After a beautiful wedding (thanks to all DDF'ers, friends & family who joined) its time to leave on a dream honeymoon. Back when I joined DDF in 2013 I knew I better prepare for IY"H when the right time will come along, now it did & the planning went into full swing right after our engagement. The #1 spot that I wanted to travel to that was on my bucket list was the Maldives, now it doesn't hurt that the wife likes a beach vacation 😀
Once we were already trekking all the way out east I wanted to treat the wife to an experience of different airlines & countries such as Dubai, Maldives, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Macau & last but not least London to meet my fathers side of the family.
For me to get into the details of how this trip was booked, the many changes that were made, the aggravation, the frustrations etc. is not necessary or interesting for most for me to write about it, but no matter what headaches it came along with, the view of success is what kept me going.
Some technical details:
Having a stash of SPG points helped getting the necessary JAL & A3 points for this trip. Also Amex having a MR-VS bonus transfer helped things too.
Pomegranate meals were $225
Seaplane from Malè, Maldives to the hotel (W Retreat) is $505 roundtrip. You are allowed to bring along 50lbs for free. Anything more than that costs $4 USD per kg.
We left Motzai Shabbos to JFK to catch an 11pm flight, took an Uber.
Checked in, went to the lounge to relax & grab a drink.. We then boarded directly from the lounge into the plane. Only 4 out of the 14 first class seats were occupied which was pretty cool.
I have been in Dubai previously so I knew some attractions that I wanted to show the Wife. Landed, (wife) got a UAE stamp right next to the Ben Gurion stamp which I found cool, left our carry ons with "Left Luggage" for (20 Dirhams) around $5.50 and we took a taxi to the Dubai mall being that we had around 7 hours to tour.
Some of the attractions in the mall besides the enormous complex that it is, is that they have an indoor aquarium, ice skating and much more.. At night they have every 30 minutes a water fountain show outside (in the back) of the mall.
After lots of walking, we went all the way up on the tallest building of the world called the Burj Khalifa.. Its really pretty by night with all the lights of the city shining 😀
Cost per person to go up is $95.30 USD
We then took a taxi to the airport which after a little bargaining (they love cash in order not to pay fees to whomever is in charge) was $15 USD. The driver was all excited with his Eid Mubarek festival that is not very vegetarian friendly.
Went through security & headed into the first class lounge. Boarding again was done from the lounge but its not directly unto the plane. First class passengers are eligible for free 15 minute massages. There are pretty good showers in the lounge as well.
Day 1:Landed in Malè & for the first time ever our plane made a U Turn on the same runway it landed on to taxi to the terminal. I guess roads/land is at a premium here 😃
Brand new minivan (new cars is a rarity here) with good air condition took us to the W Lounge where they had wifi, fruits & snacks. A bus picked us up to head to the seaplane terminal.
Trans Maldivian Airways (seaplane) basically is in charge of all hotel transfers.
You get a nice welcome where many workers from the hotel come to the arrivals dock to greet you personally & welcome you.
The island itself is beautiful, lush green with the beautiful clear ocean on the side. No words can properly describe it and I wont even try. You have to be here to understand. Just true paradise, dreamy catalog like.
The kitchen manager Wasantha was very accommodating with our kosher needs, the cooler duffel bag I bought on amazon (thanks @barrylincoln for the tip) kept the food frozen solid until we arrived.
The kitchen was able to cut up for us fresh fruit, vegetables etc. and they appreciated a 1 hr heads up to be able to defrost the food a bit before warming up the lunch/supper for 30 minutes. They charge $25 USD per person per meal to reheat the food. A cut up fruit platter or vegetable salad is about $15-20 USD. Fresh fish grilled is $55
Day 2:Was a bit more windy, but davening on the private deck was awesome! We went to eat brunch then headed for some scuba diving! After a quick refresher course for me (first time for the wife) we were diving away! WOW! What peacefulness & beauty! Every color fish you can think of & some black & white reef sharks too! Headed back to shore & got dressed for some professional sunset pictures at the beach by the local in house photographer. All staff are always with a smile & always accommodate quickly! You don't have to ask anything twice here. They literally run for you!
We had a nice reddish sunset sky and the photos came out well. The photography will continue tomorrow with more action photos in this dreamy paradise!
