20250515 Regent Seven Seas Voyager Cruise Bangkok to Dubai, Day 24 - Sustainable Dubai

Regent Seven Seas Voyager Bangkok to Dubai Day 24 - Sustainable Dubai and the long flight home

We set a temperature record for the trip today as the mercury hit somewhere between 102°F and 109°F here in Dubai, depending on the weather source. But the dew point was 53°F and the relative humidity was 19%. So it was a dry heat. Yeah, let's go with that.

Our way-too-early (but we did beat the worst heat) tour was Sustainable Dubai. The tour took us about 25 miles south of Port Rashid to the Sustainable City, an experimental development.

We passed the Dubai Frame - the world's largest frame

It measures 150.24 meters tall and 95.53 meters wide - viewing in one direction shows you old Dubai, the other direction shows new Dubai

Speaking of the new Dubai, the skyline is impressive

New development was visible everywhere

Our guide talked about Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower, the planned 1,000-meter tower that will replace the Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest building. He said that the Emiratis have already built the foundation for a new Dubai Creek Tower that will surpass the Jeddah Tower. It's crazy.

Our guide also talked about the fact that there is 0% unemployment in Dubai. That stat was a little misleading since most folks who live and work in Dubai are not Emiratis. If you are a foreigner and lose your job, your visa expires after 30 days, and you have to go home. But, based on what we saw, there's plenty of work to go around here.

After fighting some morning traffic, we arrived at The Sustainable City

The project started in 2012 and was occupied starting in 2017. There are around 3,000 residents from 65 different nations. The UK, France, Denmark, Jordan, Germany, Netherlands, the US, and Canada make up the top passports for residents. Some are here to work, and others simply to live in a sustainable community.

The entrance to part of the business and services area

This sustainable city is one of four such projects in Oman and the UAE. This is the smallest of the projects, but it is still a sizable endeavor.

We were shown a scale model of the development - the business and services section is the closest in this photo

The residential sections are on the other end of the development

Based on Oxford research, they limit each residential section to 100 homes. With five sections, there are 500 homes here. The research was based on social sustainability. That research said that if you limit an area to 100 homes, residents can all get to know each other, making for a closer community.

The central "green spine" of the development has recreational venues and greenhouses. Residents get vouchers for fresh produce as part of their ownership. There are also rental garden plots for residents to grow produce.

A developmental area, complete with an aircraft from Emirates, lets residents introduce their children to a wide range of real-world experiences 

There is a large autism center here to help kids with autism integrate into the community and participate in apprenticeship opportunities to help learn skills

30 years ago, this was all desert. The design has all the essentials in one place, like schools, medical, shopping, dining, offices, and such. 57% of the businesses are resident-owned. There are long-term and short-term rental units, along with permanent residential homes.

They have a large equestrian center. A horse track, jogging track, and bicycle track surround the entire community. There is a full K-12 school, mostly for residents, but non-resident kids attend too. 

All rooftops and parking are covered with solar panels. Business and parking panels produce community energy. They produce 110% of the required energy. Residential panels produce residential energy. Residences face north and are L-shaped to reduce solar load. They are outfitted with double-pane glass, insulation, energy-efficient appliances, and such. Still, they need grid energy.

Waste is collected twice per day for recycling and processing. Organic waste is composted. E-waste is processed and recycled. Water comes from Dubai's municipal desalination systems. Wastewater is recycled and used for lakes and irrigation.

Date palms are all over the development to supply both dates and shade.

Shared golf carts are all over the area. Swipe cards activate the carts, and they can be used to travel within the city.

A part of the business center

A recycled shipping container repurposed as a hydroponic garden

This mini-farm produces 1,000 salads weekly

We toured one of the biodomes where more produce is grown

They have a sustainability research center here. New ideas are tested within the sustainable city to determine their viability. They expect the entire development to be fully carbon-neutral by 2030. 

The See Institute was built from 100% local, sustainable materials. It produces more energy than it consumes.

Live plants were growing all over inside

They even grew from the ceiling

We saw a multi-use room with an immersive 360-degree video experience

A traditional Arabic meeting room

It is used when dignitaries are in the area

We finished our visit to the Sustainable City and returned to the ship.

An amusement park that is generally closed this time of year due to excessive heat, but for the next few days, it is open from 4 pm - midnight

We took a few shots of the views from the ship.

Infinity Bridge

Yachts and the Dubai skyline

The Queen Elizabeth II, the former luxury liner, is now a floating luxury hotel anchored in Dubai

We hung out in the room for the afternoon, relaxing a bit since today will be a long day. We hit trivia in the Observation Lounge, just for fun, this afternoon. The two of us played by ourselves, coming in a respectable second place in a tough competition. The misses:

• What ancient belief system laid the foundation for Chinese beliefs?
• Confucius or Tao? We guessed Tao - it was Confucius
• USA, France, UK, Australia - which has the most overseas territories, and bonus for how many?
• We guessed France with 5 - it was the UK with 17, France with 16, the USA with 14, and Australia with 6
• What ancient Sumerian / Babylonian poetic literature is considered the oldest piece of epic literature?
• The Epic of Gilgamesh
• In the 1800s, what was Hawaii's largest export?
• We guessed pineapples - it was sugar cane
• How many Olympics have been held in countries that no longer exist - bonus points to name them
• Three - West Germany, USSR, and Yugoslavia

We decided to have our last meal at Sette Mari at La Veranda and get outstanding service from the best waiter on the ship, Rohit. He did not disappoint. He is one of two bright spots in terms of personal service that we have experienced on this cruise.

We had a front row dinner seat for tonight's sunset

It was a nice, final hurrah for this journey

We got back to the room and got our checked bags out by 8:00, per our disembarkation instructions. We aren't scheduled to disembark until 11:30 tonight. We will transfer to DXB - Dubai International Airport for our 2:50 am Emirates non-stop flight to Orlando. We'll spend 15.5 hours covering 7,767 miles in the air, touching down somewhere around 10:00 am on Friday morning in Orlando. We should be home a little after noon.

So with that, I will sign off for tonight and pick up with a wrap-up post after we get home.