Nekton Belize a big disappointment

[fda483]

Hey Folks - I am in Belize City degassing from a week on the Pilot.

Lemurs2 - I fully respect your experience and not doubting it in any way but it seems a week makes a big difference. We booked this week two years in a row. As I remember the first week out of dry dock was also delayed last year so we purposely picked the second week of the Belize tour. Seems like they worked a lot of the issues out after the first week We had a fantastic week on the Pilot. The ship was clean, food was as good as last year the crew while new was very responsive to our needs. Grant is still on the ship and while he is new he was great with us. On many occasions he would personally check in with us to see if we liked the sites or wanted to move. In fact after we ran into a few sites that had limited viz he went over various options for other sites with us before he moved on - that was great.

Another big difference between the two trips we the number of guests on the two trips. You had close to a full boat we had 8 divers, including two that signed up for another week from your trip. I am sure that handling the full load stressed the crew a lot more than on our trip. Bottom line is we had a blast. I did 30 dives for the week. Other than a couple days without Nitrox, and a new crew it was a great experience. Like others have mentioned I am concerned with all the staff turnover - Pam you are great and you leaving sends a message to us all, but I can't bash Nekton after a great week of diving!!!! Would book with them again in a second.

 

[DiveMaven]

Thank you Johnny and FDA483 for posting. Johnny, I particularly appreciate that you too responsibility for the frozen food and didn't make excuses...that speaks volumes to me about your basic character. Also nice to know the "inspection" was unexpected to ya'll.

FDA883, it's a relief to know that Lemur's cruise was just a snafu and a reminder to all of us to never choose the first cruise of any repositioning! It's great to know you had a fabulous trip.

Now let's hope we hear some good news about the office staff.

Hmmm, guess my ideas of jumping on the Pilot for one of her last cruises in Belize in 2009 isn't dead afterall.

 

[robint]

Thank you Johnny and FDA483 for posting. Johnny, I particularly appreciate that you too responsibility for the frozen food and didn't make excuses...that speaks volumes to me about your basic character. Also nice to know the "inspection" was unexpected to ya'll.

FDA883, it's a relief to know that Lemur's cruise was just a snafu and a reminder to all of us to never choose the first cruise of any repositioning! It's great to know you had a fabulous trip.

Now let's hope we hear some good news about the office staff.

Hmmm, guess my ideas of jumping on the Pilot for one of her last cruises in Belize in 2009 isn't dead afterall.

ditto, thanks for letting us know that it was just one week with some problems, not a company issue.

As far as the office staff goes, I called the office a couple of weeks ago and spoke to Karen, who does not have Pam's wonderful southern drawl, but was very nice and helpful. I am sure Pam left behind some big shoes to fill and it may take time for them to adjust to such a great loss. Let's all give them a chance.
And as far as Belize in the future, I am still wanting to go there with the Nekton.

robint

 

[Footslogger]

Reading all the posts on this thread with interest. I've been on Nekton 6 times now and in fact, was married on the Nekton Rorqual. None of those trips were anything but first class and fun. Personnel turnover, especially my primary contact (Pam) and a boat captain is somewhat concerning.

I do hope that more members here at SB who dive with Nekton will post their experiences. We are planning on the Cay Sal Banks itinerary next May (the only itinerary we haven't done yet) and really looking forward to it.

 

[lemurs2]

FDA483:
I'm really glad that you had a good trip and we will take note not to book the 1st trip out of dry dock on any boat. I'm glad that Capt Grant was accomadating and wished they would have offered us the chance to change positions for dive sights too. I'm also glad that they have a new crew and I know the 2 who stayed another week and they are both a lot of fun so I bet that made it even better. We got an email from the Nekton and have a time tomorrow to talk to them set up. I love how their boats are set up and don't want to see the company suffer

 

[DiveMaven]

Lemurs2, you're planning on updating us on the response you get from John Dixon at Nekton, right?

 

[lemurs2]

Yes, we'll let SB know what they say

 

[jasondcrawford]

What did people do in the days before Scubaboard? I can't imagine trying to plan a multi-thousand dollar dive trip without all the knowledge found here!

 

[robint]

What did people do in the days before Scubaboard? I can't imagine trying to plan a multi-thousand dollar dive trip without all the knowledge found here!

I think people went to their LDS and asked them to book a trip somewhere for them without knowing truly if it would be a good trip or not. Having dealt with several LDS over the years, I can say that the info they provide tends to be swayed towards whomever gives them the biggest kickbacks/free rooms or $$$ and not by what the particular diver wants or needs. Not all, but seems to be the majority.

 

[fda483]

Lemurs2

Thats great that they reached out to you, lets hope they make it right - I bet they do. You are right the set up of the ship is perfect for a this type of trip. Any yes the two hold overs from your trip were a blast. We had one guy on our trip who signed up for a two weeker, I will reach out to him when he returns and see how his second week went. I know he was enjoying the first week we did together.

Lots of Nekton fans on SB, but we are diving fans first, no one will recommend an operations that does not meet expectations.

Joe