MurTheExplorer
Registered
FYI
First let me make it clear I do have an axe to grind. Second please take three minutes to read what I am not happy about. It will give you and idea as to the mentality of the owner/operators of this outfit.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the boat, crew or the diving. The boat is quite nice, the crew is excellent and although the experience was not as posh as some live-a-boards it was a more than adequate. There were a couple of safety issues that need to be addressed but the overall experience was very good. The diving is some of the best I have done in Caribbean.
The safety things were thus; they place a loose towel at the top of the stairs leading from the dive deck. This is to wipe the moisture and dirt from your feet or shoes but it is a tripping hazard and one would fall headlong down the stairs if they did trip. I moved the towel twice myself and mentioned it to the one of the managers but it kept being replaced. The second was when we back rolled into the water both my wife and I had to ask if it was clear. No one made vocalized ‘clear’ when telling us to go and frankly I don’t know if they looked before giving the order. So be sure you ask if you go.
My problem arouse a couple of years ago with the onset of COVID19. We were set to head to Cuba and do some diving on a reef that had been on our radar for some time. Three weeks before we were to leave our government put out an advisory to suspend all non necessary international travel. This in itself would have been enough for us to bypass the trip but soon the airline we were book on cancelled our flight. They were not flying to Cuba at all. While talking to the airline agent I was informed the Santa Clara airport had been closed. No one was getting into Cuba.
All this led to us contacting PADI travel and have them look into what the Avalon was prepared to do in the form of reimbursement.
Some background here, the terms of the contract do not allow for any kind of compensation if the trip is cancelled within a specified number of days of the start of the trip. There are no inclusions or exclusions. This is an absolute, there is to be no refunds. I do understand this and accepted it when I made the final payment.
That said, the entire world was in upheaval and everyone from concert venues, to hotels, to airlines to live-a-board dive companies were doing the customer service thing and offering full refunds or credit on a future concert or trip. This is where the people from the Avalon took a different route. They saw the opportunity to turn this event into further profit. After all they had the contract on their side and had they said ‘we will do nothing’ they were entitled to the money.
Instead of following others they offered a 50% credit on a future trip booked between certain dates. Those dates for the most part were during hurricane season. Later, after some fairly rough negotiations they added further enticement saying they would give another 50% credit if a second trip was booked during the next year’s hurricane season.
This looks reasonable on the surface but upon analysis it is all about the bottom line. If we were to cancel they would keep all of the funds paid. The boat is not running as no one can get to Cuba so they have lain off all their staff. They pocket the cash from 16 guests. If we accept the first option of a 50% credit they don’t run the boat on the original dates and they make 150% of the regular fees to run a trip during hurricane season that would most likely not be full anyway. They fill the boat and make 50% more. If we take the second option of two trips we pay full fare for both and they fill the usually empty spots on two hurricane seasons.
After another month or so of further negotiations we finally got full credit for a trip two years from the original trip. It was no longer on the live-a-board Avalon II that moved about the reef but on the Avalon IV which moored at one spot in the mangroves and the dive sites are accessed from a skiff. There were fewer dives involved but this option was at least reasonable and we accepted it.
This whole proposal was put together to increase income and has absolutely no empathy for the fact we paid for a service and that service could not be provided. I’m not whining about the money what I take offense to is the attitude of the people in charge of this operation. Making money at all cost does not build customer loyalty and I will not be their customer again. I truly hope you decide to forgo your trip. There are many other dive spots to visit.
An addendum:
To further my impression that this operation is all about money, and customer service is secondary, here is a quote from the pre trip info we were provided with.
This is with reference to the time when one needed a PCR and/or an antigen test to return to your country. The boat offered this service.
“If you need one test the cost is $120, if you need both tests the cost is $170. These charges will be
added to your invoice and must be paid for in advance. No payments for tests on site will be accepted. A
highly suggested minimum tip of 20 EURO or 25 USD should be given by you to the testing doctor. These
tips are essential in ensuring that this additional service can be provided efficiently.”
Again seems sort of reasonable until one does some research. Getting a PCR test in Santa Clara costs $30US. What is this ‘mandatory’ tip? If it is not paid the test might not come back within the 72 hours needed, or maybe the test would show a positive. Wouldn’t that be a shame? You would have to spend more money in a Cuban tourist hospital isolating while your flight is jetting its way home without you.
The final bloodletting occurred one week before the rescheduled trip, the addition of $150US fuel levy. This is to cover the recent increase in gas prices. There was never any indication of discount when fuel prices dipped mid way through the pandemic to 60% if what it had been at the pandemics beginning when the prices for the trip were set.
If you do decide to go just be aware money is the driving force behind the decisions made by the company. I don’t think the money of potential return guests is that important to them.
