DKS Posted December 4, 2005 #1 Share Posted December 4, 2005 Was on the 11/20 Dawn and booked ahead with Moby Dick. The tender situation was horrible, we had to go to the alternative dock. But stiil, we got to him by 9:10 we wanted to get on the 9:30 boat. Was told it already left and please wait... the bus would be there at 10:00 Where? there is nothing at this dock? Took the kids to play on the sand area. The bus finally came close to 11:00 a run down school bus.. not enough seats took 40 minutes and we were let off at a back alley area.. walked over to the boat. The end deck of the boat was covered with plastic wrap with towels on top. They said they had put a fresh coat of paint on that did not dry in time. hello!!!!! The trip itself was o.k. Did not find them informative or chatty. Captian Zak did go in the water and hold the Stingrays and Hubby and DD and DS had fun... I stayed on the boat with DS who did not want to go in. It did rain and it was very cold.. most folks opted not to go snorkling... wished they had some extra towels or blankets for this type of situation. Oh Yea.. they were using them for the floor of the deck! Back to dock, and had to stand in a back alley waiting for the bus again, while we watched big black rain clouds come in... Had to wait about 10-15 minutes literaly in a back alley... not good with 3 small, cold and tired kids. Also by this time I had 3 very hungry kids. If we had been on the 9:30 trip we would have been back in time for a late lunch.. by the time we got back to the tender area it was 2:00! Would not recommend! Go with another more organized and established tour group! mom2bzj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkletoes4445 Posted December 4, 2005 #2 Share Posted December 4, 2005 Wow, sorry you had such a rotten time. Thanks for taking the time to warn others. I keep a list for future reference. I have kids, and I feel for you. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcs56 Posted December 5, 2005 #3 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Watch out DKS...I posted a not so good review of Nativeways too and I got slammed. Sorta the same situation for us...we were there the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scampi Posted December 6, 2005 #4 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Hi DKS, We have chartered the Moby Dick for our large group next week. Is that the boat you were on, the one painted with the white whale & turtles on it? Did they provide any refreshments? Did they take you to more than one spot? You mentioned that you were transported in a run down school bus, what was the condition of the boat itself and the equipment (snorkel gear) they provided? Thank you for your review. You should also send an E-mail to Mark to let him know what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelWorks Posted December 6, 2005 #5 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Hi DKS, We have chartered the Moby Dick for our large group next week. Is that the boat you were on, the one painted with the white whale & turtles on it? Did they provide any refreshments? Did they take you to more than one spot? You mentioned that you were transported in a run down school bus, what was the condition of the boat itself and the equipment (snorkel gear) they provided? Thank you for your review. You should also send an E-mail to Mark to let him know what happened. Hi Scampi...What day are you going to be in GC next week...I am going to be on the Valor and we are scheduled to stop in GC on Tuesday the 13th...Just curious if we would get to see our sister ship...our group(20 or so) is also scheduled to go with these guys~ I had heard good reviews up till now.....I am going to write him an email now and ask them a few ????! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scampi Posted December 6, 2005 #6 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Hi Travelworks, our group of 21 is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 15th & we have a private charter for the Moby Dick for around 9:30 a.m. We arrive on the Conquest. Thanks for E-mailing Mark. Since we have 6 little ones, I'm going to see that they have a warm coverup for afterwards & some snacks, and perhaps bring some of the ship's bath towels besides the pool towels. According to his website they have water, punch & samples of rum cakes on board. We're supposed to have all kinds of people meeting us at the pier, etc. What were you told? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelWorks Posted December 7, 2005 #7 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Scampi~ I talked to Mark and this is apparently what happened that day.... When the weather is bad & the seas are rough the ships usually don't tender into GC ....well the cruise lines decided to tender them into a location that is in a different spot~ an older pier that hasn't been used since Hurricane Ivan...It was total mayem~ he said that the alternate pier was never meant to handle more than 2 ships worth of tenders and they had 4 ships using the same site that day and that it caused the drive to be longer because of the new location. He said it also caused the bus to be constantly running behind because of the added distance! Apparently the other tour providers were having the same troubles that day....as the distance affected everyones schedules and the traffic to get in and out of the congested area was horrible! He said the lines people had to stand in to get back on the tenders to the ships were huge...and it took a very very long time... The rain and cold weather he of course can't control...but he sounded like he felt bad about how unhappy and overwhelming the whole situation was. Anyway... I say they still did however provide the tour and the snorkel for those who wanted to still go despite the weather not being as warm as one would like. I am sure there were many who had a very positive experience and went with the flow~ Having the kids in these conditions... I am sure made this hard...when my kids are whining or unhappy~I am unhappy! If it is too cold or windy/rainy next week...I probably won't go to stingray city sand bar.....I don't think Moby Dick's or anyone else could improve bad weather....