Private guide in Dubai

To reduce the potential for flight delays due to weather on our way to Dubai for a round-trip 7-day cruise, my wife, Maxine, and I arrived in Dubai the evening before embarkation. We stayed at the Hilton Dubai Creek, an excellent hotel with excellent service. I used Hilton “points” for a free night.

Via e-mail, I also had arranged with the concierge for the Hilton to pick us up at the airport and, the next day, take us to the ship. Each trip was more expensive than taking a cab, about $25 instead of $12, but it was worth it, for us.

The cruise was from Feb. 27 to March 5, 2012, but for the last two nights the ship was docked in Dubai, so on Sunday, March 4, we took an 8-hour tour of the city with Sunil Sathyan (e-mail dubaiprivate tour@gmail.com) as our guide. I had made the arrangements three months in advance. He picked us up at the dock and later dropped us off there.

The total cost of our tour was $300, of which $60 went to Viator.com, the original booking agent that I found on the Internet. Viator provides local guides in many major cruise ports. Sunil received the rest in cash at the end of the day. He will take dirhams or, at a very good conversion rate, dollars.

A knowledgeable and personable guide, Sunil had a new, 7-passenger Toyota van with air-conditioning (though the AC was not necessary at that time).

We did not want to go to any museums and went to other major sights. Sunil did not rush us at any site and suggested which sites had “negotiable” prices. I did not get the feeling that he was steering us to any vendor from whom he would get a kickback.

Instead of a fancy restaurant for lunch, we had him take us to a less costly, locals-only place; I don’t remember the name, but it looked like a fast-food restaurant, with tables upstairs. The three of us had an excellent lunch of salad, hummus, chicken, lamb and soft drinks for a total of $21 including tip. (Sunil offered to pay his share, but I covered it.)

Because of time and money constraints, we did not go up in either the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, or the world’s fourth-tallest hotel, the landmark Burj Al Arab.

Note, if you book a visit to the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa three or more days in advance, the admission fee is AED100 (near $27), adult, but if you buy it the day of your visit, it costs AED400.

You can’t even go into the Burj Al Arab unless you have a reservation or go for High Tea (7-8 p.m. at AED275 [$75] per person; phone +971 4 3017600, fax 4 3016076, e-mail baarestaurants@ jumeirah.com).

There are restrictions against alcohol in Dubai; some hotels do serve alcohol to visitors.

Everyone we spoke to had different ideas about what to see in Dubai. Before arriving, you should make a list of specific sites you want to see. With Sunil Sathyan as our guide, we were able to optimize the day. I strongly recommend him.

KEN SHERMAN
Jackson, NJ