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15 Dec 18, 06:46 PM |
#1
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I am not a shopaholic
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The Decadent Dibber in Dubai. Day 5. Not Travel Day ! Holiday Inn and Dubai Festival Mall
Yesterday is ...HERE
Thursday 22 November We had received a letter yesterday advising us to be in reception at 7.15 for our ride to the airport Alarms were set and i was up at 6 to take in the final beautiful sunrise. We finished up the cases and headed to the lounge for a very quiet breakfast and to say goodbye to all the team who had looked after us so well. Gonna miss this club lounge for sure the car was bang on time and whisking us off the airport - we felt quite sorry to be leaving as another couple of days to relax probably would have made this the perfect length stay. ... Ahem, we might regret those sentiments Passing all buildings and space age metro stations again , definitely a sci fi feel to it here. All too soon pitching up here We were momentarily confused by the departure board which showed the flight as cancelled , but then said 2.00 which i took to mean as delayed by 2 hours No definitely cancelled as were handed this ... There was confusion a plenty - a few people getting v stressed as they had work commitments the next day and quite a lot of loud exchanges about why were weren’t being offered alternative flights - put bluntly, they were all full. there was also a comedic moment about compensation discussions with claims being made the flight was delayed till tomorrow when the letter clearly states it was cancelled. Andy spent so long in a hot debate about the latter that we missed the call out for a mini bus to take us to a nearby hotel. It was all a bit fractious and not terribly well organised, After walking half way round the airport to meet the second mini bus which was “just coming”, the rep finally gave up and dispatched us in taxis to the Holday Inn advising us that a room and meals had been sorted. In the meantime Andy had managed to re arrange our pick up and contact our house sitter to stay on an extra day I am not sure where all the other passengers were as in the end there didnt seem that many of us .. none of the people we spoke to had received an email or text ... obvs not or we would have stayed on at the Waldorf ! The holiday inn was very close and were expecting us as they came out with glasses of fruit juice which was very welcome. They hadn’t been told about meals but we weren’t that bothered as we would just keep receipts. The room was ok . It was annoying that there was construction work going on which in the end ruled out any chance of an afternoon nap as they were banging away all day. Andy decided to chill in the room while I headed to the pool for a bit. I got chatting to a lady who was a frequent visitor and she told me about the Mall and light show so that was something for us to do later. i had a few hours reading , napping and swimming i mean where else do you get swim and see Ikea at the same time. Andy joined me and then we decided to get some lunch as had a message to say we could now eat for free at the hotel. it was quiet and the end of lunch service - the food looked nice but was barely luke warm which was disappointing. A rather sporty large group joined the tables near us i didnt take any pics as i dont think it can be nice being a “ celeb” and people papping you while you are just trying to eat. We saw them several times in the hotel and the Mall We had a quick look around the Mall but didnt really have shopping heads on. It was pretty impressive though The So need to do my shopping in one of these ! Hard Rock .. Next to M&S. This really appealed to me as ironic juxtaposition ! It was mid afternoon now so we thought maybe a quick sleep would be a good idea , the prospect of a 2 am flight was really starting to become unappealing and I wasn’t sure if i could stay awake till 11 let alone 2 Andy did manage a nap but I couldn’t sleep and in the end got up and had a shower and read for a bit. We got changed into our travel clothes and went for dinner. Which was basically the same as lunch but colder and poorer selection. Deeply unimpressive food I have to say. We made a quick dash back to the Mall as the light shows were on the hour and half hour so we just made the 7.30 show, sitting out on the steps at the back of the Mall The show is a mix of lasers, holograms, fireworks and music and was really very good. Longer and better than the ones we had seen at the Burj Khalifa. We nipped in to the supermarket on the way back to pick up sweets for home. I was struck by the egg aisle for some reason I was flagging by this point and couldn’t even be tempted in to Ikea - just a quick glance at the menu to see if they do the meatballs here Which they do not Toys r us alive and well in the UAE We had been told to be in reception for the mini buses to take us to reception so pitched up in good time. But Travel day is in the next instalment so you will have to wait and see how that went It’s just HERE
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2022 Dom Republic /2019 New Orleans, Jekyll, Hilton Head, Charleston, Savannah, Palm Coast, Clearwater/2019 DLP /2018 Dubai /Miami,New Orleans, Orlando, Largo/2017 Dallas,New Orleans,Little Rock,Eureka Springs,Memphis,Nashville,Orlando/Mar 2017 Orlando, Clearwater, Largo /2016 NYC,Washington, Orlando /2015 Windsor Palms / 2014 Our Wedding Trip - Portofino Bay & Yacht Club / 2013 FantasyWorld Resort/ 2012 East & West Coast. Double Disney. Edited at 12:04 PM. |
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15 Dec 18, 07:29 PM |
#2
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Imagineer
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It is so frustrating when these things happen - you just want to get home!
What a shame the food was so disappointing - not a fan of lukewarm food! I hope the flights home went better on travel day + 1! At least you can claim for the cancelled flight!
