DAY 1 – ARRIVAL

The bow opened at 6 am to let guests get a better view of Malé as we approached. About 50 guests were on the bow. Warm Panama Canal Rolls were available, but they weren’t branded as Malé rolls, as is usually the case during sail-ins—they were simply Danish Rolls. The Maldives are FLAT—the highest natural point is 7 feet above sea level, so there aren’t the mountain vistas you find on other islands.

PLANNING OUR EXCURSION

This is our first trip to the Maldives, and we were anxious to explore Malé, the capital and largest city in the archipelago. For many on this cruise, this was their first visit to the Maldives, as it is pretty far from everywhere. Malé has limited appeal for cruise lines since the main attraction is the resorts on the dozens of outlying islands. Getting here from the USA will take 29 to 36 hours.

While most tourists head to the private island resorts scattered across the archipelago, the capital city of Male offers a unique and authentic Maldivian experience.

A popular tour many passengers took was going to one of the private resorts on a different island for the day. HAL offered a tour for about $280. The same tour was available from Maldive Traveller HERE for half the price, plus you got more time at the resort. Since we were here overnight – there wasn’t much risk of missing the ship.

I found a Malé based tour company, Secret Paradise, which offers a variety of tours – from 4-hour walking tours to multi-day tours to other islands. We originally planned to take one of their food tours, but those aren’t offered during Ramadan. Ruth Franklin, co-founder of Secret Paradise, is very responsive to email. She suggested we take the 4-hour walking tour and share in the Iftar (breaking the fast) with residents at a local restaurant. Our tour started at 1:45 pm, and we would eat dinner with our guide after sunset at 6:15 pm.

MALÉ WALKING TOUR

After a 15-minute tender ride, we arrived at the Presidential Jetty. The ship set up its typical shoreside water and lemonade refreshment tent, but due to Ramadan, they had to cover the sides of the tent so guests could drink their water in private.

Our guide, Shaffaf, met us on time, and we were on our way. His English was excellent, and he was very knowledgeable about the Maldives and the local culture.

We spent the next hour exploring the local market stalls. They were spotless and didn’t have any of the odor we have often experienced in some markets. Shaffaf took us from stall to stall, where we sampled various items from Sea Almonds, Dried Tuna, Coconut crisps, and more. All the vendors were very friendly, and we felt welcome.

Our tour was a 1.8-mile loop. See the map below for the track. Along the way, we stopped at a couple of souvenir shops and a local restaurant, D’Olive, for a cool beverage. While many restaurants were closed for Ramadan, many were opened for tourists. A sign on the door of the local Burger King said they were only open for tourists during the day. More about D’Olive HERE and HERE. D’Olive is called The Olive Garden on TripAdvisor.

Note – When we returned the next day, we learned that D’Olive has two menus – one for locals and one for tourists. For example, the local price for Coca-Cola was about $2 USD, and the tourist price was almost $5. You could try asking for the “local menu,” but if you find the tourist prices too high, you should go elsewhere. If you get up to leave after you see the tourist menu, you may get offered the local menu on your way out.

D’Olive advertised a Ramadan Pizza, but we learned that pizza wasn’t available until 4 pm. They had excellent air conditioning in an enclosed seating area way in the back. We enjoyed soft drinks as Shaffaf talked about life in Male and answered our questions.

After we cooled down, we continued on at a leisurely pace, stopping at Sultan Park and continuing past the Old Friday Mosque, the President’s Palace, and the Parliament Building.

It was now around 5:45 pm and we headed to the Sea House Café on the waterfront where we would join local residents in the day’s Iftar at sunset.

IFTAR

Sunset was at 6:15 pm which is when the daily Ramadan fast ends with the Iftar which is the first meal of the day after sunset. The traditional first items at an Iftar are dates and watermelon juice which is then followed by a more substantial meal. Prophet Muhammad is quoted as saying: “When one of you is fasting, he should break his fast with dates”.

The Sea House Café was set with a Buffet for the main meal. Each table place was set with a plate of three dates and a glass of watermelon juice. The buffet had a nice selection of salads, meats, fish, vegetables and pastas. Everyone was in line before sunset, loading up their plates. Immediately after sunset everyone popped down some dates with some watermelon juice and then dug into their food.

We were seated on an uncovered patio with a view of the Zuiderdam. The food was great and we enjoyed continuing our conversation with Shaffaf during dinner.

After dinner we walked along the seawall back to the Presidential Jetty where we said Good-by to Shaffaf, boarded a tender and headed back to the Zuiderdam.

DAY 2 – MALÉ WALKABOUT & EASTER

I tendered ashore around 10 am along with tablemates, Kim and George. Judy remained on the ship. We planned to head to the Tsunami Monument and then head back into town for a Ramadan Pizza. You can see our track on the map below.

We stopped at the same Market we visited yesterday and picked up some almond cookies. Everyone was very friendly and we browsed for a bit before continuing north toward the Tsunami Monument, about 1 mile away. As we left town, the sidewalks became a little uneven in parts but were always passable. A few times we had to venture into the street as the sidewalks were blocked due to construction.

Along the way, we stopped at Rasfannu artificial beach, which was empty, and the snack bar was closed for Ramadan.

TSUNAMI MONUMENT

The Tsunami Monument is at the end of the road and memorializes the 74 people who were killed on 26 December 2004 from the Tsunami. There are 74 vertical rods, each engraved with a victim’s name, representing the 74 people who died, and the 20 spheres represent the 20 atolls that make up the Maldives archipelago.

We turned inland to walk down different streets on our way to the STO—Peoples Choice Store. This store is air-conditioned, very modern, and has a nice grocery section if you want to pick up some snacks. It’s not very far from the tender landing. Even though we were in Ramadan, the streets were busy, and most stores were open. It’s hard to say if they would be busier outside Ramadan.

After cooling off in the STO Store, we returned to D’Olive restaurant for a Ramadan Pizza. Unfortunately, we learned that pizzas weren’t available until 4 pm. This is also when we noticed the different menu prices when we were here without our guide.

I asked for the cheeseburger but was told that the cheeseburger came with a choice of cheese, chicken, or fish, but not beef. I asked if it was possible to get beef, and he replied Yes, but you need to order a Beefburger with cheese. So OK – Then get me a Beefburger. Tourist price of a Beef-Burger and Coke was about $20 USD

On our way back to the tender landing, we stopped at one of the many souvenir shops near the Presidential Jetty before heading back to the Zuiderdam.

EASTER ON THE SHIP

There was a 6 AM Interdenominational sunrise service at the Sea View Pool.

During the day, there was an Easter Cake in the Lido, along with other snacks.

WORLD STAGE

Vocalist Le Jacques was on the World Stage tonight – He sang a variety of classic songs including. –

– Fly Me To The Moon
– Mack the Knife
– Straighten Up And Fly Right
– That’s Amore
– Something
– That’s Life

He didn’t use the Grand World Voyage Band for backup but sang to his prerecorded backing tracks, contributing to the show’s lack of energy and his lukewarm reception.

MAP