Hi, we are trying to decide our next vacation..We are either doing Vietnam/Cambodia/BKK or Kerala/Maldives with either a stopover in BKK (Singapore Airlines)or Dubai (Emirates)on the way home..Firstly, has anyone ever flown on Emirates and has anyone ever had a stopover in Dubai and how was it? Also anyone been to the Maldives since the tsunami? I'd love to hear anyone's comments so we can make up our minds!!

What time of year are you going? The moonsoon affects those areas at different times.

Emirates is an excellent airline. Dubai is like Singapore with sand and is not all that interesting, IMO, however if you get a good price on Emirates then that fact that you have to make a one-night stopover would not be a big issue, IMO. It is very, very hot for many months other than the winter months, so again, time of year would be a consideration. Alternatively, if you can spend more than a few nights in the ME, you might consider one night in Dubai as required and then going over to Jordan and visiting Petra. The flight takes about an hour from Dubai, and there are frequent flights beteen Dubai and Amman, and Petra is a few hours drive from Amman.

We flew with Emirates & went for 7 days in the Maldives & 7 days at the Jumeirah Beach hotel in Dubai. I actually didn't really want to go to Dubai we only went bcoz we went in May & the weather in the Maldives can be a bit dodgy so we wanted to be sure of at least a week of good weather but I ended up falling in love with Dubai & we've been back twice since. Emirates wins the best Airline nearly every year so definitely go ith them if possible.

Emirates is great unless you're flying coach on their 777. They are one of a handful of airlines in the world that put 10 seat across in their 777. Check the schedule to see if you have a longhaul on that plane.

Oh, and I should mention that if you're in LA or NY, you may want to fly SQ's non-stop to Singapore from those cities. They use a "Executive Economy" class on their 340-500. Cost a little more than regular coach, but wider, more legroom and more recline.

Cicerone, we are going in probably November...we would be in Dubai near the end of the month..Petra is a place I have always wanted to see, but I think that is packing in too many things at once..

Clark, where did you stay in the Maldives?Is it as nice as it looks in the pictures? I think Dubai looks rather interesting. My husband isn't jumping for joy regarding a stopover in Dubai, I think he would rather stop in BKK...

And rkkwan I will check to see if it is the 777...That sounds gross with 10 seats across.
We are from Canada, so probably would be flying to London and then on to Dubai, I am not sure what the routing is yet..If we use Singapore, we would be flying out of Vancouver.

November is not the best month for Vietnam, as you are at the end of the monsoon season there. Not great if you plan on spending any time at the beach, I guess not so bad if you mostly want to sightsee, although it may not be as enjoyable. You will find somewhat rainy weather in Cambodia, most of Thailand other than Phuket, and very rainy weather on the east coast of Malaysia and Kalimantan (formerly known as Borneo).

Conversely, late November is a very good month in Kerala as the monsoon would have passed several months before. December through March or so are really the best months in terms of no rain, but you should be fine in late November. The Maldives are a bit tricky as they seem to have two monsoon seasons, but I think late November should be OK. The best and driest months are January through April I believe.

I have not spoken to anyone who has been to the Maldives since the Tsunami, but did just check the website for the Soneva Fushi and Soneva Gili (two hotels I have been to), and see that the Soneva Fushi is open but that the Soneva Gili is still closed, so my guess is that encountering damage will be hit or miss with the other islands. Snorkelling and diving will most likely have been affected as well, as the coral will have taken a hard hit. I think Male is taking more time to recover as that is quite a tightly packed city.

November is actually really nice in Dubai, cool weather, sunny and very nice in the evenings for eating outdoors. Petra would be great then as well, not hot at all. I know you don’t want to pack too much in, but you will be there in the perfect weather. . . .

If you decide to go to Vietnam, then flying from Vancouver via London will take you quite a bit out of your way, you are better off going via the Pacific. Also, if you go to the Maldives, spend at least a week as you need to recover from what will be a long flight with many changes (London, Dubai, Male and then your final destination in the Maldives either by plane or boat).

What is your hotel budget.

We lived in the Middle East for several years and we flew Emirates many, many times - it's a very good airline.

