Cruise, Holmes arrive in Maldives for honeymoon

Nov 20, 2006, 12:00 GMT

New Dehli - After their weekend castle nuptials, Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and his best man David Miscavige began a luxurious honeymoon on the Indian Ocean island chain of the Maldives, a newspaper reported Monday.

The 44-year-old groom and 27-year-old bride arrived by private jet Sunday night at the Maldives' international airport, the local Haveeru newspaper said, citing witnesses.

The couple's baby daughter, Suri, and two other people accompanied them.

Despite the hoopla surrounding their wedding on Saturday in Italy, the first person on the island who met the couple wasn't all that impressed.

'There were a total of five in that group,' said Mohamed Amir, the immigration officer who stamped the stars' passports. 'They went past me, and I didn't really feel like photographing them. I'm not very interested in them.'

Haveeru said that after the party left the plane, its five members immediately boarded a boat waiting outside the airport.

Cruise - the star of such films as Mission: Impossible, Jerry Maguire and Risky Business - and Holmes, star of Batman Begins and Phone Booth, were married Saturday at the Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, 30 kilometres north of Rome.

The wedding was attended by celebrities who included Jennifer Lopez, Jim Carrey, Will Smith and Brooke Shields and was met by criticism from fans and the town's mayor who complained the stars did not make any public appearances to the people who had stood for hours outside the castle waiting for a glimpse of them.

It was the first marriage for Holmes and the third for Cruise.