Shore Excursion Dubai - Do-It-Yourself

[alpencoolcruiser]

I am a fan of D-I-Y shore excursions , whenever possible. I am selective of what I want to see and if I am able to will prefer to arrange my own way. In Dubai , we got to see quite a lot on our own - on metro, buses, trams, monorail, abras. The Costa Toscana was docked for 2 days at the Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal near the Palm Jumeirah. There were no shuttle buses from the terminal.

The biggest problem we had was to get a taxi from the cruise terminal to nearby metro stations. They simply did not want to take us when we wanted them to turn on the meter and pay by card. We were once desperate enough and asked how much it would be with no meter and cash. The driver wanted to charge us 3 times the price of the meter fare. Anyone else faced this in Dubai ?   Just a fair warning if you are cruising out of Dubai - do download the Careem app and order a taxi through it. In the end we still managed to see quite a lot of this beautiful city.   

 

[Twinbooty]

On 3/11/2023 at 4:42 PM, alpencoolcruiser said:

I am a fan of D-I-Y shore excursions , whenever possible. I am selective of what I want to see and if I am able to will prefer to arrange my own way. In Dubai , we got to see quite a lot on our own - on metro, buses, trams, monorail, abras. The Costa Toscana was docked for 2 days at the Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal near the Palm Jumeirah. There were no shuttle buses from the terminal.

The biggest problem we had was to get a taxi from the cruise terminal to nearby metro stations. They simply did not want to take us when we wanted them to turn on the meter and pay by card. We were once desperate enough and asked how much it would be with no meter and cash. The driver wanted to charge us 3 times the price of the meter fare. Anyone else faced this in Dubai ?   Just a fair warning if you are cruising out of Dubai - do download the Careem app and order a taxi through it. In the end we still managed to see quite a lot of this beautiful city.   

 

Hi there.  I know the norm on ships but looking at the 5 day cruise on Toscana with 3 days at port.  Do you know if the casino was open when it was in port on your trip ?

[alpencoolcruiser]

23 hours ago, Twinbooty said:

Hi there.  I know the norm on ships but looking at the 5 day cruise on Toscana with 3 days at port.  Do you know if the casino was open when it was in port on your trip ?

Hello, I am pretty sure I only ever see the casinos open when the ship is moving and not when it is in port. 

[9tee2Sea]

do the hop on hop off bus in Dubai.  It has stops near the Palm Jumariah.  We purchased the two day ticket.  Well worth it for the " independent " traveler.  You can purchase tickets online. Download your ticket and show the attendant.

[alpencoolcruiser]

21 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

do the hop on hop off bus in Dubai.  It has stops near the Palm Jumariah.  We purchased the two day ticket.  Well worth it for the " independent " traveler.  You can purchase tickets online. Download your ticket and show the attendant.

yes that is definitely an option - as it is available from the cruise terminal - I just found it too expensive. A lot of people took it and if you dont mind paying -then its very convenient.

[9tee2Sea]

1 hour ago, alpencoolcruiser said:

yes that is definitely an option - as it is available from the cruise terminal - I just found it too expensive. A lot of people took it and if you dont mind paying -then its very convenient.

i didn't do my hop on from the cruise ship.  I did an independent two day.  I stayed within walking distance of the Museum of The Future ( which was one of the stops).  I didn't find the ticket too expensive because it included a few attractions as well ( a visit to the Aquarium in the Dubai Mall..didnt do, and a river cruise on one of the old timey boats..again, didn't do).  Due to my timing on days, The Gold Suk was closed, so didn't do that either.  But I still saw a lot of Dubai ( even if it docent read like I did).

[alpencoolcruiser]

 

[edinburgher]

The biggest problem we had was to get a taxi from the cruise terminal to nearby metro stations. They simply did not want to take us when we wanted them to turn on the meter and pay by card. We were once desperate enough and asked how much it would be with no meter and cash. The driver wanted to charge us 3 times the price of the meter fare. Anyone else faced this in Dubai ? 

 

Taxis are relatively inexpensive in Dubai,(cheap fuel !) but it doesn't really make sense to take one a very short distance from the cruise terminal, because you may or may not be aware that there is a 25AED surcharge added to any taxi fare which leaves FROM either the airport or the cruise terminal, therefore the shorter your jhourney the more expensive it appears.  The surcharge doesn't apply to journeys TO either.

That was pre-pandemic.  you would need to check if the surcharge is still current or not.

[edinburgher]

An afterthought.

