Maldives Dhoni Explorer

Traveler Reviews

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  sky5.0•May 2026
  Awesome trip. The crew was beyond expectations. Ship was great. stops were great. would do again
  Traveled in April 2026
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  Nikolas5.0•June 2022
  With another G Adventure trip down it makes me want to do all of them! The only issue was that there was no Rosé or...
  With another G Adventure trip down it makes me want to do all of them! The only issue was that there was no Rosé or Champagne, limited choice of red wine and all the alcohol was very expensive. The cocktails were good though!Show more
  Traveled in May 2022

  Review collected by G Adventures
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  Donald5.0•December 2022
  Great crew and CEO made for another fun G Adventure.
  Traveled in May 2022

  Review collected by G Adventures
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  Brian5.0•June 2022
  An experience of a lifetime. Spent a week with some strangers, who are now dear friends. Saw the Maldives in a way...
  An experience of a lifetime. Spent a week with some strangers, who are now dear friends. Saw the Maldives in a way you can't sitting in a resort (we did both). Highly recommend to anyone who is willing to trade a plush hotel for a truly unique experience.Show more
  Traveled in May 2022

  Review collected by G Adventures
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  Anonymous1.0•August 2022
  After a fantastic trip to Sri Lanka in 2019 and the Maldives in 2022, I am disappointed to have to write this review....
  After a fantastic trip to Sri Lanka in 2019 and the Maldives in 2022, I am disappointed to have to write this review. However, after 6 months of no accountability from management, no answers, requests which have gone unanswered and ignored emails, unfortunately it’s not until something goes wrong, that it highlights a companies unethical financial integrity. On the 12th of March 2022, I booked and paid for the Maldives Dhoni Explorer Cruise for myself and my travel companion (a friend), departing on the 27th of March 2022. It was a planned trip for my 30th birthday, and I was excited to be heading overseas for my first post-covid trip. The cost of the trip was $2192 each, so a total of $4384.30 was deducted from my account. As the tour departed on the 27th of March, we decided to book our flights departing Melbourne on the 17th of March 2022. The plan was to enjoy ten days on a local island, prior to joining the boat cruise. As per current Covid restrictions at the time, we were required to do a pre-departure PCR test prior to arriving in the Maldives. At this stage, I hadn’t received payment for the cruise from my friend, as she was going to transfer it to me at the airport, once I’d tallied up the total cost for accommodation pre and post tour. On the 15th of March 2022, I tested positive for Covid-19 following my PCR test. I called my friend to suggest delaying our flights for a week, so we could still arrive in the Maldives in time for our cruise, or I suggested she could have a week there by herself and I would join her in a week’s time. My friend did not take the news well, and decided that she no longer wanted to go away with me and decided she was going to Bali instead. I called G Adventures to cancel her booking, which fell within 14 days prior to departure, meaning no refund would be allowed. Obviously my travel insurance wasn’t going to cover her trip so I was hoping G Adventures would honour a travel credit or a refund to me, for her trip, given it was out of my control. When I spoke to G Adventures, I was informed that both of our trips had been cancelled, because unbeknown to me, my travel companion had decided to take it upon herself to cancel the booking for both of us, without asking me. Given I was the person who had booked and paid for both tours, and going by G Adventures’ own policy, “Booking on Behalf of Others”, I was disappointed that she had been able to cancel my tour, without them consulting me. As per the G Adventures terms and conditions, under the heading, “Booking on Behalf of Others”, the policy states, “By booking on behalf of other participants, you are deemed to be the designated contact person for EVERY participant included on that booking. This means that you are responsible for making all payments due in connection with your tour booking, notifying the tour operator or your travel agent if any changes or cancellations are required and keeping your party informed.”. This would suggest that as the designated contact person and payment person on the booking, any changes to the booking should be done through me. After a lot of back and forth, I spoke with Gerry Tillson, who was very helpful and able to book me back on the trip. I received an email from Gerry stating, “Voucher on its way, I'm so sorry this turned into a bit of a nightmare for you after Alison’s email to us but glad we were able to reinstate your tour! I hope you can relax and enjoy your trip now!”. I subsequently flew to the Maldives and had a great trip by myself. On the 2nd of May 2022, I emailed Gerry to request management to have a look at my situation regarding a refund or travel credit. I received a responding email on the 3rd of May 2022, from Gerry, “Hi Rachel. Thanks for your email and so glad you had a great trip. Alison also emailed me, I have asked management to revisit this now as Alison said her insurance claim was denied and once they reply to me , I'll be in touch. Kind regards, Gerry.”. I never heard from Gerry again. On the 3rd of May 2022, I sent a message to my travel companion requesting to meet up and discuss the money for her tour as I couldn’t afford to pay $2,192 for a trip which she decided not to go on. The response I got was that, “all I wanted was money from her.”