Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Write your onboard experience here

Anyone who has been on the ship 'M.V.Kavaratti' can write their onboard experience here. Your feedback is highly appreciated. It should be fair, honest and knowledgeable. Please note, the comments on this page is the sole responsibility of the person who posts the content and it does not reflect the views of mvkavaratti.com or its promoters.

If you have any query, please forward to us at: info@mintvalley.com for our immediate reply. Or contact by phone: 91- 484-2397550 / 2394640. We would be very happy to answer them. Thank you.

21 comments:

Tourist said...

We had a great trip to Lakshdweep and very much enjoyed our stay on board MV Kavaratti.

Me and my family thank you for making our trip a joyful & memorable experience.

Regards,

Atul Joshi

aravind said...

it was a good experience in the ship. we enjoyed our honeymoon trip in the ship.

aravind said...

the climate is very good after reaching to the middle of the sea.

saya said...

it happens only in India!!!!
The onshore booking office does not know the cabin arrangements on the ship. If a passanger books for four birth, he is alloted say cabin no. 412 L/U and 413 L/U. he is happy that he got adjacent cabins for his child, but when he reaches to ship he finds that all the odd no. cabins are on the right side of ship and all even no. cabins are on left. The staff at the ship inform him with crocodile tears that it is fault of booking office and he is unable to help.
2) "Athti devo bhav" one can get a very good example on board at MV kavaratti. In first class Cafeteria the tourist are made to queue up and served different food on ordinary tables and chair in buffey, while the ship officers are served by waiters in same hall with apparently very good crockery and resrved sitting arrangement i had a photograph of the same see i can attach it if it is possible.
3)sunday ho ya monday roj khao ande, same menu for all the five days.

Unknown said...

sir,

I had to travel in MV Kavaratti on 12th Feb, 10. Our problem statrted from the Kochi wharf itself.There is no protection from sunlight. Even mother with small kids had to stand under the scorching sun. The tourists who paid through their nose were discriminated. They were not given any priority. It appears that those who know any member of the crew can get better food and accommodation. I have a strong feeling that there is a lot of pilferage food items and toiletry from the ship. I am afraid that there is no ticket checking and ticket less passengers are also there. Bed sheets are not changed during our journey of four days.

While coming back we were given room no 209. The bath room was shabby. The flush does not have the knob. The curtain in the bath room has fallen and finally I deposited the same in a nearby dust bin.

Anonymous said...

We took the cruise between 10th and 14th March 2010. Firstly, the boarding process was very frustrating i.e. we, including other families, were asked to report at 9.30 AM but were made to wait for several hours before we actually boarded the ship. The arrangemnts for boarding could have been much better and smoother. Secondly, the arrangement of 1st class cabins are in such a way that odd numbered cabins are one side and even numbered cabins are on the otherside of the ship. Thus, a family, which is usually allotted cabins in running sequence of numbers i.e. 401, 402 and so on, ends up in two different sides of the ship. The allotment of cabins should be made in such a way that members of family are allotted either odd numbered cabins or even numbered adjecent cabins so that they stay close to each other. Thirdly, the food was just average. The menu was limited and the sweet dishes served on board were horrible. Much improvement is needed in this area. Now, coming to other arrangements, the ship could have more facilities like water in swimming pool, a small library, carrom board, card games, chess boards etc. so that tourists have something to do during long sailing hours. The arrangements in islands were modest and appreciable. However, not a single boat, ferrying the tourists/other local passengers to and fro from the islands has life jackets. This is foolish and dangerous. So many lives are at stake. The disaster is waiting to happen. Will the authorities wake up in time so that "periyar-lake-like" tragedy is avoided? One caution for claustrophobic tourists: the cabins are uncomfortably small. So brace yourself to sleep either in the decks or in galleys. Last but not the least, the over all experience of the ship as well as the tour was good. One time experience is a must. So go ahead and take the cruise.

Akash Krishna Kumar
Krishna Kumar, Mumbai.
Nayana Krishna Kumar
krishna19342005@yahoo.co.in
thegreatestakash@gmail.com

dr. bandita phukan said...

it was a great trip........ we enjoyed a lot. food in the ship was better than my expectations,facilities in the ship were far better than some so called STAR hotels.beach of all the three islands we went were superb... we tried almost all sea sports there n had a lot of fun...we would look forward if we cud manage to go for it again....Dr. Bandita & Dr. Pulak, ASSAM

JJain said...

