October 23, 2008 – Dubai, UAE

Today 260 guests depart and 220 embark. In Dubai archaeologists have found evidence of settlements from the 3rd millennium BC, but modern Arabic settlement dates from 1832. Dubai’s oil will run out in approximately 15 years so the Sultan began an aggressive plan to create a modern tourist and financial center. Construction is rampant and everywhere with skyscrapers of modern, unique and innovative design are everywhere. Supposedly, one third of the world’s cranes are in Dubai. 80 percent of the population is expatriate and that includes all laborers and they cannot own property or become citizens.

We joined 2 other couples in a private van to explore the city. We started with the old city where there is an excellent museum in an old fort and the exhibits range from 3000 BC to present. The Creek, which looks more like a river runs through the city and in one section we saw hundreds of wood and steel boats tied up 3 deep and loading every imaginable type of cargo. These aren’t really ships because they hold 400 tons or less. They take the cargo, which is uninsured, to Africa, India, Iran and other Middle East destinations. The road system hasn’t kept pace with construction and traffic is a nightmare. A monorail “Metro” is under construction and slated to open on 9/09/2009. Waterfront property is in demand so they are reclaiming land to build on and there are 2 islands shaped like palm trees with drooping fronds and each frond has water on each side. An Atlantis hotel just like the one in Nassau is on one of the palm islands. Under construction is the world’s tallest building with an even taller one to begin soon. After touring around 4 ½ hours 4 of us opted to be dropped off at the Mall of the Emirates. The mall is modern, has over 420 stores, an indoor snow ski slope and is filled with top European and American brands. English is spoken everywhere and clothing sizes are shown in US, EU and Arabic. Prices are comparable to the US. We took a taxi back to the ship and planned to meet for dinner and go back to town to the gold souk afterwards but decided we were too tired for the souk. A couple who just joined the ship had also been on the Antarctica cruise with us in February so we joined them for dinner and stayed on the ship.