How We Spent Christmas In Dubai
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My Cruising Family at the Dubai Miracle Garden
As promised in Part 1 of this two-part blog series, I will share here in Part 2, where in Dubai we stayed after our MSC World Europa cruise, what we did in Dubai on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and the pricing for our round-trip Emirates flights between JFK and DXB, as well as pricing of other elements of this first UAE trip for our family of 5.
Day 4 of the pre-inaugural MSC World Europa sailing was also Christmas Eve, and on that day, our family of 5 disembarked in Dubai where we would spend another two days before flying back to New York. Prior to leaving the United States, we booked our transportation from the cruise port to our post-cruise hotel, but with stops at the Dubai Miracle Garden and the gold souk in between, since we would disembark the ship early in the morning, and hotel check-in times are usually in the afternoon. In full transparency, the night before getting off the ship, I received communication from the ground transportation company through WhatsApp messages confirming our cruise port pickup. However, at some point during the WhatsApp communication, when the company “realized” that we are a family of 5 with luggage, the company stated that the transportation that I already booked from the cruise port would be too small to accommodate all of us and our luggage. Even after I explained that 2 of the 5 of us were small children, the company insisted that I would need to book a separate van transport from the cruise port to the hotel, and then, the initial car that was reserved for us could pick us up from the hotel to take us to the Dubai Miracle Garden and the gold souk. There was a lot of back and forth with this on the night before disembarkation, which honestly annoyed me. If you would like to see the exchange with the tour company, the screenshots of the WhatsApp conversation are here. Otherwise, feel free to scroll past the screenshots to learn more about how we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Dubai before flying back to New York. If you do read through these WhatsApp texts, please forgive the few typos in my texts as I was quite annoyed to be dealing with this situation during the last night’s dinner aboard our cruise, and I was typing furiously while looking at all the prior communication I had received that never indicated our luggage would be a problem.
Thankfully, our hotel, Doubletree By Hilton Dubai - Jumeirah Beach, allowed for an early check-in and kept our luggage safely stored while we hopped into our taxi to the Dubai Miracle Garden and then to the gold souk. As with most things prior to leaving the United States, we had booked our tickets to the Dubai Miracle Garden in advance through Viator, so after enjoying the drive from Doubletree By Hilton Dubai - Jumeirah Beach to the Miracle Garden, entry into the Miracle Garden was seamless. We simply showed our Viator confirmation at the entrance, and went right in. Although our children were still quite jet-lagged from our travels, and particularly our youngest, who was 7 years old at the time, was a bit cranky that morning, the overwhelming beauty of the Dubai Miracle Garden eventually had us in good spirits and all smiling as we admired the twirling ladies, the traditional Smurfs village, the World Cup Smurfs display, the Emirates aircraft, and the many other amazing creations all made from grass, flowers, leaves, and clearly by some very talented people. For families visiting Dubai, we highly recommend a visit to the Dubai Miracle Garden. For a more complete look at our visit to the Dubai Miracle Garden, check out our vlog entitled Disembarking MSC World Europa | Dubai Miracle Garden | Gold Souk | Jumeirah Beach.
After we got our fill of the Dubai Miracle Garden, we went shopping at the famous gold souk, which was an experience I had been looking forward to. We saw the biggest gold ring in the world and visited a number of different jewelry shops before finding two pairs of earrings that my mom and I both liked and purchased at a decent price - one pair of earrings for Mommy, and one pair of earrings for me. Our first visit to the gold souk was a success! For a better look at our visit to the Dubai gold souk, check out our vlog entitled Disembarking MSC World Europa | Dubai Miracle Garden | Gold Souk | Jumeirah Beach.
