Experience with Mermaid Liveaboard Operation

[micquinn]

In 2025, it will be my 50th anniversary of active scuba diving. So I decided to book a "bucket list" trip to Indonesia. After debating between RA and Komodo I finally decided on Komodo. I used Bluewater Photo and worked with one of their agents, Anne, to book a trip on the Mermaid I. I booked it in July of this year for September 2025. The boat was leaving and returning out of Bali and went ahead and paid for the trip in full. I chose that time of year as it is towards the end of the tourist season in Bali and also had the potential of seeing a Mola as I was going to spend a few days after the liveaboard on Nusa Penida.

Anne of Bluewater was great to deal with. Very responsive and very helpful with her information. So all was good until this past October when I got a email from Anne saying that the Mermaid had decided to do maintenance on the boat during the time of my trip and so the trip was canceled! I expressed my unhappiness to Anne and that IMO the Mermaid organization had made a decision that was best for them economically, they probably picked the charter that had the fewest people on it, without consideration for the fact that they had advertised this trip and taken my money. I had also booked the single supplement on the Mermaid I and the alternatives offered did not have the single supplement available. Anne and Bluewater management stepped in and negotiated with them, and the Mermaid organization eventually offered a shorter trip to Komodo with a single supplement on the Mermaid II. After thinking about it, I decided not to do that because it is a long ways to go from Albuquerque New Mexico for substantially less diving then on the original trip.

I've read a number of positive reviews on Scubaboard about their experiences on the Mermaid liveaboards. So I would imagine that their actual dive operation is good. However based on the fact that they canceled a posted trip for their convenience of maintenance, instead of doing it during a time when they had not scheduled the trip, and then were difficult to deal with in offering up any alternatives, shows poor logistical planning and poor customer service by the Management of Mermaid IMO. So with all the other alternatives available in that region I for one will not spend my money with that operation in future. I would however highly recommend Bluewater Photo for their service in helping me organize the trip.

BTW, I'm still awaiting my refund from Mermaid.

 

[FishCity]

Wow, what a bummer. Hope your refund is forthcoming or you can claw it back from a card.
But looking ahead, Happy 50th!

 

[micquinn]

Thanks. I'm sure I'll get my money back eventually. I just booked a trip to God's Pocket for May of next year which I'm sure will be a whole different type of experience then Indonesia!

 

[Living4Experiences]

In 2025, it will be my 50th anniversary of active scuba diving. So I decided to book a "bucket list" trip to Indonesia. After debating between RA and Komodo I finally decided on Komodo. I used Bluewater Photo and worked with one of their agents, Anne, to book a trip on the Mermaid I. I booked it in July of this year for September 2025. The boat was leaving and returning out of Bali and went ahead and paid for the trip in full. I chose that time of year as it is towards the end of the tourist season in Bali and also had the potential of seeing a Mola as I was going to spend a few days after the liveaboard on Nusa Penida.

Happy early anniversary for 50 years of diving!

Anne of Bluewater was great to deal with. Very responsive and very helpful with her information. So all was good until this past October when I got a email from Anne saying that the Mermaid had decided to do maintenance on the boat during the time of my trip and so the trip was canceled!

Did you pay by credit card? If you did and you need to place a dispute, it's time sensitive, and the sooner you get the process started, the better. Now is the time to save documents and emails if Mermaid gives you problems. Did they offer you a full refund? If so, there's no excuse that the refund has not been issued. You'll need to be proactive through Anne to get that processed ASAP. Just a bit of advice, perhaps don't pay in full for anything if it's not required when it comes to liveaboards. The industry has been in a tailspin for several years, and operators are getting really shady. Hopefully, you read their T&Cs before booking. This is from their website, Booking Policy - Mermaid Liveaboards,
Lastly, Mermaid Liveaboards, PT Indonesia Liveaboards and its booking agency MMC Marine Pte Ltd, do not offer refunds in the event of personal injury, airplane delay, breakdowns, weather, sickness, strikes, war, criminal acts, pandemics, quarantine, acts of God, if vessel must relocate due to guest evacuation for any reason or any other event whatsoever beyond the company’s actual control. This doesn't apply to your circumstances, so they MUST give you a full refund.

