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We just returned from an 11-day trip to Raja Ampat on Kararu’s recently purchased liveaboard Cheng Ho. This boat was converted from a day trip booze-cruise party boat to a liveaboard in 6 weeks and now replaces the Voyager liveaboard. We originally booked on the Voyager, but it has now been sent to dry dock, and the Cheng Ho is now being used.
Please be aware of the following issues:
1) Six guests were given Crew Quarter bunk beds when we had all paid for Deluxe Accommodations. When we complained, Kararu offered nothing but platitudes;
2) This dive boat had 2 dive masters and 1 trip director (who became a 3rd dive master) for 22 divers. The dive master assigned to checking currents had minimal knowledge of reading currents. For 11 days, they dropped all 22 divers on top of each other instead of attempting to spread us out; we were frequently dropped in dangerous down currents and turbulent currents that were avoidable.
3) The boat leaks terribly.
4) Kararu’s pre-departure announcement of the switching of the boats was nothing short of misleading, false and dishonest.
I will start with #4:
Kararu’s email announcement of the Cheng Ho said, “The maximum amount of people will be the same as Voyager so that guests will enjoy even more space onboard.” In reality, instead of 18-20 divers booked on the Voyager, they crammed 22 on the Cheng Ho. The Cheng Ho only have 6 deluxe rooms and three staterooms, so the only rooms left were in the back of the boat beyond the “CREW ONLY” sign. That’s where 6 of us were put. As with all liveaboards, the crew quarters are usually separated from guest quarters. So too on Cheng Ho. The crew sat outside our room 24 hours a day eating, sleeping, smoking, talking and playing music. It IS their area and it WAS their sleeping quarters until the management kicked them out and put the 6 guests in their quarters. BTW, we could only take 2 showers in the room in 11 days; water was no more than a trickle. We took cold dive deck showers for 11 days. Half way through the trip, they stated that the RO capacity is 8000 pounds of water a day and that the 22 guests were using 10,000 pounds per day and to STOP USING WATER IF POSSIBLE.
Kararu’s email also stated, “Your original cabin booking remains the same.” Obviously when you only have 6 DELUXE rooms, numerous people are going to be forced into crew quarter bunk beds. We contacted Kararu’s BALI management (Stein) twice requesting acknowledgement of the substandard bunk bed room. Stein’s response was, “We’re sorry you were unhappy.” His response is quite disturbing considering the promises laid forth in the pre-departure email.
Kararu’s email also stated, “Your cabin on Cheng Ho is 3-4 meters larger than on the Voyager.” Our crew-quarter room was 3 meters x 3 meters – total! We visited our friends’ Deluxe room, who paid the same amount as we did (and got one of the 6 deluxe rooms). You could place 2-3 of our rooms in their room!!
A word about the leaky Cheng Ho: This would be just an annoyance, except for one aspect. They have a large charging table in the lounge/restaurant area. This table is covered with power strips (mostly 220 volt) for passengers to plug in battery chargers, laptops, etc. Every time it would rain (most every day), they would cover this area with a plastic sheet as the rain began coming through the ceiling. I still shudder to think of all that water running down onto the floor with all that 220 volt equipment around.
A final word on the dive operation: In addition to dumping 22 people on top of each other with 2 dive masters and a trip director, be cautious of the dive tender situation. The 3 tenders are quite small with no racks for tanks, BC’s, etc. They cram 10-11 people in each small tender. You must get into your gear on the main boat, and climb into the tender in slippery, sometimes heavy wave, conditions. Once you have finished your dive, you remove your gear in the water, hand it up and everything goes in a big PILE. Needless to say, many of us were having equipment problems, lost equipment, broken pieces, etc. TAKE CARE, OR YOUR GEAR WILL LIKELY BE DAMAGED.
ADDITIONAL WARNING: Do not believe their website’s ITINERARY! Day Two says, “Welcome to Kri Island. The reefs in this area are protected by Max Ammer from the Papua Dive Resort. If you would like to add some dive days before the cruise, you can just stay at his resort and join the boat right outside of the lagoon.” NOT! Four of us were denied this and lost two days of diving by having to leave Papua Dive Resort (Sorido Bay) and return to Sorong where we sat for Sunday and Monday. Sure enough, we left Sorong and went straight away to Papua Dive Resort!
the Lagoon.
You’ve been warned.
There have been several posts on this boat recently - see the one about Kararu - Don't Believe the Website. That post related many of the same issues - water leakage, issues with dive operations, and several other problems. I too have heard of the same response from "Stein". Some people seem to like this operation and boat but I don't understand how or why.
Kerri and Hergen were the Cheng Ho trip directors. And since there are only 2 dive masters for 22 people, Kerri had to be a dive master all week instead of dealing with all the issues affecting the guests.
