Carib Dancer Cancellation

[ltoosilly]

Now more of the truth is coming out... Not as bad as originally led to believe

I believe my original posts accurately described the situation. As others responded indicating a misunderstanding of the facts I replied to clarify. It was not my intention to mislead or misrepresent these facts.

My intention was to inform others (and perhaps to vent a little). Although my contributions to ScubaBoard over the years have regrettably been few, I have benefitted immensely from the recommendations and reviews to be found here. Especially when it comes to choosing dive destinations. As a result of the contributions to this board I've had the pleasure of experiencing many fantastic dive vacations (Scuba Club Cozumel, Buddy Dive Bonaire, Coco ViewRoatan, Castle Comfort Dominica, Solmar V to name a few). In general I found the comments regarding dive operations to be fair and accurate. My goal was toadd to this dialogue and let others make an informed decision as I have been able to do in the past.

We booked on this vessel early without the benefit of others experience. As others had the opportunity to report their experience it has been predominantly negative. Although we never even left home our experience with Dancer Fleet, specifically with Carib Dancer, has been negative as well. I plan to use this experience to guide my decision making regarding dive vacations in the future. I hope others will learn from our mistake. Perhaps as DiverCarlos has suggested maybe we were lucky to have had the trip cancelled.

Finally I do hope that Dancer Fleet responds to this thread. Not in the aggressive attacking manner they have adopted in the past. But rather as part of a constructive dialogue to help improve their product and service. We are Dancer Fleet's customers and more importantly (to Dancer) potential future customers.

 

[redacted]

If I understand this correctly, the op was refunded all the $$$ that was paid to Carib Dancer and offered a voucher (for some value) for future trips with them. All that remains in question is the travel agents fees paid by the OP which I expect are less than 5% and the travel agent has offered that refund. Sure, the OP is going to lose some $$$ on this particularly when you consider other expenses like air fare. But I see that as a potential problem with live-a-boards in general and don't really expect any of them to do more than Carib Dance has done.

 

[Wookie]

If I understand this correctly, the op was refunded all the $$$ that was paid to Carib Dancer and offered a voucher (for some value) for future trips with them. All that remains in question is the travel agents fees paid by the OP which I expect are less than 5% and the travel agent has offered that refund. Sure, the OP is going to lose some $$$ on this particularly when you consider other expenses like air fare. But I see that as a potential problem with live-a-boards in general and don't really expect any of them to do more than Carib Dance has done.

I have no knowledge of the inner workings of the Aggressor/Dancer fleet, but typical liveaboard commissions to the travel agent is 20%. They won't work for less. I know this, because I don't offer 20%, and none of the major travel agents will work with me.

 

[redacted]

I have no knowledge of the inner workings of the Aggressor/Dancer fleet, but typical liveaboard commissions to the travel agent is 20%. They won't work for less. I know this, because I don't offer 20%, and none of the major travel agents will work with me.

Damn. Maybe we both missed the boat.

 

[Brodydog]

If I understand this correctly, the op was refunded all the $$$ that was paid to Carib Dancer and offered a voucher (for some value) for future trips with them. All that remains in question is the travel agents fees paid by the OP which I expect are less than 5% and the travel agent has offered that refund. Sure, the OP is going to lose some $$$ on this particularly when you consider other expenses like air fare. But I see that as a potential problem with live-a-boards in general and don't really expect any of them to do more than Carib Dance has done.

This sounds like a fair representation of the facts as I see them now. Even though I will choose not to go on this boat due to all it's issues reported here, I do believe the company did a fair job in repayment to the op. The voucher (of unknown value to us) could possibly be used to offset the difference in having to reschedule a flight to a different location and/or time frame.

Unfortunately unforseen things happen that require a liveaboard to cancel their trip. We would not expect to be compensated for anything other than the cost of the boat if this were weather related. Take the money from the travel agent and use them to book trips in the future.

 

[diverdoug1]

I wonder if Dancer/Aggressor is considering removing this operator from thier franchise.

 

[Chuckitall]

I absolutely agree that Dancer should have refunded the full amount. It's nice for the travel agent to refund the commission. I would have done the same. HOWEVER: Aggressor/Dancer should step up and protect the Agent's commission. Poor Poor Poor customer service once again on their end. It's endless. I have been a travel agency owner for over 20 years and I have never experience poor customer service like with this company. I'm glad I severed my business relationship with them. I actually turned down a profitable Galapagos booking and my clients ended up booking Explorer Ventures through me. I once had a group booked on a Carnival cruise to Alaska. The trip was cancelled because of mechanical reasons. The group got a full refund, a voucher for another cruise, and air voucher. I got my commission on the cancelled trip and a bonus commission on the free voucher trip.

OOPS! This is Amazz, not Chuckitall. Wrong logon.

 

[flots am]

Update

Although Dancer Fleet has offered to provide a small voucher for future travel they have said they will not refund the full amount paid for the trip even though they cancelled! A portion of the amount we paid covers our travel agent's comission. She held up her end of the bargain booking us initially and has been dealing with Dancer since they cancelled on us. When she was informed that Dancer would not reimburse us the full amount she offerred to refund her comission. This hardy seems fair to us. In our opinion this is highly unprofessional on Dancer Fleet's part.

Assuming you paid with a credit card, you can get your money back by filing a complaint with your credit card company. The requirements are printed on the back of your credit card bill.

They will happily give you back your money for something you paid for and didn't receive, and will charge back whoever they paid, who can then deal with it as they see fit.

flots.

 

[H2O Gal]

I have a question and PLEASE don't take it as me being a smartass, but why would someone use a travel agent to book a liveaboard trip? With the internet it's really easy to book flights and find the best rates and every liveaboard I've been on takes direct booking over the phone for their boat, so why use a travel agent? Do you get a better price or something?

 

[Wookie]

I have a question and PLEASE don't take it as me being a smartass, but why would someone use a travel agent to book a liveaboard trip? With the internet it's really easy to book flights and find the best rates and every liveaboard I've been on takes direct booking over the phone for their boat, so why use a travel agent? Do you get a better price or something?

Some folks work hard all week and don't want to mess with the opportunity to save a couple of hundred bucks to book themselves. They just want to call a trusted agent and say "put me on the XXX trip". Sometimes, a travel agent thinks of things you might not, like, let's spend an extra night in a hotel in Madang because getting on a liveaboard after flying 22 hours might make me a bit logy. Some folks like to travel with their group, and a trusted travel agent will put together a package that saves everyone a few bucks. A travel agent will have extra pull with the operator and can often get single supplements negated, can get the traveler free nitrox, or a breakfast package at the resort.

There are lots of reasons to use travel agents.