Best way to fly Australia to Maldives

[Deleted member 29185]

I'm not sure January is the wet monsoon season

Weather in Maldives - Lonely Planet Travel Information
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I have been doing a fair bit of research on the Maldives myself an am planning a trip in February 2014 looking at the Conrad.

Mirrors my info. I thought it a bit odd as it's basically right on the equator so I was thinking either solstice would be the best times. but apparantly no.

 

[NM]

Mirrors my info. I thought it a bit odd as it's basically right on the equator so I was thinking either solstice would be the best times. but apparantly no.

The "best time to visit" seems to be based around holiday periods rather than around weather conditions. The "peak" times are during popular holiday periods and the "off-peak" times are outside the holiday periods.

But being quite close to the equator, there does seem to be two seasons, the wet season and the dry season. Dry seems to be October/November to March/April and wet the other side of the year. So we will be there towards the end of the wet season. During the wet season, rain is fairly regular, with showers lasting from a an hour or two to a few days of rain on occasion. Daily max temps during wet season range from 27-33 degrees. Given we don't plan to be doing to much, a few tropical showers won't cause too much grief - so long as we can still get to the restaurants without too much delay or drenching. Given the last few months here in Brisbane, I should be used to wet feet!

 

[NM]

I received an email from Holiday Inn Kandooma resort outlining the transfers and F&B packages available:

Shared Transfers:
Return Speedboat transfers from Airport to resort and Resort to Airport (Roundtrip) will be at US$198.00nett per Adult/ US$121.00nett per Child. (Inclusive of 10% Service Charge and 8% GST Tax)

Private Transfers:
Private Speedboat Transfers (max 4 Guests) USD 530.00 nett, per boat per way (Inclusive of 10% Service Charge and 8% GST Tax)
Private Speedboat Transfers (max 8 Guests) USD 946.00 nett, per boat per way (Inclusive 10% Service Charge and 8% GST Tax)

Breakfast at Kandooma Café US$29.00 nett per Adult

Half Board, which includes breakfast and dinner at Kandooma Café US$81.00 nett per Adult

Full Board, which includes breakfast, Lunch and dinner at Kandooma Café US$117.00 nett per Adult

Stay Spirited - SELECTED BEVERAGES IN ALL RESTAURANTS AND BARS US$69.00 nett per Adult
(Treat yourself to a wide variety of international drinks, coughtails and juices: Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke, Fanta Orange, Chilled Orange Juice, Chilled Apple Juice, Chilled Pineapple Juice, Featured Draft Beer, Vodka, Gin, Rum, Whisky, Brandy, White & Red Wine, Kandooma Coco, Mojito, Cosmopolitan, Caipirinha, Caiproska, Pina Colada, and the Tom Collins)

Stay Indulgent - DRINK AND DINE EVERYWHERE (lobster dishes excluded) US$227.00 nett per Adult
(DRINK: Everywhere - All stay spirited drinks and all coughtails, coffee & tea, smoothies, milkshakes anywhere —
mini-bar and ice cream included!
DINE: All around (lobster excluded) - The truly indulgent package! Have breakfast, lunch and dinner in any outlet of your choice
or in your room. Immerse yourself in our stunning events—Fisherman’s Market, Dine IN!
the Kitchen and the Maldivian Beach BBQ.
ENJOY: Non-Motorized Sports - All non-motorized water sports and recreation activities included: kayak, catamaran, SUP
boards, surf board and windsurfing
RELAX: Como Shambhala Massage - Indulge in a 60 minute nurturing massage (per person per stay) using our signature
blended massage oil to calm the mind and rejuvenate your body at our Spa.

*** Rates above subject to 8% GST Tax and 10% Service Charge. Above rates quoted per meal per person.
*** Applicable for full length of stay with minimum of 3 nights. All guests in a room must be on the same package.
*** Kids under 12 years eat free, and above 12 years are charged at an adult meal rate. Conditions apply.
*** Kids eat free is available at Kandooma Cafe only.

 

[Keith009]

That Stay Indulgent package is a bargain!!

FYI for anyone staying at the W: ensure you check into the W smartphone app for specials. We got 2-for-1 coughtails every night we were there at happy hour.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

So have any of you future Mldivian escapees tried pricing the F&B at the Conrad Rangali. I've been thinking of emailing them for menus to all restaurants on the island but FT has plenty of anecdotes of emails going unanswered for months from there.

