May 2 Dubai, UAE

We arrived in Dubai shortly after lunch on Wednesday, and immediately headed out.  We opted for the DIY approach to this port since Big Bus Tours has a Hop On Hop Off route here.  As a convenience just for us, Oceania had representatives of Big Bus in the Destinations Lounge area, and we could buy our tickets using our onboard account.  Big Bus had a transfer bus waiting just outside the cruise terminal, and took us the half hour into town and the Dubai Mall.  There we transferred to the Red Route, whick took us through the Downtown and older parts of the city.

Sailing into the harbor we see the skyline of Dubai, topped by the Burj Khalifa at 828 meters--the tallest building in the world.  The weather was hazy during our entire stay.

 A well maintained city, nothing like lots of oil money and foreign workers to make it work.  The UAE was formed on December 2nd, 1971 with eventually seven emirates joining together.  That date is so important, a major road is named December 2nd Street.

 Water storage tank

 Wall Street in downtown Dubai

 Street scene

 You can pay money, ride an elevator up 100 meters, then walk across the picture frame inside.  The flooring panels are clear glass on the elevated walkway.

 Dubai Creek, the center of the old city, now on the northern outskirts.  You can ride a dhow here as part of your Big Bus ticket.  We didn't because we didn't have enough time.

 Lots of shipping takes place using small boats, bringing supplies into the old portion of the city.

 More architecture.  Lots and lots of tall buildings, each slightly different but overwhelmed by the huge numbers of them.  I see that they're building a Death Star model in the lower right.

 After our 2.5 hour Red Route we wandered through the Dubai Mall to see what they offered.  We walked past Cartier and Rolex but couldn't find Spencer's or Orange Julius.

 Here are the apartments for the foreign workers.  Not as spiffy as the citizens get.

 Dubai makes its money from oil.  At 7pm here's the line to get gas at the local station.  You'd think there'd be lots of gas.

 Mitsubishis by the boatful on the dock.

 The QE2 is berthed in the Dubai harbor and turned into a 5-star hotel, just like Long Beach.  They distributed the QE2 lifeboats around as decorations outside the cruise terminal.

 Nautica taking on supplies.