Has anyone cruised to the MALDIVES ?!! It looks like paradise on earth

[tabouret]

I was poking around the internet looking for the best summer spots for nice turquoise beaches and great weather. I've seen pictures of the maldives and it looks like nothing else I've seen before .. AMAZING !!! I'm wondering if there are active cruises for the maldives, does anyone on here know of any ?. I was on the tourism section of this online classifieds site and I saw these breathtaking pictures of the maldives waters http://www.europegiant.com/free-classified-ads/52180/romantic-holiday-in-maldives/. I've always dreamt of going on a summer cruise to the maldives so bad!!!! Any suggestion on finding a great cruise to the maldives would be so much appreciated :-) I'm glad I discovered this forum.

Edited May 10, 2015 by tabouret

[vms]

I've never cruised there, although a cousin of mine just went there on a land vacation and the photos were spectacular.

 

I find that http://www.cruisetimetables.com/ is a great place to get information about different ports and the cruises that will be going there. It looks like there are several port options in the Maldives in 2016 and 2017. Be sure to use the destinations section as opposed to the ports of departure section, since I don't think there are any cruises that are starting or ending in the Maldives.

 

Good luck!

[tabouret]

I've never cruised there, although a cousin of mine just went there on a land vacation and the photos were spectacular.

 

I find that http://www.cruisetimetables.com/ is a great place to get information about different ports and the cruises that will be going there. It looks like there are several port options in the Maldives in 2016 and 2017. Be sure to use the destinations section as opposed to the ports of departure section, since I don't think there are any cruises that are starting or ending in the Maldives.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Thank you for the hint, I'm definitely going to check it out. The maldives are amazing. All the pictures of it I saw before were absolutely amazing. I'll see what the cruise options are for that destination.. Thanks again.

[Fletcher]

Thank you for the hint, I'm definitely going to check it out. The maldives are amazing. All the pictures of it I saw before were absolutely amazing. I'll see what the cruise options are for that destination.. Thanks again.

 

Be careful here . . . the Maldives are not entirely suited to cruising unless you are on a very small ship, such as Noble Caledonia's Island Sky which is a luxury expedition cruise ship equipped with zodiac landing craft and has about 100 passengers max. Get on big ship and you'll be dumped in the capital, Male, and that isn't a good thing at all. The Maldives are essentially tiny islands and you have to get ashore on the zodiacs. The Island Sky does two or three Maldives trips a year - always in the winter because the summer months are the monsoon period with rough seas - and usually combines the Maldives with the Seychelles and Sri Lanka.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Fletcher

[Globaliser]

Any suggestion on finding a great cruise to the maldives would be so much appreciated

If you really like the look of the Maldives, don't cruise to them.

 

There's no point doing a drive-by and stopping there for only one day. The majority of port calls in the Maldives are in Male, which is (frankly) a dump compared to the stunning islands in the archipelago. On the majority of cruises which call in the Maldives, you simply won't get to see what's attracting you.

 

If you really want to be on the water and don't want to book a fixed resort for a week or two, there are some intra-archipelago cruises, including some which are basically on liveaboard dive boats. You will probably need to contact a specialist travel agent to get decent advice on how to do this, or to find a specialist tour operator.

[bronte2]

I have been to the Maldives 3 times, twice privately and last year on a cruise ship.

 

We called there on the Ocean Princess (30,000 tonnes) last April and of course it was a tender port as are lots of ports around the world. The ship's tenders will drop you at a pier in Male. You definitely need to go on a tour to another atoll as there is not a lot to see in Male the capital as it's tiny and you won't find what you are looking for there.

 

A lot of tours (both private and ship's tours) go to Kuda Bandos which has a resort where you can buy drinks, snorkel etc or you can go to a deserted atoll and lie in the sun and snorkel. You usually get to the latter by a very, very fast speedboat which takes about 45 minutes so it's quite a way out of Male. However I'm not sure if all ships offer this tour or not and as it's a considerable distance from the port, I would think twice about trying to get there privately.

 

Sun Princess is calling at Male as part of her Indian Ocean cruise and she is around 77,000 tonnes. I'm not sure what segments are available as this is a 46 night cruise from Perth in Western Australia leaving in January 2016.

 

Other lines do call here from time to time so you don't need to locate an expedition ship but bear in mind on a cruise ship the call is only for 1 day so you may not see the Maldives that you see in the travel brochures. You will certainly see beautiful turquoise water and if you go on a tour to an atoll either with or without a resort, you will most likely have the opportunity to snorkel but it might not come up to your expectations - then again it just might :D

 

Make sure you do plenty of research before making a decision.

I hope you have a wonderful time when you get there!

[bronte2]

If you really like the look of the Maldives, don't cruise to them.

