Experience with Mermaid Liveaboard Operation

[micquinn]

Regarding maintenance and reliability their boats, the fact that they are scheduling their maintenance so far out is probably a good thing, even though it caused me a major issue for my planned trip.

 

[micquinn]

Absolutely. Safety is always the most important thing when it comes to diving, which includes the boats we dive on. Stuff happens and it's the way it is dealt with that makes a difference in the customer experience. I do not feel that Mermaid handled this well.

It took awhile but I just got the full refund last night.

 

[jeremyl]

I have been on Mermaid 3X - my first Komodo, and 2x in Raja. Never any issues and some of the best staff I've experienced. Many of their (local) crew/staff has been with them for MANY years and this speaks well to how they treat their staff - who will in turn treat their customers well.

I can't of course speak to why the boat dry dock schedule changed but I could guess it has something to do with dock/crew schedules at the port in Bali... I know Mermaid is HQ'd there but imagine they share the dock maintenance ports with the (MANY) other boats. I do know both Mermaids had extensive maintenance done last summer (I was there visiting my friend/DM who these days overseas that process). Not at all sticking up for them in any way, just maybe offering a bit of perspective. I would say they are very maintenance aware, and more so than several other boats I've been on.

Happy Bubbles...

 

[micquinn]

I'm sure the Mermaid crew and boat operation is very good. I had done my research ahead of time and they generally got good reviews. My issue is with the Management/Ownership of Mermaid. Not even so much that they chose to do the maintenance on an already announced trip, which completely screwed up a bucket list trip for my 50th dive anniversary, but much more so that once they made that decision they were not cooperative with Bluewater in finding an alternative, nor "going above and beyond" to try and make a customer happy who they had so greatly inconvenienced. As a service provider, stuff happens, it's how you treat the customer after the stuff happens that leaves a lasting impression. In this case my lasting impression is not a good one.

 

[tursiops]

Always nice to hear just one side of a story.

I led a Mermaid-II trip out of Bali to Komodo in 2017....and the volcano erupted in Bali and caused major potential perturbations in the schedule and ports. It ended up being an excellent trip and the Mermaid home officefolks were magnificent in keeping us up to date on plan changes and contingencies. Could not have been a better interaction.

 

[micquinn]

I'm not sure what you mean by "one side of the story" if there's another side from Mermaid I would love to hear it. It's funny how these threads seem to devolve over time. I'm glad you had a great experience. I did not.

 

[tursiops]

I'm not sure what you mean by "one side of the story" if there's another side from Mermaid I would love to hear it. It's funny how these threads seem to devolve over time. I'm glad you had a great experience. I did not.

You've made your case, over and over. Saying the same thing many times does not make it more true.
We have heard only your side of the story. We are unlikely to hear the other side....but that doesn't make your version of the events and the whys any truer. I'm not saying you are lying, just that you seem to have had a uniquely bad experience with Mermaid. Sorry for that ,really, but I'm sure you were not personally targeted for abuse.

 

[micquinn]

If you read the thread you'll see I simply responded to peoples comments. I also tried be balanced in saying that the great majority of people have had wonderful experiences with Mermaid. That is why I originally booked the trip. I am in the minority of people who had a bad one, and again it's only a concern with their Ownership, not the actual operation of their boat, which is what most people would experience. The purpose of Scubaboard is the share information for the benefit of the community which was my original intent.

I think this thread has gone as far as it needs to go and do not plan on posting anything further.