I expressed my unhappiness to Anne and that IMO the Mermaid organization had made a decision that was best for them economically, they probably picked the charter that had the fewest people on it, without consideration for the fact that they had advertised this trip and taken my money. I had also booked the single supplement on the Mermaid I and the alternatives offered did not have the single supplement available. Anne and Bluewater management stepped in and negotiated with them, and the Mermaid organization eventually offered a shorter trip to Komodo with a single supplement on the Mermaid II. After thinking about it, I decided not to do that because it is a long ways to go from Albuquerque New Mexico for substantially less diving then on the original trip.

Usually, liveaboard operators schedule their dry dock dates way in advance, so it's strange that they did this. It's certainly a disruption to you, as the customer, and is really unprofessional. If they conduct themselves in this way, IMO, that would undermine my confidence in the operation.

I've read a number of positive reviews on Scubaboard about their experiences on the Mermaid liveaboards. So I would imagine that their actual dive operation is good. However based on the fact that they canceled a posted trip for their convenience of maintenance, instead of doing it during a time when they had not scheduled the trip, and then were difficult to deal with in offering up any alternatives, shows poor logistical planning and poor customer service by the Management of Mermaid IMO. So with all the other alternatives available in that region I for one will not spend my money with that operation in future. I would however highly recommend Bluewater Photo for their service in helping me organize the trip.

BTW, I'm still awaiting my refund from Mermaid.

Please keep us posted as to the outcome. We all need to learn from others' experiences when dealing with liveaboard operators, both positive and negative.

 

[micquinn]

Thank you for your guidance. Yes that was a mistake on my part to pay it all up front. Anne is working on it and has assured me I will get a full refund so I trust that will happen. And yes I felt the same way about their lack of professionalism in scheduling maintenance on a already scheduled and booked trip. It was obviously not an emergency situation, it was a choice on their part.

 

[cozcharlie]

Just a counterpoint from someone who had no tie to Mermaid (I use other liveaboards).

While Mermaid certainly owes you a refund, if a boat owner thinks the boat needs maintenance—it probably does. They are giving up a revenue producing trip to spend money on maintenance—they can’t be happy about dollars moving the wrong way. Frequently it isn’t just one maintenance issue but an accumulation of numerous issues that need to be fixed. Crew does a bunch of sub-optimal patches to keep the boat going but that doesn’t mean things were fixed right. Bottom line is that I would probably rather be on another boat than one where the owner thought it should be in port for maintenance.

While Covid was hard on dive businesses almost everywhere , Indonesia in particular was closed for a long time. My guess is that while the crews had plenty of time for minor maintenance, maintenance that required major capital outlays was probably pushed as far off as possible until financial circumstances were better. Technically there was some Covid financial assistance in Indonesia , but the manager of a Raja Ampat resort said the government assistance barely covered the cost his going back and forth to Sorong to claim it .

Anyway, I am sorry they screwed up your 50th diving anniversary plans , but assuming you get your money back maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

 

[micquinn]

Valid points. Thank you for sharing and I appreciate your perspective.

I just felt, and still feel, that maintenance scheduled almost a year away could have been scheduled during a time they had not advertised a trip. It obviously is not that urgent or they would be doing it much sooner. And then secondly, and in a way more importantly, once they had created the situation, they were not forthcoming or cooperative in negotiating an alternative with Bluewater. At a minimum they should've offered some sort of a discount for the inconvenience.

 

[cozcharlie]

Valid points. Thank you for sharing and I appreciate your perspective.

I just felt, and still feel, that maintenance scheduled almost a year away could have been scheduled during a time they had not advertised a trip. It obviously is not that urgent or they would be doing it much sooner. And then secondly, and in a way more importantly, once they had created the situation, they were not forthcoming or cooperative in negotiating an alternative with Bluewater. At a minimum they should've offered some sort of a discount for the inconvenience.

I certainly agree with you that they owe your money back and really should give you something extra for the inconvenience (though inconvenience compensation/discount probably not legally required, it would be right thing to do ).

Given we have had liveaboard fires and other issues around the world , I just wanted to make sure that we as a dive community don’t ding someone too hard if they pull a boat for maintenance.

Have fun in God’s Pocket!

 

[muralidharan]

Thanks for writing about this. I was considering a trip on Mermaid I in April, but now I'm having second thoughts. Does this mean the boat really needs maintenance and could it lead to issues on other trips? Does anybody else have an opinion on that or am I overthinking this?

 

[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.