Pomegranates dinner is absolutely delicious & it feeds two people per container. We haven't been able to finish our mains yet.
Day 3:After some strong winds & heavy rainfall during the night the sun came up to a new & beautiful day. Although it started out as a bit cloudy it turned partly sunny & after shachris on our private deck we were off for more pictures! Wadèy was amazing, I highly recommend hiring a professional photographer during your stay. These are memories that will last a lifetime & with the beauty of this place its a shame not to be able to have it in print.
They ask for $400 USD for around 120 pictures but after some bargaining (you can throw out a feeler & see if they can bend, like "I don't know, its kind of expensive, maybe I can do a bit less" watch their reaction & you can see if its a set price or they can work with you) we got unlimited pictures for $275 + a hard cover white book with 2 pictures inside + all pictures on a "W Maldives" themed USB.
We are very happy with the way the photos came out.
After the photos were done, we went to the spa overlooking the Indian Ocean. Pricing for a 80 minute massage is $210 but as a SPG gold member we got 10% off. (We had to ask for it though)
As a side note, everything here has a 10% "service upcharge" + 12% tax added for everything.
Dinner was on the beach with torches & a DJ playing music as well. As romantic as it comes!
Day 4:The most pretty day yet! Sunny & 82! We had a 3pm seaplane back to Malè to catch. After an awesome jump off the deck & swim in the ocean with the colorful fish & in the private pool as well.. Showered & headed for brunch. Wasantha who was in charge of our kosher needs fixed us one final breakfast & after checkout & a short speedboat ride (they land the seaplane away from the island so not to make noise & be a nuisance for the guests) we were on our way back to Malè with 1 stop at a nearby hotel to pickup more passengers on the way.
Landed in Malè and checked our luggage into the luggage hold for $5 per bag. Met our tour guide arranged by the front desk (free) & headed out for a speedboat ride to the main island where the city is. There are 2 options to get to the capital both via boat. A ferry which takes 10 minutes costs per way $1 (it leaves every 10 minutes) and a speedboat which takes 3 minutes to get to the main island costs $2 (leaves every 15 minutes). We decided to splurge on a speedboat transfer & we were in the capital with our guide. It's a walking tour, you can see the presidents yacht, "palace", a few mosques, government offices & my highlight was the fruit & fish markets. All fruit are locally grown on different island with no chemicals sprayed etc. the (white & large) passion fruit was AMAZING & so juicy! It's around the size of an avocado, costed about $0.95 a piece, goes by the weight.. definitely was a great refreshing snack on a hot day. The other market is the fish market, it's a happening place with many locals coming to pickup their (dinner?) fish. There are many different kinds of fish sold but the dominant kind is regular & yellowfin tuna. 1 kg (2.2lbs) costs about $5. They clean and cut up the fish on the spot. Went to shop for some souvenirs but my advice is stay away! I felt like walking into a 99 cent store but the store owners wanting Nordstrom pricing. For example, 2 sets (20 total) of (like tree wood) colored pencils + a 4x6 beach themed picture frame they wanted after "discounts" $163 😂 Another store was willing to give it for a "last price-for you 😂" $76 just a total rip off job. The guide mentioned that the rent is expensive so the products are expensive too. Frankly I don't care so we just didn't buy anything. But later on in the Malè airport we were able to get souvenirs for a decent price. I recommend doing the tour once but after seeing what this city has to offer I don't really see myself coming back & doing the tour again (maybe for some more passion fruit) even if I had a late flight leaving Malè in the future. Headed back via speedboat at about 6:15pm to the airport & checked into the lounge with plenty of time to spare for our 10:05pm redeye Cathay Pacific flight in business class nonstop to Hong Kong.
Day 5: Landed in Hong Hong & arranged for someone in advance to wait for us with a sign & help us with the packages. The Mercedes car had wifi & wet towels to wash our sleepy faces 😇
Arrived to the Shangri La Kowloon at 9am. Room wasn't ready yet so we were able to shower & change in the health club. Headed out via Uber to the JCC for brunch. Uber is very cheap here in Hong Kong. A full brunch here at the JCC costed us $67 for 2 adults.