& hopefully the cruiselines learned their lesson and won't over tax this alternate pier again.....but I doubt it! There are some days when GC is scheduled to have up to 11 ships in port on the same day this month! There are 4 ships on my day next Tuesday....you have 8 ships in port on your day the 15th....I am really curious to hear how that works... Best of Luck! I am still excited to swim with the rays....hopefully the weather will be great! I will bring extra beach towels from home and snacks and water after reading this post~I'd rather be over prepared 5 years early--- than under prepared 1 minute too late! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkletoes4445 Posted December 7, 2005 #8 Share Posted December 7, 2005 I think the biggest problem is the number of ships GC is allowing into the port at one time. They do not have enough tenders to handle that large number of passengers (in a timely fashion, anyway). I am really sorry to hear about the confusion, but I think we're going to read more and more about this sort of thing happening when you've got 4-10 ships in port on any given day. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKS Posted December 7, 2005 Author #9 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Hi all, To folow up with some questions: Yes they did supply snorkel equip. and they did supply fruit punch and water, no rum cake. ALthough theweather and the tender situation put a damper on things my problems with Moby Dick was they were un prepared: 1. They had painted the back deck and did not have enough time for it to dry so they covered the whole back deck with plastic wrap On top of that they placed a few towels, but this was slippery and unsafe. 2. We waited from 9:10- 11:00 just to board a bus! Thats more than a traffic issue, that is just poor planning. As a result, the trip was over full and as I said my husband ended up sitting in the staircase with my 3 year old sone and the door kept opening. 3. Lastly, they rent a dock space for the boat, but have no other waiting area. So the busdrops you off in an alley behind some houses and you walk through a path in the over grown grass to the dock. I understand that there were many isues that day, but Mark and Moby Dick folks did NOTHING to help make the situation better. What would I have wanted them to do? I would have liked them to come to us with information. Iwould have liked them not to accept so many walk ins sothat we who reserved in advance could have a seat on the bus! I would have liked them to have some towels or blankets. I would have liked some help with the kids getting them on and off the boat. I would have liked them to run more tours than just putting evryone on one big one. I would have liked Mark to check to make sure everyone was safetly on the bus. I got the feelng hewas all about the profit and not at all about customer service. We booked all ind. excursions and this was was the one we liked the least and it had more to do with customer service than the weather! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Rare LauraS Posted December 9, 2005 Administrators #10 Share Posted December 9, 2005 The nice folks over at Moby Dick Tours have asked us here at Cruise Critic to post the following statement: Statement from Moby Dick Tours : "It is with deep regret that I have heard through this medium that one of our customers is not 100% satisfied with our Stingray city trip. It was the first time spots beach was used in Cayman on the south side of the island since hurricane Ivan 14months ago, as the cruise ships couldn't dock in George town because of bad weather. At the alternate site, spots beach, 7 miles outside George town on the South side of the island, it's just a jetty and nothing else except a rest room. The port authority made the decision to let 5 ships tender to a tiny dock that can only cope with two ships. The decision was based on the fact that people on the ships were not able to land in Cozumel because it had been devastated by Wilmer and the Captains said some of the passengers had been on the boats for two day's and were getting 'antsy'. At spots on this day all 5 ships off loaded at the same time causing massive confusion and tours could not be adequately spaced. Most people understood the difficultly and went along with the extra journey time on the bus and the waiting. Our boat docking facility for Moby Dick is on the prestigous Hyatt Canal oposite the Britannia residences and the Hyatt hotel made famous in the film 'the firm'. Which alas was badly damaged by Ivan. The boat is located behind a residential building being renovated at the moment. This was home to friends of mine before being destroyed in last years hurricane Ivan. The fruit trees survived in this area and is quite beautiful as now more vegetation is growing. Many of the multi million dollar homes are in this area. The service we provide to the cruising community I believe to be a very valuable one. It is completely not about the profit. I would make more money to sell myself to the mighty cruise lines and fill all my boats 3 times a day. I believe the small group personable interaction the way I would like to see the stingrays. On a daily basis I strive to fulfill cruisers dreams and believe I do a good job of doing this. In the end the phrase we must live by, in our weather orientated business is that, " we strive to please most of the people most of the time". My dream is that I make all my customers happy and may all my competing operators bring joy and happiness to the 1000's of people that experience this amazing and special interactions. Everyday, I and my fellow customers are in owe of these amazing creatures that grace us by letting us experience there world". Mark Button Moby Dick Tours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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