Author Topic: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE  (Read 64074 times)

Offline AJK

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #220 on: March 23, 2016, 12:36:12 PM »
I don't do it purposely. If I had nothing to do but crank out TRs, I'd crank out TRs.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper

Offline CS91

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #221 on: March 23, 2016, 12:40:24 PM »
I don't do it purposely. If I had nothing to do but crank out TRs, I'd crank out TRs.
It was a joke! Yes, I know, I'm a 3L and I have nothing better to do with my time. #3LOL

Offline AJK

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #222 on: March 23, 2016, 12:56:06 PM »
It was a joke! Yes, I know, I'm a 3L and I have nothing better to do with my time. #3LOL

I know, I know.

Ahhh, the days.
2015: 116K bkd | 1.6M brnd | F: OZ,NH,AA,EK | J: UA,CA,TK,DL,TN,AF,VA | LIH,NRT,ROR,PEK,CNS,BOB,MEL,TLV & Pacific Hopper

Offline CS91

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #223 on: March 23, 2016, 01:43:16 PM »
Monday

We got another early start on Monday morning because DW had a massage booked for 9:30am. As much as I wanted to get one too, I opted out because I had a pretty bad sunburn and it would’ve been too painful. The hotel has a promotion that if you finish your spa treatment by 11am (basically book a 9:00am or 9:30am appointment), you get a 15% discount (basically an early bird special).

Once we were done eating, the masseuse came to pick up DW from breakfast to take her to the spa (another example of the great service) and I went to speak to Ameez about possibly upgrading for the last night to an OWB. Unfortunately, he told me that over the past few days a lot of reservations came in and they were all booked up (when we arrived, he told us that they only expected to be at about 60% occupancy for the duration of our stay; they were at 90% when we left), and that I wasn’t the only Diamond member that wanted to upgrade for one night (apparently many people only want to upgrade for one night). He did say though that if something opened up, he’d probably be able to upgrade me for free for one night, but unfortunately nothing did. I know, many of you are going to say that it was a missed opportunity to go all the way to MLE and not stay in an OWB. Sure, it would’ve been cool and a very different experience, and while it was a bit frustrating, it didn’t bother us that much. We really liked our villa and having a private pool was amazing. Hopefully we’ll get to BOB one day and stay in an OWB there. Our trip was still incredible and we’re not going to let one thing ruin it.

After DW was done with her massage (which she said was great), we took it easy and hung out at the main hotel pool (which overlooks the beach and ocean) for a bit and then went kayaking for close to an hour. The hotel has single and double kayaks that are free to use. We kayaked from the beach past the OWBs to the Dawn Jetty and then back to the beach. It felt like we were kayaking in a lake because the water was so calm. I’ve only been kayaking in an ocean one other time and I remember how difficult (read: annoying) it was because of the current, but that definitely wasn’t the case here.

Main Pool:


Another view of the pool:


After kayaking, we went back to the villa for lunch, took it easy for a bit and then went snorkeling off the Dusk Jetty to see some more beautiful fish and coral. Once we were done snorkeling, both jetties have nice sitting areas so we relaxed over there for a bit before heading back to our villa to wash up before happy hour and dinner.

We could've just stared at the water from the jetty for days...












When we went to The Bar for happy hour, we noticed that they had some games there for people to use (not sure how we missed it the other nights) so we played some backgammon while enjoying a drink and watching the sunset. I forgot to mention this in the last installment, but The Bar is located right near the pool (kind of diagonal from The Dining Room) and only a few steps from the beach.

The Bar:


View of the pool from The Bar:


View of the pool and The Dining Room from The Bar:


Although we wanted to have dinner again at The Island Grill, we ate at The Dining Room because there was a special event at The Island Grill (I think it was a BBQ) so we didn’t want to occupy a table that they could otherwise be filling with a guest ordering from the menu (and spending a lot on dinner). We changed it up and had dairy for dinner, splitting a Fettuccini Alfredo. We both really liked it, but I’m not so sure I agree with those who say that POM’s dairy meals are enough to feed two for dinner (perfect to split for lunch though). I don’t know if we would’ve each been able to finish a whole serving ourselves, but we thought that the ideal amount would probably be 3/4 of a serving per person, so I guess we’ll see what we do the next time around.

