# advice on what to bring to Dubai



## karlzero (Nov 5, 2010)

hello,
we are getting ready to move from the us to dubai
we have a 16 cubic meters shipped, and i am trying to set priorities: beside personnal effects, what are the things that you would have brought with you?
hard to find items? expensive ones?
children stuff?
is it worth it to bring small electric appliances like a kitchen-aid stand mixer for example. 
thank you


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## Fatenhappy (Jun 23, 2009)

karlzero said:


> hello,
> we are getting ready to move from the us to dubai
> we have a 16 cubic meters shipped, and i am trying to set priorities: beside personnal effects, what are the things that you would have brought with you?
> hard to find items? expensive ones?
> ...


Don't forget the power here is 240V not 110V so unless you have a converter for everything electrical appliances will be useless.

Other things to bring .... most of all a big smile, a sense of humor and a truck load of tollerance as you will surely need it from time to time! ..

Good luck with the move .....


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## Jumeirah Jim (Jan 24, 2011)

endless patience would be pretty high on the list I'd say


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## samfurah (Jan 7, 2011)

Fatenhappy said:


> Don't forget the power here is 240V not 110V so unless you have a converter for everything electrical appliances will be useless.
> 
> Other things to bring .... most of all a big smile, a sense of humor and a truck load of tollerance as you will surely need it from time to time! ..
> 
> Good luck with the move .....


:lol:


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## Sunset (Jan 24, 2011)

Small things:

If you plan on living in an apartment - bring a folding laundry cart!!! Mine is always in the trunk (boot) of the car and it is on it's last wheel (you can bring me one if you want  ). I can't tell you how much I value it!!! They have them in the UK but apparently it comes with a stigma: it's something "old" women use. I can't tell you how many people have asked me where I got mine from - including women from the UK!!!

If you are on prescription meds and will be carrying them to Dubai make sure you have documentation from doctor(s) that it has been subscribed to you. Depending on what you take (for example, antidepressants) it can be issued here where you get a 3 day supply and have to go back to the doctor for a refill every 3 days, otherwise medication can be dispensed for a one month supply with refills. Bring your medical records. If you take vitamins, bring them from the states. Very expensive here.

I use Avedo/Aveeno hair products, which you can't get here. I stock up when I go to the states. I also bring back bags of coffee beans and Splenda which I buy at Costo. Big savings there. Check with your shipper what you can't include in the container as there are some restrictions. On the other hand tuck everything away very well inside boxes as they don't open every box shipped for inspection.

Bed linen. Good bed linen is very expensive here, or you end up buying pure [email protected] Bring your own or you can shop online smartbargains(dot)com, which has great quality at great prices.

IMO it's not worth bringing electronics.

Come with a positive open mind. Plan to make the best of it while here.

Good luck with the move.


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## OldFarmer (Jan 15, 2011)

Thanks, Sunset. Vitamins don't require a script when bringing in, do they?


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## Sunset (Jan 24, 2011)

Not necessarily, but if you are going to get a note from the doctor for medication, would not hurt to ask for a letter indicating that you are on "vitamin therapy". If not, tuck them away in the packaging.


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## karlzero (Nov 5, 2010)

Thanks Sunset...it helps a lot
i have a stupid question about neds...are the sizes the same as in the states? king, queen, full?

i wasn't planning on but i guess i ll bring mine...and maybe i ll start a new business : selling laundry carts  you are talking about the one with wheel that we can get at walmart right?

why do you bring your coffee? i am a coffee addict and i grind mine every morning, is it is very important to me? is it not good there at all?


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## Sunset (Jan 24, 2011)

Plenty of coffee to be had here (Starbucks, Second Cup). I'm a coffee addict as well!!! It's just so much cheaper at Costco, usually their brand (Kirkland), which is very good, and I believe they have other brands. Large bags, all vaccuum packed (I think 3 lbs to a bag) and it's just great to stock up on it.

Neds?? I gather you are talking about mattresses?? The king size here is one mattress and is shorter in width from the US, so the sheets don't fit right. I brought my queen size mattress (and bed) with me from the US. If you are going to bring yours and you have a box spring, the box spring really isn't necessary. 