We also visited Dubai frequently - we like Dubai - perhaps because it's so much more relaxed than other parts of the Middle East (something you really appreciate when living in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait!) If you only stay one night, you won't see much of the place though. If you have time you might want to check out the gold souq, for the sheer "wow" factor if nothing else.

My husband spent 10 days in the Maldives shortly after the tsumani. He was on Bandos, an island that was spared any major damage. The Maldives consists of some 1,200 islands, of which approximately 90 are resorts. You'll need to check with each individual resort to determine which ones will be back in business at the time of your trip.

PS - Dubai is very nice in November. Downright miserable from about April through October though.

If you end up choosing Kerala as your vacation destination,please be careful about which tour operator you deal with.Our experience with TOURINDIA(p)ltd of Trivandrum,Kerala was bitter and very painful.Donot prepay by cash and double check the prices if you go with them.The price they charged us for a backwater cruise was more than double the going rate.Do your research before you leave.They are unreliable,unethical and unprofessional.We prepaid by cash,didnot get the services we paid for and worse,we had no recourse.

The weather in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia in mid to late November is just fine. You might have some rain in Vietnam but the other two countries will be perfect.

As for which to choose? What kind of vacation do you want? if it's beach and relaxation go to Maldives. if it's culture, history and sightseeing go to Vietnam/Cambodia and Bangkok.

Cicerone...we will not be flying via London to get to SE Asia, we would be taking Cathay Pacific from Vancouver via HKG.(i am not entirely stupid!!).We have been to Thailand a few times already, but if we do the Vietnam, Cambodia, trip, we are going to stay 6 nights at the Mariott Resort and Spa at the end...

If we choose the Dubai, Kerala, Maldives tour, we are spending most of our time in Kerala, visiting Kovalam, Cochi, etc, including a houseboat for a few nights..We would be flying from Trivandrum to Male after our time in Kerala and only staying for about 3 or 4 nights, and then to Dubai, London, back to Canada!! Last November we visited Rajasthan, so there is no need to do that part of India again (eventhough I loved it)....
I already have hotels that we have in mind for Kerala, Vietnam, Cambodia, BKK,..just looking for suggestions for Maldives and Dubai...Would like no more than $200.00
US per night in the Maldives and even less in Dubai...Any suggestions?

We would be booking our Kerala tour through Imaginative Traveller and we like half adventure half relaxation..That is why if we do the Vietnam Cambodia, we would spend 6 days at the end relaxing at the Mariott Resort and Spa...Thanks for suggestions.
I have emailed Bandos Maldives for price..Not heard back yet. Also have emailed a few other hotels...

I guess I should mention that food, culture, and shopping are the main reason's we travel...Love meeting the locals..I love the beach, especially the idea of being in a cottage with an ocean view..My husband is not a big beach person..He prefers seeing the sites, and eating!! He also loves meeting the locals....Basically, we like a mix of everything, but there has to be some sort of relaxation at some point of the holiday..

Tracy, we stayed at the Full Moon Beach resort one of the Universal Resort hotels.. It's bigger than some of the other resorts but there's a choice of 5 restaurants which meant we didn't have to eat a buffet meal every night. We stayed in a water bungalow over the water, which was completely amazing. I think they have special offers on at the moment so check out their website. Its: www.unisurf.com

Sorry, TracyB, I did not mean to imply that you were stupid; but you would be amazed by the number of people who don’t seem to look at a map when making plans (e.g. “I will be in Singapore and would like to make a weekend trip to Sydney” not realizing it is about a 7 hour flight each way. . . .)

With regard to the Maldives, I have stayed at the two Soneva properties, which were great. They would normally be above your budget, but due to the Tsunami, I would suggest you not rule out 5 star hotels as they may be offering great rates as well to lure people back. Website for the Soneva Fushi is http://www.six-senses.com. The Four Seasons is supposed to be marvelous. Take a look at their website. The Taj group, which operates a number of nice hotels in India, has two hotels in the Maldives, take a look at tajhotels.com. Also try Leading Hotels of the World at lhw.com and Small Luxury Hotels at slh.com. Try asia-hotels.com where you can search by price.