On the way back from dinner we stopped at the gift shop to pick up a shot glass as a souvenir (a tradition that we decided to start in the Cayman Islands two months ago) and borrowed a DVD from reception. The hotel has a collection of about 30 DVDs that guests can take out (free of charge) to watch in their villa (every villa has a DVD player). The selection wasn’t great, but we decided on Runner Runner, which was nothing more than okay (I think JT should stick to singing and leave acting for the experts). The reception also has a bunch of books in a variety of languages (DW spotted a couple of Hebrew books), though I’m not sure what the selection is like because I didn’t really look to see what they had. We went back to the villa, watched the movie and called it a day.

Our Souvenir:

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #224 on: March 23, 2016, 02:05:06 PM »
Sounds like you had a lot of time just relaxing and taking it easy. Did that bother you? I know when I write things like that in a TR it usually means I was either a bit bored or could have been doing something more exciting. Did you, at any time before the end of your stay, feel like you were ready to leave?

Offline sam28

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #225 on: March 23, 2016, 02:56:19 PM »
wow amazing report . thanks


Offline @Yehuda

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #226 on: March 23, 2016, 04:45:32 PM »
Nice finish! I don't think I've come across people saying the dairy POMs can be split by 2 people. I think the general idea is 1.5 pom meals would satiate 2 people, or like you said 3/4 meal per person.

Offline CS91

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #227 on: March 23, 2016, 05:00:19 PM »
Sounds like you had a lot of time just relaxing and taking it easy. Did that bother you? I know when I write things like that in a TR it usually means I was either a bit bored or could have been doing something more exciting. Did you, at any time before the end of your stay, feel like you were ready to leave?
It didn't bother us at all, but we do particularly enjoy just relaxing and taking it easy (we're not the type that likes to be up at 6am and be out and about until 10pm everyday during vacation). We definitely weren't bored but we did feel that 6 days was the perfect amount of time to spend in MLE, and that anymore time could've been a little too much. If you're going to MLE though, you shouldn't expect to be doing a lot of activities unless you're ready to shell out a lot of money on hotel activities.

Nice finish!
Not done yet! Still a few more parts left to post!

I don't think I've come across people saying the dairy POMs can be split by 2 people. I think the general idea is 1.5 pom meals would satiate 2 people, or like you said 3/4 meal per person.
Thanks! Hmmm, probably gonna stick with one meal per person to be safe. Does that apply for milchig and fleishig meals or would you say the milchig meals easily feed two people because it's all main and no sides?
The milchig meals easily feed two regular eaters. The fleishig, I would stick to one meal a person.
Sounds right.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #228 on: March 23, 2016, 05:01:43 PM »
Oh, I thought the shotglass meant googbye. haha

Nice proofs. Should have asked me. :P We sometimes had leftover penne vodka, but never enough to split.

Offline CS91

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #229 on: March 23, 2016, 05:03:15 PM »
Oh, I thought the shotglass meant googbye. haha

Nice proofs. Should have asked me. :P We sometimes had leftover penne vodka, but never enough to split.
Haha, nope! Though I could understand why you thought that. Just posted it because we bought it on that day.

I posted my question on the forum, you just didn't answer :P. All good; now I know what to order for Hawaii.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #230 on: March 23, 2016, 05:08:00 PM »
It didn't bother us at all, but we do particularly enjoy just relaxing and taking it easy (we're not the type that likes to be up at 6am and be out and about until 10pm everyday during vacation). We definitely weren't bored but we did feel that 6 days was the perfect amount of time to spend in MLE, and that anymore time could've been a little too much. If you're going to MLE though, you shouldn't expect to be doing a lot of activities unless you're ready to shell out a lot of money on hotel activities.
Not done yet! Still a few more parts left to post!
Cool. I think if we get to MLE we'd go for 2-3 days max, maybe including shabbos. Sitting and relaxing just isn't my thing for very long.