Just back from a trip with the Cheng Ho, which was nothing like I have read in this forum. We did a 11 night trip diving the Raja Ampat area - diving here is simply fantastic! The cruise directors encouraged us all to give them a wish-list of what we wanted to see - which they used to "sort" divers into different groups. Being a macro lover, I was placed in a tender boat which concentrated on diving for the small stuff. Having done quite a few liveaboard trips around the world, I found this arrangement of splitting up the groups according to what we wanted to see, to be extremely diver friendly. There was a total of 20 divers on this trip using 3 different tender boats. My impression of the cruise directors (Hergen & Kerri) was very, very positive with their friendly and positive towards the divers needs. Issues were always dealt with in a very professional manner, the diving was very well organized. We never experienced any problems with currents or overcrowding on the dive sites at all.
We stayed in a below deck twin cabin which I found to be spacious and offered ample storage space for two divers. It was clean and nicely decorated and the bathroom did always have plenty of hot water in the shower. Occationally the water pressure was rather low - but I guess that will happen when almost 20 people are showering at the same time. The weather was in general really good on this trip. Heavy rain might lead to leaking as it is a vooden vessel, but we did not experience any problems with this.
The food was fantastic! I have seldom experienced this attention to presentation and quality of food onboard any vessel before. Being Greek, Indian, Japanese, Italian or BBQ, it all tasted great and was always plenty-full!
I had a truly great trip onboard the Cheng Ho and can only recommend the vessel and Kararu's service - top notch all the way! In fact I have booked another trip with them for 2008 - this time going to the much talked about destination Fak Fak. Have read the different articles and it seems to be a great destination - looking forward to finally get there.
Just back from a trip with the Cheng Ho, which was nothing like I have read in this forum. We did a 11 night trip diving the Raja Ampat area - diving here is simply fantastic! The cruise directors encouraged us all to give them a wish-list of what we wanted to see - which they used to "sort" divers into different groups. Being a macro lover, I was placed in a tender boat which concentrated on diving for the small stuff. Having done quite a few liveaboard trips around the world, I found this arrangement of splitting up the groups according to what we wanted to see, to be extremely diver friendly. There was a total of 20 divers on this trip using 3 different tender boats. My impression of the cruise directors (Hergen & Kerri) was very, very positive with their friendly and positive towards the divers needs. Issues were always dealt with in a very professional manner, the diving was very well organized. We never experienced any problems with currents or overcrowding on the dive sites at all.
We stayed in a below deck twin cabin which I found to be spacious and offered ample storage space for two divers. It was clean and nicely decorated and the bathroom did always have plenty of hot water in the shower. Occationally the water pressure was rather low - but I guess that will happen when almost 20 people are showering at the same time. The weather was in general really good on this trip. Heavy rain might lead to leaking as it is a vooden vessel, but we did not experience any problems with this.
The food was fantastic! I have seldom experienced this attention to presentation and quality of food onboard any vessel before. Being Greek, Indian, Japanese, Italian or BBQ, it all tasted great and was always plenty-full!
I had a truly great trip onboard the Cheng Ho and can only recommend the vessel and Kararu's service - top notch all the way! In fact I have booked another trip with them for 2008 - this time going to the much talked about destination Fak Fak. Have read the different articles and it seems to be a great destination - looking forward to finally get there.
Nudiman,
Sounds like the perfect response to a bad review. Do you work for Kararu? Why haven't you put any information about yourself in your profile?
Kerri and Hergen were the Cheng Ho trip directors. And since there are only 2 dive masters for 22 people, Kerri had to be a dive master all week instead of dealing with all the issues affecting the guests.
CritterHunter
That is really too bad. The one positive point about the boat for both of our two trips were the indo guides. Dive guide Gusti had been with the company for some 10 years, what a shame he isn't with them anymore.
I really doubt the validity of nudimans review. The one absolutely consistent complaint from EVERY boat the Kararu runs is lack of hot water. He must have hit the jackpot to be on the only trip ever with a good supply.
That is really too bad. The one positive point about the boat for both of our two trips were the indo guides. Dive guide Gusti had been with the company for some 10 years, what a shame he isn't with them anymore.
I really doubt the validity of nudimans review. The one absolutely consistent complaint from EVERY boat the Kararu runs is lack of hot water. He must have hit the jackpot to be on the only trip ever with a good supply.
When we were on Cheng Ho Nov 18-30, 2007, they had installed a new water heater. It was working quite well. Anyone on the boat can tell you, the water was actually very hot. I think the hot water problem has been resolved.
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Beware Kararu - Cheng Ho
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Originally Posted by nudiman
