Phil's blog from Dubai in the UAE

In my 26 years in the travel industry, this is my first visit to the UAE.

I have heard so many stories about Dubai, I decided it was high time I flew out to take a real good look at this remarkable city and other Emirates.

Flying out of Manchester on one of Emirates twice daily services, I was so impressed with the inflight service and entertainment system. I have never seen so much choice, in fact the 6hr 30 minute flight was too short..!!

Clearing customs and collecting my luggage from the baggage reclaim was effortless and my driver was waiting for me as I passed through "nothing to declare".

I spent my first night at a new hotel approx 15 minute drive from the airport and next to the port. An ideal location for anyone who requires a 1 night stay pre or post cruise. I will give you all the details on my hotels later in December when I launch my new website.

The next day, I was escorted around the city by my guide and visited several hotels at different locations in Dubai. One thing I have learned very quickly is that Dubai is a city where location, location, location is so important when chosing your hotel..!!

Travelling around by taxi is extremely cheap and most parts of the city can be reached in 10-15 minutes, which is approx £3-£4 taxi fare..!! What you may spend on alcoholic drinks in the hotels, you can make up on the taxi fares. For example: the 10-15 minute taxi ride from Palma airport to Palma Nova is £35 - £40 one way! In Dubai you can travel for an hour in a taxi and the meter charge would probably be approx £30..!!

On the subject of drinks, a glass of wine or a beer - on average - will cost approx £5 but many hotels operate a "Happy Hour" facility where you receive 2 drinks for the price of 1. A point to note is...if you do want to drink in your hotel - please check that it is not a "dry" hotel. Some hotels do not serve alcoholic drinks.

Going back to the hotels and their locations, many of them are situated beside or close to a shopping mall or a souk. This is why I say location is the most important thing if you spend any time in Dubai. It is fairly important to match the location with your needs, be that a beach, a resort hotel, shopping in the souks or shopping for textiles and electrical goods.

Outside of the shopping there is so much more to see and do in Dubai and I strongly advise you to take advantage of the excursions available. Again, I will be posting full details of all our exciting excursions on our new website.

Moving away from the centre of Dubai, I have some great opportunities for a fantastic stay and cruise holiday. I now have a superb alternative to the Caribbean, Sharm and the Canaries if you want winter sunshine on a great beach location. More details on this will be revealed later...

After a very busy day, it was time to relax and have some fun, and in true Phil style - I took to the piano in the Hilton Hotel where Ian and myself entertained the guests.

This was the perfect end to a very interesting first day in Dubai.

This is a cruise blog entry by Phil