From what Keith says (not Conrad, I know) and these FT threads, it seems the spending money needed is fairly high for an island with not much in the way of alternatives.
Conrad Maldives Rangali Island - Page 211 - FlyerTalk Forums

Seems US$3-4k for 6 nights would be the F&B spend + seaplane tnfs + day trips + cruises + excursions + massages and that's only for a couple.....we'd have three, so our out of pocket expenses may hover around US$1500/day + airfares to MLE. I'm not so sure the "free" accommodation is such good value compared with what asia offers or for that matter, Europe.

What's the collective thoughts on that.....

About 300k+ HH points, perhaps about US$10k to spend, Maldives or Europe or China or US?

 

[kpc]

So have any of you future Mldivian escapees tried pricing the F&B at the Conrad Rangali. I've been thinking of emailing them for menus to all restaurants on the island but FT has plenty of anecdotes of emails going unanswered for months from there.

No need to email. them. Look at the link below which the rep provided.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/us0dvrflfk2qpm8/pnbkSE_0hB
Under the "General Info" tab, you will find the menus and prices...not sure how up to date they are but there are some cheaper dining options eg Nasi goreng for Us$26 (need to add 16% tax!:evil!

As a Hilton Diamond you get free breakfast, and if you eat this late, you can skip lunch. You also have happy hour from 5-6pm for your (free) alcohol fix, so really you only need to fork out for 1 main meal per day. I understand BYO alcohol is strictly forbidden, but you get a complimentary bottle of wine / champagne as a Diamond. As far as I can gather, the main extra costs are the seaplane transfers (US$500 per person), the cost of upgrading from a beach villa to an OW suite (if you desire) and the various activities.

 

[Keith009]

So have any of you future Mldivian escapees tried pricing the F&B at the Conrad Rangali. I've been thinking of emailing them for menus to all restaurants on the island but FT has plenty of anecdotes of emails going unanswered for months from there.

From what Keith says (not Conrad, I know) and these FT threads, it seems the spending money needed is fairly high for an island with not much in the way of alternatives.
Conrad Maldives Rangali Island - Page 211 - FlyerTalk Forums

Seems US$3-4k for 6 nights would be the F&B spend + seaplane tnfs + day trips + cruises + excursions + massages and that's only for a couple.....we'd have three, so our out of pocket expenses may hover around US$1500/day + airfares to MLE. I'm not so sure the "free" accommodation is such good value compared with what asia offers or for that matter, Europe.

What's the collective thoughts on that.....

About 300k+ HH points, perhaps about US$10k to spend, Maldives or Europe or China or US?

Umm - that's not comparing apples with apples. Try Maldives or Bora Bora or maybe the Carribean. Bora Bora on my to-do list but I'm waiting for a W logo to appear.

Yes for anyone planning a holiday to the Maldives, the F&B/spa/activities can cost more than your accom (and that's not taking into account redemptions). We were able to rebook our entire trip at a substantial saving on travel industry rates after I commenced employment with VA (saved about 50% of the normal retail rate) plus stars aligned and we were able to take advantage of a free hotel night courtesy of an AMEX Platinum promo at the time so paid for 6 nights rather than 7, but the amount we spent on F&B/spa/activities per night were more than even the public retail rate for our overwater villa at the W. Yes, we could have saved quite a bit of money carefully counting our pennies, but that defeats the objective of going somewhere inherently indulgent like the Maldives IMO. It was only USD300 per person for seaplane transfers for us.

Oh and for anyone booking an overwater villa (Ocean Oasis) at the W - do not bother with paying extra for lagoon view as villas with lagoon views faces a public beach and are much less private. The normal overwater villa more than suffices - ensure you request to be well away from the seaplane jetty. It'll be a bit of a hike to the rest of the resort (restautants, bars, spa etc) which I guess is one of the downside of the overwater villas but they ferried everyone around the resort in buggies and we never waited for more than 5 mins for a buggy.

You won't regret it - it's a truly amazing place and worth at least 1 visit. You just have to approach it with a different mindset to planning a holiday to say Bali or Thailand. We're planning our return - just a matter of when, amidst all the other places we also want to go to!

 

[NM]

So have any of you future Mldivian escapees tried pricing the F&B at the Conrad Rangali. I've been thinking of emailing them for menus to all restaurants on the island but FT has plenty of anecdotes of emails going unanswered for months from there.

