tsuyoshi
Contributor
I had previously been on this same trip in 2022 & truely enjoy diving in central & South Komodo with help of the same fine crew.
So I jumped on the booking with liveaboard.com when there was a holiday special without hesitation. On hind sight now, I wished I had dug deeper into how Aggressor handles problems with several "eyebrow raising" reports online.
At the moment (3/13), we are "stuck" on board Indo Aggresor in Labuan Bajo harbor as the Harbor Master had shut down the harbor since 3/9 from 3/11 til 3/16 due to weather, while the boat Indo Aggressor were scheduled to disembark on 3/11 to 3/18. Only smaller speed/day boats were allowed exit and entry.
Of the 12 guests, none of us were notified of the situation until we were braught onboard on 3/11 given many of us had been in transit half way around the world. But most of us had entered Indo by 3/9 or 3/10 so could have re-plan accodingly. Some of us learned about it from other canceled liveaboard travelers in town.
Instead, the crew were instructed to quickly bring us on board 3/11 and go through the motion of setup then to be given the "old" news of harbor lock down from 3/11-3/16 and the trip is canceled for those day while we were also sugguested to consider the option of making alternative plans or wait for the harbor to hopefully reopen on 3/16 & dive 2 days. Some travelers in town that were informed early had already got out in time while we scrambled to find no out bound flights available for the next day or 2 since it was a bit late.
Not to mention being baited to the situation so the trip would be considered commensed and received the news from Aggressor & Liveaboard.com quickly the next day that the trip is not consider cancelled as we are accommodated on board in port. No refund or compensation will be given especially for those choosing to leave early. We were suggested to consult with travel insurance.
So from the deliberate withheld of the situation, precious time is now lost nevermind the costs of the Aggresor booking.
In a stark contrast, some of us who are friends of other liveaboards in town learned that some cancelled and provided some refund to guest while those not cancelled provided diving accomodations via local dive shops. Today a group of us on Indo aggressor paid for a boat to take them out.
The shut down was known 2 days in advance yet not delivered to us until getting onboard certainly felt deliberate & the "lack of" offer a tough pill to swallow. Reminiscent of corporate practices of maximizing profit and minimizing liability at the expense of customer & staff.
Though this certainly seem like a first world problem complaint and no one would certainly want to knowingly set sail in a potentially dangerous trip; especially when a couple found that their lower deck cabin door leading to the escape hatch was jammed. BTW, not as many cockroaches this time but they will come out to say good night.
Hope this will help some to make informed decision and strongly consider the crazy expensive travel insurance these days.
So I jumped on the booking with liveaboard.com when there was a holiday special without hesitation. On hind sight now, I wished I had dug deeper into how Aggressor handles problems with several "eyebrow raising" reports online.
At the moment (3/13), we are "stuck" on board Indo Aggresor in Labuan Bajo harbor as the Harbor Master had shut down the harbor since 3/9 from 3/11 til 3/16 due to weather, while the boat Indo Aggressor were scheduled to disembark on 3/11 to 3/18. Only smaller speed/day boats were allowed exit and entry.
Of the 12 guests, none of us were notified of the situation until we were braught onboard on 3/11 given many of us had been in transit half way around the world. But most of us had entered Indo by 3/9 or 3/10 so could have re-plan accodingly. Some of us learned about it from other canceled liveaboard travelers in town.
Instead, the crew were instructed to quickly bring us on board 3/11 and go through the motion of setup then to be given the "old" news of harbor lock down from 3/11-3/16 and the trip is canceled for those day while we were also sugguested to consider the option of making alternative plans or wait for the harbor to hopefully reopen on 3/16 & dive 2 days. Some travelers in town that were informed early had already got out in time while we scrambled to find no out bound flights available for the next day or 2 since it was a bit late.
Not to mention being baited to the situation so the trip would be considered commensed and received the news from Aggressor & Liveaboard.com quickly the next day that the trip is not consider cancelled as we are accommodated on board in port. No refund or compensation will be given especially for those choosing to leave early. We were suggested to consult with travel insurance.
So from the deliberate withheld of the situation, precious time is now lost nevermind the costs of the Aggresor booking.
In a stark contrast, some of us who are friends of other liveaboards in town learned that some cancelled and provided some refund to guest while those not cancelled provided diving accomodations via local dive shops. Today a group of us on Indo aggressor paid for a boat to take them out.
The shut down was known 2 days in advance yet not delivered to us until getting onboard certainly felt deliberate & the "lack of" offer a tough pill to swallow. Reminiscent of corporate practices of maximizing profit and minimizing liability at the expense of customer & staff.
Though this certainly seem like a first world problem complaint and no one would certainly want to knowingly set sail in a potentially dangerous trip; especially when a couple found that their lower deck cabin door leading to the escape hatch was jammed. BTW, not as many cockroaches this time but they will come out to say good night.
Hope this will help some to make informed decision and strongly consider the crazy expensive travel insurance these days.
. Still, I would try; maybe the guests can 'unite' and try the legal route... but not sure if this is worth it. At least try to get social media exposure. For me, this story is the final nail in the Aggressor coffin... I had 3 trips with them in the past, with my last one also having some 'minor' issues, but with the many bad stories I'm hearing, and the change of my diving interests, no more Aggressor trips for me.