Just returned from MV Kavaratti cruise trip of 4n/5d 3 days back. It is one amazingly beautiful place. In a long time I came across a place where tourism is not much commercialized. Simple cruise and simple people with amazingly beautiful islands and sea shore. I donot know why people go abroad to enjoy beautiful beaches.
Cruise was OK, not the luxury type but it was an extension of a 2nd or 1st class AC in a cruise line where regular passengers travel in bunk class with cruise liner also offering local intra-island trip to ferry passengers around while we are doing sightseeing at the islands. These passengers don't bother you when you are on the ship but while getting in and out of the cruise from shore excursions it gets a bit irritating. Problem is not the passengers but the manner in which the whole show is run. I as a tourist felt guilty a few times where people are treated by your class.
Food was not bad at all for vegetarian, it was better than my expectation. Although limited variety but really good enough to survive. Cabins were decent size, clean. No recreational acitivities on board of the ship. TV which shows old hindi movies on ly ar 9pm which surely most of us donot want to see. Swimming pool which was empty and was closed due to kids safety reasons!!!!!!!!! Deck were clean and probably for me and my wife was the best part of the trip for evening stroll. We didn't mind these above deficiencies but with school going kids it could have been a problem. I got to live without TV, newspaper and mobile(no netwrok) for 5 days thanks to MV Kavaratti.
All deficiencies of the cruise ship were wiped off once we were at the island and beaches. Beautiful, crystal clear water can see deep easily upto 20-30feet with white sand beaches. Tour was well organized. Local hospitality was pleasant including the local dances and food. The facilities provided were upto the expectation. They kept there promises of snorkeling, glass bottom ship, kayaking and sea bathing at the shore with the island sightseeing. Scuba was extra charge which was told to us earlier.
Over all a lovely effort by Government of lakshadweep to popularize the place, full marks to them inspite of few deficiencies. One request to Lakshadweep government and people who visit this place, don't commercialize the place and maintain the simplicity of this beautiful Indian destination

Priya Vert Verma said...

Comment on blog of “http://www.mvkavaratti.com “
We returned from MV Kavaratti cruise trip of 5 days of 22-26 Dec., 2011 by traveled by ‘SPORTS’ programme. Lakshadweep is one amazingly beautiful place. Simple people with amazingly beautiful islands and lagoon. Cruise was OK, not the luxury type food was not bad at all for vegetarian and Non-veg, it was better than my expectation. Although limited variety but really good enough to survive, they always serve with smile. Cabins were decent size, clean. No recreational activities was on board of the ship. Swimming pool was empty. Deck were clean and me and my wife look to endless the sea every day in morning and evening from the deck. We also see Dolfin in the evening of 22nd Dec., 2011 in the sea from the Deck.
All deficiencies of the cruise ship were wiped off once we were at the island and beaches. Very beautiful, crystal clear water can see deep easily up to 20-30 feet with white sand beaches. Tour was well organized. Local hospitality was pleasant including the local dances and food. The facilities provided were upto the expectation. They kept there promises of snorkeling, glass bottom ship, kayaking and sea bathing at the shore with the island sightseeing. It was a memorable, outstanding and unforgettable visit and experience.
Over all a lovely effort by Government of lakshadweep to popularize the place, full marks to them. Officials of SPORTS Mr Ismail, Mr Saleem and Mr Shahabudin were really nice and very cooperative, they were always available for help. Thanks to all the officials of ‘SPORTS’ and MV Kavaratti.
P. V. Verma
New Delhi
pvv@rediffmail.com

Unknown said...

Do not book tickets through Mint Valley Eco Tourism. They charge more. They act as brokers/agents for booking the ticket for lakshwadeep tours. Directly book through SPORTS. You can get the number/address in the net. They are authorised govt agents. In case you book thro Mint Valley you will be ending up paying minimum Rs.10000/ extra for a family.

Unknown said...

My husband and I were on M V Kavaratti for five days in the month of February 2013 as part of the Samudram tour. It was a great experience. The crew and all other facilities aboard the ship were fabulous. Food was excellent. The trips to the various islands were carried out meticulously. Will go back on the ship again.

Thanx


Mr.and Mrs. Girish Kumar

Krishna's Blog Space said...

