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?!

If you can't control yourself for a few days without PDAs go somewhere else.

Given the way they treat rape victims, you couldn't pay me to go there.

I have to go to Dubai occasionally for work. Just be careful regarding any medication you may take in, including over the counter stuff. There are very strict rules on medication.

'If you have respect for their customs and religion you will have no problem.'*

Except there are many men in the hotel's in from the region using hookers, drinking,a religion they are meant to part of.

If you want to be a tourist destination and the benefits that brings you can't play the religion card.

I’ve been involved in training police from there regarding sexual offences. Although I’m told there were women police officers none of them were allowed to travel to the UK for the training.
Part of the training involved a case study in which they rather surprisingly decided to in-prison the victim of the sexual assault based on her being divorced. This was just an example of the cultural difference I encountered. Other than that they mostly turned up late, played on their phones during teaching sessions and left early. All this with an interpreter.... it was great .

This is why I don’t understand why anyone would want to go on a romantic break to Dubai. Or maybe that is the point. The risk and the thrill. Or maybe being confined to your hotel room.

I have been a few times to Dubai and have had no problems, albeit i am obviously not as tactile as you seem to be, there is no alcohol except in the hotels, its not like Spain where you can sit in the pavement cafe and drink alcohol. having said that if you are that unsure if you can keep your hands off each other for a minute i think you should book Spain much easier

Of course you can wear a bikini in a public beach in a tourist area

It wasn’t a tourist area ffs! The tourist areas in Dubai are the hotels and beach clubs. It was a public beach where there were literally hundreds of Arabs as well as ex pats. No one batted an eyelid at me wearing a bikini. The same as they never batted an eyelid when I was strolling around malls and going to restaurants with my knees and shoulders on show.

Honesty can not believe some of the idiocy I am reading on this thread and probably mostly from people who have never been anywhere near Dubai 🤦🏽‍♀️

Also I don’t get the being married thing for hotel rooms. I am married but we aren’t Muslims so haven’t had a nikkah and we aren’t any other religion, Abrahamic or otherwise - we just had a civil ceremony.

This is why I would never go to Dubai.

Also, if we’re talking about Spain, you do have to cover up your top walking along the prom and should really cover your head in a church if you’re a woman, but you aren’t going to be mistreated if you don’t.

I have been to Dubai with my daughter,we loved it.

This thread is beyond ridiculous,most of the posters have never been!!!To much reading and believing what the Daily Fail says,

@Splodgetastic - you don’t have to be married. I never was when I went. We also went with 2 kids that were born out of wedlock and no one said a thing.

I think if you’re living there with a partner and you want to be on their work visa, you need to be married though.

I think you should spare everyone and once you get to your hotel room, stay there

To the posters saying traveling there is safe, are you denying that western women have been arrested for reporting rapes?

Forgot to mention that my partner and I although together 14 years are not married and found no problems with that either

Whereas those defending Dubai as lovely, friendly and safe are doing so with the considerable authority of people who spent a week alternating mindlessly between a sun lounger and Mall of the Emirates?

Brass and those posters projecting the opposite POV, have they actually been to Dubai?

No I haven't.

Enlighten me then, can anyone answer, I'm willing to learn more and if I'm wrong fair enough.

• If you were raped, would you feel safe going to the police? Would you think you would be believed?

• Would you feel comfortable in short shorts and strappy tops anywhere and not just the tourist areas?

I don't know why anybody wants to holiday on Dubai. It's an expensive man made playground for the rich.

You probably won't be arrested as long as you're mindful that excess alcohol, overt PDAs and the Middle East don't mix well.

I seem to have upset poster User1234567whatever so I'll rephrase....In general you can only but alcohol in hotels and beach clubs.. and I can confirm I definately have not been to every establishment in Dubai.
The point I was trying to get across is that it's not like sitting in street cafes and bars in continental Europe where you can just stop for a glass of wine or beer at most establishments.

As @hibbledibble writes:

“Yabu for supporting an economy that has an appalling human rights record”

And no, not a daily mail reader, human rights abuses tend to be charted through many sources, beyond the odd sensationalist article published in that news outlet.

My son lives and works in Dubai. His wife is Turkish. My son had to buy a permit to allow him to buy alcohol. He and his wife wouldn’t be all over one another in public. I won’t be visiting though.

You probably won't be arrested as long as you're mindful that excess alcohol, overt PDAs and the Middle East don't mix well.

This.

Mind you, as long as you're not driving, the police can be surprisingly tolerant of drunk people, as long as they go straight back home. Best not to rely on that, of course. You can drink in hotel restaurants and clubs if they're licensed. I didn't know there were restaurants not part of hotels that were licensed.

Unless you've taken one of love spells discussed in another thread, it should be easy enough to stay on the right side of the displays of affection laws. Do it in your hotel room before you leave, and knock a couple more out if you're still horny afterwards, but it's true that it's not a good idea to behave in public like teenagers at the back row of the cinema.

Love Dubai. Once we retire, that's where we'll be spending winters.

Brassbed: I have been visiting Dubai for 40 years on Business and holiday breaks and have mixed with all societies and cultures. Never ever had a slight problem - I drink alcohol, wear ordinary western clothes . Certainly not spent my time on sunloungers in hotels. I lived and worked in Qatar, Bahrain and Oman for 35 years and always felt 100% safer there than I ever do in the UK (where I now live).