I have to agree here. Dubai is a shithole country: artificial, terrible human rights' situation and expensive. Beaches also not that great. And we were half of the time in Deira and didn't like that "original middle east" feeling either: lots of indian/pakistani men staring at you and your wife in every corner. And my wife had a very decent covering clothing and a scarf. The souqs are selling all kinds of cheap crap spiced with lots of hazzle and aggressive selling. The best part was taking the small river boat across the river in the center.

Still, when I read about the level of ay service on that route, I feel tempted to go there. One thing to keep in mind is that you take a big risk if you get drunk on plane, since people have been thrown to jail because of consuming alcohol.