Nekton Rorqual Review

[cappyjon431]

Just got off my first Nekton Cruise -- Pilot in Medio this week. I've been on Blackbeards, Aggressor, Juliet and Paradise Charters -- so I've seen other ops. Op is a bit frayed around the edges. You get what you pay for. Crew smokes a lot. Reality of "We request that you depart the boat by 9:30am on the day of return" translated to 3 crew members knocking on our door at 8:00am saying: "We NEED you aff the boat NOW." Thanks for coming, eh? Feel the love.

Departure times were always a problem for us in Ft. Lauderdale (at least they were after 911). The boat makes a reservation with U.S. Customs and Immigration for a set time in the morning, but sometimes the officers arrive very early and they are unwilling to wait for passengers and crew to go through the process of showing their passports and collecting the paperwork. These officers also require that all luggage be in the salon when they arrive for possible inspection. Other times the officers show up late which causes even more problems, as we have had guests almost miss their flights because Customs/immigration does not show up until 11:00ish and people have planes to catch.

I was not there, so I can't speak for what actually happened (and it seems a little more tact on the part of the crew was warranted), but my guess was that this was more the fault of US Customs and Immigration than it was of the company.

 

[fda483]

Thanks for your comments fda483, we had our first and last trip on the Pilot a year 1/2 ago and you pretty much summed it up. We are looking at booking CEII for Turks 7 Caicos in early June so I was glad to hear you had a good time on that trip! You don't have any photos of that trip do you?

I have a ton of photos, just never get the time to post them anywhere! Bottom line on the diving in T & C- Good overall but not great. Less fish than Belize but similar in that it is all walls. A lot of reef sharks so many in fact we stopped pointing them out to each other. Night dives were great, most fun was just laying in the sand by a coral head and watching the blood worms attracted by your light get eaten by the coral. Nitrox on the ship was consistently 32% and they did give good fills, in fact they have a few 100cuft tanks if you are a hoover like I am. Crew was great overall, Captain interacted with the guests all day so if an issue came up he was right on it to fix it. Only negative thing was I think they could do a little better on the food, but did not go to eat! You will have a great time.

Joe

 

[DiveMaven]

I've really enjoyed our Nekton cruises in years past, but some of the front office problems in the past couple of years have me looking to more reliable and less expensive options....like Bonaire and Coco View. Its really sad that these boats have been allowed to go into disrepair (on our last trip, the engineer was attempting to correct all the Mickey Mouse wiring), and that the old timers are long gone. We were fortunate to have 3 trips with Ephey at the helm and Arminda in the kitchen, and things always ran lock clock work!

 

[robint]

Departure times were always a problem for us in Ft. Lauderdale (at least they were after 911). The boat makes a reservation with U.S. Customs and Immigration for a set time in the morning, but sometimes the officers arrive very early and they are unwilling to wait for passengers and crew to go through the process of showing their passports and collecting the paperwork. These officers also require that all luggage be in the salon when they arrive for possible inspection. Other times the officers show up late which causes even more problems, as we have had guests almost miss their flights because Customs/immigration does not show up until 11:00ish and people have planes to catch.

I was not there, so I can't speak for what actually happened (and it seems a little more tact on the part of the crew was warranted), but my guess was that this was more the fault of US Customs and Immigration than it was of the company.

Yeah, the Customs guys are a PITA. They make everyone be in the Salon with paperwork in hand while they are there, just standing there with all their luggage as they call everyone up to a table one by one. On our last trip, someone did try to sleep in a bit and the Customs guy sent a crew member down to knock on their door to get them. They weren't happy and the next thing you know they sent another custom agent down with a dog to search the crew qtrs. I think they searched that couple's room also. I didn't go down but that is what I thought I heard from the crew member escort for the agent. The Customs folks (I think it was 3-4 of them) were on board just staring at us like we were criminals or something the whole time. It took about 30 minutes to get through everyone with paperwork and passports which wasn't too bad.... but the evil glares at us made everyone very uncomfortable! Plus the whole crew, guests, and all that luggage crammed into the Salon sucked.

BAck to other comments about the Nekton, I am still a fan. I like the boat layout and the fact we are allowed diving freedom, dive when we want and no DM leading us around in a group. I like that. Sure the boat needs work. I have never been on a boat that didn't. We did one trip on Pilot in 2006, and one trip on Rorqual in 2008... enjoyed both but the Pilot did seem to be in better shape than the Rorqual although we were told the Rorqual is faster. Yes, some crew members did smoke but we never saw them smoking anywhere but at the back corner smoking area on the top deck.

Also, regarding the "crew never available for dives"... I know that on our first trip, no one ever had a crew member dive with them but everyone got along so well no one needed it. On our second trip there was a single lady who insisted on having a DM dive every dive with her. A few other divers joined them a few times and it never seemed to be an issue. In fact, the Capt and all the other DMs were in the water EVERY day, we saw them underwater! They told us, since Medio was a new itinerary, it was important for everyone to get familiar with the sites so they all got to dive EVERY site. I don't know if that is new policy since NCchuck was on crew many years ago, but every day at every site we saw crew in the water either alone just swimming around checking the reef out OR leading divers around.

I have 2 very detailed trip reports, with all the good and bad from our trips if anyone wants to read them. I know some people here take issue with my opinion.

robin

 

[cappyjon431]

Yeah, the Customs guys are a PITA. They make everyone be in the Salon with paperwork in hand while they are there, just standing there with all their luggage as they call everyone up to a table one by one. On our last trip, someone did try to sleep in a bit and the Customs guy sent a crew member down to knock on their door to get them. They weren't happy and the next thing you know they sent another custom agent down with a dog to search the crew qtrs. I think they searched that couple's room also. I didn't go down but that is what I thought I heard from the crew member escort for the agent. The Customs folks (I think it was 3-4 of them) were on board just staring at us like we were criminals or something the whole time. It took about 30 minutes to get through everyone with paperwork and passports which wasn't too bad.... but the evil glares at us made everyone very uncomfortable! Plus the whole crew, guests, and all that luggage crammed into the Salon sucked.