Hi All,

Please avoid travelling by M.V Kavaratti. It is better you take the flight.

As in any normal goverment agency the bureaucratic nepotism is evident in these govt run ships.

Pathetic Service. Disgusting food. Highly uncomfortable and straight forward EXTORTION !!!

I would recommend MALI or other nearby islands which can be covered for the same cost.

Praveen Sood.

Unknown said...

I along with my family travelled by MV KAVARATTI on 23 April 2015 to 227 April 2015.Our expirience during travel was extremly bad as we got so called Diamond Class Cabins on fifth deck.Air conditioner system was in very bad condition.only the reply from Tour Manager & Captain that it will be resolved within few hours but the experiece was that till the last day of the tour i.e.27th April 2015, the AC was under repair. The reason for not working of Ac was given that the ship went to Yemen to rescue the people and back on 18th April 2015, hence the time for repair or reconditioned was not available. however, the ship was back on 18th April,2015 and our Tour has started on 23rd April,2015, then 5 days was not sufficient time to reconditiong the ship for Tour?
Also food quality & menu were designed for the Bunk class passengers. We have been charged with exorbitant charges compring to the services we received.The staff of SPORTS was very polite,but needs professional training.Anyway to enjoy the coral paradise you have to suffer the abovesaid bad exeriences. RAJESH SAKHARKAR

Unknown said...

I along with my family travelled by MV KAVARATTI on 23 April 2015 to 27 April 2015.Our expirience during travel was extremly bad as we got so called Diamond Class Cabins on fifth deck.Air conditioner system was in very bad condition.only the reply from Tour Manager & Captain that it will be resolved within few hours but the experiece was that till the last day of the tour i.e.27th April 2015, the AC was under repair. The reason for not working of Ac was given that the ship went to Yemen to rescue the people and back on 18th April 2015, hence the time for repair or reconditioned was not available. however, the ship was back on 18th April,2015 and our Tour has started on 23rd April,2015, then 5 days was not sufficient time to reconditiong the ship for Tour?
Also food quality & menu were designed for the Bunk class passengers. We have been charged with exorbitant charges compring to the services we received.The staff of SPORTS was very polite,but needs professional training.Anyway to enjoy the coral paradise you have to suffer the abovesaid bad exeriences. RAJESH SAKHARKAR

Nikita Mody said...

We just returned from the tour scheduled from 10th - 14th Oct however there was a technical problem due to which tour started on 11th Oct. Most of us had return tickets booked on 15th which had to be rescheduled due to 1 day delay. We were informed that ship will return at 12 noon but it reached back at 9AM. If we were informed of early arrival, we could have continued return plan on same day without additional change fees and stay at Cochin. Apart from this hurdle, the overall experience was very good. The ship crew were very friendly and helpful. I had my old parents with me. They too were very happy with staff and local people. It was a wonderful experience and I am recommending it to everyone I know. Food quality can be improved for better experience.

Unknown said...

We undertook Samudhram Package from 22 Oct 2015 to 26 oct 2015 in MV Kavaratti. The tour started and ended on time without any hitches. The first class cabins were very good and well maintained. The entire crew were very friendly and cordial. It was a pleasant experience. The whole program was well organised.I definitely recommend the trip to all those who are interested.

Arjun Kishor said...

