Going to maldives and have a few questions

llol_slim

MS chocaholic you are gonig as well? Cool.. when and where abouts are you going?!

Joscar

DH and I went to Dhonveli for 2 weeks in February this year, it was the best holiday ever and I want to go back.

Staff were great, rooms were really nice ( we got a free upgrade from a sunrise cottage to a water bungalow) which had an indoor jacuzzi and steps from the deck straight into the sea. This could be a long reply if i tell you everything about the place to please feel free to PM me with any extra questions

So to answer your questions ....

1. We are going all inclusive (this may sound stupid..) does it apply on the plane? Or do we have to buy drinks as I have heard that they don't offer you drinks until after around 4 hours? Or can we buy drinks in the departure lounge over 100ml to take on the plane?

we flew with First choice ( they are the only UK company at Dhonveli) but upgraded so all our food and drinks were included - not sure about the main cabin but I would expect all but the alcoholic drinks to be included. Your AI status will not impact the flight - some others will be flying to different resorts that are not AI. The 100ml rule applies to security, once in departures you can buy drinks. For my 100 ml allowance I took a small deodorant and a small sun cream just in case we needed it at the airport before we were reunited with our suitcases


2. What is the best currency for Maldives?

USD you will only need for tips and excursions -any extras will be billed to you room and can be settled on the last day. Try to gets lots of $1 and $5 bills. There is a spa treatment place which many guests said was wonderful and a tailor if you need an extra outfit.

3. Who and how much should we be tipping?
It is upto you, but we found we got better service from those we tipped. (not that we got bad service from anyone - they are all very pleasant and polite) In each of the bars we chose a barman to 'adopt' after a couple of days and gave him $10. Some others we tipped with $1 or $2 on an adhoc basis. There were 2 bars in February plus the dinning room ( a 3rd was due to be opening in March) We found our tips bought us much more attention in the sunset bar then the rhendi bar. The rhendi bar has its own restaurant for the people who have the most expensive rooms ( an extra 70 pppn) so the staff there were used to getting better tips form the 'richer ' guests. By tipping $10 per week at sunset bar we had a guy who checked our drinks every 10 mins and you literally could not get to the bottom of the glass before he tried to refill, they also were more likely to 'forget' the 'no all inclusive drinks after midnight rule' They were so attentive they told you off for daring to push your chair under the table when you left. Having said they wwer good at picking up when you wanted to be left alone. The bars have different atmospheres, depending on the time of day, could be quite noisy when the 'entertainment' was on, depends what you like. We found watching the Italian guests waltzing to robbie williams very amusing !

For bag boys you'll need to tip $1 per bag - they will take your cases to your room for you, which is worth it as dragging a suitcase across sand in the heat is hard work. Not that you'll have a choice. Whilst we drank iced tea and wiped our faces in chilled cold towels, the first choice rep checked us in, got our keys and set the boys off with our bags. They recommend you give the guy that cleans your room $10 per week. More tips means more fancy decorations in your room and extravagant patterns with the bedding.

4. The European health insurance cards .. I got mine sent through to my old address, do I need to get a new one or does address not matter? (also I had two sent through, should i take both, they have different ID numbers and expiry dates)

Maldives is not in Europe!!

5. Do we need jabs and tablets for the maldives? The lady in First Choice said no and she didnt have any when she went, but i have read in this forum advise we should, I will ring my surgery but any advice?

Ask your surgery, mine recommended some, others we spoke to did not have any. Better safe than sorry I say.

6. Anybody have any tips about things to take that we might not have thought of?

Underwater camera. they sell at the airport, but probably cheaper in advance. I found the fish amaizing. If you like snacking between meals then you might want extra snacks. We ate ltoo much at each meal, but were surprised that some people bought crisps and chocolate from the shop. You are a captive audience on the island so as you would imagine the prices were above average. High factor suncream. We used 40 and still caught the sun. Beach shoes are a must on Dhonveli, the island was hit by the Tsunami and a lot of dead coral was washed in so 3/4 of the beach is now crushed coral rather than 'talcum powder' sand that Maldives is known for. They keep filtering the sand to improve it but I found it rough under my sensitive toes. Plus you'll need the protection from sea urchins, rays lion fish etc

7. We live in Devon and are flying from gatwick, so far I've been looking at driving up and booking our car into a car park for around £50 (plus around £40/50 for petrol round trip) if booked in advance, anybody got any other suggestions?

I always use holiday extrs.com


Some extra things ...

There were no safes in the rooms, but there were free lockers in the reception which is where we kept our passports etc.

We did not wear wrist bands, we had to sign for everything and at the end of the week depending if you were AI, FB or HB you either got a bill, or you didn't. There are some rules for AI that you need to know, I guess they change all the time,so you'll need to read the paperwork they give you, but look out for specific brands of drinks there is a list of AI drinks which are included but if you have a fav brand you may end up paying.

