Day 85 – getting to Fiji and our first night
Our first flight on Fiji Airways was great. They do a strange push for duty-free purchases, but the tech and service were both very nice. Too bad they don’t fly more places! It made us even more excited to take them on the longer flight back to the US.
The time change was significant (and they must not have any daylight savings time), so we arrived after dark…at like 7pm. Bags were ready quickly, but ours were some of the last ones since we had been early to the airport. Upon meeting our Transfer company, we each got a lei of shells.
It was an hour-long drive from the airport to our resort. We passed an Indian holiday celebration. Everyone was dressed to the nines in vibrant and sparkling silks and there were twinkle lights all over the temple grounds. It was great to see.
At the resort, we got another shell lei each and a mimosa welcome drink. Since the latest-open restaurant was about to close, we headed straight to dinner (despite our disheveled look and feel from the travel day). Right after we got settled, we had to move to a table away from a couple who arrived after we did, but was watching some cartoon-voiced show on a phone. We didn’t know it, but this would set the tone for the whole time in Fiji.
We then had them take us and our bags to our over-water Bure (Fijian for bungalow). It’s very nice, but the AirCon wasn’t working at all. We called maintenance, who reset something and explained it can’t cool down below 22ºC/72ºF. That’s a hot sleep for us.
To rid ourselves of the grime of the day, he showered while I soaked in the ultra-deep tub.
The time change mixed with taking my pm drugs late kept me up late. There also wasn’t a flat sheet on the bed and it was far too hot for the comforter, so I unzipped a silky sleeping bag for him and found an oversized sarong for me.
Day 86 – Fiji is muggy
The alarm to get to breakfast (which goes until 11am) came early, but breakfast included mimosas! We came back to our bure, knocked around a little bit, ordered some soft drinks for the fridge, and then both fell back asleep.
He headed over to the “adventures” vendor to see what options there were for fun stuff to do, but it’s just too hot and muggy. I looked over at the swimming beach and saw at least a dozen kids. I say again, “Who TF brings kids to Fiji? Especially during the school year?” We are going to have to start going to couples-only resorts or something. I just don’t think there are very many of those.
We made dinner reservations at the adult-only place (which had high chairs and people arriving with their kids). We also soaked in the adult-only pool and hot tub, which thankfully stayed all adults.
Dinner at the Fish Bar was pretty good. There was a mixup with our reservation. They had already started to close down (at like 8pm, which will be important later), but they sorted it out. When we got back to our bure, he went for a swim in the lagoon off our dock.
Day 87 – Fiji in the rain
When we booked, we knew it would be the rainy season in Fiji, but there were no other options while already so close. So, we called for a ride to breakfast (one of our perks). After that, we went shopping at the local artisans’ cabana. He also needed ice, so we headed back to the main building to the daytime bar. The good AirCon lured us in for more than just one drink.
Back at our bure, we found kissing swans on our bed and construction next door.
After naps, we got went to our dinner reservation, which was good, but annoying. Children really do suck the life out of everything they encounter.
We were led to believe that Fish Bar was an adults-only space. It’s VERY difficult to have a romantic or quiet dinner when angry-screaming or happy-squealing babies are on one side of us and the loud table conversation on the other side is (literally), “What is 7 + 5?” and “I’m so proud of you for swimming all the way across today!”
Then, the crowd all ran to the edge to get sunset pics, blocking our view. I’m sure the view is the reason they seated us next to the children in the first place. The whole thing was chaotic, not romantic. And the families made a giant mess, so even after they left, we sat next to their food all over the ground, which is gross.
We also overheard someone saying that the staff brought them an extra mattress to their Bure for their kid….the same bure’s that were advertised as “couples only”. I get that it’s difficult to accommodate people who mislead and lie, but accommodating them only aggravates the people who followed the rules of the space. It’s simply not fair. We paid for an adult experience. It’s Fiji, not Lego Land. Not only were there tons of kids all over the resort, they were also in the adult spaces. And maybe no one could predict the layout, but we had to go aaaaallll the way around to the other side for this child-laden experience.
We should have just stayed in our Bure the whole time, but that is a) expensive because of room service and b) defeats the purpose of being at a resort.
*We got one of those “how did we do?” emails about our dinner on our last night, and I let them have it over the kids. I said that the food (a salt pairing I was really enjoying) was lovely but the environment was awful.
