When a liveaboard trip is cancelled the day you arrive....

[Lorenzoid]

Agreed, NEVER be a beta-tester for a new live aboard!

Good advice, but I might make an exception if I were to win it in a raffle.

 

[Scott from LongIsland]

Aggressor? Nothing to date. The show - I have not brought it to their attention, I am still just trying to collect information and give Aggressor a chance to respond to my request and catch up on my own stuff - like work and life I will be sure to mention this when I go next month though.

Aggressor will be at that show right? put them on the spot with potential customers around. They are a sponsor of the show...that will look quite bad if they don't make good on their donation

 

[Erica Watson]

Aggressor will be at that show right? put them on the spot with potential customers around. They are a sponsor of the show...that will look quite bad if they don't make good on their donation

That kind of depends on how you look at making good - they offered to extend it (which I do not have at this time), which would be ok if it had been cancelled prior to going in some reasonable frame of time. so I see 2 versions of making good here. one is they can just extend it- crappy in my mind and doing the minimum. Or they could excel and you know, even just speak to me or return my calls/emails. I still have NO response at all.

 

[roflcopter]

That kind of depends on how you look at making good - they offered to extend it (which I do not have at this time), which would be ok if it had been cancelled prior to going in some reasonable frame of time. so I see 2 versions of making good here. one is they can just extend it- crappy in my mind and doing the minimum. Or they could excel and you know, even just speak to me or return my calls/emails. I still have NO response at all.

I was actually at Our World Underwater last year......glad I didn't win that trip
All jokes aside, I actually spoke with Wayne from Aggressor briefly (I was going on the Indo Aggressor a few weeks after the show) and well........ the trip was not horrible. The diving was spectacular but the boat had issues to put it gently. The more I keep reading about Aggressor's antics, the more less likely I am inclined to go on their boats.

 

[KeithG]

... The more I keep reading about Aggressor's antics, the more less likely I am inclined to go on their boats.

I am still on the fence as a "pick yur boat" person when it comes to Aggressor diving. Aggressor mostly sucks, but not all of the boats do? Maybe?

I think multiple people have identified that Aggressor is mostly a marketing and booking company. They do not seem to be an operational dive boat company (I would love to know which if any boats are actually "owned" as opposed to "franchised"). So in the end you are mostly at the mercy of the anonymous hidden franchisee owner. Which bites.

So maybe this makes the Agggressor fleet a modern example of a Jekyll and Hyde experience? Our 1 and only Aggressor LOB was a nightmare (last voyage of the Bay Islands Aggressor).

We have been on many Caribbean LOBs and in the past have always chosen Hughes over Aggressor and Explorer over Aggressor.

BUT: I currently would not hesitate to re-book a trip on the Belize Aggressor (that used to be a Hughes boat, and we actually spent a very pleasant week diving with Peter - his only crew instructions that I was aware of was to relax a bit and chill out and have let the passengers have fun - they are all on vacation). My Belize opinion is based upon multiple very happy trips while the boat was branded as a "Dancer" and that the boat under Aggressor seems to have retained a large portion of the crew (cook for me Jerry, take my fins off John!).

We are also open to booking a trip on the newish Aggressor Roaton boat - but ONLY because it has cptn Eddy from the Belize Dancer. Not because it is Aggressor. Our Bay Island Aggressor experience sucked big time. Different boat, different owner, different experience. Another negative for Aggressor.

And this is the issue. IMHO Aggressor does not provide the Starbucks / McDonalds / Dancer / Explorer consistent experience. You have no idea what you will get. So to me the Aggressor label is a bit of a negative. And new franchise boats seem to have provided a consistent history of really really bad experiences.

I currently would default to the Explorer brand for areas I do not know as we look forward to future trips. This is because we have always had consistent experiences with the Dancer (now dead) and Explorer brands. Aggressor is totally random. I want to have great feedback about the actual operation and crew of the specific Aggressor boat before I would ever consider booking.

So please let me know what you think about Eddy and the Roaton Aggressor!

 

[champ]

A lot of people would give Peter Hughes very low marks for the deaths that happened on the Belize Wave Dancer.

The Wave Dancer Tragedy: Undercurrent 04/2005

 

[KeithG]

A lot of people would give Peter Hughes very low marks for the deaths that happened on the Belize Wave Dancer.

The Wave Dancer Tragedy: Undercurrent 04/2005

That specific trip was tragic. How would you personally have prevented this from happening?

We used that boat multiple times before this event. We also used the replacement boat many times afterwards. Always awesome.

 

[champ]

The Wave Dancer was the last boat to head for shore
Boat continued to head for big creek after forecasters said storm changed directions
moored to dock with large part exposed to channel
Nobody allowed to leave boat
Lines not properly tended
Insufficient insurance


The Suit Against Peter Hughes Settled: Undercurrent 10/2002

 

[Scared Silly]

That specific trip was tragic. How would you personally have prevented this from happening?

Taken people off the !@#$% boat.

 

[John Bantin]

That kind of depends on how you look at making good - they offered to extend it (which I do not have at this time), which would be ok if it had been cancelled prior to going in some reasonable frame of time. so I see 2 versions of making good here. one is they can just extend it- crappy in my mind and doing the minimum. Or they could excel and you know, even just speak to me or return my calls/emails. I still have NO response at all.

Hello Erica,
Would you email me please? I'd like to know more details of this. john@undercurrent.org