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

[champ]

A whole group cancelling 24 hours before the trip sounds a bit fishy. Aggressor does not give refunds to groups or people who cancel that close to a trip ... so the whole we can't go out for just 1-2 people doesn't hold water. In fact the boat would still make more money than if the group showed up because they already got paid and now don't need to bring as many staff or food for just 1-2 divers.

I see that divebooker.com is offering 50% off the January 27 - Feb 3 trip ... maybe they are having trouble filling the boat period. I wonder if this will be another new destination that is not around 12 months from now. #BajaAggressor, #SriLankaAggressor, #TahitiAggressor ...

I have been on a lot of great Aggressor trips and will travel on them again. But I would hesitate to sign up for any new destination on any boat. Issues at new destinations are not unique to Aggressor and hopefully the Aggressor corporations experiences with new destinations could help new franchises minimize start up issues. Even new destinations that eventually work out typically go through growing pains at first (do a search of the Bahamas Aggressor)

Aggressor Corporation might have more flexibility to accommodate you on another destination if you are open to a last minute opening. Remember that Aggressor Corporation is a marketing company that does not own the boats. The Oman Aggressor is the one that has created the issue and for Aggressor Corporation to give you a voucher will either require them eating the cost or another boat eating the cost.

 

[outofofficebrb]

When I booked a liveaboard trip through liveaboard.com, they always warn me to not buy any flight tickets until the trip is a go. I can see why now.

When I booked my liveaboard for mid April last year, there was an asterisk on the operator's website which said there were people booked on that sailing but that the minimum number to sail was X and they were not there yet. I booked on a sailing that was already guaranteed with the worry of disappointment that I would receive if the other one wasn't a "go". It would have been nice to possibly be on a boat that wasn't at capacity, but it would have been worse to not be able to go! The amount of notice on whether it was a "go" in the OP's case is ridiculous. Or in this case, it was a "go", then a "no-go". Even more frustrating.

I wonder if there was a charter group that changed dates and Aggressor allowed this and the only other person affected by it was the OP, who was receiving the trip for free and they thought it was minimal impact (hardly so!). Even then, they would have at least given more notice to do that because those people would have needed to cancel their travel plans or change them....Something is a little fishy here and it's Aggressor.

 

[Erica Watson]

The trip was considered a go- it just fell apart at the last minute. I guess I would ask them if they intend on going even if other don't show so you have it in writing. This is such a new ship I do wonder if something else happened but i can only go with what they told me.

I’m sorry to hear what happened to you, but this sounds really strange & very unprofessional coming from a worldwide reputable liveaboard company that strives for the best liveaboard company in the world. They should at least have contacted you before you go on that long flights.

I just came back from a similar long-flight liveaboard trip (Houston-Palau) with Palau Aggressor II last week. I was so impressed with their service & professionalism. I rank them the top 2 of 9 liveaboard companies I have been in. They ran the dive program so smoothly, on time and as planned like a German fine tune machine. Great food & kept my cabin cleaned too. Gave them very good tips at the end as a token of my appreciation. I even already booked for another trip on Maldives Aggressor II for December 2018 and bringing a couple of my dive buddies to join me on this upcoming trip. Your situation makes me leery about my next dealing with Aggressor Fleet. At least I’ll make dang sure to check with them that the trip would be a go at least a month before the trip as my vacation time is very limited & worth a lot more to me than the flight & liveaboard cost combined.

When I booked a liveaboard trip through liveaboard.com, they always warn me to not buy any flight tickets until the trip is a go. I can see why now.

 

[Erica Watson]

I completely agree with most of what you are saying (I hesitate on the last minute trip part a bit) and it makes me feel so much better that i am not he only one that feels this is a bit off in the way it was handled.

A whole group cancelling 24 hours before the trip sounds a bit fishy. Aggressor does not give refunds to groups or people who cancel that close to a trip ... so the whole we can't go out for just 1-2 people doesn't hold water. In fact the boat would still make more money than if the group showed up because they already got paid and now don't need to bring as many staff or food for just 1-2 divers.

I see that divebooker.com is offering 50% off the January 27 - Feb 3 trip ... maybe they are having trouble filling the boat period. I wonder if this will be another new destination that is not around 12 months from now. #BajaAggressor, #SriLankaAggressor, #TahitiAggressor ...