Our drivers, both from the cruise port to the hotel, then round-trip from the hotel to the Dubai Miracle Garden, the gold souk, and back, were very pleasant. It was wonderful speaking with them, all while sightseeing along the way. When we returned to our hotel, we enjoyed the views from our spacious, well-situated two-bedroom suite that overlooked Jumeirah Beach and Ain Dubai, which is the world’s biggest and tallest ferris wheel at the time of this writing. Allan and I enjoyed a delicious Christmas Eve dinner outside at the on-site restaurant at our hotel, Doubletree By Hilton Dubai - Jumeirah Beach, with great views of Ain Dubai and the Jumeirah Beach area in beautiful lights throughout the night! There is an option to sit indoors, but unless the weather is unpleasant, I don’t know why anyone would want to dine inside. The weather was beautiful throughout our stay, and the ambiance and the views from the outdoor seating are unmatched. My mom and our sons stayed in our suite because the boys were fast asleep after a long day and honestly, still adjusting to the time difference between Dubai and New York. From our suite, my mom was also able to see the beautiful lights across Jumeirah Beach as well as the fireworks and lights show in the night sky as Allan and I enjoyed spectacular views of this from our outdoor dinner venue at the Doubletree. By the way, dinner was delicious! After Allan and I ate dinner, we brought food upstairs for my mom and the boys. For a more complete look at our first night’s experience at the Doubletree By Hilton Dubai - Jumeirah Beach, including the spectacular daytime and nighttime views, and our delicious dinner, check out our vlog entitled Disembarking MSC World Europa | Dubai Miracle Garden | Gold Souk | Jumeirah Beach.
To wake up to Christmas Day in Dubai was a dream come true! So what did we do in Dubai on Christmas? First, we enjoyed a fabulous breakfast spread at the on-site restaurant at Doubletree By Hilton Dubai - Jumeirah Beach. The breakfast buffet was huge, and offered something for everyone - even our pickiest eater enjoyed his breakfast, here! The boys were wide awake, and so our entire family of 5 got to enjoy the beautiful weather and gorgeous views of Jumeirah Beach and Ain Dubai as we again chose the restaurant’s outdoor seating for our meal. While the family savored their meals, I ate quickly because I had a hair appointment at the nearby salon, En Vogue, which was a quick walk through the hotel’s parking garage through to the building next door. The hotel’s front desk staff provided clear and easy directions for me to get there. I was immediately taken in for a wash and blow-dry, then returned to join my family in our suite at the Doubletree.
Why would I choose to get my hair done on the last full day of our vacation? Well, the highlight of our Christmas Day in Dubai was also a Christmas gift for my mom in that we would all be participating in a photo shoot in the Dubai desert, and not just any photo shoot, but a Dubai Flying Dress photo shoot which I had booked through Floganza Dubai! I booked directly through Floganza Dubai, and the process was very easy, with the best communication via WhatsApp weeks ahead of the event! Although Floganza offers hair and makeup add-ons to the flying dress experience, I only booked makeup ahead of time because, at the time I decided to book these add-ons, no hair stylist was available for this on Christmas Day, which is why I got my hair done at the nearby salon. If you know you want to book this experience, book it as soon as possible with all the additional components you’d like - whether it’s hairstyling, makeup, outfits for the guys, a camel, video - whatever add-ons you want, because this experience and all its add-ons book up quickly!
Our makeup artist arrived and did a fabulous job with my mom and me. After my mom and I had our makeup session, we all opened our Christmas gifts - yes, we traveled with our gifts from New York to Dubai, and it was worth it! Our transportation to the desert then arrived, and we all took the scenic drive to our photo shoot location. There, my mom and I changed into our flying dresses, and my guys changed into their traditional male outfits. We enjoyed an amazing Dubai desert photo/video session on Christmas Day! Then, it was back to our hotel to enjoy Christmas Day together as well as to soak in our last few hours in Dubai for this first trip there. For a glimpse into our Floganza Dubai photo/video experience, check out our video entitled Dubai Flying Dress Experience | Family Edition | Floganza Dubai.
For a more detailed look at our entire Christmas Day in Dubai, watch our vlog entitled Christmas Day In Dubai | Yummy Food | Experience The Desert.
Again, our boys were fast asleep at dinner time, so my mom stayed with them in the suite while Allan and I enjoyed Christmas dinner outside at the on-site restaurant at the Doubletree. We brought food back to the suite for my mom and the boys, and prepared our bags to fly back to New York the next morning. The hospitality at the Doubletree By Hilton Dubai - Jumeirah Beach was top-notch. We highly recommend this hotel for your stay in Dubai!
