Eat (SORRY--NO WATER) Sleep (IN TOXIC FUMES) & Dive (NOT TODAY) Don't you just love the anticipation of a great live-aboard holiday? You've read all the literature and beautiful brochures your tour operator sent. You drift to sleep at night savoring the "pristine reefs", "gin-clear waters" and "unsurpassed amenities". Does it get any better than this? Sure, it costs a small fortune. But, you told yourself, you've worked hard, this is YOUR passion, and you only go around once. Ahh…With so many choices, you've put in a full month reading the reports from the last three years in every major dive rag. You learned early on that all the 'articles' and ads said exactly the same thing - about every destination! So what? Maybe they were ALL that good. How to choose, how to choose? I know - the one with the most ads and slickest website - they must be the best! So, you pay your money and you take your chance. Then -at last - the big day is here! Gear checked and rechecked fourteen times, you're on your way. You can hardly wait to see your dream first hand - to breathe it - to savor every last blennie, every pampered comfort you've been promised - and that you emptied your bank account for. Then you arrive. You're finally there! That's when the dream often ends - when the hype is eclipsed by a sad, unthinkable reality. Is this really the same boat…the same reef…the same planet I read about? Well, don't feel bad. No matter how disappointed you may have felt if this has happened to you, there's always someone who has seen worse. Don't believe us? Just read it - in their own words - and weep. Galapagos Aggressor - November 2001: THE HYPE AND THE REALITY THE HYPE - Wayne Hasson: "The ideal way to experience the wonder of Galapagos is aboard our luxurious and fully equipped live-aboard dive yachts." THE REALITY - Guests: (from communications sent directly to CDNN) "We were on the Galapagos Aggressor Two, November 8 - 15. The trip was a complete disaster." THE HYPE - Wayne Hasson: "Our yachts have been built to comply with both local and international safety regulations." THE REALITY - Guests: "No safety briefing was delivered regarding life vessels on boat, fire extinguisher, man overboard drill or other safety measures particular to Aggressor Fleet. There was only one life boat for 12 passengers and later, when we brought this to the attention of Wayne Hasson, he said you have the two inflatables that can be considered as life boats!!! And we all noticed that the Aggressor was listing to starboard." THE HYPE - Wayne Hasson: "Not only do we want you to enjoy spectacular diving…but the quality living conditions onboard as well. Each stateroom features a large private bathroom with hot water shower and electric toilet." THE REALITY - Guests: "To our surprise the rooms were not at all ready for us to spend a week on board. None of the toilet seats were on, the showers did not work and they looked unfinished with bog putty visible and two or more showers had holes in them that we found out later cased water to leak underneath the floor and ended up under the beds sloshing about all day and night. The rooms smelt from drying varnish and putty." THE HYPE - Wayne Hasson: "It's a small deluxe floating dive resort-exclusive and uncrowded… equipped to the highest standards of comfort available." THE REALITY - Guests: "There was no hot tub on the boat, as advertised on the Galapagos Aggressor brochure. Bedding linen, room towels and dive towels were not cleaned during the trip due to limited water supply and no workable washing machine or dryer. Instead they were "freshened" by spraying them with laundry spray, re-ironing them and randomly re-laying them on beds. This was brought to our attention by passengers identifying sheets that other passengers had previously slept on by recognizing the cologne worn by other passengers." THE HYPE - Wayne Hasson: "Your accommodations are setting the standard by which other live-aboards are measured." THE REALITY - Guests: "The following discomforts were experienced by the group: - No hot water in most of the rooms - showering had to take place on the dive deck, or not at all.
- Malfunctioning air-conditioning.
- Two guests slept the entire trip in the salon due to the overpowering smell of varnish and/or glue in the rooms below deck.
- All showers continually leaked water into the underlay of the beds, due to seepage."
THE HYPE - Wayne Hasson: "We want you to enjoy spectacular diving and the unusual scenery and fauna." | | THE REALITY - Guests: "The captain managed to mess that idea up anyway by running the boat up onto a reef. Imagine we were all geared up and ready for instructions when the boat ran aground some two hours after boarding the vessel! Crew …advised passengers that Aggressor Two would have to be pulled off the reef by Aggressor One and that the check out dive would be delayed for 90 minutes. The check out dive was cancelled for that day and then again the next day. We started to wonder if we would ever dive in the Galapagos." THE HYPE - Wayne Hasson: "You will be led by experienced captains, attended by a friendly crew…an experienced crew will cater to your every whim." THE REALITY - Guests: "We did not want to go at all since we had lost two days and had concerns over the safety of the boat." Wayne Hasson said "it's up to you and your guests if they choose to get off the boat, they can, and they can sue us". I said, "you're not going to refund their money? And Hasson answered, "No. Read the waiver. That is why they sign them!" THE HYPE - Wayne Hasson: "Enjoy carefree diving, the way it is meant to be." THE REALITY - Guests: "Continual miscommunication between the crew and the passengers led to aggravation on both sides and a disharmonious environment on the boat. Throughout the trip, we were haunted by the empty life boat rack and Wayne Hasson's remark that it didn't matter that the Aggressor left port without its lifeboat because the inflatables could be substituted for properly certified and equipped life boats." THE HYPE - Wayne Hasson: "Divers who want the most out of their dive vacations have chosen Aggressor dive yachts" THE REALITY - Guests: "We called Wayne Hasson, CEO of the Aggressor Fleet in Louisiana to formally lodge the complaint with the Aggressor Company as well as the local franchise. He told us that if the group did not like it the way it was, they could leave and "sue for damages or work with the situation as best they could under the circumstances." No satisfactory apology or explanation was ever given before our departure from Baltra airport and our traveling doctor had to prescribe medication to over half of our group as a result of ailments picked up during the trip." © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORKWhat you can do to avoid the hype and enhance the reality... | The best way to avoid such nightmares when you drain your bank account on a live-aboard trip halfway around the world is to look past the glossy brochures, the slick web site and the ad slogans. The most important rule is to learn as much as you can about how the company actually operates, how it treats the customer when things go wrong such as cancellations due to bad weather and boat equipment breakdowns. Check the booking form carefully especially the fine print. Is the contract fair and balanced or does it contain the kind of "attorney speak" that results in boat owners like Hasson saying, "HEY, YOU DON'T LIKE IT?--SUE ME." Does it provide for refunds in the event the boat owner cancels or does it force you to waive all of your rights (in the fine print) and encourage you to buy trip insurance (IN BIG BLOCK LETTERS)? REMEMBER: From the small independent operators to the big budget franchise operators with the full-page color ads, no boat is operated in the same manner. Some operators are honest, fair and reliable. They bend over backwards to satisfy the customer in order to generate good word of mouth advertising. Others, such as Wayne Hasson's Aggressor Fleet and the Peter Hughes Dancer boats, rely on huge magazine advertising budgets and waiver forms written by tough lawyers that force guests to give up all their rights EVEN WHEN THE BOAT OWNER CANCELS OR IS NEGLIGENT. Their policy is no refunds PERIOD and their favorite two words are TRIP INSURANCE. We said at the top of this editorial that many divers read the ads, pay their money and take a chance. BUT WHY TAKE CHANCES? There are many good live-aboards around the world and you won't necessarily find them in the big ads. Check around. Read the fine print. Choose an honest, fair and reliable operator. That's the best way to make sure you don't encounter an arrogant boat owner with a "HEY--SUE ME" attitude that says, "the customer comes dead last." |
|
|
