jeremyl
Contributor
Hate to add yet another "which liveaboard" question, but I have read a TON and now would like to tap into the vast scuba.com braintrust.
We are a group of 3 or 4 (although might have up to 8 if we really tried to sucker some people in). We are looking for ~7nt cruise of Komodo NP in Aug/Sept of '09. Length is based on the fact that we plan another week in Lembeh (land based) and thats about all we can get away for (and afford). We met on the Aggressor in May, so we are all willing to spend a little for some pampering, but we dont need to be in the lap of lux, and want to keep prices in check given the total cost of this trip.
A lot of ships are ruled out as having only 10+nt cruises. what I have found :
Mermaid II. 7nt ~$2300pp Downside is trip from Bali to park and back
Ho Chen. 7nt ~$2700pp Spendier side. Reviews go both ways
Bidadari 7nt ~$2200pp Lower budget boat? Saw a couple decent reviews
Blue Marlin 7nt ~$1500pp Low budget boat but gets ok reviews
Ondina 8nt ~$2400pp I think ppl like this one. If we get 6th guy, he's free!
Prices are a best guess. I have requested quotes from most, but as airfare and fees included vary, I put in what I though was close (within 10%).
I know Songline also does a bunch of boats - smaller ones where we could probably have the whole thing. My concern there is the run-down nature of a lot of these, as well as the small-ship-big-ocean issue. But I am open to suggestions!
Anything I am missing out on? Any strong recommendations for or against anything? Prices are all OK, although I would say the $3K mark is a max, and some might get close to that.
We are looking for a great crew, good food, great service. Reef/site knowledge. I have a lobster-rig camera, so good support there is nice. Beyond that we would pay a C-note or two extra if the boat is deluxe and would like to avoid rusty, leaky, smelly, etc boats.
Thanks!
Jeremy
We are a group of 3 or 4 (although might have up to 8 if we really tried to sucker some people in). We are looking for ~7nt cruise of Komodo NP in Aug/Sept of '09. Length is based on the fact that we plan another week in Lembeh (land based) and thats about all we can get away for (and afford). We met on the Aggressor in May, so we are all willing to spend a little for some pampering, but we dont need to be in the lap of lux, and want to keep prices in check given the total cost of this trip.
A lot of ships are ruled out as having only 10+nt cruises. what I have found :
Mermaid II. 7nt ~$2300pp Downside is trip from Bali to park and back
Ho Chen. 7nt ~$2700pp Spendier side. Reviews go both ways
Bidadari 7nt ~$2200pp Lower budget boat? Saw a couple decent reviews
Blue Marlin 7nt ~$1500pp Low budget boat but gets ok reviews
Ondina 8nt ~$2400pp I think ppl like this one. If we get 6th guy, he's free!
Prices are a best guess. I have requested quotes from most, but as airfare and fees included vary, I put in what I though was close (within 10%).
I know Songline also does a bunch of boats - smaller ones where we could probably have the whole thing. My concern there is the run-down nature of a lot of these, as well as the small-ship-big-ocean issue. But I am open to suggestions!
Anything I am missing out on? Any strong recommendations for or against anything? Prices are all OK, although I would say the $3K mark is a max, and some might get close to that.
We are looking for a great crew, good food, great service. Reef/site knowledge. I have a lobster-rig camera, so good support there is nice. Beyond that we would pay a C-note or two extra if the boat is deluxe and would like to avoid rusty, leaky, smelly, etc boats.
Thanks!
Jeremy