 

There's no point doing a drive-by and stopping there for only one day. The majority of port calls in the Maldives are in Male, which is (frankly) a dump compared to the stunning islands in the archipelago. On the majority of cruises which call in the Maldives, you simply won't get to see what's attracting you.

 

If you really want to be on the water and don't want to book a fixed resort for a week or two, there are some intra-archipelago cruises, including some which are basically on liveaboard dive boats. You will probably need to contact a specialist travel agent to get decent advice on how to do this, or to find a specialist tour operator.

 

There are also boats dedicated to surfers. The two private trips I have been on have been aboard small surf boats - 8 passengers and we travelled around atolls well out of Male. There are now a lot more upmarket vessels which cater for surfers and non-surfers alike compared to when I went 10 years ago :eek:

 

There is a company in Noosa, Australia who runs these trips but I don't think I can mention them unless requested but they were great.

 

I found spending a few days in a resort was not for me as it was too restrictive but it seems to suit others so each to their own.

[Condocat]

We visited Male 2 years ago on a cruise and were very disappointed. The water was beautiful but unless you are staying at a private resort all you are able to access is very limited and expensive.

 

I tried in advance to get reservattions for lunch at the Hilton at their resort island. Being Diamond club members and my husband's birthday on the day we arrived, I was hoping something could be worked out. They quoted me over $500 for lunch and another $500per person for the sea plane to get there which was only a 10 minute ride.

 

If you are looking for a fun place to go with beautiful waters and great things to do, check out Phuket.

 

Good luck with your planning!

[merrilyanne]

I desperately want to go to the Maldives also. But as most posters have mentioned, Male is not desirable and sitting at a resort on one island doesn't really show you the beauty of all of the islands. I ended up taking a cruise that went to the Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, etc. because very few cruise lines stop at the Maldives, and only for one day. Unfortunately to try to hop around the islands on your own is really expensive. I did find some very small boats/yachts that you could book to stay on that cruised around the islands, but it was very expensive and I am not sure if I want to be on such a small boat in a very tiny cabin/hole in the wall.

 

If you solve this dilemma, please post what you have found on here as I am determined to go as people say it is the most beautiful place in the world, and having been to the South Pacific and Bora Bora areas, and also the Seychelles, I tend to think the Maldives are superior.

 

Marilyn

[jonsmum]

Hi

 

I've been to Maldives many, many times and it truly is a stunning country. As others have said, you won't get to see much if you visit as part of a cruise. There are one or two islands close to male that accept day visitors, but once you are on an island you are stuck there, and even the largest takes only about 45mins to walk round. You can do a Liveaboard cruise (from Male) for c7 days (or more) but you will again only see one part of the country, and many of these do not actually land at islands - you will only get to see things from a boat. The real reason for these cruises are diving and snorkelling.

 

If you want to see the beauty of the country while on a cruise, the only real way is to do a photoflight. These operate out of Male and you will fly over many of the islands at a height that allows you to get a real look at things and take worthwhile photos. However - beware - it is not cheap (well actually, nothing in Maldives is cheap!). Hope that helps a bit.

[amazonlady]

We did it for two weeks on a very small boat (40 passengers) called the Yasawa Princess, there are many threads about it on Trip Advisor, it goes for either a week or two weeks round the atols calling in at one or two places each day, it was wonderful, snorkelling with whale sharks, turtles, amazing. It was, I think t he best way to do it, Male not a particularly nice place to spend a long time at but great fun to visit for a couple of hours.

[andante]

Could not agree more. Spend one or two weeks sailing the islands with stops for island hopping, night barbecues, feeding sting rays......and on and on. I think boat has thirty to forty cabins. First week there were 20 pax, the second week nine! Luxury cruise ship it is not, but clean and comfortable. Food is okay and there are free drinks throughout. Google it or look on trip advisor where there is a long and active thread. We have stayed on five different islands, done two small ship cruises, and one on a typical cruise ship...the latter being a waste of time.

[Dididi]

OP, we went to the Maldives aboard the Azamara Journey over three years ago. We took tenders to Male, and from there took tours. We spent the day at the Faru Club atoll. An unforgetable beach day! The most beautiful beach I have visited in my whole life, and I'm from the Caribbean. We wished we could have stayed for longer and visited more islands. The intra-Maldives options described above sound wonderful.

 

Going on a regular cruise would only give you one day in the islands and the Maldives are not that close to India. We had a sea day aboard on the way to the islands from Kochi and another sea day after, on our way to Galle, Sri Lanka. If you don't mind the sea days, Azamara is offering a cruise to the Seychelles and the Maldives in 2017. It is long and, at least right now, very pricey.

 

Hope you can make your dream come true soon!