gnomey

Awesome. thanks!

flyingmusicianlax

It's a typo, though I would have done it two nights in a row if it was possible.

Directly from the staff, they went from 80% occupancy last week to 50-60% this week. This is partially due to the normal late April drop-off and the early Easter this year. But it's mostly due to the cancellations from the political crisis. There was supposed to be a party of nearly 100 guests at the resort over a week's time for a wedding that they were going to do on the sand bar out by the SunsetWVs, but it was cancelled when the unrest in Malé started happening.

MaldivesFreak

That good, huh. I think we'll have to do it again on our next visit. We did it when it was still at Atoll Market and without the local ladies cooking. Sounds like there's a lot more variety now too.

Makes sense. And sorry, I was talking averages when mentioning those high figures. Like you say they can have a slow week or two in the 80s. Would be nice if you could get the timing right on those big cancellations. Probably be able to snap up a really good deal if one were able to go on a whim.

Ouch. I bet that put a dent in this quarter's profits.

MaldivesFreak

Yes, 15 seats max but sometimes the last seat will be a staff member or someone not on holiday.
Note that I didn't say they wait till the plane is 100% full before flying for every flight. But basically it's economics. They will try to maximize profit and will put as many people on every flight as possible and make as few trips as possible.

No size restrictions. I doubt if you could get a suitcase that wouldn't fit, LOL. How big are we talking?

None.

lhrhappy

Is the unrest affecting construction of the A380 runway?

gnomey

Yeah I figured it's the case re: # passengers per plane.

Nah, just the standard check in luggage dimensions limit dictated by airlines. Nothing bigger than 28" or so. Just that snorkeling gear can take up lots of space.

manneca

Remember that the plane doesn't have to be filled with only Rangali guests. I don't think I've ever flown non stop to the Rangali; they've stopped at another resort and dropped off passengers (and sometimes picked some up). Likewise on the way back, the plane may be half full when it arrives or it may stop on the way.

Yep, I got hit with $170 in excess baggage charges on the last trip. Two divers and (amateur) underwater photographers.

marcmsj

Someone's going to be flying an A380 there?

MaldivesFreak

I was referring to Rangali.


We've been lucky enough to have the complete opposite. And good point you make about dropping off pax to that other resort. Will add that into my revamped Seaplane Transfer Information post.

IvanCU

Back when we were booking in early March we almost decided not to come. Luckily I read travelers' reports on Tripadvisor and decided it wasn't a problem. One person even mentioned going into Male and going past the government building, and they only thing they noticed was one armed soldier standing in front. The US State Department "Level 2" advisory is silly enough for anyone going to Male, and doesn't even apply for people traveling to the resorts.

jasdou

We are leaving in less than two days for a RTW trip that will take us to Rangali in a week from now (May 8th-13th). Is anyone else here going to be around?

kwatev

Hey All,

I'm planning a trip to Conrad Maldives for mid-late November. I'd like to book with points for 3-5 nights, but I don't have them yet. I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on how soon availability starts to fill up? Is it generally safe for me to wait another month or two to accrue the points? Alternatively, is there a way to put a hold on a reservation and pay the points later like Marriott allows?

Thanks for the help!

JRV62

We are just going to miss you, we get there the following week, also doing a RTW trip. Hope you have a great time!!

MaldivesFreak

Hi kwatev.

Generally speaking if you were looking at staying at that time you'd probably be OK to wait another month or two. Problem is WVs are now available for points and the resort has become a lot more advertised as such, meaning availability is being snapped up quicker than usual. So even though there are now more points-bookable rooms available than before, more people with points are going to snap them up. I believe this has been the case for December and especially festive season this year as of about a month ago the resort was fully booked for 3 out of the 4 weeks in December and through Jan 10th 2019. What you should do is call them directly and get an idea of how many entry villas are still available for the dates you are looking at and find out whether the current availability for those dates is about normal for this time of year or lower than usual. If you talk to the reservations department they will be much more helpful than any of us here on the forum.

Secondly, you can make a fully refundable booking with a CC and cancel it and then book with points once you have them. That's pretty much your only option to guarantee availability for your dates.

flyingmusicianlax

I'm not going to claim it's better than if you went to a great local restaurant with a local friend who ordered a feast for everyone, but I thought it was pretty darn good. I always love to see what the "real" local food is and I felt like this gave us a pretty good sample. Try the curried pumpkin and the fried banana flowers! And of course the chopped fresh tuna salad. There's also some fried tamarind candy (sort of looks like pieces of jalebi) that I was popping as if I was a dramatically overweight older man with a heart condition popping baby aspirin. (And if I ate like that every day, I would be.)