Took another Uber to the peak where you can see all of Hong Kong after a few escalators & $96 HKD ($12 USD) later we went to the 360 degrees observation deck. Was able to take some nice pictures.. A selfie stick comes in handy here. Took another uber back to the Shangri La, walked over to the sefardi shul & restaurant which we paid in advance $150 per meal for both me & my wife, checked out the place so we know where to walk come Shabbos.. Its literally next door to the Shangri La Got a few teas at Starbucks & back to the hotel we went.
Due to a large gems & jewelry show in Hong Kong the Jewish crowds were big. Kehilat Zion catered in a ballroom at the Shangri La where we were staying. We met new people & made some new friends.
Day 6:Went to daven by Chabad, large crowd as well. The Shliach is a real mench & a wonderful person.
Ate by Kehilat Zion, and went for a nice walk by the harbor. Shalosh seudos was by kehilat zion again followed by maariv & havdala.
We booked ferry tickets to Macau with help from the Shangri La hotel concierge. It costs $50 roundtrip a person in economy. The ferry per way takes 1 hour. When we arrived in Macau there are many buses that are waiting to take gamblers to the casinos for free so just hop unto any bus. Note! There are 2 islands Macau & Macau/Taipa.. If you take a taxi to the ferry terminal once you are in Macau be VERY specific which island terminal you want to go from as our taxi went to the wrong one & it costed us extra $ for a new one way ticket as we missed the ferry we were originally booked on.
Day 7:Ate breakfast at Kehilat Zion. We needed a quick fix so we didn't go to the JCC. Took a train in their "first class" for $10.50 USD a way to Shenzhen, China. We wanted some peace & quiet than to be crammed in the local train cars. We made 10 year visas before we left on honeymoon locally but there is a new thing that you can make a 5 year visa at the Lu Wo/Shenzhen train stop for $150 on the spot.
The mall outside the train station is unreal. They have over 1,300 stores selling knockoffs/imitations. The bargaining that goes on there is crazy! If you go, aim to pay 20% of what they want. Also a good idea is to get a suitcase so you can fit all the goods in. Don't be afraid to walk out in the middle of a negotiation, they will run after you in the hallway.
When you come out of the train station be on the lookout for people who can help bring you to specific stores/goods you have in mind. You don't need to walk with them all the time but I know people who have had good experiences accepting these chinese store guides for direction.
One last note about this mall (for women for sure). The bathrooms here don't give toilet paper & are ridiculous. Like there is no toilet seat. Unbelievable how people live like this, so use the handicapped bathroom & thats better, also eating soup with chopsticks?! Don't get it!
Day 8:Went to the JCC for brunch via Uber, today a full selection costed us around $55 USD for two. Uber had a promotion in Hong Kong that if you take 3 rides 9/15-9/18 you get 3 free rides this week. So this came in very handy. Hong Kong isn't a cheap place to stay/buy etc. think Manhattan.. But taxis here are very cheap & so is Uber so we just used Uber Black & had a few Mercedes & Teslas come pick us up.
We had a long story with Singapore Airlines with a frozen account etc. and I was able to get nonstop on Cathay Business for cheap so we had the full Friday here in Hong Kong so the Monday we scheduled for Hong Kong now turned into kind of an "extra" day & it was too much of a hassle to leave to Koh Samui which is our next stop a day earlier (Monday instead of the regularly scheduled Tuesday AM) so we headed out to Disneyland.
Costs converted to $70 USD per adult entry. Supposedly this isn't close to the Disney parks in the USA & there is a language barrier too with the shows, parade etc. here. Not a bad activity for an extra day, thats for sure.
Day 9: Travel day! Koh Samui, Thailand here we come! After an early wake up call we were headed with an Uber to the airport. A nice & comfortable van luckily (uber black) showed up & we were able to put all of our suitcases in, checked in with no line as our flight was an empty one with Bangkok Airways. Thanks to @benjie1305 heads up I made frequent flyer accounts for me & the wife with them & added it onto the reservation. They let you check in 10kg extra per person if you add your flyer bonus # on top of the 20kg already allowed per person. I checked in a 3rd suitcase without charge as well. They didn't make a big deal about it.