I'm not sure what kind is at Walmart's. The one I'm talking about is metal, folds up, two small wheels in front, wheels a bit larger in the back. (Sometimes called a laundry cart, sometimes grocery cart) They come in 3 sizes (small, medium, large). I bought mine in Brooklyn and they sold them in all different kinds of stores. If it's something that you can fold and open to get your groceries up to the apartment - get it!!! I wanted to ship one back with me last year but it would have cost me $175 to ship something I would pay around $30 for!!!!!. Maybe I'll need to take it apart and bring it in pieces next time.

I made a typo on the vitamins. Should have said not "necessary".

Anytime else I can help you with, let me know.


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## karlzero (Nov 5, 2010)

Sunset said:


> Plenty of coffee to be had here (Starbucks, Second Cup). I'm a coffee addict as well!!! It's just so much cheaper at Costco, usually their brand (Kirkland), which is very good, and I believe they have other brands. Large bags, all vaccuum packed (I think 3 lbs to a bag) and it's just great to stock up on it.
> 
> 
> funny this is the exact brand i use here  the kirkland green bags
> ...


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## Sunset (Jan 24, 2011)

karlzero said:


> Sunset said:
> 
> 
> > Plenty of coffee to be had here (Starbucks, Second Cup). I'm a coffee addict as well!!! It's just so much cheaper at Costco, usually their brand (Kirkland), which is very good, and I believe they have other brands. Large bags, all vaccuum packed (I think 3 lbs to a bag) and it's just great to stock up on it.
> ...


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## w_man (Apr 16, 2010)

So we have a small list of things we are hoping our family will bring when they come over. Not sure if you use any of this but to give an idea:

1. Swiffer wetjet refills. Since most places here aren't wall to wall carpet, we really miss our swiffer wetjet. We found the contraption itself at safestway but they almost never have the refill bottles. It comes with a small bottle which you can easily refill (youtube) but we can't wait to get a big one - you can even bring it empty if you'd like. And of course if you want to even use swiffer wetjet.

2. Mixed peppercorn - finally found a small bottle but you could get one of those big ones from walmart.

3. Herbs du provence - very hard to find.

4. lemon pepper - again, very hard to find.

5. A two prong extension cord. The bathrooms have your 'north american' style two prong plug-in but only 1. Most bathrooms even have a setup for 120v so you could bring your electric tooth brush etc. 

6. magic eraser - haven't found any yet and it can come in handy to clean up walls

7. Jello - can't find the actual JELLO and not the pudding. Found 1 flavor only which wasn't sugar-free or whatever

8. Aveeno hand lotion - Aveeno is already mentioned. Their products are very limited here.

The list is constantly being updated but this is just us.

GL with the move.


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## karlzero (Nov 5, 2010)

Thank you all,

so basically it s more routine items that you are missing...it's good to know


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## Barbalee (Mar 26, 2011)

*Confused about bedding...*

I'm a little confused. I read: "Bed linen. Good bed linen is very expensive here, or you end up buying pure [email protected] Bring your own or you can shop online smartbargains(dot)com, which has great quality at great prices." But then I read, "The king size here is one mattress and is shorter in width from the US, so the sheets don't fit right." 

I'm going to have to get a bed when I come to Dubai in August, and I could bring my sheets (which are great quality), but if they won't fit, there wouldn't be much sense in that.

Is it possible to order from US firms to have things shipped to Dubai without crazy expense in shipping or is it just better to buy things locally?


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## Sunset (Jan 24, 2011)

Barbalee said:


> I'm a little confused. I read: "Bed linen. Good bed linen is very expensive here, or you end up buying pure [email protected] Bring your own or you can shop online smartbargains(dot)com, which has great quality at great prices." But then I read, "The king size here is one mattress and is shorter in width from the US, so the sheets don't fit right."
> 
> I'm going to have to get a bed when I come to Dubai in August, and I could bring my sheets (which are great quality), but if they won't fit, there wouldn't be much sense in that.
> 
> Is it possible to order from US firms to have things shipped to Dubai without crazy expense in shipping or is it just better to buy things locally?


I agree smartbargains.com is great but they don't have the size that is required for a king size mattress purchased in Dubai. Yes, the king size mattress here is a different size, but I manage to use my US sheets; not a tight perfect fit, but doable. Good quality sheets purchased in Dubai cost a fortune.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Barbalee said:


> I'm a little confused. I read: "Bed linen. Good bed linen is very expensive here, or you end up buying pure [email protected] Bring your own or you can shop online smartbargains(dot)com, which has great quality at great prices." But then I read, "The king size here is one mattress and is shorter in width from the US, so the sheets don't fit right."
> 
> I'm going to have to get a bed when I come to Dubai in August, and I could bring my sheets (which are great quality), but if they won't fit, there wouldn't be much sense in that.
> 
> Is it possible to order from US firms to have things shipped to Dubai without crazy expense in shipping or is it just better to buy things locally?



