Yes, I asked Willian very nicely if I could put together a smaller boat and he said I needed six people to do so and he had to have names and room numbers before he would do it.
I asked around and so did another couple I had met but we could only come up with 5 people (most people were diving with their groups). We even asked a couple other photographers but one was videoing his group for the week and the other one stayed on the bigger boat because he and his wife (she was a newer diver) liked the DM they were diving with (and had been diving with for a number of years).
I told Willian that we had 5 for a smaller boat for daytime or night dives.. he wouldn't consider it.