I booked this leg via JAL in economy as seatguru.com showed business class as just a blocked middle empty seat, however once we boarded this A319 jet we saw that it was a 2 & 2 seat configuration that reclines. It was too late to upgrade so that was that. Luckily it was only a 3 + hour flight. It was an empty flight so I asked to try it out.. Its really nothing major and also the footrest seems to be designed for people that are 5 feet tall max so being in economy was actually better as I was able to have a ghetto lie flat 3 seat business class with 5 pillows 😀
The service on board is phenomenal, really shows how lacking & rude the US airlines are. If you ask a flight attendant (ask mid flight not during beverage or food service) they have many Bangkok Airways souvenirs for kids & adults they will gladly give you.
Thanks again to @benjie1305 I was able to make a good connection with Chabad & a driver via Whatsapp to arrange food & a ride from the airport to the Conrad where we are staying for the next 3 days. Driver was waiting for us at the meeting point in the airport with a sign with our name, drove 15 minutes to Chabad to pickup our food then another 35 minutes to the Conrad. Cost per way with the driver is 1,000 Baht. Thats around $28 a way, car was a big SUV with good air condition. Very happy how that worked out.
Checked into the Conrad with some fruity cocktails & a nice refreshing face towel. The way you go from place to place in this resort is via a golf cart as its on a mountain & isn't designed for walking. Service here at the Conrad is unbelievable! If you have any request you can expect a hotel employee usually within 5 minutes at your door with whatever you need.
As a diamond member we were ordered from Chabad a daily breakfast. For dinner we ordered it ourselves & gave it in for the kitchen to store & reheat as needed.
One of the major strong points a Yid has to remember when traveling (and others) is that he leaves the impression for the future Jewish guests & its a very big responsibility. Thanks to all who have stayed before me here as the head chef seems to have been left with a good impression of Jews. Same goes for the W in the Maldives. Whether its being polite, easygoing & even a tip is something that goes a long way.
Ate dinner at the "Zest" restaurant where they reheated our food, got some free drinks with some diamond vouchers & then chilled by the ocean on a hammock. As romantic & relaxing as it comes.
Day 10:The day started out sunny & beautiful and later in the afternoon the sky & clouds started looking mean & gray. We wanted to go elephant riding in the forest near a waterfall & the strong downpour held up the trip for over an hour. However it eased up a little, and with an umbrella in hand we climbed up on the Asian elephant.
Its a very nice ride but I am a little uncomfortable how they keep these elephants chained during down time. Cost was 2,000 Baht for the both of us (around $56 USD) for a 45 minute ride + some bananas to feed them.
After we were done we headed to a monkey show (also chained) to see how they climb up & take off coconuts from the tree & we got to take some pictures on our hands & shoulder with a monkey. Cost was 300 baht (around $8 USD) for the both of us.
We had an excellent driver come pick us up & drop us off from the hotel in a comfortable air conditioned van (which is a big deal here). Cost for round trip + some stops on the way was 1,200 baht (around $33 USD)
As a general rule try & stay away from the hotel booking anything for you as they will up-charge everything. Rather ask them to connect you with the company or service you need.
However there is 1 thing that the Conrad Koh Samui is better than the W Maldives... Is that they don't charge $25 USD per person per meal to reheat food. Here its done complimentary.
Day 11:What started out as a cloudy & drizzly day turned out partly sunny!
Today was the ultimate vacation fun & chill. We went jet skiing at a place near "Elements Hotel/Beach"
Its a 3-4 minute car ride from the Conrad. The Conrad wanted to arrange the jet skiing for us for 5,000 baht for a 40 minute jet ski ride. However thanks again to @Benjie1305 advice we went down to the owner himself and cut the Conrad's commission out. He wanted 4,500 Baht for 40 minutes for 2 passengers but we negotiated it down to 3,500 baht ($98 USD).
On the 40 minute ride they take you to the 5 island chain that are not far from the Conrad. I was quite surprised to see 2 people living there! If you call that living!
Transportation roundtrip to & from the jet ski beach area we just took the Conrad's taxi service for 500 baht ($14 USD)
After we were done we headed back to the hotel & went for some relaxation at the spa after reservations at the popular & highly rated outdoor Tamarind Spa which is in a forest wasn't available.
They have interesting different mineral pools in caves etc.