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Index of my trip reports 2016 Quebec - Kuala Lumpar - New York City 2017 Dubai - Eurocamps France - Ontario and Quebec - So-Cal 2018 Montreal - Bangkok - New England 2019 Argentina - Quebec City - Hong Kong - 2020 Switzerland 2022 Arizona - Costa Med Cruise - Oslo 2023 Hong Kong - Gothenburg |
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15 Dec 18, 09:27 PM |
#3
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VIP Dibber
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What a shame that the food was disappointing- I wish you had taken pics If the cricketers!
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15 Dec 18, 10:43 PM |
#4
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Imagineer
Join Date: Oct 11
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Oh no! Delays are not what you need and it’s a shame the food wasn’t great. Really hop3 the rest of the journey home went more smoothly . . .
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West Coast July - August 2014, Howdy Texas! August 2015, Rocking in the Rockies July - August 2016, Bier, Bratwurst und Bahnsteige: Berlin 2017, Touring Tennessee 2017, Expedition East Coast 2018, Hola! Madrid 2019, Great Lakes Grooving 2019, It's Czech, Mate, Prague 2022, Veni, Vidi, Edi, Bibi Italy 2022 |
16 Dec 18, 09:54 AM |
#5
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Thread Starter
I am not a shopaholic
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Yeah I mean it was always going to be hard competing with the Waldorf food but for it to be barely warm was poor.
In fairness to Virgin they have already paid up the compensation and made it very easy. Lol Andy said the same. In all the times we have travelled we have never hit a cancellation so this was new territory for us. At least we didn’t have the stress of jobs or kids to worry about. It was nice to have another day of sunshine but by the end we were just impatient to be on our way .
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2022 Dom Republic /2019 New Orleans, Jekyll, Hilton Head, Charleston, Savannah, Palm Coast, Clearwater/2019 DLP /2018 Dubai /Miami,New Orleans, Orlando, Largo/2017 Dallas,New Orleans,Little Rock,Eureka Springs,Memphis,Nashville,Orlando/Mar 2017 Orlando, Clearwater, Largo /2016 NYC,Washington, Orlando /2015 Windsor Palms / 2014 Our Wedding Trip - Portofino Bay & Yacht Club / 2013 FantasyWorld Resort/ 2012 East & West Coast. Double Disney. |
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17 Dec 18, 04:40 PM |
#6
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Imagineer
Join Date: Feb 08
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Bit of a mare, but at least you got to see a few extra things with "Virgin Atlantis" paying.
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My Previous Trip Reports |
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19 Dec 18, 09:04 AM |
#7
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Thread Starter
I am not a shopaholic
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Lol, yeah the typo was funny.
Once we’d got settled it was fine. Just the new flight t8me was a pain !
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2022 Dom Republic /2019 New Orleans, Jekyll, Hilton Head, Charleston, Savannah, Palm Coast, Clearwater/2019 DLP /2018 Dubai /Miami,New Orleans, Orlando, Largo/2017 Dallas,New Orleans,Little Rock,Eureka Springs,Memphis,Nashville,Orlando/Mar 2017 Orlando, Clearwater, Largo /2016 NYC,Washington, Orlando /2015 Windsor Palms / 2014 Our Wedding Trip - Portofino Bay & Yacht Club / 2013 FantasyWorld Resort/ 2012 East & West Coast. Double Disney. |
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21 Dec 18, 12:11 AM |
#8
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VIP Dibber
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Oh dear, what a pain being delayed. Still, it seeems you tried to make the best of it by heading to the mall for a while and seeing the light show.
Yuck! to lukewarm food. It looks nice in the pics too. At least Virgin took care of your hotel and food, when we were delayed recently we got zip!
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All of my trip reports are in this INDEX My most recent reports are below: *Complete* A Tale of Two Cities - Washington D.C. & Boston - March 2023 We Love Food! An Offsite Dining Report - May 2022 |
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22 Dec 18, 04:52 PM |
#9
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Thread Starter
I am not a shopaholic
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Food today was a big letdown after all that had gone before.
I think it was ok for an unplanned day. We were just itching to get on our way by the end though.
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2022 Dom Republic /2019 New Orleans, Jekyll, Hilton Head, Charleston, Savannah, Palm Coast, Clearwater/2019 DLP /2018 Dubai /Miami,New Orleans, Orlando, Largo/2017 Dallas,New Orleans,Little Rock,Eureka Springs,Memphis,Nashville,Orlando/Mar 2017 Orlando, Clearwater, Largo /2016 NYC,Washington, Orlando /2015 Windsor Palms / 2014 Our Wedding Trip - Portofino Bay & Yacht Club / 2013 FantasyWorld Resort/ 2012 East & West Coast. Double Disney. |
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27 Dec 18, 11:34 AM |
#10
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VIP Dibber
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Oh no, what a nightmare for you! On the last day you just want to get home don’t you?
The hotel certainly isn’t in the same league as the Waldorf, such a shame you couldn’t stay on there. Ouch a 2am flight sounds very unappealing ☹️ |
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