A Souvenir from The Maldives

In November 2020, Hannah contacted us desperate for a break. Like most of us, she’d dealt with several cancelled holidays both in the UK and abroad through 2020 and was just desperate to get away with her husband, young toddler and mum over the New Year. The Maldives was looking like the perfect safe retreat – remote location, direct flights with BA, great weather and fewer cities and airports to navigate. We arranged two adjoining villas at a stunning luxury resort, Niyama Private Islands , secured Club World flights with BA and they were packing to leave for 4 weeks time.  At the time, only pre-departure PCR tests were required, so we recommended a local clinic for in-person testing as we knew the Christmas break was causing overload and delays in many of the mail-in clinics.

Due to depart on Christmas Eve, the first shock came when the UK government suddenly changed the ‘Tiers’ from which you were allowed to travel and effectively cancelled Christmas. Thankfully, the clients resided a few miles into the safer Tier 2 region so was still permitted to travel, and still wanted to escape. A few days later, with negative tests in hand, forms completed and sunscreen packed, they were on their way.

Several days of peace in paradise followed…until Hannah received the news that a young guest had tested positive at the resort. The resort and Maldivian authorities quickly reacted and put their quarantine action plan into place. We were in contact with the clients the whole time, who reported they were being treated well but isolating in their beachfront villa. Ultimately, the authorities decided that they had to isolate for a total of 14 days and could not leave the island despite all testing covid-negative. This meant a rather more remote experience than they had planned and most alarmingly, a 10 day extension to their holiday, without leaving their villa.   The best news for everyone was that the resort would cover all additional room and board for the extended stay. And with direct contact with the resort, airline and ground handlers over Christmas week, Odyssey World were able to quickly make all necessary changes to flights, transfers and other arrangements, at no further cost to the client.  Even though it wasn’t exactly the holiday the family expected, we could reassure them that despite being stranded on a tropical island, they weren’t alone.

Our favourite part of this story is that now we can announce the arrival of their baby boy Charlie, who arrived happily into the world last month, exactly 9 months after Hannah’s Luxury Island Quarantine Adventure!

Here at Odyssey World, in October 2021, we are finally seeing those green shoots and a return to long haul travel and we salute our intrepid explorers who continue to embrace their adventures. Despite the pandemic, a balance is required to protect world health and we see first-hand that responsible tourism contributes so much to the livelihoods, health, education and progress for so many of the developing communities we support. Travel is still complicated and Odyssey World continues to offer flexible terms, personalised service, immediate response and accurate guidance for our clients who are ready to explore.  If we can help bring your travel plans to life and provide that little extra safety you need to reignite adventure, do get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!