With regard to Dubai, hotel rooms are unbelievably hard to get lately, esp in the city hotels, and are priced accordingly. My last rate at the Renaissance just before Christmas was about $270 (plus tax) for a perfectly nice but in no way luxurious hotel. You have two choices: city hotel or beach hotel. The disadvantage of the beach hotels are that they are far from the airport (about 45 minutes to an hour), the gold souk and the little bits of the old town of Dubai. There is no public transportation, a real shame for a city which considers itself a city of the future. Taxi are expensive and traffic in downtown Dubai is quite bad and is currently the main complaint of locals (some people won’t meet me in certain parts of town for lunch as it can take up to an hour to get back to their office). The beach hotels generally have a shopping mall attached or close by, so you can do some shopping (although you won’t find anything to be cheaper than the US and you will see many US brands, i.e. Toys R US, Dunkin’ Donuts, etc.) The disadvantage of the city hotels is that there is not a whole lot to see or do in the city, but most city hotels are 10 -15 minutes or less from the airport.

Of the city hotels, I have stayed at the JW Marriott, the Hyatt and the Renaissance. All were nice and would be fine if you want to be in the city. The Sheraton Dubai Creek probably has the best location in terms of being closest to some of the old town bits, so you might look at that, the Hyatt also has a good location for tourists. Virtually every chain in the world is represented and would be fine as well, esp if you have points and can stay for free. Consider more budget chains like Accor, Novotel. Emirates Airlines may offer you a package deal with a hotel, that would be worth considering.

Of the beach hotels, I have stayed at the Ritz-Carlton and seen and eaten in various restaurants at the Madinat Jumeriah and the One & Only Royal Mirage. The Ritz is probably the nicest Ritz I have ever been too, although the Naples one probably ties with it. Beach is great, staff is great, food is great. Probably would be over your budget, as would the other two hotels mentioned above, but it would be worth asking. Jumeriah International, the company which owns the Madinat (and the Burj Al Arab Hotel, the symbol of Dubai), also have one or two other hotels on the beach that may have rooms in that price range, try the Jumeriah Beach Hotel. The main website is jumeriahinternational.com. There is a waterpark within walking distance of the Jumeriah Beach Hotel and the Madinat (although no one walks in Dubai).

The Madinat is built in traditional desert style around several pools and waterways and is worth seeing even if you don’t stay there, they have some very good restaurants including a really excellent Chinese restaurant, Zheng He’s. They have a very large shopping mall called the Souk at Madinat, which has several restaurants and bars as well.

The One & Only Royal Mirage is a lovely luxury hotel, probably out of your budget, but they do have a very good Moroccan restaurant called Tagine. They have one or two hotels in the Maldives as well. Take a look at oneandonlyresorts.com.

There is a rooftop bar at the Madinat called Koubba, which has a large outdoor bar area which is great on evenings in the cool weather. It has sea views, and its built in traditional mud style with lots of low seating areas with cushions and bolsters, very Arabian Nights. Beleive it or not, you need to make a reservation for a seat if you want to have a drink any time after about 7 pm.

There are lots of places to choose from in Dubai, if you play Golf a couple of days at the Jumeria Golf resort would be nice, or if you want something quite unique then spend a night on the desert Safari to Camel Rock, enjoy the spectacle of the night stars in the desert, quite something, or try a night at the Al Maha Desert Resort although it is mega expensive.

http://www.al-maha.com/homepage.html

Thanks alot you guys for all of your suggestions..I will look into each and every one of them (have already checked some out). We first have to determine which holiday we are going to take...One minute my heart is in Kerala, the next in Vietnam!! But through all of this research i am forgetting that we are leaving for London and Amsterdam in just over a month and I have planning to do for that!! So as I research, over the next few months, I am sure I will be asking a billion more questions.. But I do have one more for now..Regarding the over the water bungalows in the Maldives..Are they as amazing as they look? Because for me when I look at pictures I feel as though it would be one of those "died and gone to heaven" experiences!! Thanks again.

Tracy -

Our favorite hotel in Dubai was the Fairmont - it's in the city and was in your price range last time we were there.

www.fairmont.com/dubai/

We also liked Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort and Spa, but I have no idea what their rooms are going for. They offer a free shuttle to the city and back at set times throughout the day.

Clark, I just emailed the Full Moon Beach Resort, it looks amazing. I like the idea that it is not too far from the aiport...I get horrible motion sickness.

Mel, I am going to check out those hotels as soon as I get a chance...Thanks.