Offline CS91

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #231 on: March 23, 2016, 05:13:25 PM »
Cool. I think if we get to MLE we'd go for 2-3 days max, maybe including shabbos. Sitting and relaxing just isn't my thing for very long.
Yea, I agree with that. If you don't like just relaxing then you shouldn't stay as long as we did (unless you plan on doing activities everyday), though I would tell you to go during the week and not over Shabbos so that you can dive/snorkel everyday.

Offline noturbizniss

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #232 on: March 23, 2016, 05:15:58 PM »
Sounds like you had a lot of time just relaxing and taking it easy. Did that bother you? I know when I write things like that in a TR it usually means I was either a bit bored or could have been doing something more exciting. Did you, at any time before the end of your stay, feel like you were ready to leave?
Your missing the point of the Maldives then!

Speaking of DVD rentals, 2ere the tvs set up with hdmi so if you brought a chromecast or cable you could connect  a phone?
READ THE DARN WIKI!!!!

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Offline CS91

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #233 on: March 23, 2016, 05:18:50 PM »
Your missing the point of the Maldives then!
+.75 Diving and snorkeling are also a big reason to go.

Speaking of DVD rentals, 2ere the tvs set up with hdmi so if you brought a chromecast or cable you could connect  a phone?
I believe they were, but I didn't really pay attention. There was a whole media panel with different ports so I think you would be able to connect something, but I'm not 100% sure because I didn't try.

Oh, and forgot to mention this, but Netflix doesn't work in MLE so if you definitely think you'll want to watch a movie there and don't want to rely on the hotel's selection, may be a good idea to download something beforehand.

Offline noturbizniss

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #234 on: March 23, 2016, 05:21:40 PM »
+.75 Diving and snorkeling are also a big reason to go.
I believe they were, but I didn't really pay attention. There was a whole media panel with different ports so I think you would be able to connect something, but I'm not 100% sure because I didn't try.

Oh, and forgot to mention this, but Netflix doesn't work in MLE so if you definitely think you'll want to watch a movie there and don't want to rely on the hotel's selection, may be a good idea to download something beforehand.
Amazon works?
READ THE DARN WIKI!!!!

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Offline CS91

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #235 on: March 23, 2016, 05:22:05 PM »

Offline yochiek93

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #236 on: March 23, 2016, 05:26:12 PM »

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #237 on: March 23, 2016, 05:27:39 PM »
Yea, I agree with that. If you don't like just relaxing then you shouldn't stay as long as we did (unless you plan on doing activities everyday), though I would tell you to go during the week and not over Shabbos so that you can dive/snorkel everyday.
What types of activities does the hotel offer?

Your missing the point of the Maldives then!

Speaking of DVD rentals, 2ere the tvs set up with hdmi so if you brought a chromecast or cable you could connect  a phone?
Not really. I know people go for diving, snorkeling and relaxing, but just because some people enjoy doing that for 6 days doesn't mean others are perfectly content with doing it for 2-3 days and then moving on to another destination in the area, like CMB.

Offline CS91

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #238 on: March 23, 2016, 05:32:17 PM »
Anything?
I managed to find a link to stream the Suits finale, but otherwise, nothing worked.

What types of activities does the hotel offer?
Diving, snorkeling trips to other reefs, fishing trips, dolphin watching, local island visits, crossing the Equator trip, water sports (takes place at another island), uninhabited island visit and some others. All pretty pricey though.

Not really. I know people go for diving, snorkeling and relaxing, but just because some people enjoy doing that for 6 days doesn't mean others are perfectly content with doing it for 2-3 days and then moving on to another destination in the area, like CMB.
100%. You just have to know yourself and know what the right amount of time for you is.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: CS91's Bucket List Trip to MLE
« Reply #239 on: March 23, 2016, 05:47:04 PM »
I managed to find a link to stream the Suits finale, but otherwise, nothing worked.
Diving, snorkeling trips to other reefs, fishing trips, dolphin watching, local island visits, crossing the Equator trip, water sports (takes place at another island), uninhabited island visit and some others. All pretty pricey though.
100%. You just have to know yourself and know what the right amount of time for you is.
I imagine anything that involved going to another island would cross more. None of those activities interest me much, especially if I had to pay a lot to do them. Crossing the equator trip? Seriously?