 

Pre-pandemic there were sometimes free shuttle buses from the cruise terminal  which transferred passengers to a shopping mall,  sometimes more than one, on occasion only one, but they were an easy and free way to get into the city without paying the taxi surcharge and there was no obligation to go into the mall. Once off the shuttle you were free to go wherever you wanted.

 

Once again, I do not know if these are offered post pandemic.

[alpencoolcruiser]

We were on the Costa Toscana in February 2023 , which is post-pandemic and docked at the Dubai Marina harbour and there were no free shuttle buses at all. It was either taxis or hop-on hop-off or walk.  The taxi drivers were being selective about who they want to take and tried to cheat by turning off their meters and asking for cash. One of the Costa people were threatening to call the police on them and then only one taxi took us with the meter on.  To whomever on the cruise at the terminal, best to book taxis for pickup with the Careem app. 

[Tranquility Base]

On 3/12/2023 at 5:42 AM, alpencoolcruiser said:

The driver wanted to charge us 3 times the price of the meter fare.

How much was this please ?

[edinburgher]

pre-pandemic there were sometimes free shuttle buses from the cruise terminal 

 

 

I was referring to the original Dubai cruise terminal, not one at or close to Dubai Marina Harbour.- is this a newer larger terminal?

Edited April 22, 2023 by edinburgher

[alpencoolcruiser]

On 4/22/2023 at 8:18 PM, Tranquility Base said:

How much was this please ?

The Cab ride was from the Dubai Marina Harbour terminal to Mall of the Emirates and costed 30 AED - a different cab was asking for cash without meter 100 AED 

 

[alpencoolcruiser]

On 4/22/2023 at 11:40 PM, edinburgher said:

pre-pandemic there were sometimes free shuttle buses from the cruise terminal 

 

 

I was referring to the original Dubai cruise terminal, not one at or close to Dubai Marina Harbour.- is this a newer larger terminal?

No - this is the one with 2 terminals with capacity of 3 mid-sized cruise ships docked - near to Dubai Palm island. 

[edinburgher]

is this a newer larger terminal?

No - this is the one with 2 terminals with capacity of 3 mid-sized cruise ships docked - near to Dubai Palm island. 

 

On our visits there was only one, at Port Rashid.

 

It IS a new one.

 

When I googled i discovered this is a new cruise terminal, only opened in December 2021.  It is a joint partnership beween Carnival Corp and another company, so presumably all of the ships belonging to cruiselines which are part of Carnival Corp will be using this terminal.

You said you were onboard a Costa ship and Costa is part of Carnival Corp.

Edited April 24, 2023 by edinburgher

[alpencoolcruiser]

7 hours ago, edinburgher said:

is this a newer larger terminal?

No - this is the one with 2 terminals with capacity of 3 mid-sized cruise ships docked - near to Dubai Palm island. 

 

On our visits there was only one, at Port Rashid.

 

It IS a new one.

 

When I googled i discovered this is a new cruise terminal, only opened in December 2021.  It is a joint partnership beween Carnival Corp and another company, so presumably all of the ships belonging to cruiselines which are part of Carnival Corp will be using this terminal.

You said you were onboard a Costa ship and Costa is part of Carnival Corp.

However not all Costas are definitely docked here. They are sometimes at the Port Rashid terminal too. And I read that Port Rashid terminal got an upgrade which makes it even bigger and modern but I have not been there. I'm looking forward to take another cruise once the light house is done at the Dubai Marina. The view from the ship to the shore is already super duper cool as you see from my video at the top. This is from where the ship is docked at the cruise terminal.

[edinburgher]

A more attractive view of Dubai from the new terminal.  Thanks for uploading the video.

[Dancer Bob]

A dedicated DIY can definitely walk from Marina to the tram. About 1/2 hour each way, that's my normal exercise routine and I don't recall anything strenuous. I'm not sure if a larger ship can be accommodated by taking up two berths.

Port Rasid I recall as being pedestrian-unfriendly, with the exit on the west side, a long way from the Metro. There was a shopping shuttle, I don't recall which plaza but I think it had an Italian theme. I have no idea how you could confirm if it wll be available on your dates.

Edited April 26, 2023 by Dancer Bob

[9tee2Sea]

There is a hop on hop off stop in Palm Jumariah area. Actually ends ( and begins) at the Mall. Don't know if the new cruise terminal is close to Palm Jurmaih, but you can look online for the map of the Hop on Hop Off bus route