Fiji’s Marriott Momi Bay was more like a daycare than a resort. 1*/5* do not recommend.
Day 88 – let’s get out of here
Our departure day was muggy af. I didn’t know it could get worse than before.
While we were trying to eat breakfast, some manager came over to apologize “for the confusion” about dinner. This manager talked to me for so long that my breakfast got cold. Apparently, the restaurant is adult-only after 8pm. a) this was never explained to us and b) then why were they trying to close at 8pm the other time we went there??? The rest of breakfast wasn’t good, either. They didn’t chill any of the shelf-stable milk. They also served some pretty cheap champagne for the mimosas. How bad must it be if you can’t cover it up with OJ?
We checked out and headed over to the Transfer desk to change the time for our ride to the airport. The woman looked at us like we had three heads each for wanting to leave early. I guess she probably has kids and thinks they are perfect little angels when she takes them to a resort marketed to adults.
But I knew something she didn’t. We had a business flight and that got us access to the airport lounge. I knew we were headed for free food and drinks. I was also pretty sure it would be indoors and climate controlled. (It didn’t open as early as we had hoped, but we didn’t have to sit at the airport for too long. And, we were inside even for that.) We asked for our transfer to be “any time after now” instead of 7pm for our 10pm flight. Yes, I’d honestly rather be in an airport with AirCon and a Lounge than here. She couldn’t move us to 1pm, but she got us 2pm.
While we waited for our Transport from the resort to the airport, we relaxed in the “adult” bar by the pool table. A toddler wandered into the bar no less than three times. She sat–diaper and all–on one of the low tables. She also coughed over the same table without covering her mouth. I acknowledge that she is far too young to know how to behave in such circumstances, but that is precisely why she should have been removed from the space immediately upon entering. Her grandfather tried to shoo her out with “you’re not old enough to be in here” but a few minutes later, her mom just encouraged her to play in that same space. I feel really bad for the people who had food and drinks on that table after she “shared” her cough and diaper germs with everyone. And no, the bartenders didn’t notice or clean the table. After living through Covid, parents need to be more careful. And when they aren’t, we need people who understand food safety and handling to do the thing that is best for all, even if it angers those offenders.
I know the resort is in a tight spot between couples and families, but they created that tight spot by inviting families to bring kids. We paid the same amount as any other guest and our memories are more about ill-behaved kids and their parents than about the beauty and quality of the resort. It is my hope that Marriott will fully separate the family areas from the adult ones. I mean, surely, parents don’t want to be around us, either, right??
Our experience in Fiji was not at all what we expected or wanted, never mind what we hoped for. While we like Marriott, they have let us down in a lot of ways. Marriott execs, on the super-rare chance any of you ever read this, I double-dog dare you to look at your marketing and advertising compared with the guests you cater to. I promise you that the two are not in alignment. The images make it look like it’s a place for proposals, weddings, yoga, and quiet relaxations. What a brazen lie.
The Fiji Airways lounge was small and opened late, but is amazing. It was like being back on our cruise. My wine glass was hardly ever empty. The food was great. People were nice and friendly. He got to take a nap. I worked on our blog. There were even showers in case we wanted to freshen up before boarding.
Loading up was easy, but there were a lot of (maybe 20?) passengers needing assistance via wheel chairs. If ever there was a good time to pay your way out of economy, this was it.
As soon as we sat down, we got blankets. I took this as a good sign it wouldn’t be hot. I was wrong. Our amenity kit was nice. The bag (which I will use!) and seep mask matched the Fiji Airways tribal-inspired branding. We also got earplugs, socks, lotion, sanitizer, a toothbrush with teeny tiny toothpaste, and a nice pen.
Between the long day, the late departure (10:15pm), being tired, a lot of wine, and half a movie, I was asleep pretty early. I had to wake up to have dinner. We had a bit of turbulence, forcing dinner to be all at once instead of in three courses. My soup was lovely. He liked his beef, but I didn’t care for my ham and cheese with (again?!) jelly. We both picked the lemon dessert. I loved it. He liked it but skipped the crust.
After dinner, the flight attendants brought out padded “mattress covers” and comforters (again matching the branding) to go with the blankets we had. Our seats had four main angles, including going fully flat. I slept until about 4am, so I got about 4 hours, but the temperature and dryness woke me up. I did get to sneak a peek of pre-dawn from the plane, and that was pretty.