Bring good sheets and bring good towels. Both here you purchase are either going to be decent priced but complete crap or very expensive (think double the price of what you would buy to get the jcpenney/macy type bare bottom towels) for only ok quality. 

For the sheets. Find the corner savers thingies. They latch on and form a connection between one side of the corner and the other, and hold the sheet on even if it doesnt fit quite great. They are like 3$ at bed bath and beyond. Bring a few


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## Barbalee (Mar 26, 2011)

Ah-ha! Another major thanks, Jynx. You're being a lifesaver, ya know!


Jynxgirl said:


> Bring good sheets and bring good towels. Both here you purchase are either going to be decent priced but complete crap or very expensive (think double the price of what you would buy to get the jcpenney/macy type bare bottom towels) for only ok quality.
> 
> For the sheets. Find the corner savers thingies. They latch on and form a connection between one side of the corner and the other, and hold the sheet on even if it doesnt fit quite great. They are like 3$ at bed bath and beyond. Bring a few


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## OldFarmer (Jan 15, 2011)

Agreed, this is excellent advice. I was thinking we could buy a lot of king straight sheets and make them work in place of fitteds. I'm going to have at least 3 beds to deal with, and most of our sheets here are flannel...probably not such a great idea in the Dubai climate. 

Are there specialty tea shops around where really nice tea can be bought in bulk?


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

If you like flannel, bring flannel. Every western persons apartment I step in is like an icicle. Especially if the chiller is included. 

Depends on what tea you like. You have to keep in mind there are not many americans here. The brits drink tons of tea and coffee but isnt the same stuff. I have a co worker who searched high and low for some special lipton tea she loves, even going so far as to calling the distributor for the middle east after not being happy with uae's distributors response. She has it shipped from the usa....


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## OldFarmer (Jan 15, 2011)

I'm not so much stuck on flannel. It's just that we only heat our house to 62F in winter. In summer, I switch to jersey, but those were all worn to bits and I tossed them. Guess I'm going shopping.


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2011)

Barbalee said:


> I'm a little confused. I read: "Bed linen. Good bed linen is very expensive here, or you end up buying pure [email protected] Bring your own or you can shop online smartbargains(dot)com, which has great quality at great prices." But then I read, "The king size here is one mattress and is shorter in width from the US, so the sheets don't fit right."
> 
> I'm going to have to get a bed when I come to Dubai in August, and I could bring my sheets (which are great quality), but if they won't fit, there wouldn't be much sense in that.
> 
> Is it possible to order from US firms to have things shipped to Dubai without crazy expense in shipping or is it just better to buy things locally?


I'm confused, too. I brought King size sheets (the bottom sheet is fitted) from Canada, and they fit on the mattress I bought here


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2011)

karlzero said:


> hello,
> we are getting ready to move from the us to dubai
> we have a 16 cubic meters shipped, and i am trying to set priorities: beside personnal effects, what are the things that you would have brought with you?
> hard to find items? expensive ones?
> ...


Some electrical things will work here if you get a converter, but generally things with a motor don't convert well. It's not only the voltage, but hz that is different. I don't think your kitchen aid would work that well with a converter. Most tech things these days are dual voltage (cameras, computers, ipods, etc) so they should work.

Unless you have, or are planning to buy, a multi region DVD player, don't bring your DVD's or games

Bring your barbeque if you have one, they are quite expensive here. So are clothes. So is everything


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## scschroder (Apr 1, 2011)

That's a great question. We are moving over in August and I have soo many questions on what to bring!! When we visited in February we went to the grocery store and checked everything out but there are so many items I don't remember seeing. Do they have Kraft Mac n Cheese? My kids will die without it. I'm addicted to Crystal Lite lemonade. Do they have anything like that? These are just a few items I can think of right now.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

You can find them but will pay dearly for alot of western/american things. Also, when you find something, you better grab it then as you may not see that item again for 6 items. 

Mac & cheese really is awful for kids. So may not be such a bad thing that you cant locate it. ? Whole grain noodles with fresh cheese and milk isnt so bad once you get used to it


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## Sabahan (Nov 20, 2010)

Lots of good tips and suggestions so far.