Can't help with Conrad, but I did ask the Holiday Inn Kandooma via email and they sent me PDF versions of menus and drinks lists for the various outlets including in-room dining. Very helpful in making our decision regarding Breakfast only, Half Board, Full Board, Stay Spirited and Stay Indulgent. The email response came within 24 hours of my request - very impressed with service so far.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Umm - that's not comparing apples with apples.

I agree Keith, definitely not comparing apples with apples for destination. What I was trying to get, is an indication of value for money. I've been to a number of OS destinations but Lisa has not (she's only been to Thailand, New Zealand, Vanuatu). So when faced with the holiday issue, we have to choose between a great beach holiday (Maldives) when we live on the beach (albeit enitely different), or to some spectacular destinations that she has not yet visited. She's keen on Italy or China (neither of them my greatest desires) and I'm wondering if Maldives is being too over-indulgent when there are better things to see and do with limited time and money.

One thing in Maldives favour is January being best season, is also when we have the most spare time. Europe would be cold and coughpy that time of year, but maybe skiing somewhere instead. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

No need to email. them. Look at the link below which the rep provided.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/us0dvrflfk2qpm8/pnbkSE_0hB
Under the "General Info" tab, you will find the menus and prices...not sure how up to date they are but there are some cheaper dining options eg Nasi goreng for Us$26 (need to add 16% tax!:evil!

As a Hilton Diamond you get free breakfast, and if you eat this late, you can skip lunch. You also have happy hour from 5-6pm for your (free) alcohol fix, so really you only need to fork out for 1 main meal per day. I understand BYO alcohol is strictly forbidden, but you get a complimentary bottle of wine / champagne as a Diamond. As far as I can gather, the main extra costs are the seaplane transfers (US$500 per person), the cost of upgrading from a beach villa to an OW suite (if you desire) and the various activities.

Thanks for the link kpc!

I did see reference to the dreaded drop-box, but couldn't find it! Cheers. Lots of very good options there. I wonder why people are saying allow US$3-4k for F&B. Looking at that menu, I'm now thinking 3 of us would max out at about US$2k which is certainly not ridiculous for 6 nights. Add seaplane transfers @ US$1500 and for under US$4k + MLE airfares seems reasonable.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

We should all combine our dates and share the private yacht transfer with snorkelling stop offs on the way there and back!

$3500/15=US$233.33 and save on some excursions during the holiday!

 

[Keith009]

I've been to a number of OS destinations but Lisa has not (she's only been to Thailand, New Zealand, Vanuatu). So when faced with the holiday issue, we have to choose between a great beach holiday (Maldives) when we live on the beach (albeit enitely different), or to some spectacular destinations that she has not yet visited.

I hear ya. I had the opposite problem - the OH was the one who planted the idea of the Maldives in my head. We were originally to go to Europe - it'd have been his first time in Europe and I was looking forward to restocking my wardrobe and shoe room. But he wanted something "totally different." A family friend had just returned from Bora Bora and he was enthralled into doing similar after all the discussions around overwater villas, seaplanes, glass bottom living rooms and turqoise water. The idea of going somewhere we've both not yet been also appealed. Faced with the prospect of being dragged around by me through various boutiques up and down Bond Street, Knightsbridge, Via Monte Napoleone and Faubourg Saint Honore, and in reverse me by him through museums and art galleries, and given the W Maldives is at the top of my bucket list of Ws, we both decided doing nothing at all other than relaxing/eat/drink/generally indulging in Maldives was a rather good compromise.

Europe trip planned for this year instead. And 3 new Ws. Negotiations about time spent shopping vs culture yet to commence, though he's rather enjoying all the attention his fab new Dolce&Gabbana work shoes we got from our HKG trip attract so there.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Negotiations about time spent shopping vs culture yet to commence,

That sounds so familiar. I love the galleries (mind you so too does Lisa) but when it comes to shopping, I see, I buy, I leave before I get hives..... takes all of about 30 minutes and eveything I need is bought, wrapped, paid and packed! Lisa however........

he's rather enjoying all the attention his fab new Dolce&Gabbana work shoes we got from our HKG trip attract so there.

happy compromise reached then??

 

[medhead]

I'm just wondering if I'm allowed to "warn" people about the dangers of going to a country that is enthralled to sharia law. They might even make you eat Halal.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I'm just wondering if I'm allowed to "warn" people about the dangers of going to a country that is enthralled to sharia law.

