Carpe Vita Explorer ...

[MXGratefulDiver]

Does anyone have any experience with the Carpe Vita Explorer? That's the boat we ended up booking for our February trip ... we got the 11-day package.

Looks like a nice boat ... and it's fairly new. Just wondering if anyone here's been on board ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Doubler]

Bob,
It looks like you made an excellent choice. Very nice boat and good price. The only thing that stops me from going to the Maldives is the travel to and from. Have a great trip! Sucks waiting though doesn't it.

Jim

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Bob,
It looks like you made an excellent choice. Very nice boat and good price. The only thing that stops me from going to the Maldives is the travel to and from. Have a great trip! Sucks waiting though doesn't it.

Jim

We got a pretty good deal on airline tix ... a bit over $1700 on Singapore Air. My ex is joining us from Zambia, and the only tix I can find for her right now are running about $5,000 ... ... I'm hoping to find something less expensive, since she's coming less than half the distance we are.

For sure the wait's gonna be difficult from the perspective of the diving ... but since the occasion is for my 60th birthday, I'm in no real hurry ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[mantajohn]

Obviously i do not know your travel dates, but just picked 2 random dates in Feb 2012 & within a few clicks found round trip flights from Lusaka Zambia to Maldives for < $1600.

Lusaka to JNB on SAA then JNb to doha to Male on Qatar Airways. long trip (layovers) but big saving on $5000.

I am sure with a little more time on line, you could reduce the journey time.

Hope this is helpful

john

 

[Wookie]

Bob, I think Clay was on last week for it's inaugural cruise, so I wouldn't expect too much except propaganda yet. I think February is perfect. The boat will be new enough to still have that "new boat smell", but the kinks will be worked out. It amazes me that the boat is wood. I saw pictures of the construction and the craftmanship is stunning.

 

[UnderwaterBumbleBee]

We can give you an update in July when we get back from our trip. We got a deal on the boat with the buy one get one free trip they recently had! The airfare however was around $1950 per person and we searched pretty well. Looking forward to it after seeing photos from their travel agent trip this past week. They saw hammerheads, whale sharks, lots of fish and probably mantas too!

 

[ylin42]

Hey UnderwaterBumbleBee, I'll be on the same trip as you! Looking forward to it.

 

[Gtoph]

Hey UnderwaterBumbleBee, I'll be on the same trip as you! Looking forward to it.

Did you get the air yet? How did you end up getting there just out of curiosity?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I got Singapore Air for $1704 ... but that's out of San Francisco ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Gtoph]

I got Singapore Air for $1704 ... but that's out of San Francisco ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

We had looked at Malaysia Air going through LA, which was cheaper than what we ended up doing through Houston, but figured the savings wasn't worth the extra stop it had. Going to be a long couple of days to get there regardless.