To take the DC on holiday to Dubai?

[FudgeBrownie2019]

We have two DC, 14 and 9. We've travelled fairly regularly with them but haven't ever done anywhere like Dubai/UAE. DH has found some summer holidays in those areas but I have a little weird feeling about going there - no idea why, no rational reason, I'm just uneasy but can't really put it into words.

Would you go there with DC? Have you been there with DC? Is it somewhere you'd be willing to visit?

Even if I was so

For the 3rd time.... clumsy typing!

Wouldn't go even if I was paid, nor would my family.

Do some research as to the conditions of the labourers & maids who built and work in all the hotels. It's a modern day slave trade. Passports taken off them, barely paid any wages, a % sliced off when the money is sent to an overseas bank.

It's a 21st century white elephant in the room that few tourists & visitors choose to not talk about.

Please inform yourself before you do it don't decide to spend a holiday there.

Another one here who wouldn't go:
a) human rights
b) female rights
c) all malls and shopping
d) no cultural/historical sites of interest
e) desert - temperature
f) just why?

A hot Milton Keynes

i realised very quickly that NONE of the people I was interacting with (outside of my work meetings) i.e. in the malls, restaurants, hotels etc were Arabic speaking. They were all foreign workers, very weird

Dubai employs hundreds of thousands of Arabic speaking expats.

I think you must have been dreaming you were there.

A hot Milton Keynes

Or even Slough!

Human rights are dreadful
Women's rights are non existent
Environmentally the place is a disaster - all the air con, plus all the water is desalinated (all these swimming pools, water parks, etc) which is hideous environmentally. It takes a huge amount of resources for the place to even exist.
I also wouldn't feel comfortable wearing shorts, drinking alcohol, etc, if it was against the customs of the country I was in. It feels hypocritical to me.
Another one who judges those who go, especially those with daughters.

Women's rights are not non-existent at all. The UAE is one of the safest countries in the world for both men and women. Salaries and holidays are protected in law and all employees get what they are entitled to. Many of those who choose to go and work there are able to live cheaply in accommodation provided by their employers and send a lot of their wages back to their families, providing their children with education and healthcare. No one is forced to go and work there and it is mandatory for employers to provide health insurance.

As a family on holiday, there are plenty of things to do and if you are interested in history and culture, go to the creek and get an abra, wander through the souks and go to the Dubai Museum, which tells the history of the area over hundreds of years. The UAE may be less than 50 years old but there were people living there long before that.

As for clothing, wear whatever you normally wear on a summer holiday. Keep swimwear for the beach and cover your shoulders in the mall eg wear a t-shirt not a strappy vest.

You also don't need the AC on all the time. It's 25C around now and we manage perfectly well in the UK without AC at that temperature.

I'm a bit puzzled by people saying they wouldn't go to the UAE due to "human rights", but recommending Oman instead? Oman is not a beacon of equality and freedom in the region, it's quieter and less built-up than the UAE but suffers from the same cultural and social pitfalls as its richer neighbours, just on a smaller scale.

Easter is fine heat-wise but it can get rainy sometimes.

I live in the region so have no opinion on those who visit.

No one is forced to go and work there

Well, if you’re sitting in a tin hut In a third world country with your hungry family around you and an employment agent comes to your village promising good money if you sign up to working in a Gulf state, then maybe, morally, you don’t have much choice.

I know someone involved with the unskilled migrant labour shipped into these places. Some of these people get lucky with decent employers, but too often it is vicious - modern slavery, no human rights.

Women's rights are not non-existent at all

Not with the right passport they’re not. But think of the housemaid enduring physical violence, trapped in an abusive household, or the hotel worker waiting week after week to hear when they will be allowed a day off.

It’s not just the heat that’s unbearable in the summer, (it’s quite likely to be over 45 and pushing 50) it’s the humidity. Its seriously unpleasant. If you’ve been somewhere like Cyprus in August and think ‘It will be similar, I’m a sun worshipper, I can handle it.’ think again. This won’t be the same.

