Asia Cruise Trips

Our tour leader for Sri Lanka Viraj was amazing . Gave so much of himself to make the trip the most positive experience for the group. His care and attention to details was outstanding. He took us to many extra place en route which was so interesting. Thank you so much Viraj. The tour was fantastic a real whirlwind seeing Sri Lanka in a week. The Maldives on the Dhoni boat was a real experience. The boat is basic but clean and everything you need. The food was delicious… so much beautifully prepared food … great flavours produced from a galley kitchen I would thoroughly recommend this holiday for those who want a fast paced .. see everything holiday and enjoys the snorkling experience. Our guide on the boat was excellent too. They took so much care of me as a first time snorkeller !

The trip to Sri Lanka and The Maldives lived up to my expectations. The itinerary in Sri Lanka was busy but it meant we covered a great deal of the country and saw some wonderful sights. Our tour leader, Ash, was passionate about his country and helped make it the experience it was. Continuing on to the Maldives provided a relaxing week with dome super snorkeling. Our guide, Moosa, was efficient in making sure we got the most out of the experience and he and the crew of Gulfaam really looked after us all.

We had two different tour leaders, one for each country and they both went out of their way to make our trip truly memorable. We have fantastic memories of not just the sites all tourists see but many out of the way places that tourists don't go to and that you can only visit with local knowledge. This meant we had genuine interactions with local people who were welcoming and told us how pleased they were we were visiting their countries. They asked us to spread the word - so do add Vietnam and Cambodia to your destination list. You won't regret it.

Abhi was an excellent leader with excellent attention to detail and care. Nothing was too much for him. The overall experience was excellent and all the accommodation except at Goa was first rate. In Goa we were in a hotel room above a noisy band for a wedding that went on until 3..00am. After much persuasion we were moved late the following evening to a more suitable room. I would not recommend staying there in future but everything else was excellent especially our tour guide leader.

We had the most excellent tour guide for our trip in Sri lanka. Viraj could not have been more helpful, attentive and knowledgeable about every aspect of life, politics, food, religion, family etc. He was also charming, amusing and kind. He included extra stops to enhance the immersion into the Sri Lankan way of life, always consulting our opinions as to if we wanted to stop or not. It was a very full on tour but made smooth and achievable by his attention to details every step of the way. So pleased he took on all the tipping, even the washrooms. The trip in the Maldives was splendid, we didn't need as much attention from the leader as we were on the boat, but the whole crew were fabulous. The leader took sooo many underwater photos, 50-60 a dive making the snorkling experience even more memorable.

Overall this was an upgraded experience with a brilliant guide. However the last hotel, The Taj Cidade De Goa Heritage, which was not the hotel in the Explore trip notes, was not an upgraded experience. I recommend only staying the minimum days here associated with the tour. If you want to extend your stay in Goa, do so independently so that you control location, cost and standard of accommodation thus ensuring value for money and an upgraded experience.