BAck to other comments about the Nekton, I am still a fan. I like the boat layout and the fact we are allowed diving freedom, dive when we want and no DM leading us around in a group. I like that. Sure the boat needs work. I have never been on a boat that didn't. We did one trip on Pilot in 2006, and one trip on Rorqual in 2008... enjoyed both but the Pilot did seem to be in better shape than the Rorqual although we were told the Rorqual is faster. Yes, some crew members did smoke but we never saw them smoking anywhere but at the back corner smoking area on the top deck.

Also, regarding the "crew never available for dives"... I know that on our first trip, no one ever had a crew member dive with them but everyone got along so well no one needed it. On our second trip there was a single lady who insisted on having a DM dive every dive with her. A few other divers joined them a few times and it never seemed to be an issue. In fact, the Capt and all the other DMs were in the water EVERY day, we saw them underwater! They told us, since Medio was a new itinerary, it was important for everyone to get familiar with the sites so they all got to dive EVERY site. I don't know if that is new policy since NCchuck was on crew many years ago, but every day at every site we saw crew in the water either alone just swimming around checking the reef out OR leading divers around.

I have 2 very detailed trip reports, with all the good and bad from our trips if anyone wants to read them. I know some people here take issue with my opinion.

robin

There has NEVER been a policy discouraging crew from diving, and this is coming from someone who logged almost three thousand dives in an eight year period from the Nekton Pilot. While many crewmembers frequently elected to nap or read on their "free" time, I always enjoyed getting in the water, as did many of my fellow crew members. When I was captain of the Pilot I always made sure there was a divemaster available if someone needed a buddy (we called the position designated dive buddy and his name was posted on the briefing white board).

One problem I did have when I was Captain was that sometimes some of the new crew would be in the water diving when they should have been making up cabins, helping in the galley, or assisting in engineering. In those instances I would tell the offending crewmember they had done enough diving for the day and to get to their required tasks. I'm not certain, but I think this might be what NCchuck might have been referring to in his post (obviously the experience was not a good one for him).

 

[bcaderunr]

Departure times were always a problem for us in Ft. Lauderdale (at least they were after 911). The boat makes a reservation with U.S. Customs and Immigration for a set time in the morning, but sometimes the officers arrive very early and they are unwilling to wait for passengers and crew to go through the process of showing their passports and collecting the paperwork. These officers also require that all luggage be in the salon when they arrive for possible inspection. Other times the officers show up late which causes even more problems, as we have had guests almost miss their flights because Customs/immigration does not show up until 11:00ish and people have planes to catch.

I was not there, so I can't speak for what actually happened (and it seems a little more tact on the part of the crew was warranted), but my guess was that this was more the fault of US Customs and Immigration than it was of the company.

Actually, the Customs people were there at 8:00am sharp and efficiently processed everyone on board in roughly 10 minutes. As soon as the officer left, the crew hustled us off as quickly as possible. We requested to go on a later shuttle (our flight out was at 3pm), but were told that we HAD to be on the first one -- which is the one they decided to put us on. That's what happened -- period. Hey -- if they need you off at 8:15am, then SAY SO. Don't advertize 9:30am. That's my only contention.

 

[H2O Gal]

Hi guys-
I've come from Lurkerville to post here--I've been reading this thread with great interest since I've got a trip booked with Nekton to go to Medio Reef in August. I'm not surprised by the mixed reviews--I'm a long time poster on Trip Advisor and one thing I've learned from there is that almost no place will get perfect reviews. Even with all the bad reviews I'm still really looking forward to my trip. My one and only live aboard experience so far was with a boat called the Gulf Stream Princess....I can't find any info on them so I assume they aren't in business...but even as bad as that boat was, I had a great time, so I don't expect this to be any different--I'll be there to dive my a$$ off so I don't care if the doors won't close or there are some occasional funky smells!

 

[cappyjon431]

Actually, the Customs people were there at 8:00am sharp and efficiently processed everyone on board in roughly 10 minutes. As soon as the officer left, the crew hustled us off as quickly as possible. We requested to go on a later shuttle (our flight out was at 3pm), but were told that we HAD to be on the first one -- which is the one they decided to put us on. That's what happened -- period. Hey -- if they need you off at 8:15am, then SAY SO. Don't advertize 9:30am. That's my only contention.

It sounds as if a little tact and organization on the part of the crew would have gone a long way with this particular issue. Obviously you should have been placed on a later shuttle, because that extra hour+ at the airport was not necessary.

While not trying to make excuses, sometimes passengers are unaware of why guests are asked to get off the boat earlier than anticipated. If the harbor master asks the boat to move to provide space for an incoming vessel, all passengers are required to disembark after the quarentine flag is removed (once Customs and Immigration is done). Sometimes the boat must be moved to the fuel dock to acquire fuel for the next week's charter, and the time for fueling is in the hands of the fuel company, not Nekton.

The bottom line is that you were unsatisfied with your Nekton experience. I would strongly recommend contacting either the owner (John) or the Operation's Manager (Jeff B.) personally and explain your concerns.

 

[bcaderunr]

First off, I did enjoy the overall experience. I was merely pointing out a few negatives which detracted from it. I signed up for the trip to go diving, not manage their operation for them.

 

[Shasta_man]

The original post included what happened when issues were reported.