During our taxi ride to Dubai International Airport-DXB, our then-7-year-old LJ asked “Can we not do this again for a year?” That was our son’s way of asking for a pause in our travels, and he got it. After a busy travel year in 2022, we slowed our travels quite a bit in 2023. However, it hasn’t all been due to the hectic nature of our international travels, but it has also been due to finances. At this point of my blogging, vlogging, and content creation career, my family and I pay for all of our travels, including flights, cruises, hotels, excursions, and all. So, yes, everything we do and share on this blog and through our various social media platforms is all genuine and for the benefit of our readers and viewers. With that said, this Dubai/United Arab Emirates trip was epic and is the most expensive one of all our travels thus far. The most expensive component of this entire trip was the round-trip airfare.
So how much does it cost for a family of 5 to fly round-trip between New York and Dubai, enjoy a cruise through the UAE, and spend Christmas in Dubai? Here is an overview of the pricing, in USD, that applied to all major aspects of our trip, keeping in mind that we did not retain receipts from our meals in Dubai nor did we keep all the receipts from souvenirs we purchased, but we budgeted towards what we were prepared to spend on these things, and I will also share that budget here:
Round-Trip Emirates Flights Between JFK And DXB: $9004.40
[Keep In Mind That AJ Had Just Turned 12 Years Old One Week Before Our Flight, And Anyone 12 Years Old And Older Pays The Adult Fare For Emirates Flights, So We Purchased Four Adult Tickets And One Child Ticket.]
Two Balcony Staterooms On MSC World Europa’s Pre-Inaugural Cruise: $2427.20
Private Airport Transfer To Dubai City: $110
Ramada Wyndham Downtown Dubai: $857
Burj Khalifa At The Top 125th Floor & Dubai Aquarium Combo Entrance: $391.20 - We Paid $352.08 After PayPal Discount
Abu Dhabi Theme Park Excursion/Ferrari World Or Warner Bros World: $695.75
Private Guided Transportation With English Driver: $180
Additional Cruise Port Transportation Added The Day Before Disembarkation: $55
Doubletree By Hilton Dubai - Jumeirah Beach: $1600.45 - We Paid $1158.90 After Applying JetBlue Vacations Credits
Dubai Miracle Garden Tickets: $130.33
Total: $14,970.66
Additional Budgeted To Spend In The UAE: $900-$1120
Warner Bros World Food, Photos, And Souvenirs: $200
Two Pairs Of Gold Earrings: $90-$200 each
Dubai Magnet: $10
Abu Dhabi Magnet: $10
Food for 5 in Dubai on 12/24: $250
Food for 5 in Dubai on 12/25: $250
With this trip being more than nine months ago, I do not have the exact souvenir and food pricing to share with you, but, if memory serves me correctly, we spent a bit more than budgeted on overall souvenirs, including professional photos at the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Aquarium, Warner Bros. World, and the Dubai Miracle Garden, and a bit less than budgeted on overall food in Dubai.
Important to know is that visitors to Dubai can get a tax refund on items purchased during their visit, but to do so, they must visit the tax-free validation desk at DXB, before going through the security checkpoint, and present their passports and their receipts for the purchase. I went to the validation desk with the two pairs of earrings and the receipts from the purchase of those earrings at the gold souk. The person at the tax-free validation desk then asked for my preferred method to receive the refund, and I requested that it be deposited into my bank account. The process was very easy, and the deposit appeared in my bank account a few days after my return to the United States.
After this epic Christmas vacation in the UAE, we all flew Emirates economy class from DXB to JFK, and it was very comfortable for a 14-hour flight - it truly did not feel that long. Flying from DXB to JFK, I watched A Christmas Treasure, Pelé: Birth of a Legend, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and, again, watched Black Panther, all on Emirates’ ICE TV & movie system. We thoroughly enjoyed flying Emirates, with lots of great entertainment onboard, and three delicious meals, with juice, soda, wine and more.
We hope that the details in this two-part blog series help you to plan your own epic visit to Dubai, a fabulous cruise through the UAE, or both!