Fantasy Island

[Doc]

CajunDiva and myself will gladly report back with our experience with Media Luna and Aqua Adventures at the end of next week.

Pictures... and a lot of them. The dive operation front to back, please. Boats, gear rooms, the whole thing.

 

[silvernotch]

Pictures... and a lot of them. The dive operation front to back, please. Boats, gear rooms, the whole thing.

I think that can be arranged

edit: also, Aqua Adventures has a Facebook page if you're interested in seeing a few pictures now.

 

[Mike]

Let's see...

Choice number one... refund somebodies money...

Choice number two... dig into my own pocket and pay out a hundred grand or so to pay for everybodies dive vacation.

hmmmm..

Or is it choice number 3? No diggy in my pocket, pretend to be the angel, make a back room deal with another resort becuase I've pissed at FI and want to get back at them.

Lots of questions....

However, I'm pretty reluctant to think ole Rich is digging into his own pocket for these kinds of dollar amounts and paying for peoples vacations.

 

[CODMAN]

By reading all this, and analysing a bit, I think it's obvious, that certainly, the possibility is great, that all the people speculating here probably, most definetly, made this into a great big mess!

We don't know much... And I'm pretty, obviously, certainly sure they are not going to tell us where the money is...

Let it die, and lets see what the future clients of FI will tell of their experiences. Then we can make a new idea of how things are.

 

[lionfish-eater]

Do not let this thread die! Issues like this will only come to light if they are discussed in an open forum. While there may be lots of speculation, we would have never known about the situation if not for this forum. People are hypothesizing based on the few statements made by both parties, as well as their personal interactions with rich. The actions and statements by rich are suspicious at the minimum. Account transfers are all electronically recorded and easily verified. It may not be clear as to exactly how much money was transfered for each individual guest, but the lump sum transfer is easily verifiable. Also too coincidental that rich is now the US agent for HM resorts.

The thread should not die, These posts are not just random gossip from ignorant people, they are thoughtful(somewhat) and express genuine concern to find out what happened. Some people are directly involved and have more info, but they are also blinded by their faith in the person telling them what's going on. Other people have no knowledge of the events but are good at spotting bull**** when they see it, and since they are not emotionally involved can be less biased. Then there are some who have had first hand experience with rich and have their own opinion, both good and bad. So please continue to post. Would like to hear more from FI mgmt. Rich, what do you have to say for yourself now that people have asked specific questions?

I have no ax to grind or a grudge against rich, I just don't want anything like this to happen again. It all sounds fishy.

I hope all the people who had their "reservation moved" have a great trip. I hear that all the rooms have showerheads! I would expect that mgmt will go out of their way to please the relocated guests as this is great publicity for them.

 

[Doc]

also, Aqua Adventures (media luna) has a Facebook page if you're interested in seeing a few pictures now.

Aqua Adventures | Facebook

Take and post lots more. Really want to see the boats and op. The bikini girl was nice, though.

 

[RTBDiver]

I wonder why nothing about this is showing up on TripAdvisor...??

Not that many divers over there and more and more cruise ship folks , That and the fact if its not all happy and cheerful, tripadvisor will delete the posts

 

[CajunDiva]

Why on earth do you people insist on speculating? A dispute between two businesses does not need to be aired out in a public forum...period. Those of you who insist on continuing to imagine every possible scenario are only hurting tourism for the island of Roatan and business for the parties involved.

The fact is that the relationship started out great and two businessmen put their heads together and accomplished great things for Fantasy Island Resort. Since November, the improvements to the resort have been substantial, as reported by many including me. As I understand it, those improvements continue. At the same time, Rich was instrumental in helping to improve the dive center - they now sport a brand new nitrox membrane system with in-line CO detectors...a setup any diver can appreciate. So much was accomplished to make Fantasy Island attractive to divers. It's a real shame the two could not continue to work together and do great things - there's no telling what they could have accomplished together. But just because they can no longer work together doesn't mean there is anything wrong with them, it just means that the working relationship is over.

As I said in a previous post, I was greatly affected by this nightmare, and I went through a period of being shocked and felt incredibly jilted. But whatever happened in this situation, the parties involved have stepped up to the plate and taken care of business. The customers involved are being taken care of, and that's what is important.

