Wanted to give a shout out to Captain Dennis and his crew of Zach, David, Shea, Mariano, and Tim. Went out with them Nov 16-23rd. They run a great boat, and I'd recommend them to anyone looking at a liveaboard in the Bahamas.
My buddy (tajkd) will certainly come along with a detailed review, but here's some of my observations on what I consider the important things relative to liveaboards:
As mentioned in another post, we were called-upon to assist another liveaboard that ran aground (and eventually sunk) and actually had one of our crewmembers seriously injured while we assisted getting the other passengers off their boat and onto ours... so we got to see the Carib Dancer captain and crew respond to a particularly stressful situation. Other than the expected hassle involved in such a situation - including transit back to Nassau to drop of passengers and get our guy to the hospital - the crew never missed a beat. I'm retty sure they'll be able to handle whatever drama you or your group bring aboard...
My buddy (tajkd) will certainly come along with a detailed review, but here's some of my observations on what I consider the important things relative to liveaboards:
- Diving was good, typical Caribbean fare; sharks, turtles, etc on most dives (as well as lionfish)
- The boat is a bit smaller than some, but the upside of this is only 14 passengers vs the 16-20 of some vessels. I'd gladly trade a smaller boat for two-to-four fewer divers in the water.
- Dive deck was well-arranged and never seemed crowded; hinged bin under your seat, lots of room to hang wetsuits, etc.
- Briefings were detailed and informative
- Your dive was yours to plan and dive; no mandatory limits on time or depth other than observing your MOD; follow the DM if you like, or do your own thing.
- Food was very good, plentiful, and varied; hit the sweet spot between "meat and potatoes" and "froo-froo high-end" that many boats fail to achieve. Particularly impressive, as this was Chef Tim's first week on the boat. In fact, it was his first week cooking on ANY boat.
- Crew was friendly, helpful, responsive, and fun; Captain Dennis sets the right tone and everyone seems to work well together.
- Salon and cabins were a slight bit tighter than some other boats, as you'd expect on a slightly smaller vessel, but not to the point of being problematic; furnishings were a bit dated, but I understand she'll be getting a facelift in drydock early in 2014
As mentioned in another post, we were called-upon to assist another liveaboard that ran aground (and eventually sunk) and actually had one of our crewmembers seriously injured while we assisted getting the other passengers off their boat and onto ours... so we got to see the Carib Dancer captain and crew respond to a particularly stressful situation. Other than the expected hassle involved in such a situation - including transit back to Nassau to drop of passengers and get our guy to the hospital - the crew never missed a beat. I'm retty sure they'll be able to handle whatever drama you or your group bring aboard...
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