The Conrad spa was just fine though. Its a beautiful facility with amazing service. Definitely a very relaxing experience for the both of us. Just so you understand the craziness of this place we saw $8 USD sixty minute massages in the town area. Massages are very popular around Thailand. Seems like every 2nd store is either a spa or a currency exchange.
Once the sun came out a bit I went for a swim in our 40 foot private pool on our porch overlooking the ocean, ate lunch and had some more free drinks courtesy of being a Hilton diamond member. We got a total of 10 free drinks, free breakfast & lunch today the last day during our 3 day stay. They arranged lunch for today as they forgot breakfast yesterday. Chef personally came down to apologize when we were eating dinner last night but they made it up big time today.
One of the more cooler things of vacationing in a poor (but nice) place is getting things on the cheap.
Here is an awesome example
We had a lot of laundry after almost 2 weeks and every hotel we stayed in wanted really a lot of money to wash it so we figured we'll wait until we arrive in London on Friday to wash. However once we arrived here in Koh Samui there were many laundry service stores & huts that offered their service for really cheap. Like 30 Baht ($0.84 USD) for every 2.2lbs but we splurged for convenience and we met someone who lives right next to the hotel who does it for 50 Baht ($1.39 USD) per 2.2lbs. Total cost was 320 baht (around $9) for all the laundry washed, ironed (if needed) & bagged beautifully plus this Hans guy picked it up & dropped it off too!
Checked out of the Conrad & was personally greeted there again by the hotels director of operations to see how our stay went. Was a nice sendoff. Not W Maldives nice, but good enough
Driver that we used when we arrived was there on time & we headed back out to the airport with a quick stop by Chabad to pickup food. The place was jammed with Israelis for dinner, not an empty table to be had!
Checked into Koh Samui airport with Bangkok Airways, as written earlier in the report, you can take 20kg + 10kg per person in luggage weight if you sign up for their flyer bonus account & add it to the reservation, however even though on the way to Koh Samui they didn't make an issue about the 9kg extra now they did, however after talking with the check in manager they agreed to waive the $22 USD charge for the extra weight. Please note about them, they don't figure by suitcase allowance.. They go by total weight of all suitcases.
Security at the airport looks like a backyard carnival, although I must say they are competent. The only little thing thats a pain is that because there aren't many suitcases being checked in every bag is scrutinized big time. They called us aside to take out a cell phone power bank from our check in luggage & we saw around 6 or 7 people working there over this one suitcase, looking & scanning & reviewing. Never saw something like that before.
Took off from Koh Samui & had some very bad turbulence, some people were screaming as the plane was dropping quick at some spots.. But B"H we landed safely in Bangkok & a bus took us to the baggage area, picked up the bags in level 1, took an elevator to level 4, checked into the Thai Airways first class check in area & was escorted to the first class lounge via a cool 2 seat cart.
The lounge has a spa that first class passengers can enjoy 60 minute massages complimentary but they close at 11:30pm & our flight was at 12:50am. They also have private decent sized rooms that the first class passengers can relax, wait, eat & drink before the flight.
Once the plane is more or less boarded they come to pick you up & escort you to the plane VIP style.
Our final destination this week for Shabbos is by our grandparents in London. Thai Airways only flies to 2 european cities with first class cabins, London on the new A380 & Munich on an older 747-400, I checked for months every day for different combination availabilities & set notifications on expert flyer (thank you @highendhobo) I have B"H been very fortunate to fly many different first class & business class products over the past 3 years. The service with Thai Airways is awesome, the welcome is amazing but the hard product (actual plane) is just simply not good. No USB outlets, no USA plug outlets, no privacy whatsoever (even United first class is better), the only 2 seats that are "somewhat" private are the front 2 seats in the nose of the plane.
I know that the A380 first class is a totally different product & its the real deal, but this 747 though is underwhelming. The only good thing I have to say about it is that couples can eat dinner facing each other as the footwell is wide & like a big stool so you can sit comfortably. Their business class is even worse as its angle flat with not a great pitch (length of seat) from what I understand & its a long flight This is not a complaint of any sort, its rather feedback that if you have options avoid it if you have something better. But being that this was our only option it was awesome.
Day 12:Landed into Munich airport & checked into the business class lounge for a hot shower & to freshen up. There were plenty of fruits & drinks that a kosher traveler can have as well.