I have been on a lot of great Aggressor trips and will travel on them again. But I would hesitate to sign up for any new destination on any boat. Issues at new destinations are not unique to Aggressor and hopefully the Aggressor corporations experiences with new destinations could help new franchises minimize start up issues. Even new destinations that eventually work out typically go through growing pains at first (do a search of the Bahamas Aggressor)

Aggressor Corporation might have more flexibility to accommodate you on another destination if you are open to a last minute opening. Remember that Aggressor Corporation is a marketing company that does not own the boats. The Oman Aggressor is the one that has created the issue and for Aggressor Corporation to give you a voucher will either require them eating the cost or another boat eating the cost.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Thanks for posting, as this is a good lesson for us to ask lots of questions and ensure that trip insurance covers the craziest of possibilities.

 

[tangfish]

It was with Aggressor so I really thought that this trip would go on.

Unfortunately, this is not the way to think about Aggressor. Yes, they have name recognition, and they certainly milk it for all it's worth when selling the trips. However most if not all of the boats are independently owned and operated, so while the name is consistent, the experiences and quality of service, professionalism vary wildly. On top of that, Aggressor itself takes very little if any responsibility for problems or disasters when they occur; When you're shopping for the trip it's all "Aggressor: we have boats everywhere, high standards across the worldwide fleet, yadda yadda..." and when something goes awry the it's "we have no control over what that particular boat decided to do blah blah blah".

Case in point:
Sri Lanka Aggressor Problems

After eating several thousands of dollars on the Sri Lanka Aggresssor debacle I give zero credibility (actually, negative) to the Aggressor brand name. But on the bright side I made it out of that cluster with both my ears still attached to my head, unlike another unfortunate guest.

That is not to say that you can't have a nice vacation on one of the many boats that operates under the Aggressor brand name, but you should not consider them a fleet - research each one as if it were an independent vessel and operation- because they in fact are. Some are great and some are absolute garbage.

It's quite a shady business model if you ask me. Caveat Emptor and sorry to hear about your experience.

 

[Erica Watson]

I understand - It was the president himself who called me so I hold him responsible at this time.

Unfortunately, this is not the way to think about Aggressor. Yes, they have name recognition, and they certainly milk it for all it's worth when selling the trips. However most if not all of the boats are independently owned and operated, so while the name is consistent, the experiences and quality of service, professionalism vary wildly. On top of that, Aggressor itself takes very little if any responsibility for problems or disasters when they occur; When you're shopping for the trip it's all "Aggressor: we have boats everywhere, high standards across the worldwide fleet, yadda yadda..." and when something goes awry the it's "we have no control over what that particular boat decided to do blah blah blah".

Case in point:
Sri Lanka Aggressor Problems

After eating several thousands of dollars on the Sri Lanka Aggresssor debacle I give zero credibility (actually, negative) to the Aggressor brand name. But on the bright side I made it out of that cluster with both my ears still attached to my head, unlike another unfortunate guest.

That is not to say that you can't have a nice vacation on one of the many boats that operates under the Aggressor brand name, but you should not consider them a fleet - research each one as if it were an independent vessel and operation- because they in fact are. Some are great and some are absolute garbage.

It's quite a shady business model if you ask me. Caveat Emptor and sorry to hear about your experience.

 

[Altamira]

Thanks for posting, as this is a good lesson for us to ask lots of questions and ensure that trip insurance covers the craziest of possibilities.

Trip insurance covers what they agree to cover in their Terms and Conditions sections of the policy. I doubt you could find an insurance policy that covers "the craziest of possibilities." If you find one, let us know.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Trip insurance covers what they agree to cover in their Terms and Conditions sections of the policy. I doubt you could find an insurance policy that covers "the craziest of possibilities." If you find one, let us know.

At least you know going in and then can request certain guarantees from the live aboard op. If they refuse, then don’t book.

 

[KeithG]

Thanks for posting, as this is a good lesson for us to ask lots of questions and ensure that trip insurance covers the craziest of possibilities.

Agreed. This is an odd situation and in the end I would be very unhappy with Aggressor as oppossed to any travel insurance company. the OP was put in a terrible situation. Could it have been avoided?

It seems that many people do not understand what situations trip insurance covers. The cheaper the insurance, the less situations that will be covered.

If Aggressor had notified before departure from home, then you likely should have been able to not fly and submit an insurance claim for the unrefunded portion of the flight tickets. But the OP successfully flew so there is no basis for an insurance claim for the cost of the flights.

The OP had elcheapo travel insurance which has some extremely broad exclusions for the liveaboard costs (you get what you pay for). A better travel insurance product would have covered this case of the liveaboard defaulting (mine does). But the OP would still not be able to make a claim as their cost of the LOB was $0. It was a free LOB trip that they won. Nothing to insure.

The only insurance claim I can think of could be a daily subsistence allowance (my coverage is $300 per day per person) but since the boat offered to provide room and board for the week it does not seem like this could be claimed either.