Remember to get bottled water before midnight. After 12 you will have to pay, we got a bottle before we left every meal and when we got to much in our fridge in the room we gave it ti the non AI guests we new.

If you go night fising make sure they do not charge you, it is part of the AI package (they cook your catch the next night - fab)

We saw baby reef sharks every day, rays over a metre wide and dolphins 5 times in 2 weeks - loved it.

OK so this reply is way too long PM me if you have any questions between now and December,

And have a fab time

Joscar

OMG :eek: have just seen how long that reply was - so sorry to bore the rest of you, but I really did have a fab holiday.

Ms_Chocaholic

Slim

We are going to Makunudu on the 1 July for a week.

For anyone needing an underwater camera (or two), there currently BOGOF in Boots.

If anyone has any advice regaridng whether my feet would be protected if I wore my Crocs in the water rather than wetsuit shoes it would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Ms C x

FRUGAL_4

I too went to the Maldives in Apr '04 - fantastic, I so want to go back. You have had excellent advice on here - enjoy your holiday, its pure paradise...I'm going green with envy!

Good tip about the night fishing - they charged us on the invoice at the end of the stay, but refunded us, make a mental note of things you are signing for - we didn't have wrist bands - our Island was only all - inclusive.

Off to browse Kuoni website and dream....

JJinIraq

This is a wonderful source of information. I appreciate the information that has been provided.

I am ending a tour of duty in Iraq in December and celebrating by having my wife join me for a trip to Maldives. I can't tell you how much we are looking forward to this.

This is what I have done so far - questions to follow.

We are flying from Dubai to India first for her to realise a childhood dream of seeing the Taj Mahal. She is wrapped up in the romantic story surrounding the shrine. We are staying there for 4 days.

I have booked us into the Maldives Hilton next. We are staying half board and have a Deluxe Beach Villa. Will be staying for 6 days 5 nights.

Questions:

Is half board a good way to go or should I upgrade to AI? It seemed to me halfboard was the best way so we could enjoy some of the other places to eat. Does anyone know which restaurants honor the half board?

The Ithaa Restaurant seems extremely expensive. I wanted to at least take her for cocktail or something so we could experience the underwater wonder. What do you think? How hard is to get a reservation?

On other boards I have seen mention of the BBQ? Anyone know about this?

I have seen there are about 7 other restaurants listed. Is the Koko Grill any good? I would be open to other recommendations.

Are there any shops where the Hilton is? Since we get in at 1:10a we will be spending our first night near the Male airport. Should we go to Male the next morning to shop before taking our seaplane to the Hilton?

Anything else you might recommend will be greatly appreciated. To all those who are going - have a wonderful time.

i_love_it

Hiya
I can tell you a bit about the first choice flights. They have 2 cabins, star class and star class premier at the front, available for an upgrade of around 200.00 but this is decreased considerably nearer the time if not full.

In star class you have to pay for all drinks, snacks are available to buy also, chocolate, pringles, that sort of thing.
You get individual seatback entertainment and free headsets, but you can pay 5.00 to upgrade to a wider choice of on demand movies, tv and games.

You get a hot meal (chicken or beef usually)and a cold snack later in the flight, both with tea and coffee, its a long flight, so be prepared to pay for other drinks and snacks throughout the flight. You could buy some drinks and snacks to take on the plane once you are airside (not alcohol, but water etc)

In star class premier, they have bigger seat pitches and upgaded entertainment screens, big noise reduction headphones, pillows and fleecy blankets, newspapers, magazines, welcome pink champagne glass on boarding, all free drinks from bar or tea and coffee throughout flight, good meals served on china, as much wine as you'd like, basically no extras to pay for once on board, also priority check in and increased baggage allowance.

The flight is around 11 hours so the service on board outward to maldives is pretty quiet as most people want to sleep, take a fleece or comfy top and try to sleep some, a good book too.

You are not allowed to take alcohol into the maldives, so it will not be sold on board in duty free service, but you will be able to buy it on the way home.

Have a fab time!

lynn44

shoes are great but please mind the coral... its living...and when you use snorkel for first time rub toothpaste all inside mask and leave on overnight... stops it fogging up...we went to Embudo village paradise, cant put into words how lovely it really is.... you will love it have great time and lots $ bills....

budgetflyer

We are off to Meeru in March during Easter Hols.
Ive started collecting info . Some of this is general and may be of use to even non Meeru visitors

http://www.meeru.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2

http://www.meeru.co.uk/forum/

http://www.meeruisland.co.uk/4466.html

http://maldivesinfo.co.uk/forum/

llol_slim

having never been full board and also knowign that there wont be that much to buy, only tips to give, how much roughly do you reckon I should be taking in way of cash?
I'm just starting to budget for everything now and havn't really got a clue how much I will need..
thanks