Fantasy Island, Roatan Update

[stevenq99]

Thanks for the updates I feel better about booking now.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

Thanks for the updates I feel better about booking now.

Take some snacks with you if you have room for them, there's nothing to eat in between meals.

 

[Doc]

Thanks for the updates I feel better about booking now.

What are they charging? (have a link?) I'm seeing all kinds of different rates out there on the nets.

 

[tridacna]

I have GOES, but does no good there.

I think Doc was referring to those lines in Houston Passport Control. (Not Honduras). GOES rarely (if ever) works in countries of departure. But you know that!

 

[DandyDon]

Take some snacks with you if you have room for them, there's nothing to eat in between meals.

:laughing: Did you sleep thru breakfast every day...??

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

Airport hi-Jinks:

They called my departure, I went through another horse crap TSA-Like check (It's Honduras- everybody's got a job) and got on the United Airlines Flight to Houston.

After that, if you don't have GOES Trusted Traveler Endorsement, you're either new at this (excusable) or a complete idiot (not so much).

What are they charging? (have a link?) I'm seeing all kinds of different rates out there on the nets.

The departure rate was $39.24, I believe I know it's not over $40, If there is someone traveling with you, you can give your passport and money to 1 person in the party and let them pay it if the check in line is long. I don't have a link. sorry :-(

I think Doc was referring to those lines in Houston Passport Control. (Not Honduras). GOES rarely (if ever) works in countries of departure. But you know that!

The TSA like baggage check was in Honduras, I didn't see where he referred to Houston except boarding the plane.

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 06:15 AM ----------

:laughing: Did you sleep thru breakfast every day...??

No smarty had breakfast ever day, but after the afternoon dive, would have been nice to have some chips or something while waiting for Dinner which didn't start until 7pm The morning dives were okay, because you got back during lunch.

 

[Doc]

The departure rate was $39.24, I believe I know it's not over $40, If there is someone traveling with you, you can give your passport and money to 1 person in the party and let them pay it if the check in line is long. I don't have a link. sorry :-(

No, I was asking StevenQ99 about the pricing that had him interested in booking. The price structures I have found have been widely varied and difficult to nail down. ​I see that NABS paid $1000 each for doubles, so FIBR was likely going to see and be hapopy with $700 or so after commissions, which is a number not far off from their previous listed pricing rates. FIBR just lost their long-term US Booking Agent Nick Bach (sp?) so it's really hard to say what pricing is. It is said that he quit over not getting his commission due from this last NABS trip- these kind of things have occurred before with FIBR, and it has influenced future performance and predictability, so it is worth noting. The resort may do well being priced out at $700, but I don't know how forgiving $1000+ a week guests will be over the several fails as listed above. Again- consistency is going to be the key, but free beer and rum goes a long way

I believe that all of the announcements of recent remodeling has been limited to the exteriors, as well as the central locations. This was really apparent. I spoke with a total of 8 departing guests and 7 criticized the rooms, 3 of them said that they would "not send clientele there", so I assume they were in the travel business.

I imagine that FIBR will take this influx of cash to begin paying for the much more cost intensive refitting of the interior guest rooms. Buying lumber and paint for the exteriors was cheap, but since they are said to be on a COD basis for material from local suppliers, this (approx) $87k will buy a lot of faucets, windows, water heaters and air conditioning. They do not have any substantial booking numbers coming up, but they do a great business with day-trip cruise ship snorkelers. That pays a lot of bills with not much expense.

Careful management may well bring them back to full speed and the kind of quality they presented in the 1990's.

The TSA like baggage check was in Honduras, I didn't see where he referred to Houston except boarding the plane.

Another mis-com... I was indeed referring to using GOES in Passport Control in Houston. It can shave 1+ hour off your wait time. I believe that they are driving business to the "self-check" much as grocery stores have done. A way of changing our habits to ultimately cut labor costs on their end. After Houston Customs, the baggage re-check couldn't be simpler, but then you run into Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dummer, the guys that engineered the next US TSA barricade at the top of the escalator. I'm sure this checkpoint could be made worse, but it would involve axle grease and water cannons.

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 06:15 AM ----------



No smarty had breakfast ever day, but after the afternoon dive, would have been nice to have some chips or something while waiting for Dinner which didn't start until 7pm The morning dives were okay, because you got back during lunch.

FIBR operates on a common Eur-Asian Resort diving schedule style. It is owned by a Spanish Consortium, managed on-site by Ivan and Gusto. This model of resort run something like boats at 9-11-2 with single tank departures. FIBR also has previously been known to require you to sign-up for each dive on a blackboard in advance, also very typical of European/Asian Resorts. The schedule is ideally suited to doing one or the other morning dive, and then for the those interested in going "with the guys while she sunbathes/shops", there is the afternoon dive. True to the EurAsian resort style, you are supposed to cocktail or nap before a late dinner. Bed time is assumed to be midnight or after. Just a different model. In that FIBR is directed by their most recent marketing plan specifically at Central and South American guests, this is the product that they will present. They are not focused on the US or Canada as is evidenced by their advertising and marketing.

