20231218 AAAA Trip - Dubai, UAE Day #6 - The View Palm Jumeirah

2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip 
Day 93/105 - Dubai, UAE Day #6 - The View Palm Jumeirah

The day started with a quick search on CruiseMapper to see where our ship was. We expected that she would be in port today and we were correct. There were three ships in Dubai today, all at Port Rashid. A TUI ship, Mein Schiff 2, A Ponant ship, Le Bougainville, and ours, the Oceania Riviera. We know we have a ship to board tomorrow, and that's a great thing.

We thought we would go to the beach today, but...I stumbled upon The View Palm Jumeirah and we decided to do that instead. We hopped the City Sightseeing Dubai Blue Line bus again today for the familiar drive. 

For some reason, the sign says, "Jumeira", but all the other signs say, "Jumeirah"

As we made the turn onto the Palm Jumeirah, The Palm Tower came into immediate view.

At 54 floors, it's hard to miss

Navigating on Palm Jumeirah is interesting - each frond of the palm design is lettered and that's how they are identified.

We headed back to Atlantis where one of the bus stops is located.

That track on the left is for a monorail that runs the length of the Palm Jumeirah.

After coming out of the tunnel connecting the palm trunk to the palm crescent, you can either go to the west crescent or the east one where Atlantis is located

After making the stop, we continued on, now heading to exit the Palm Jumeirah. We exited the next stop - The Fairmont Hotel - the stop closest to The View Palm Jumeirah. 

Yes, another mall, but this is the way to The View Palm Jumeirah

Since we were early for our ticket time, we made a stop at Shake Shack for shakes

We made our way up in the mall and outside over to The Palm Tower.

They offer two tickets. The basic ticket was AED100 ($27.23) and gave us access to the semi-enclosed deck 52. For AED175 ($47.65), we could also head up to deck 54 with unobstructed views all around. We opted for that.

To enter, you walk through video walls simulating an aquarium

Next is an interactive floor display that explains the basics of the construction of Palm Jumeirah

There was also a brief video and a series of other short videos and facts on the walls. To truly understand Palm Jumeirah, you have to keep in mind that in 2003, this was the ocean. Wet and deep. By 2007, new man-made islands existed in the shape of a palm tree with a breakwater crescent surrounding it. Made from compacted sea sand and rock, it is now home to nearly 80,000 residents.

Dubai has created additional islands including another Palm, The World, consisting of 300 islands, and Dubai Islands

All these islands have increased Dubai's coastline from 72km to over 300km

People from 70 nationalities call Palm Jumeirah home

The engineering and scale of the entire project are staggering not to mention the speed at which it was completed. Finally, it was time to board the speedy elevator and be whisked up to the 52nd floor. The walls and ceiling of the elevator are animated and display an animated view of the outside as if we were in a glass elevator.

At the top, angled glass gives you a great view of Palm Jumeirah with all its fronds as well as sweeping panoramas of the Burj Al Arab and the Dubai Mall area with the Burj Khalifa.

Looking out toward Atlantis

Looking down, you can see the monorail station 52 floors below us

Each frond adds additional coastline on each side as well as a beautiful beach

Here is a video walkaround of the 52nd-floor viewing platform.

We made the climb up to the small platform on the 54th floor. With no glass to look through, the views were stunning.

The fronds of the pal splaying out from the stem

Looking toward the Beach JBR area

Looking to the east, seeing the tips of three fronds and the end of the breakwater crescent

The newest hotel on the crescent, the Royal Atlantis

Those islands are The World

Many of the homes are packed tightly together. Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful, but they are close together. Then, there are these.

This one was purchased by Indian Billionaire, Mukesh Ambani for his son, Anant. Said to be worth upwards of $88M, it is 33,000 square feet with ten bedrooms, a private spa, and two swimming pools.

View 360-degree photo

View 360-degree photo

View 360-degree photo

View 360-degree photo

Here's a look around the 54th-floor lookout.

We made the trip down the stairs to 52 and then took the elevator back down and walked over to the Fairmont to catch the bus back. It was approaching 5 p.m. and we wanted to get some laundry done before tomorrow when we will check out of the hotel and board the ship.

Even though we've made this same bus loop several times now, we see new things each time. There is so much to look at here in Dubai. It is a fun place to visit. Dubai has been on my list to visit for many years, so expectations were high. Dubai, you did not disappoint.