I have read that electronics are very expensive in the UAE. Is that correct? We have a substantial DVD collection which we would like to bring along. This would necessitate a multi-region player. So, would it be cheaper to bring one over from North America, even if it needs a voltage converter? The difference in Hz is a concern though. Wondering whether it will affect the functioning of such a multi-region player.

The discussion so far in this thread focused on the lack of affordable North American items at the supermarket. Does that mean that there is a good supply of British goods? If so, are they expensive as well?


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2011)

Sabahan said:


> Lots of good tips and suggestions so far.
> 
> I have read that electronics are very expensive in the UAE. Is that correct? We have a substantial DVD collection which we would like to bring along. This would necessitate a multi-region player. So, would it be cheaper to bring one over from North America, even if it needs a voltage converter? The difference in Hz is a concern though. Wondering whether it will affect the functioning of such a multi-region player.
> 
> The discussion so far in this thread focused on the lack of affordable North American items at the supermarket. Does that mean that there is a good supply of British goods? If so, are they expensive as well?


I am not sure that multi region DVD players are available in Canada. There really isn't a demand for them there. But yes, if you can find one, it probably would be cheaper

I am not sure what you mean by North American goods? Most things you are probably used to are available here, probably with a British label on them though. Definitely more expensive. I've never seen Kraft Mac & Cheese here though  but then I've never looked for it either


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

You shouldnt have any issue using a transformer. All my small applicances are from the usa and have no issues. 

You will find that there is a great deal of british items as the british make up the largest western expats. You will find american stuff but it tends to be the crap of america that the rest of the world for some reason like so much. And it tends to be quite expensive. For instance, you can get hot sauce for ten dirhams, or get american branded hot sauce for eighteen dirhams. You can get generic bbq sauce for 8 dirahms or the american ones starting at like fifteen dirhams. So things that are a dollar at home, are double that here for the generic type american versions. If you have to have american branded stuff, then you are going to pay that much more.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

Most DVD players are multi region, you just need to search on Google for the code that unlocks them.


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## Rich T (Mar 9, 2011)

Hi All,

Really useful site and I have read a number of posts. I will be moving out to Dubai in the next few months from the UK, I have a few questions about shipping/sending/stuff out and housing:
1. has anyone shipped or sent house furniture out to Dubai? 
2. Is it worth it?
3. Is it costly?
4. When renting a property what are the costs involved? (deposit? utility bills)
5. Looking on a number of websites they state the cost of the apartment, is there room for negotiation?

I realise you have to pay in a certain number of cheques etc but i assume the day you take over the 1st cheque will be cashed and thereafter what ever has been agreed. 

Thanks in advance for the replies.

Rich


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2011)

Gavtek said:


> Most DVD players are multi region, you just need to search on Google for the code that unlocks them.


If the DVD player is NTSC and it's unlocked, will it still work on a PAL tv? I know that when you unlock them, you can use different region DVD's, but didn't think it would work on a TV with a different input? Sorry if I'm being thick....


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2011)

Rich T said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Really useful site and I have read a number of posts. I will be moving out to Dubai in the next few months from the UK, I have a few questions about shipping/sending/stuff out and housing:
> 1. has anyone shipped or sent house furniture out to Dubai?
> ...


To answer #1, 2, and 3, it would really depend on how much stuff you have to ship, how much space you will have, and how long you plan to be in Dubai. If you plan to move to an apartment, don't need much and won't be here more than a couple of years, it's probably worth just getting stuff here. Dubai is quite transient and there are lots of ads selling second hand furniture & other stuff

Usually there is room for negotiation on rent, but how much depends on the area you want to live in. In Old Town, for example, it is really difficult to get a landlord to budge on the asking price. In areas where there is a high vacancy rate, it's easier to negotiate


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## pandabearest (Aug 14, 2010)

nola said:


> To answer #1, 2, and 3, it would really depend on how much stuff you have to ship, how much space you will have, and how long you plan to be in Dubai. If you plan to move to an apartment, don't need much and won't be here more than a couple of years, it's probably worth just getting stuff here. Dubai is quite transient and there are lots of ads selling second hand furniture & other stuff
> 
> Usually there is room for negotiation on rent, but how much depends on the area you want to live in. In Old Town, for example, it is really difficult to get a landlord to budge on the asking price. In areas where there is a high vacancy rate, it's easier to negotiate



bikini :clap2:
gym clothes
work clothes
my dog


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