Why not? Do you have any warning to give? It's my understanding that Sharia law is not so much the issue, but more the interpretation of it so is Maldives a secular fundamentalist society or somewhat diverse in their understanding of the Koran? I'd be curious, as fundamentalist lunacy is not a holiday I'd pay money for (from any base religion).

They might even make you eat Halal.

As long as it's under US$30/head, I'm keen! Although I cannot recall seeing a Halel Sav Blanc!


Special note: no offence intended by my posts to the Muslim AFFers, but just genuine questions.

 

[medhead]

Why not? Do you have any warning to give? It's my understanding that Sharia law is not so much the issue, but more the interpretation of it so is Maldives a secular fundamentalist society or somewhat diverse in their understanding of the Koran? I'd be curious, as fundamentalist lunacy is not a holiday I'd pay money for (from any base religion).

I was just reflecting on the comments about qantas "dumping" people in Dubai in light of the Maldives flogging people for having premarital sexual congress. I hadn't notice similar warnings here, is all.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I was just reflecting on the comments about qantas "dumping" people in Dubai in light of the Maldives flogging people for having premarital sexual congress. I hadn't notice similar warnings here, is all.

That's because we're all very experienced travellers who happen to be married

 

[NM]

I was just reflecting on the comments about qantas "dumping" people in Dubai in light of the Maldives flogging people for having premarital sexual congress. I hadn't notice similar warnings here, is all.

Well, I will be travelling with my wife of 24 years, so that part should not be an issue

I found it interesting that the confirmation email from the hotel stated the following:

Prohibited imports:
coughographic literature, idols of worship, pork products and certain other animal products, explosives, weapons or drugs may not be imported.

Alcoholic beverages cannot be imported without an official license. Drugs are strictly prohibited; the penalty for importing drugs for personal or other use is life imprisonment.

And the menus they send through in a subsequent email include:

caesar salad $21.00
crisp romaine lettuce leaves, Caesar dressing, shaved parmesan
boiled egg, garlic croutons and crispy bacon

chinese “yeung chow” fried rice $23.00
with diced pork, garden vegetables, chicken satay, prawn cracker,
julienne egg omelette and pickled vegetables

foot long hot dog $29.00
pork sausage, gherkin, crispy bacon, swiss cheese, mushroom,
caramelized onion, salad leaves, mustard and japapeno served with fries

“the boss” burger $32.00
onion bun, crispy hash brown potato, gorgonzola cheese, pork ham,
mayonnaise, salad leaves, fried egg served with fries

beef ‘n pork baguette $34.00
french loaves, crushed beef patty, crispy bacon, pork ham, mustard,
sun-blushed tomato, brie cheese, pesto served with fries served with
aioli and even grilled prawn too

fusilli al amatriciana $24.00
chilli, bacon, onion in pomodoro sauce
fetuccine carbonara $24.00
pork bacon, parmesan, egg yolk and cream
penne gorgonzola $26.00
crispy bacon bits and chopped walnut

pizza adria $24.00
parma ham, capsicum, garlic and black olive
chef’s pizza $24.00
wok-fried minced pork with thai basil and chilli

So I am not too concerned about fundamentalist influences at the resort. I will be respecting the local laws and not importing any of the noted prohibited products. But I do expect that I will be assisting their local economy by spending money on some alcohol and pork products while I am staying there.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

From the prohibited list, I have absolutely no intention of bringing in anything there. I'm also married and would be traveling with said spouse. I do recal a travel warning issued for Male, about unrest associated with the possibly fundamentalist style impositions.

Without going and reading the PDS, does anyone know if travel insurance (TID - Multitrip annual) covers losses if cancelations occur due to new travel warnings issued? A quick read suggests it will.

 

[Keith009]

OH and I had absolutely no issues whatsoever checking into our Ocean Oasis with king bed, despite not being legally married and being in a relationship Sharia law no likes.

Also I distinctly remember having a great pork belly at the W.

Booze is liberally available on uninhabited islands which are where tourist resorts are situated. They're only banned in places like Male, which includes the airport, basically wherever the natives live. There was some talk of banning booze in tourist resorts but turns out it's only political posturing in response to a proposed ban on spas - a lot of the pollies have vested financial interests in the tourism industry.