Well, we have finally made it to London. BUT we had a great few days on our Dubai stopover, most of which was spent at the Atlantis The Palm hotel.
FLYING TO DUBAI WITH THE KIDS
The kids were so lovely on the flight (ADL-SYD-DXB). I had packed them activity bags and iPads, but they didn’t touch any of that stuff. Instead, they just sat and waited, watching their tv screens and endless episodes of Teen Titans Go. I wonder what kids used to do on long haul flights before the in-seat entertainment units.
There were a few things we splurged on when leaving Australia – one of these was premium economy seats on an A380 from Adelaide to London with QANTAS. It was well worth the extra money. So much more comfortable than economy flights.
ARRIVING IN DUBAI
We arrived in Dubai at 1 AM Wednesday morning, so we hastily got through customs and passport control – we were hot, sweaty and tired. Because we are smart and had booked a Dubai Stopover Package with RAA Travel, we had a transfer from the airport to the hotel – no waiting around in queues for a taxi, or haggling with private companies, or dealing with public transport. It made things so much simpler. A nice man was waiting at the customs exit holding a big sign with our name on it, and off we went, travelling through the streets of Dubai and on to the hotel.
I’m a firm believer in preparation helps you to avoid stress, and airports, after a long haul flight, are one of the most stressful things about a vacation. So, we have written a whole blog post on arriving in Dubai through DXB International Airport and how to survive it with kids.
DUBAI STOPOVER – ATLANTIS, THE PALM, DUBAI
This was the other thing we splashed out on. We stayed at Atlantis The Palm hotel in Dubai. It is without a doubt one of the best hotels in Dubai (and one of the most expensive) but we got an amazing deal when we booked (50% off). It definitely didn’t fit in the budget we had planned for our year away, but it was worth it! And we WILL stay again.
On arrival at the hotel, the foyer was surprisingly quiet (I guess arriving at 2:30 AM isn’t so bad after all). It was just the cleaners, the desk staff and us. This worked to our advantage as ArgeyDad could check-in quickly while I watched the kids, and the porter put all our luggage on the trolley. He also (and I’m sure there is some sort of insurance policy that says this is not allowed) put ArgeySon on the there and was giving him rides around the foyer.
When we finally got to the room (which was amazing) we had some long awaited showers and baths, and we went to bed, sleeping until about 9 AM.
After breakfast (which was the biggest smorgasbord I have ever seen – you can’t go too wrong when one of the options is hummus and flatbread) we spent the morning going through the aquarium at the hotel (which you could see from our hotel room by the way).
Late afternoon we went on a sand dune safari with a traditional BBQ in the desert. I’ll let someone else write a post about the safari – my review wouldn’t be as favourable as others. EEK!
Thursday was spent at the Aquaventure Water Park at the hotel. It was amazing. ArgeyDad went on a water slide called “The Leap of Faith”… (youtube it – It’s crazy). And he and ArgeyDaughter also went on the “Shark Attack” water slide which takes you through the middle of an aquarium. ArgeySon was still a bit small for the big water slides, so we spent most of the time playing in the kid’s area and the lagoons.
ArgeySon and I then finished off our day by doing the dolphin encounter programme. It was amazing and we learnt a lot!
After this ArgeyDad and Daughter took off to see the Burj Khalifa – I won’t spoil their story telling, I am sure they will write a blog about it soon. It was the highlight of their Dubai stopover.
We have decided that we are definitely going to do a Dubai stopover whenever we pass through. It won’t always be at the Atlantis, unfortunately, but it was well worth the extra days to rest and enjoy a bit of sunshine. A great way to ease us into a life of travel.
THE ADVANTAGE OF A LUXURY DUBAI STOPOVER
Look, there is definitely a downside to staying in a hotel like Atlantis The Palm hotel on a Dubai stopover. If you are only spending a few days, there is enough to entertain you without leaving the hotel. This can be good (sometimes you are just not in the mindset to deal with navigating a new city, with taxis and public transport) particularly when you are on a stopover from a long-haul flight.
BUT to feel like you have made full value of the price of the stay, you need to use the facilities. I mean the bedding there is awesome, but it isn’t worth the price of your stay. With the deal we had, we were on a half-board for meals (receiving breakfast and lunch buffets at any of the restaurants for free) and unlimited use of the Aquaventure Waterpark. We ate up at the meals (unlimited hummus! WHO WOULDN’T?) and found we only wanted something small for dinner if anything at all. We only went to the waterpark once, but it wasn’t overly warm when we were there (about 26ºC). If we were on our stopover at another time of the year, we would have used it more.
For the most part, when we stay at luxury hotel or resort, that is what we do though. We stay in the resort and make use of the facilities, and Atlantis The Palm hotel was no exception. There was more than enough to entertain us without venturing far except for those few must-do’s, like the Burj Khalifa, and a sand dune safari.
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Glad you’re safe and sound. Hope your clothes selection has been suitable so far. Sounds like you’ve done so much already and it’s less than a week you’ve been away! x
Hi hi! Clothes choice has been fine. Backpack works a lot better now we are in London and the bulky stuff is being worn 😜 it’s been a crazy week. We are going to have a bit of downtime now though before we start exploring here too much. Xx
So cool. What an awesome record for the future for your all to look back on. Let the adventure BEGIN!
Looks like you’re having an amazing time already and you’ve not been away very long! Jealous that you’re having Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere! Any snow in London yet?
I think we’ve stayed a few nights in Dubai on 3 separate occasions now. At first I liked it, we loved our cultural tour of Old Dubai with traditional lunch and educational talk, we also loved our desert safari with camels, so much so we’ve done it twice. The old souk area is OK, but not a patch on Egypt and The Creek is pretty , it has charm. The boys just adored barrelling down those sand dunes in the desert, one of their favourite things ever. The Dubai Mall is interesting, worth a look, but I don’t think we’ll stop again. I was sickened by the excess, the recreational shopping, the bored expats with too much money buying “stuff” because there’s nothing else to do. It just totally sickened me third time around. Probably to do with the fact we’d just come from Nepal and seen earthquake victims still living under canvas while the expat Dubia crowd buy Gucci for their kids. I’m kinda over Dubai. But yes, it’s certainly an interesting experience, a very strange place indeed. Much to learn about creating a city in a desert of course, there are some great YouTube videos about that. Obviously, a vital part of the kids’education for so many reasons. We’ll try Oman next time we pass through, maybe, we have to go that way every time we hop to Asia. By the way we’ve never had to queue for a taxi, it’s super easy and quick. You can also take the Metro from the big airport, the smaller one is miles out of town, but for 4 people, a taxi is cheaper. First time I was travelling without my husband and arriving late so we were issued a special pink family taxi with lady driver, so cool!
It is definitely “different”. A whole other world. We are looking forward to exploring it a bit more.