. I never heard from her again. After nearly two months of not hearing anything from G Adventures, on the 28th of June, I received an email from Cara stating, “Hi Rach, Our Ref: 1732530 I hope this email finds you well. My apologises for the delay in response along with any mis-communication/ understanding. The payment on this file was made via Miss Rachel ****. Can we please have confirmation whether any remaining travel credit can be passed to Miss Alison ****. Regards, Cara”. On the 1st of July 2022, I replied to Cara’s email stating, “Hi Cara, Apologies for the delayed response, this email wound up in my junk mail. I made the payment, not Alison, so the refund/ travel credit is to be passed on to myself. Thank you. Kind Regards, Rachel”. I received a response from Cara on the same day stating, “Hi Rachel, I hope you're well. I spoke with my manager about this further and as the payment was made for two passengers on the booking then we would automatically create the Travel credit per passenger profile. So I should be creating a Travel Credit for Alison. As we do not have full information of what has transpired between yourself and your travel companion. As well as Alison has also reached out. If you wish for me to escalate this further I will to my manager, otherwise I will go ahead and create the Travel credit for Alison. I look forward to hearing from you. Kind Regards, Cara”. I subsequently sent a responding email stating, “Hi Cara, I need you to escalate this further please. I have received no payment from Alison for the trip and she is now not responding to my messages regarding payment. At this point, I’m over $2000 out of pocket for something that is completely out of my control. At the end of the day, we are both under the same booking reference, where my card is listed on the payment. Ordinarily, if you were to purchase something online, the refund would be credited to the cardholder, not another person. I understand that this is not your fault Cara, but it has taken 3 months to get a response regarding this. I tried to sort out refunds prior to going on the trip but was told it would need to be escalated to management. That was in March. It is now July. Kind Regards, Rachel”. I never got a response. On the 13th of July 2022, I sent another email stating, “Hi Cara, Have there been any further updates regarding this? Kind Regards, Rachel”. I never got a response. Five weeks later, on the 17th of August 2022, I received an email from Cara in error, which was clearly supposed to be sent to Alison, however, due to me being the initial contact person on the original booking, for some reason it came to me. The email stated, “Hi Ali, Our Ref: 1804366 Tours Booked: Maldives Dhoni Explorer [AFMB221009] starting in Male on October 09, 2022 finishing in Male on October 15, 2022 http://www.gadventures.com/trip_details/AFMB/2022 Thank you for your mail, sorry for my delayed response. I have gone ahead and confirmed you on the above mentioned tour. I will also attached an invoice for you. I've included the same discount you had on your previous booking, and after the Travel credit has been applied to the booking you have an outstanding payment of 17 AUD needed. Let me know if you have any further questions. The GCO assigned to your adventure is Cara Oosthuizen. Please note that the trip/s listed above are all guaranteed departure/s. We will not cancel these tour/s unless circumstances beyond our control warrant us to do so. Kind Regards, Cara ”. Somehow, my travel companion has managed to obtain a $2192 travel credit for a trip that she’s never paid for and now has a FREE holiday to the Maldives, paid for by me. Even worse, G Adventures have facilitated this, despite multiple unresolved emails from me. On the 17th of August 2022, I sent an email stating, “Hi Cara, Can you please call me in relation to this booking. I can be contacted on +614*********. I have had zero response to my earlier emails. I booked and paid for myself and Alison's trip in March, which can be seen on the initial booking reference. It was booked on MY card. Alison cancelled her trip and is not responding to communication regarding the money she owes me. She has now been credited money and is using that money to book onto a trip that she never paid for in the first place? I am so confused about what is going on and disappointed that I have had zero communication from you, letting me know this. Kind Regards, Rachel.” I have had zero response to this email, no phone calls, no emails letting me know what is going on. I have been unable to find a policy anywhere on the G Adventures website or anywhere in their Terms and Conditions that states that travel credits are refunded to a person that is not the person who booked & PAID for the trip. How does it make sense that someone can book and pay for a trip but a different person is eligible for the money?!!! The lack of communication has been completely and utterly disgusting. G Adventures have absolutely no regard for the position that this has put me in. I am able to provide bank statements and text messages regarding Alison never paying me, yet they have still honoured her a $2192 travel credit for a trip that she’s never paid for. An absolute lack of integrity by G Adventures.Show more
  Traveled in March 2022
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  Tessa5.0•June 2022
  Hailim made the trip. Was a blast. Snorkeling was great. Swam with sharks, turtles, shipwreck, etc. Gorgeous.
  Traveled in May 2022
  

  Reply from: G Adventures

  Hi Tessa, So glad to hear that you enjoyed the Maldives Dhoni Explorer with us! Can't wait to have you back.

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  Pragya5.0•May 2019
  It was a good tour with good people!
  Traveled in May 2019
  

  Reply from: G Adventures

  Thanks Pragya!

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