First let me make it clear I do have an axe to grind. Second please take three minutes to read what I am not happy about. It will give you and idea as to the mentality of the owner/operators of this outfit.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the boat, crew or the diving. The boat is quite nice, the crew is excellent and although the experience was not as posh as some live-a-boards it was a more than adequate. There were a couple of safety issues that need to be addressed but the overall experience was very good. The diving is some of the best I have done in Caribbean.
The safety things were thus; they place a loose towel at the top of the stairs leading from the dive deck. This is to wipe the moisture and dirt from your feet or shoes but it is a tripping hazard and one would fall headlong down the stairs if they did trip. I moved the towel twice myself and mentioned it to the one of the managers but it kept being replaced. The second was when we back rolled into the water both my wife and I had to ask if it was clear. No one made vocalized ‘clear’ when telling us to go and frankly I don’t know if they looked before giving the order. So be sure you ask if you go.
My problem arouse a couple of years ago with the onset of COVID19. We were set to head to Cuba and do some diving on a reef that had been on our radar for some time. Three weeks before we were to leave our government put out an advisory to suspend all non necessary international travel. This in itself would have been enough for us to bypass the trip but soon the airline we were book on cancelled our flight. They were not flying to Cuba at all. While talking to the airline agent I was informed the Santa Clara airport had been closed. No one was getting into Cuba.
All this led to us contacting PADI travel and have them look into what the Avalon was prepared to do in the form of reimbursement.
Some background here, the terms of the contract do not allow for any kind of compensation if the trip is cancelled within a specified number of days of the start of the trip. There are no inclusions or exclusions. This is an absolute, there is to be no refunds. I do understand this and accepted it when I made the final payment.
That said, the entire world was in upheaval and everyone from concert venues, to hotels, to airlines to live-a-board dive companies were doing the customer service thing and offering full refunds or credit on a future concert or trip. This is where the people from the Avalon took a different route. They saw the opportunity to turn this event into further profit. After all they had the contract on their side and had they said ‘we will do nothing’ they were entitled to the money.
Instead of following others they offered a 50% credit on a future trip booked between certain dates. Those dates for the most part were during hurricane season. Later, after some fairly rough negotiations they added further enticement saying they would give another 50% credit if a second trip was booked during the next year’s hurricane season.
This looks reasonable on the surface but upon analysis it is all about the bottom line. If we were to cancel they would keep all of the funds paid. The boat is not running as no one can get to Cuba so they have lain off all their staff. They pocket the cash from 16 guests. If we accept the first option of a 50% credit they don’t run the boat on the original dates and they make 150% of the regular fees to run a trip during hurricane season that would most likely not be full anyway. They fill the boat and make 50% more. If we take the second option of two trips we pay full fare for both and they fill the usually empty spots on two hurricane seasons.
After another month or so of further negotiations we finally got full credit for a trip two years from the original trip. It was no longer on the live-a-board Avalon II that moved about the reef but on the Avalon IV which moored at one spot in the mangroves and the dive sites are accessed from a skiff. There were fewer dives involved but this option was at least reasonable and we accepted it.
This whole proposal was put together to increase income and has absolutely no empathy for the fact we paid for a service and that service could not be provided. I’m not whining about the money what I take offense to is the attitude of the people in charge of this operation. Making money at all cost does not build customer loyalty and I will not be their customer again. I truly hope you decide to forgo your trip. There are many other dive spots to visit.
An addendum:
To further my impression that this operation is all about money, and customer service is secondary, here is a quote from the pre trip info we were provided with.
This is with reference to the time when one needed a PCR and/or an antigen test to return to your country. The boat offered this service.
“If you need one test the cost is $120, if you need both tests the cost is $170. These charges will be
added to your invoice and must be paid for in advance. No payments for tests on site will be accepted. A
highly suggested minimum tip of 20 EURO or 25 USD should be given by you to the testing doctor. These
tips are essential in ensuring that this additional service can be provided efficiently.”
Again seems sort of reasonable until one does some research. Getting a PCR test in Santa Clara costs $30US. What is this ‘mandatory’ tip? If it is not paid the test might not come back within the 72 hours needed, or maybe the test would show a positive. Wouldn’t that be a shame? You would have to spend more money in a Cuban tourist hospital isolating while your flight is jetting its way home without you.
The final bloodletting occurred one week before the rescheduled trip, the addition of $150US fuel levy. This is to cover the recent increase in gas prices. There was never any indication of discount when fuel prices dipped mid way through the pandemic to 60% if what it had been at the pandemics beginning when the prices for the trip were set.
If you do decide to go just be aware money is the driving force behind the decisions made by the company. I don’t think the money of potential return guests is that important to them.