You will see this same model throughout the world, most esp in resorts that do not cater specifically to North Americans. (even including Club Med)

Their Dive Operation was not over-taxed in any way and as usual, they made a great showing for FIBR. I was not there (I was 100 yards East), but I witnessed the pure mathematics first hand. Essentially no-one shore dived. They had 5 full-size dive boats, rarely going out with more than 9-12 passengers each. there were a few small "speed boat" style dive boats rented from the West End. In that they had essentially no compressors operational, they borrowed 90 tanks of air a day from next door, they serviced 145 guests, so all-in-all, this was a vacation with some diving for most participants. Again- this worked to the advantage of the FIBR Dive Op, which as usual, with the strength of the DMs, created the shining star for FIBR.

One 2 hour trip over to Utila netted a few lucky divers a Whale Shark encounter. How cool is that?

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

FIBR operates on a common Eur-Asian Resort diving schedule style. It is owned by a Spanish Consortium, managed on-site by Ivan and Gusto. This model of resort run something like boats at 9-11-2 with single tank departures. FIBR also has previously been known to require you to sign-up for each dive on a blackboard in advance, also very typical of European/Asian Resorts. The schedule is ideally suited to doing one or the other morning dive, and then for the those interested in going "with the guys while she sunbathes/shops", there is the afternoon dive. True to the EurAsian resort style, you are supposed to cocktail or nap before a late dinner. Bed time is assumed to be midnight or after. Just a different model. In that FIBR is directed by their most recent marketing plan specifically at Central and South American guests, this is the product that they will present. They are not focused on the US or Canada as is evidenced by their advertising and marketing.

You will see this same model throughout the world, most esp in resorts that do not cater specifically to North Americans. (even including Club Med)

Their Dive Operation was not over-taxed in any way and as usual, they made a great showing for FIBR. I was not there, but I saw the pure mathematics first hand. They had 5 full-size dive boats, rarely going out with more than 9-12 passengers each. there were a few small "speed boat" style dive boats rented from the West End. In that they had essentially no compressors operational, they borrowed 90 tanks of air a day from next door, they serviced 145 guests, so all-in-all, this was a vacation with some diving for most participants. Again- this worked to the advantage of the FIBR Dive Op, which as usual, with the strength of the DMs, created the shining star for FIBR.

We were told that we did single tank dives because of the number of divers, they didn't have enough tanks to do 2 tanks, we would come in and pick up fills during the SI,Thursday and Fri we did 2 tanks dives as the number of divers per day dwindled down. this was also the reason they didn't have nitrox fills they only had 2 compressors running so it was hard to keep up. one day we had to go to CCV to get tanks. I understand their dilemma, this was not a problem, they also staggered the boat departure times for the 5 boats. and also there was 2 tank day trip to Utila from Tues thru Fri. We only used the speed boat one day, due to them having snorkelers from the cruise line.

I'm not sure about the booking agent, but from my understanding, this was NABS first trip to FIBR

I check their online price which was DEMA special at the time, and it was the same as the price through NABS. Fantasy Island Dive and Beach Resort - Roatan Bay Islands Honduras Vacations - Home

The TSA like baggage check was in Honduras, I didn't see where he referred to Houston except boarding the plane.

Another mis-com... I was indeed referring to using GOES in Passport Control in Houston. It can shave 1+ hour off your wait time. I believe that they are driving business to the "self-check" much as grocery stores have done. A way of changing our habits to ultimately cut labor costs on their end. After Houston Customs, the baggage re-check couldn't be simpler, but then you run into Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dummer, the guys that engineered the next US TSA barricade at the top of the escalator. I'm sure this checkpoint could be made worse, but it would involve axle grease and water cannons.

I'm just completely lost on what any of this has to do with my post about the airport in Honduras, so I'll leave that one alone.

 

[Doc]

Thanks for that website pricing.

I was told the food was quite good. Anything more to add on that?

 

[tridacna]

The TSA like baggage check was in Honduras, I didn't see where he referred to Houston except boarding the plane.

What Doc said.... "and got on the United Airlines Flight to Houston.After that, if you don't have GOES Trusted Traveler Endorsement, you're either new at this (excusable) or a complete idiot (not so much)."

Nuthin about Roatan or TSA. Highlights are mine. Should be obvious what he meant...?

I've been using GOES since program inception. Outside of Shannon Airport in Ireland and Canadian airports, I have never seen any Global Entry kiosks anywhere but in the US. (and US territories).

And for the record, I've been to Roatan five times and never encountered any unusually long lines. Yeah, it's a pain in the ass but that's the nature of the travelling beast. I've been help up at Heathrow, De Gaulle and Narita several times in jams. Not a reason not to go back to any.