Just walking for a couple of minutes will have you soaked through with sweat with a heavy pounding feeling in your chest. Getting into a car you need to run the air con for five minutes before you can touch the steering wheel.

You’ll spend at least 90% of the time indoors and the other 10% wishing you could be indoors.

Yes there is lots of entertainment on offer for families, most of it indoors. In shopping malls. The shopping itself is far more expensive than the UK too.

It has its good points but honestly, stick to spring or autumn.

I wouldn't go if you're looking for diving. Not much diving in Dubai unfortunately.

I visited before I had kids so can't comment on that.. But personally I found it quite boring. Nothing to see or do besides the malls..

I wouldn’t go in the Summer! Way, way too hot. I have a fair few friends in the region who all come to UK during Summer to escape the unbearable heat.

If you have no moral compass, don’t have a problem with slavery and just like shopping, you’ll probably love it.

I wouldn’t go if you paid me and would judge the fuck out of anyone who thought it a suitable place for a family holiday.

This.

No chance would i go there.

I wouldn't support a country with such appalling human rights violations. It seems selfish to go to enjoy all the perks there knowing how they generally treat women. I'd find somewhere else to go

I'm very curious where all of these posters who wouldn't go because of the human/women's rights are going on vacation? Where is this nirvana of equality?

I went there a couple of times years ago for work. Loathed it.

I wouldn’t go there on holiday for all the reasons already given and I judge those who do.

I would never put money into the pockets of a nation that treats its women as second class citizens and where my personal safety could be compromised on a whim. I will personally NEVER set foot in Dubai nor any other nation that has the same outlook.

I went with my 3/5 year old boys in February, it's a bit naff to be honest and way over priced. Also in summer it hits 50 degrees c so not somewhere to go in summer months. I didn't like it there purely because of how dear it was and how image focused it was, we were only there 4 days then head to Abu Dhabi for 7

Absolutely loved Abu Dhabi and we are going back next year . Yas island is awesome for kids , look it up. And it's priced around uk prices and very very quiet as not really a tourist destination more a business hub

My kid got to stay on a roller coaster for 1 hour just going round and round he absolutely loved it.

Highly recommend Abu Dhabi

Not sure if it sill applies but with you going to Israel check if you can get in as you used to be not allowed in with Israeli stamps in your passport. My dad used to have two passports as worked across the Middle East.

I’d also do Muscat maybe RAQ. But having been to Dubai I don’t really get it. But it was a few years ago and far less commercial than now.

"Not sure if it sill applies but with you going to Israel check if you can get in as you used to be not allowed in with Israeli stamps in your passport"

They don't care in Dubai.

@Nanamilly
"I think you must have been dreaming you were there"

Yes, you caught me. I decided to make shit up about having been to Dubai and, really, it all must have been a dream.

FGS. I was describing MY personal experience in Dubai. How rude are you!

My husband’s work has taken us to UAE quite a few times. There are human rights issues, undoubtedly but my view is you don’t change attitudes and help nations move forward by isolating them. They have to be included on the world stage.
There is a huge amount to see and do. The engineering is fascinating- to create an amazing city from a dessert in two decades is an incredible achievement.
I have travelled alone as a middle aged woman and never experienced anything but the utmost kindness and respect including being accompanied by a member of immigration staff and fast tracked through the airport and into my car. Doors held open, chairs held, entirely courteous culture at all times but I don’t break the laws, respect the Arabian culture and am generally moderate in dress and behaviour.
Children are treated like honoured guests. Mine, although teenagers, were seriously indulged. They loved it.
What to do when there are no pyramids, no Nile Delta, no Big Five? Plenty - but it does lend itself to beach, shopping, people watching, meals our and water-sports. Pools that are cooled to counteract the heat, fun water parks, skiing, boat trips, the museum, the Grand Mosque, horse racing, cinema, theatre, sports generally, warm sand and cocktails, sky-diving, the tallest building in the world ( I think still), the fountains anything you want if you are prepared to pay.
You can have bacon sandwiches and beer a plenty but have to go through into the non Muslim section of Waitrose and drink beer off the streets.