If you compare the UAE to the USA, Europe, Canada or Australia, no you won't find it crazy expensive. It is not a cheap Asian destination, however because of the large expact community that live in the UAE, you do have lots of options for almost everything. Of course like most tourist destinations you can get very expensive hotels and you can get budget hotels. If you dine at a very nice restaurant you can spend easily $100-150 USD per head, however if you eat at the local places you could buy dinner for around $18-25 USD or less if you search for smaller cafe/restaurants