Bought Zaidy & Bobby a gift for having us for Shabbos in duty free & off we went to board our Lufthansa flight in (fake) business class to London which also didn't have a kosher meal due to the short notice. I guess thats what you have to give in when you're a DDF member with last minute changes.
Landed into Heathrow & was picked up by a family member, "checked in" to the grandparents. All statuses honored & its time to enjoy Shabbos with family.
Day 13:Shabbos was unbelievable. To see family once in a while overseas is always a special treat & we will miss them dearly when we leave.
Said slichos Motzai Shabbos & now its time to leave tomorrow AM back to the reality of NYC & the Yom Tov season.
Day 14:Davened shachris, grabbed a small bite & its time to head to the airport. Checked into the Virgin Atlantic upper class section of terminal 3 a bit late so we unfortunately weren't able to check out the cool lounge I heard they have, but we did manage to buy some duty free products before we rushed to the gate to board. (First time we had to rush on our trip 😀)
Virgin Atlantic has a very interesting Upper Class layout. Its a herringbone layout with everyone having aisle access but its different than what I've ever seen. To best explain it, it seems like they figured out how to maximize every inch of space on this A340-600 aircraft. Seats are pretty decent though, service is pretty good and the mood lighting is cool. If you are the type that likes to look out of the window than you will not like this layout as all seats are facing away or are too far from the windows.
They also have a small bar on board with a few bar stools. Nothing major but still a cool perk.
Kosher meal onboard was catered by Hermolis who is considered the best in the business, and it was excellent as usual.
Landed into JFK & headed home with memories, smiles and happiness that I hope will last for a lifetime.
As I finish writing this TR, I am at a loss of words & DDF'ers of who to thank for helping me out making this unbelievable honeymoon into a reality.
First I would like to thank my wife for being the most understanding, easygoing & chilled partner someone can wish for. She was all in with the biggest smile all the time!
Second I would like to thank a few crucial DDF'ers that helped with Expert Flyer notifications (@highendhobo), detailed info about Thailand (@benjie1305), long distance phone calls at almost 1am one night (@coralsnake), helping with booking one flight on the way to the airport (@banillareloads), Shloimy B. for helping out with the Hong Kong & China details & last but not least Dan who runs this website & has given us the opportunity to learn this game & basically book a $80,000+ honeymoon via opening up a few credit cards. If I missed anyone & you helped as well I thank you as well.
Flying to the Maldives even on points & miles will still cost a pretty penny, Hong Kong (except taxis) is an expensive city as well. Here is the full breakdown.
Costs:
JFK-DXB-MLE - 100,000 JAL + $15.10 (Emirates First)
MLE-W Resort - $505 (Seaplane)
MLE-HKG - $711 (Cathay Business)
HKG-USM - 10,000 JAL + $62.40
(Bangkok Air Economy)
USM-BKK - $118.50 (Bangkok Air Economy)
BKK-MUC-LHR - 75,000 A3 + $110.30 (Thai Air First)
LHR-JFK - 40,000 VS + $461.56
(Virgin Atlantic Upperclass)
W Maldives - $4,513.29 (offset by $1,217.07 in hotels.com credits)
Shangri La Hong Kong - $1,331.52 (offset by $996.64 in hotels.com credits)
Conrad Koh Samui - 160,000 Hilton Points
Contacts:
Chabad Shliach Koh Samui
+66 81-824-0588
Nati-Chabad Koh Samui kitchen manager
+972 50-3262627
Kehilat Zion Hong Kong Shabbos Reservations:
kzionhk@yahoo.com
Conrad Koh Samui Hotel Manager:
Conrad Koh Samui Kitchen Manager:
W Maldives Kitchen Manager:
Wasantha.Hangawatha@whotels.com
Hans-Koh Samui Laundry Service:
+66 83-830-6771
Koh Samui Jetski (near the Conrad)
+66 93-672-1550
Koh Samui Airport Driver
+66 89-060-6440
Tamarind Spa Koh Samui
https://www.tamarindsprings.com/Most of these contacts can be whatsapped.
The only thing I have to say to finish off my TR is:
מה רבו מעשיך ד׳ כולם בחכמה עשית
So long,
כתיבה וחתימה טובה
