here than I ever did in the UK. I've managed to save money and enjoy great healthcare. (Just want to add that the construction company I work for, all benefits are the same for every single employee, not matter their gender/nationality; same healthcare, same allowances) And I've also been able to contribute wisdom from a developed country to here and make a difference.

So to all you DM readers, get off that high horse of yours and do a bit of travelling and educate yourself.

OP, you'll have a great time.

I thought loads of people went on holiday there? And the vast majority have a good time, drink only in their hotels, and "make out" in the privacy of their bedroom. What's so special about you that you can't do that too?

Don't get the appeal of Dubai myself. Why visit a country where women are so repressed? Go somewhere where normal human behaviour is not a criminal offence. How can it be a holiday?

If you want to stay in your hotel the whole time(the only place you can relax and drink and show physical affection) then why spend all that money, go to the med! Hideous place!

When going to any country one has to follow their laws and abide by that culture.
Therefore I don't really understand why you would choose to go to Dubai for a break if you yourself said you like a drink and can't resist acting affectionately in public.
All which can get you in trouble in such a country.

Either stay in the hotel if you want to drink, only show affection in the hotel and try not to get out of control drunk as it's a country that's not tolerant in their law for such actions!

Citizens can be arrested for singing in public, running, lots of things let alone being overly affectionate or intoxicated with alcohol.

You can not expect a country to change its laws and culture and attitudes for you, you must as we all must, have to either fit in with any country and it's laws we visit or not go.
No use saying but I don't agree with that law or this law they have or custom.

I personally would not visit any strict Muslim country as I dislike too much of their sexist or homophobia attitudes, and feel not being able to sing in public etc is over the top.
I wouldn't be bothered by their alcohol opinions and affection in public laws though as I think that's fair enough.

I tell you what I won’t be lectured by individuals who live in countries lining their pockets and close their eyes to the injustices carried out to women and minorities the world evolved greatly after the 1st world war.. Dubai chooses to not evolve it I see not ignorance of another way to treat human beings or poverty or because they are uneducated South Africa was hell for most of its population for decades ... and change came from taken a stance .. don’t just take the tax free pay and hide behind in your secure little compounds... having fun ...
It gets to carry on because of people like you propping it up... no high horse or lack of travelling from many posters ... they just have better principles than you money grabbers

TBH I wouldn't want to go on holiday to places like that. We had a stopover last month in Muscat in the Oman I couldn't wait to board our plane

Ferret just reading the bits you want to... get over yourself

The facts about Dubai aren’t from the Daily Mail, @heidivodca, as well you know. They’re from the United Nations, from government publications, and so on.

This thread is so depressing. Yes OP your DH is right, there is a real risk of something Very Bad happening if you displeased the authorities. The fact that they often look the other way makes it more risky in some respects, because people let their guard down assuming it will be fine, because it was before.

Also, echoing countless others, how can you be okay pouring money into such an evil regime? How do people just not care?

Hear, hear CatGoals

Serenwen ... it’s called an opinion ... comes from someone who has experienced being a minority ... and yes I’ve been to a range of countries

So to all you DM readers, get off that high horse of yours and do a bit of travelling and educate yourself

It doesn't automatically mean you're a DM reader because you disagree for goodness sake.
You say you've enjoyed getting "smashed off your face" there - why, why would you in a country that has conservative values and Muslim values? Same as the poster upthread who says they wandered about the malls with knees and shoulders all out even though there's usually signs up saying to cover up.
Maybe some are comfortable to do all that, but I'm like if I'm in a country you follow their rules and laws.
Getting smashed off your face or wandering around in not much is asking for trouble and just rude.

serena, in many ways the UAE is getting worse rather than better — most Emirati citizens used to have very cushy life, with everything from utility to bills to education to post-doc level to weddings heavily subsidised by the government. Now it’s become clear that this was at the price of shutting up, and being content with a gilded cage, and the government is spying on, locking up, torturing and stripping citizenship from Emirati citizen dissidents who express in the mildest ways their desire for a greater democratic voice, or reservations about the war in Yemen.

The emirates’ government prioritises what it wants to do. It’s made some efforts to improve migrant workers’ situations after it feared massive negative publicity would affect tourism. Which didn’t happen. If it wanted to take greater steps towards being a democracy, it would. It’s not a priority, in part, presumably, because it can assume the kind of tourists attracted to it simply don’t care.

Oh and I say that as someone who loves a drink or three or ten