So for goodness sake, enough is enough. It's time to be positive and upbeat...Roatan is waiting! This dive mecca is just so special - let's stop bashing and start diving!!!

 

[CODMAN]

I really don't care about the details of what happened... What I do care abouts and know for facts:
1- There was trouble with paying customers who went through Rich to stay at FIBR: both parties are involved in this.
2- These customers came close to loosing their investment and vacation.
3- Confidence in both parties involved is shaken.
4- I'm going to wait a while and see how things smooth out, and what future customers of FIBR will be saying of their experience (both about the booking and the stay there), so I can make a new oppinion of how things really are for people going to dive at FIBR (hopefully me when my kids get a tiny bit older...).

That is all that counts for me and I don't need more details about what really happened... That's what the National Enquirer was made for...

Just my final 0.02$ on this subject!

Do not let this thread die! Issues like this will only come to light if they are discussed in an open forum. While there may be lots of speculation, we would have never known about the situation if not for this forum. People are hypothesizing based on the few statements made by both parties, as well as their personal interactions with rich. The actions and statements by rich are suspicious at the minimum. Account transfers are all electronically recorded and easily verified. It may not be clear as to exactly how much money was transfered for each individual guest, but the lump sum transfer is easily verifiable. Also too coincidental that rich is now the US agent for HM resorts.

The thread should not die, These posts are not just random gossip from ignorant people, they are thoughtful(somewhat) and express genuine concern to find out what happened. Some people are directly involved and have more info, but they are also blinded by their faith in the person telling them what's going on. Other people have no knowledge of the events but are good at spotting bull**** when they see it, and since they are not emotionally involved can be less biased. Then there are some who have had first hand experience with rich and have their own opinion, both good and bad. So please continue to post. Would like to hear more from FI mgmt. Rich, what do you have to say for yourself now that people have asked specific questions?

I have no ax to grind or a grudge against rich, I just don't want anything like this to happen again. It all sounds fishy.

I hope all the people who had their "reservation moved" have a great trip. I hear that all the rooms have showerheads! I would expect that mgmt will go out of their way to please the relocated guests as this is great publicity for them.

 

[Mike]

Why on earth do you people insist on speculating? A dispute between two businesses does not need to be aired out in a public forum...period. Those of you who insist on continuing to imagine every possible scenario are only hurting tourism for the island of Roatan and business for the parties involved.

The fact is that the relationship started out great and two businessmen put their heads together and accomplished great things for Fantasy Island Resort. Since November, the improvements to the resort have been substantial, as reported by many including me. As I understand it, those improvements continue. At the same time, Rich was instrumental in helping to improve the dive center - they now sport a brand new nitrox membrane system with in-line CO detectors...a setup any diver can appreciate. So much was accomplished to make Fantasy Island attractive to divers. It's a real shame the two could not continue to work together and do great things - there's no telling what they could have accomplished together. But just because they can no longer work together doesn't mean there is anything wrong with them, it just means that the working relationship is over.

As I said in a previous post, I was greatly affected by this nightmare, and I went through a period of being shocked and felt incredibly jilted. But whatever happened in this situation, the parties involved have stepped up to the plate and taken care of business. The customers involved are being taken care of, and that's what is important.

So for goodness sake, enough is enough. It's time to be positive and upbeat...Roatan is waiting! This dive mecca is just so special - let's stop bashing and start diving!!!

What in the world? :shocked2:

If I have this right, according to you FI totally screwed you and your family.

When exactly did FI make this right?

According to you, Rich got you a 'great' deal (nobody knows what that means) to another resort. So far I haven't heard anything that Luna is like Fantasy Island and all about diving 5 times a day. So I'm not sure how you got an apples to apples resolution or a better one. As I said before, nobody books trips to FI for the rooms or the food there, its all about the diving.

Let's not get hysterical about Roatan suffering because of this. Roatan is just fine, the only parties facing any issues are FI, Rich and the few people caught in whatever unethical scenario transpired between all three.

And again - if people don't want to air out this issue on a public forum WTF are they doing starting it by posting about it on a public forum and then complaining not to air it out on a public forum? The genie is out of the bottle already, you're not going to put it back.

Speculation will go on and on until somebody begins posting something concrete, the longer the vagaries go on, the longer the speculation will go on and grow.