Dubai

First snow in Beijing and then a sandstorm in Dubai.  As our ship docked, we could barely see the city due to the wind.  This worried us because we were scheduled to do our desert safari, which was four wheel driving on the dunes.  But at four o clock we headed into the desert with four other companions.  After a forty minute drive we arrived at the Lehbab desert.  It was stunning.  We started the drive at a nice pace and then began to attack the dunes more aggressively which was great fun until one of our companions, who informed us that she suffered from motion sickness, car sickness and sea sickness said stop.  Her two ginger pills had stopped working and she proceeded to hurl in the desert.   Nice.  She then begged the driver to go slow and asked if she could get out, which the Cel would have been happy to let her do in the middle of the desert with no chance of a return. After proceeding further she yelled out stop again and chucked some more.  So much for an exciting adventure.  We finally got to the campsite where one could partake of free camel rides, henna applications, dinner and watch belly dancing.  As we were still recovering from India we did not have the meal but many enjoyed it.  It would have been a great trip with better car mates.  
We woke up the next morning with the sandstorm still in place but we had our time booked for Burj Khalifa so off we went to the world's tallest building located by the world's largest mall.  The observation deck is on the 124 floor and the elevator travels at 10 meters per second.   We were surprised at the top that we could still see the city but it was not clear enough to see Palm Island or the World.  Our time that we were scheduled to enter was 10:30 but we did not get to the top until 11:05 which gives you an idea of the crowds and lineups.  It was well worth it, however.  We then wandered the mall, passed the ice rink and the aquarium which has the world's largest mall wall with all the fish floating by including sharks and sting rays.  We stayed for the fountain show which is similar to Bellagios in Vegas.  They only did one song but it was impressive. Given that it was a Friday, the main souks were closed so we headed back to the ship.   Dubai is a clean area but there is evidence that the boom times are over and it is definitely a dry town with no alcohol served or to purchase.  There are signs requesting conservative dress when entering the mall.  It was a nice to have seen, but not somewhere that I have a strong desire to return to. 

Cruise tip:  If you are planning to see the Burj Khalifa book your time in advance online.  Those on on ship who waited were unable to get in as it was fully booked.  When we went we also saved 300 dinars by booking in advance online.