Palau Aggressor vs. Dancer Liveaboards

[jfcl01]

Anybody have any input/experience regarding the difference between the two? There is about a $500 dollar difference for a week.

 

[Doubler]

As they are both owned by Aggressor the crews probably interchange like they do in Belize so that leaves the boat design. Check their layout and specks. They dive the same sites so the boat is the primary difference. I'd dive the cheaper of the two as I have never read a bad report on either.

 

[Damselfish]

Historically the Dancers tended to have more service and be a bit "plusher" - fluffy robes, turndown service with chocolates on the pillows, beverages left at your door in the am, neckrubs and hot towels after dives. Probably not $500 worth though, may or may not be what you want, and I don't know if it is true in this case anyway. Along the same lines, Dancers have also tended to have dinner served vs buffets. Again, I don't know in this case - and I have usually preferred the food and buffets on Aggressors anyway. (Even though I'm usually a sitdown rather than buffet person, buffets just seem to work better on a liveaboard with that size group as far as food choices.)

Also, the Aggressor boats usually have a single over double bunk arrangement, while the Dancer boats have usually had beds. I find the bunks a bit claustrophobic, though the top bunk is a handy place to put lots of things if it's not being used. But not true in this case, both boats are bunk style, as the Dancer was recently an Aggressor boat and they are nearly identical. I've lost track as boats have moved around over the years, but I think these 2 were considered sister ships.

It would be interesting to ask the company what accounts for the price difference and see what they say.

BTW, common misconception that Aggressor owns Dancer, they do not. Both Aggressor and Dancer were bought by a third company.

 

[jfcl01]

thanks for your replies; it is the Dancer that is the more expensive of the two. They are two different companies owned by the same person.

 

[Shasta_man]

One thing I didn't care for about the Palau Aggressor was that everyone travels and dives together in one large powerboat when going from mothership to dive site. Not sure about this Dancer, but usually they have a couple of smaller skiffs and two groups. My impression was that the Aggressor were the more plush boats , but I don't know. There were some reports of good and bad experiences on the Dancer there. Barring any of the bad experience problems, I doubt there is much difference in experience between the two. On our trip on an Explorer liveaboard, we anchored in German Channel except for going to Peleliu for a couple days.

 

[Damselfish]

The Tropic Dancer has the same one large skiff as the Aggressor. For places they use skiffs, I think this is more boat and location, rather than fleet, dependent.

 

[jake11]

I could be wrong but I think the Dancer is an old Agressor boat.( Seems like I remember it being the Agressor from Cocos that they refitted????) I could be crazy. We looked inside when we took a small tour of it last March and it is for sure an Agressor layout. ???

 

[Damselfish]

it was the Fiji Aggressor.

 

[Woodiver]

It has been both the Fiji Aggressor and Tahiti Aggressor in the past. Dan Ruth owns the Aggressor and Dancer boats in Palau long with the Kona Aggressor. All were built by the same yard in Washington.

Testimonials | Boatmoorings.com

 

[cozcharlie]

I have been on both the Palau Aggressor and the Tropic Dancer numerous times. I was last on the Aggressor in September 2012, Dancer in May 2011. You can't go wrong with either ship. They are sister ships (more or less identical), although I believe the Dancer may have been re-fitted more recently. They dock side by side when in port. I would check to see about incidental charges (nitrox, etc) to make sure you are comparing apples to apples--sometimes one will be running some sort of special. I think the Dancer may also include a full bar as opposed to just beer and wine, not that it is a major concern. I think the Dancer tries to be slightly higher end (they have nice robes in the cabins), but it really doesn't matter that much to me.

The two ships essentially share a pool of employees, so I am confident you will be happy with the crew regardless of which ship you choose. Capt Marc on the Aggressor is an excellent photographer btw.