Nekton boats may come back!!

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I would just warn everyone to look very carefully at the trip insurance policy before paying the premium to see what is excluded. On the original thread where Nekton went out of business, many posters said that they had purchased trip insurance but that in this instance they were not covered.

I am sure there are probably a multitude of threads on SB discussing the merits (and pitfalls) of trip insurance. It is just a good idea to read the fine print before actually buying the policy.
 
Wow, I didn't even know I was arguing. I'll tell you what: I surrender, you win, okay? :surrender:
This is a funny way to admit that you said something stupid.

You know, your attitude "if you can't afford to lose a trip do not book one" really sucks. Everyone who pays deserves services for their moneys and nobody should lose, ever. Likewise, nobody should get anything for free. You did no services-you get no payment.
 
This is a funny way to admit that you said something stupid.
I was trying to be polite. It seems that you want to argue with me--not just in this thread, but in others. I would prefer not to argue with you, further sidetrack this thread, or put you on my very short ignore list. Maybe we should just have a gentlemen's agreement to not respond to each other's posts.
 
Wow, I have been out of touch with diving for a while now and miss it very much....

I did my first liveaboard on the Pilot over a decade ago--loved it; I was hooked! Since then, I have taken trips on the Pilot, Rorqual, and Aggressor boats. They've spoiled me to the extent that if I am going to spend the time and money for a dive trip, I would rather save up and spend the extra money on a liveaboard (and just do fewer trips). Although it means that I haven't been diving in a few years :depressed:

Some posts have alluded to bad press about John Dixon, and I have no idea what that is about. But I guess I'll add my 0.5 cents....

All my interactions with John were positive. I thought that he worked very hard and was principled. I thought the same of most of the crew (particularly the ones that I took more than one trip with). Sure, there were some issues with some of the crew and with some of the trips, but overall, I respected and appreciated what John and his company had to offer.

I would consider either the Pilot or Rorqual for my next trip. In fact, I was thinking about it--until I learned that they were no on longer operational.... The pluses were

  • an easy flight from the East Coast--at least the ones that departed from Ft Lauderdale
  • departures from Ft Lauderdale were well organized (probably easier to run because the office was there)
  • well priced for a week of diving (it mattered to me in my decision-making that they were less expensive than Aggressor and PH)
  • nice roomy layout and cabins
  • stable
  • great upper deck for stargazing
While on Aggressor boats, I did sometimes try to watch movies, but I usually just fell asleep. I only tried to watch because it was there and available. I totally wouldn't care if there hadn't been a TV or movies. If no TVs means less expensive trips, then I am all for it!

So, I do hope that at least one of the boats (Pilot or Rorqual) come back.... There also needs to be more competition now that Aggressor and PH are the same company....
 
Not to speak for Vlad, but I think his point was that if your finances are in a low state, you should skip the trip by NOT BOOKING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE (ie; you should be saving your money).

Yeah, that's exactly what I thought he was saying… and I would agree that if taking a vacation keeps you from being able to meet your basic financial obligations, then you can’t afford the vacation. That said, I just think it is quite a leap to assume that because someone has finite financial resources to allocate to vacations that they should not take a vacation and save their money instead

Bringing this back to the original topic of the thread (sort of); I never took a trip on either of the Nekton boats, but I wanted to (probably still would if someone gets one of the boats back in shape & sailing again). Late last February/ early March was ready to book a July sailing for my son & I, but held off because: a) I was worried about everything that was going on with Nekton and b) potentially losing my vacation $$. It wasn’t because losing that money would create any kind of hardship for me or my family; it’s just that I have a finite amount of money I can spend on vacations.
 
I stopped buying trip insurance about 6 years ago. I figure with all the money I've saved by not buying it I'm now self insured except for the most catastrophic of events.

25 years of diving and I have never bought trip insurance....... the worst I have had was I lost 3 days of diving in March in the Bahamas as the weather was really bad as the waves were pushing 16 foot. Never had a problem during hurricane season.......
 
I was trying to be polite. It seems that you want to argue with me--not just in this thread, but in others. I would prefer not to argue with you, further sidetrack this thread, or put you on my very short ignore list. Maybe we should just have a gentlemen's agreement to not respond to each other's posts.
Quite unfortunately, I do not consider libertarians to be gentlemen.
 
Someone above suggested crew wear uniforms. Speaking for myself, I care about the competence, friendliness, and professionalism of the crew. I do not care if they wear uniforms. If the crew prefer to wear regular clothing I say let them. I want the crew to have a pleasant experience. I've been on two live-aboards: Pilot and Aqua Cat, and in both cases the crew were excellent in all respects. I would say have the crew wear name tags. I have an embarrassingly dreadful memory for names.

Two words: trip insurance.
I took a look at the policy of the company I often buy trip insurance from. Financial insolvency of the trip company is excluded from coverage. Mostly what is covered is sickness of the traveler, sickness or death of the traveler or a companion or a family member, and bad weather, along with a few other less common items. Flight delays are only covered if the delay is greater than six hours. If you have a 4-hour layover and miss a connection because your flight is 5 hours late, you're not covered.

Regarding cancellation policy: I booked a hiking trip once, and the operator told me up front that there were not yet enough bookings to make the trip. They kept me up to date, and they gave me a date on which they would either commit to the trip or cancel it. Thus, when they canceled and refunded my deposit I had not yet bought airline tickets. I think this policy is a good compromise between losing money by taking small groups or canceling after people have bought air tickets: Include a cut-off date well in advance of the departure date so everyone knows that the trip is not confirmed unless there are enough bookings. People have a right to know the trip is confirmed before making other arrangements, but nobody expects the company to take them out if it means a devastating loss for the company.

I've done both live-aboard and land-based trips, and each has its advantages: Land-based gives more living space and relief from seasickness if the seas are rough, as well as the option to skip a day when seas are rough; live-aboard gives more time on the water and makes it easier to do more dives, and more relaxing surface intervals. At this point I do not have a preference. I'll continue to do land-based (my next planned trip will be land-based snorkeling from a day boat -- I love both diving and snorkeling) but if the Rorqual came back into service it would be on my short list of trips to consider very seriously, destination and scheduling being the important factors.
 
Quite unfortunately, I do not consider libertarians to be gentlemen.

I am not a libertarian (although at one time I was a librarian), but don't you think that is a little bit of an overgeneralization?
 
Two words: trip insurance.
Trip Insurance is such a laugh. It covers what it wants to cover. Such as if you had a failed trip on the Pilot, which as we did, but because the boat went out, no refund. It didn't matter that the itinerary was not satisfied (i.e., we were stuck in one location because the Pilot needed parts....parts that where drop shipped from an airplane in the water). We never made it to Cay Sal. We had to be towed in by a tug boat. Making us late for our flights out...Flights were not refunded because we were not late enough. You have to really read the fine print to see what trip insurance covers.

Remember insurance companies are in business to make money, not to reimburse you.

JD reimbursed us for the difference in our flight costs, since our original flights were cancelled and any hotel rooms we booked. It took us about 2+ months before we got our money for that.
 
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