I booked the diamond class for my family of 4 as I was availing LTC. It was "Samudram Package".Our trip was during 2nd January 2015 to 6th January 2015. On 2nd of Jan 2015, we reached the wellingdon Island wharf at around 9 AM.We were provided T-Shirts bearing SPORTS monogram and Cap.The quality of both is very good.A card was also given and we underwent the process of scanning of our luggage. It took more than 3 hours to complete the inspection. All our bags were taken away by the porters and we were asked to board in a bus. We were worried about our luggage as they loaded the around 200 bags of all the people of that trip in a mini truck. The bags were almost similar. It took us hardly 10 minutes to reach the place where the huge beautiful MV Kavratti was waiting.The bedsheets, towels, blankets and all other necessary things were of excellent quality. We enjoyed the fruit basket and mineral water. Soon we heard an announcement that was regarding the lunch. The quality of food was good. The tour manager held a meeting of all the passengers in the recreation room and told us that the three destinations will be 'Kalpeni', 'Minicoy' & 'Kadmat' though at the time of booking we were told that the package is for 'Kavratti' Minicoy and Kalpeni. We protested this for the next 3-4 hours but soon we realised that there was no hope of any change and we madeup our mind accordingly.
The Ship started at 4.30 PM for Kalpeni. I realised that the AC of our rooms was not effective.My friend got his room towards the front side of ship. I went to the counter to make a complaint of slow AC where my friend was requesting to decrease the cooling of his room. So many others had their complaints. One interesting thing was that one family got its accommodation booked in diamond class i.e Ist class but they were allotted a second class cabin having 4 beds in one room. He made complaints but nothing happened and he had to live in the second class cabin for all the 5 days.
I got the lesson that if you try to be so hi-fi and treat the staff badly, no complaint will be resolved. I changed my track and the next day I asked the on board authorities politely whether they can change my rooms. They were trapped and very silently changed my cabins where the AC was much better than earlier.
So "never show your anger in the ship, if you make them friends, they will go to any possible extent for you".
We enjoyed the three islands. Minicoy was the best.I wish to be their again.
LTC certificates were given by the on-board manager on due time. No body had to bother for it. I should make it clear that there were more than 10 Central Govt. employees in that trip who were on LTC with their families.
One thing I would like to mention that the staff inside the ship was very polite. They attended every complaint one made, no matter these were resolved or not. They were never irritating.We were in the ship for 5 days. We were swimming together,eating together, singing together and taking snaps of one another.Every morning there was a new island and new excitement. On the last day,when I asked my co-passengers in the dining hall, 'Kal kahan jana haia' they all were so sad to realise that we will be leaving the ship next morning. We all had developed an affection for others during those 5 days.
I recommend everyone to visit Lakshdweep at least once and specially in the ship "M V Kavratti". I will never forget those 5 days/nights I spent in the ship/islands.
The preparation needs to be improved. I suggest the Lakshdwee authorities to appoint some cooks for making chapaties. I feel that they are good for Non-vegetarians but foods like "Chhola Bhatura", "Rajma Chawal", "Aaloo Gobhi", "Mater Paneer" or "Kadhai Paneer" should be made a part of the menu to make the trip completely enjoyable for each.
Arjun Kumar
Lucknow
arjun.7598@gmail.com

32 PFTC said...

UNBELIEVABLY BEAUTIFUL
One of the most beautiful tourist spots in India. We took the Samudram Diamond package in Oct. The ship is really grand. Board at Kochi and forget the world. The rooms cozy and comfortable with attached toilets. And the ship overall is so clean. Dining area is good & Food on the ship is OK. On the islands is good. Nevertheless it’s the beauty of the islands that enchants you. We visited Minicoy Kalpeni & Kavaratti islands. All three are different. Can’t afford to miss out anyone. Blue sea at Minicoy, Beaches of Kalpeni and Snorkeling at Kavaratti. It’s a must. Different shades of blue, millions of corals and billions of multicolored fishes welcome you. Snorkeling Speed boating Scuba diving kayaking or just leisurely banana boat ride. You ask for, its there. The staff on ship and at resorts is Very courteous smiling and ready to help. Do carry a lot of sun screen lotion & large hat. And yes don’t forget to carry a good camera. You’ll run out of memory but not the sights. Overall a great Grand experience. Definitely coming again

Nagaraj said...

I am a travel agent and I had taken 40 passengers along with me in the month of May'2015. Overall the trip was excellent if we did not care for the meal provided in the ship. Food provided at the shore was really excellent but the food provided in the ship was quite pathetic. The administration did not bother about the passengers food and they are providing excellent and first quality food only for the officials in front the passengers. They are not supposed to discriminate on this. I feel it would be good to get food passengers on their own with the applicable tariff rather than providing the food like a charitable hostel food.
write me to nagraj@hotmail.com if you guys are looking for more details about the trip.

I have enjoyed the trip along with my clients but except on the meal part.

Anshul said...

Thank you !

It is this review that makes me look forward to my trip.

Unknown said...

WE group of 12 persons traveled on 26 October to 31 October 2016. we enjoyed a lot on ship board and feeling live experience of cruise with very cooperative staff. Food given was very good and they try to satisfy every one taste and suggestion.

Its Great experience on beach sports activities and on beach hot lunch. Its great pleasure that on board facilities of hospital also.

Great ......great.... experience..
Ketan shah
9879201521,Ahmadabad,Gujarat
khshah1204@yahoo.com