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

[Scared Silly]

I however don't think a trip where nothing went south can ever be used as an indication towards quality of actions when something does go south. But maybe as a very slight indicator about the liklyness of something going south... maybe not.

I have made this statement not only on this board but others. The way to measure a company is not when they get it right, that is what you are paying them to do. But rather when they get it wrong.

 

[Hoag]

There have been a few threads lately about things going sideways while on Aggressor boats. This thread obviously, and there was one about a female traveler who was spied on by of all people the boat's captain. It seems that the standard response is some variation of each boat is independently owned and operated and the Aggressor Fleet at large holds no responsibility.

I won't argue the validity of that statement either morally or legally, however, it seems to me that for anyone on ScubaBoard, things may be reaching a "critical mass" for Aggressor. While each boat may be independently owned and operated, the actions of those boats' crew do reflect on the entire fleet and the more common and widespread these incidents are, the more the entire brand suffers. There will come a point where the impression shifts from one of "this is an isolated incident" to one of "this is yet one more example of a fleet-wide larger problem".

Even though each ship is run as an independent franchise, it may soon be time for the head office to make some tough decisions about who they will allow to carry the "Aggressor Fleet" name and who needs to be dropped like a hot potato to save the brand. If these tough decisions are not made, then the actions of a few will continue to reflect negatively on every Aggressor boat throughout the fleet.

 

[Lorenzoid]

A franchisor can only terminate the franchise agreement if the franchisee violates some term of the agreement. A one-off mistake that reflects poorly on the brand but that doesn't otherwise violate the agreement is not going to lead to the franchisee getting dropped.

 

[Erica Watson]

How was the trip won?

It was a drawing at our World Underwater

 

[chillyinCanada]

What do they have to say?

 

[Erica Watson]

Aggressor? Nothing to date. The show - I have not brought it to their attention, I am still just trying to collect information and give Aggressor a chance to respond to my request and catch up on my own stuff - like work and life I will be sure to mention this when I go next month though.

What do they have to say?[/QUOT

 

[Dan]

If you can get a voucher from Aggressor for other than the Oman Aggressor, go with Palau Aggressor II, unless you have gone to that one. I highly recommend it. Check out my trip report: December 24-31, 2017 Palau Trip Report

 

[scubafanatic]

There have been a few threads lately about things going sideways while on Aggressor boats. This thread obviously, and there was one about a female traveler who was spied on by of all people the boat's captain. It seems that the standard response is some variation of each boat is independently owned and operated and the Aggressor Fleet at large holds no responsibility.

I won't argue the validity of that statement either morally or legally, however, it seems to me that for anyone on ScubaBoard, things may be reaching a "critical mass" for Aggressor. While each boat may be independently owned and operated, the actions of those boats' crew do reflect on the entire fleet and the more common and widespread these incidents are, the more the entire brand suffers. There will come a point where the impression shifts from one of "this is an isolated incident" to one of "this is yet one more example of a fleet-wide larger problem".

Even though each ship is run as an independent franchise, it may soon be time for the head office to make some tough decisions about who they will allow to carry the "Aggressor Fleet" name and who needs to be dropped like a hot potato to save the brand. If these tough decisions are not made, then the actions of a few will continue to reflect negatively on every Aggressor boat throughout the fleet.

They are heading the way of the star-crossed Siren fleet....no way to rub the stink off their 'reputation' now!

 

[scubafanatic]

If someone is wanting to book an Aggressor boat, read as many reviews as possible and stick to some of the boats that have been operating in the same area for a very long time like the Belize boats and the Cayman Aggressor boat. But if it's a new destination for them, run, run, and then run even faster away from them. They have a history of rushing boats into service when they were not even close to being ready. The results have been a disaster for those on board.

Agreed, NEVER be a beta-tester for a new live aboard!

 

[scubafanatic]

I have done several liveaboards in the last 10 plus years and never had one canceled. I traveled 20 plus hours, one way, to get to Oman, for a trip I won, only to have it canceled the day I arrived. I was told this was due to another group canceling and that it was too expensive to take the boat out for just 1 or 2 people. I was given the offer of staying on the boat and taking day trips out with another provider but I didn't really want to stay on a boat in a marina alone on Christmas. The only other thing offered was an extension of my voucher.

Has this happened to you? It was with Aggressor so I really thought that this trip would go on. What compensation were you offered?

Other notes: I won the trip in February 2017 and was given until January 2018 to use it. Not a problem except cruises didn't start until late November 2017, giving me very little time to actually use it.

I call BS on the boat cancelling due to a last minute group cancellation! I have NEVER been on a live aboard (or heard of a live aboard) that didn't require full payment at least 2 to 3 months in advance. If anyone cancels the boat just keeps their $ with no refund or future credit required. What REALLY happened to you was a boat failure to sell enough spots on your trip for it to make $ sense to run that trip, they didn't want to lose $ running a low/empty boat, simple as that.