Caribe Blu difficulties

[Christi]

In Jeanie's defense, she is at DEMA this week. Most of us are and are just checking in when we can.

I also want to urge people to be patient in general in waiting for responses. Sounds like Bic didn't even wait 24 hours for the first response. Running a dive op in a tourist destination requires wearing MANY hats and non of us are typically at the computer all day everyday...we need a few hours a day off too Plus, Jeanie not only has he dive shop to deal with, also the hotel...so please be patient.

 

[Bicster]

In my defense, I thought I was only dealing with a hotel, until the hotel redirected me to Jeanie. Hotels are usually very responsive with reservations! I understand how difficult it is to wear so many hats.

I think everyone is at DEMA this week. I called my LDS this morning and they returned my call from Vegas!

I'll be patient.

 

[diveborg]

My wife and I are very new divers. I have no idea what our stamina will be like, but we'll have 6 "diving days" available to us. I feel like it would be a bad idea to book a dive package for the whole time we're there. Am I right or wrong? If we decide I need to relax on day 3, then we've wasted money on that day. Or what if we want to do a cenote dive?

I'd probably reserve morning dives for at least 4 days, more like 5.

Any suggestions on how to book this trip would be greatly appreciated.

You will get a better price and be able to use a credit card with no added fee if you book Caribe Blue thru Travelnotes.cc I got a very prompt response when I made my reservations for December 18-24. I also asked for a price with and without diving. The price for the diving was a good deal. I decided to go with an operator I had used previously and was lucky to get a spot. She has her boats full for the week we are there, which leads to:

I don't know how far in advance I need to reserve dives in order to be guaranteed a spot, and I don't know if the package really saves any money.

Right NOW. You should make reservations as soon as possible. My first 2 choices of dive OP's are already full for the week I'm there. If you do go with the Caribe Blue/ Blue Angel package, you will save a little money, but that won't matter if they aren't who you want to dive with. I have no direct experience with Blue Angel, so I'm not offering an opinion either way about them.

 

[bcaderunr]

Caribe Blu / Blue Angel is great. I've done the package deal twice in the past year. Anything else is a waste of time/money and brainpower. Plus the free shore diving (especially at night) is easy and fun -- 20' sand bottom sprinkled with coral heads. Swim south (upcurrent) and turn when you get bored.

 

[scubadobadoo]

In Jeanie's defense, she is at DEMA this week. Most of us are and are just checking in when we can.

I also want to urge people to be patient in general in waiting for responses. Sounds like Bic didn't even wait 24 hours for the first response. Running a dive op in a tourist destination requires wearing MANY hats and non of us are typically at the computer all day everyday...we need a few hours a day off too Plus, Jeanie not only has he dive shop to deal with, also the hotel...so please be patient.

Nothing personal, but I have found them hard to communicate with even when not at DEMA. No telephone number on a web page for a business drives me crazy! Heck, I would even pay for the call, and have to them. Like biscter, I had to dig hard to find the number though and that's a concern. I am not attacking them but rather just offering a little criticism as a happy customer. It's really my only complaint about the place.

A customer that is forced to deal only through email may not be as persistant as bicster was. Again, this may read like an attack but it isn't. Clearly I am happy with the hotel and dive op as I have dove with them twice before and will again very soon. My point is that not all customers want to do business through email with a dive shop or hotel in another country that they know little about and not having a telephone number further worries people and or complicates things. Email gets blocked and deleted all the time. That's all. Not that big of a deal.

I want everyone to go there and have a blast as I have but no reservation line makes that harder for some. That is a fact. I did notice Christi that you have your hours, address, and a telephone number on your web page and that pleases me greatly. That info is why we booked our Cenotes trip through you and not through Jeannie last time we were there. We never got a response about the Cenote trip we asked about a few times through phone calls and emails and because those book fast on weekends we were forced to make a quick decision and were left to assume that no response equals no cenote trip regardless of the reason. BTW, Diego was awesome!!! Making yourself availabe to us online also helps! Thanks! :07:

Edited addition: Again, let me make myself very clear here. In no way am I trying to take a stab at Caribe Blu, Blue Angel, Jeannie or Christi in any way. I hope that is clear. If I didn't have a computer or wasn't a Scuba Board user I wouldn't have found out about this wonderful place. I am just one of those people who prefer to speak to a person when spending thousands in another country. Not that it really makes a big dif. but it's just nice.

 

[dyarab]

We just booked a flight to CZM (Nov 26-Dec 3) and now we're trying to reserve a hotel. Caribe Blu looks great, but so far they are frustrating (actually, unavailable) to deal with! Their web site doesn't list any phone numbers. I submitted a request on their website yesterday but still don't have a response.

I found a phone number for Caribe Blu elsewhere (+52-987-87-20188) and called it, and the lady who answered asked me to call 1-866-779-9986. I called that number and got an answering machine for Blue Angel urging me to send an e-mail, but it gave no e-mail address. Google found the corresponding e-mail address for me, and I've sent my request ... sigh.

I also found it rather peculiar that Blue Angel and Caribe Blu's websites are both hosted in Poland.

This seems very complicated for something as simple as an availability check & reservation. I'm not even sure I want to use Blue Angel for diving yet. Are the DO and hotel owned by the same folks?

I recently booked a stay (Nov 24th thru Nov 30th... see ya there!!) at the Caribe Blu and will be diving with Blue Angel (actually Christi helped me make the decision to stay at Caribe Blu... it's a shore diving thing, and some trip down there I'll actually get to dive with her... I feel obligated as she has always been helpful with questions I have about COZ, some day Christi... some day), but I had no communication problems with them at all. Granted I dealt with them by email only, but just about every reply was within the same business day. Personally, I dont have a problem with email communication as it leaves a paper trail, print them babies out and take them with ya!!

I also dont have a problem with the PayPal deposit... makes it easy IMO. There are horror stories out there about PayPal, but I have never had a problem with them and have used them a lot.

See ya there, and the first shore dive is on me!

 

[MN Lakeman]

I emailed Caribe Blue last Thursday by simply clicking the "info" link on their website - how simple can that be? I received a personal response from Jeanie the next day, with a complete detail of their pricing, operation, & payment details (which I think made sense the way she explained it). I think hearing Christi endorsing her operation says a lot IMHO.

 

[SoCalOffshore]

we stayed a week there earlier this year. we booked directly through christi and never even had to speak to them. just showed up and got our room. christi's boat picked us up every day at the pier and had a great time.

 

[Brules]

Agreed, dive every day you can!!!!! Since it is all drift diving, you expend very little energy compared to other dive locales where you have to fin the entire dive. Plus if you are really worried about it, dive Nitrox and enjoy the benefits of +++ o2!

 

[shaggie]

I'll be there this wendsday. Sooo looking forward to it. I think that their reservations system does need alittle work. I'm waiting for a reply back that they've received my deposit (although I did just figure out Pay Pal and send it in last night). I'm glad to hear all the good reviews on the place. My LDS told me about Caribe Blu and Blue Angel, and that was all I had to go on, until now. By the way, can anyone sugest an inexpensive place to hole up for a night in Cancun for a night, before my flight home on sunday morning?