thebes11
Contributor
I'm going to do a day by day report in the next couple of days, but wanted to get some opinions out while I'm still basking in the post 1st live aboard glow.
Overall Impression:
Fantastic! What a great way to spend a week.
Food:
I would rate the food as very, very good. Our chef, Zack, made extremely tasty pork loin, fajitas & tacos (both for Taco Tuesday lunch), lasagna, mahi, shepherd's pie, marinara sauce, shrimp Alfredo sauce, turkey with all the trimmings (for Thanksgiving Thursday), hamburgers, Eggplant casserole and NY strip steak.
Snacks consisted of fresh fruit, quesadillas, chocolate chip muffins, banana muffins, cheese and crackers, potato skins, fresh cut veggies & dip and rice krispie treats.
Cabin:
Nothing fancy, but perfectly comfortable. I'm glad I didn't spend the extra dough on the upper cabin with private head. There was never any wait for one of the two lower deck heads (shared by 10 people) and the crew did a fantastic job of keeping them immaculately clean. During a storm-forced crossing, our cabin was the most comfortable place on the boat; middle of the ship at the water line. Beds were made everyday and turned down at night with a chocolate on the pillow.
Salon:
Very comfortable with plenty of room for everyone. The line got a bit long with everyone trying to eat at once, but our group was great. Everyone was polite and patient, so there was no problem. There was a TV, VCR, DVD player and stereo for entertainment.
Sun Deck:
Unfortunately on our trip it would have been better named the rain deck. Sure looked like it would have been comfortable with 8 padded lounge chairs. There was also a covered portion where many lunches were held. Under the roof was the drink fridge, and two tables with room for everyone on board to sit.
Dive Deck:
Even though we had a full boat, it never felt crowded. This was in part again to such a great group on board. It might feel a bit cramped if you didn't like the person gearing up next to you. Entry into the water couldn't be much easier. There were three entry points, two being port and starboard gates which used giant stride entries with drops about 5 feet...wheeeeeeeeee. If you went off the back, you had to go down some steps to the swim platform where the crew would help you put on your fins, then a quick giant stride into the water.
Photo/video:
The crew was great with housings. If you went off the side they lowered your housing via a rope. On the back, they handed it to you after your giant stride. They took the camera from you before you exited the water and were also very careful about putting them into the rinse tank. There was a huge camera only rinse tank on the starboard side. Right above the tank was a fresh water hose to do a final rinse. The camera table was also very large and there was always a fresh supply of dry camera-only towels. Beside the table they had a cylinder with an air hose to blow dry your housing if you preferred.
Crew:
Our crew was just great. Friendly, funny and helpful (in which ever order was appropriate). Dive briefings were thorough, their knowledge of the marine life was vast and their enthusiasm for diving infectious. One of my most enjoyable nights on the boat was Friday night when the crew had much less to do than normal and we all just hung out together talking diving and whatever else came to mind (until 2:30 a.m. in my case....ugh). The captain was an absolute laugh riot, personality to spare.
Diving:
I'll give a dive-by-dive in the full report, but I found it to be well above average and pretty close to on par with Cozumel save the current and pinnacles. The boat visited Long Island, San Salvador and Conception. We dove walls with amazing swimthroughs, some patch reefs, and spur and groove. I found the coral to look very healthy in most spots and saw the largest sea fans in my diving career. Nassau grouper seemed to be everywhere. I also noted amazingly long (for me anyway) tube coral and many fish I have never seen before. I'm getting the DeLoach/Humann book for the full report. I was very satisfied with the underwater sightseeing. We paid the extra $150 pp for Nitrox and for the most part, we were between 32 & 33%, with three fills coming in a hair over 34%. I was a bit worried the first day when the boat briefing stated a full fill is anything over 2800 lbs, but I should not have been. Neither my wife nor I had a fill under 3050lbs, with most of them being close to 3200...sweet!
Exuma:
Probably wouldn't go there for a vacation, seemed expensive for what is there, but it was a nice pace to spend a Saturday waiting for the flight. We had some drinks at Peace and Plenty, which looks out over the water. The water is beautiful, but the town is ugly. The islanders (Exumites?) were very friendly and polite, even the beggars (not kidding here). I'm sure there are nice nature areas, but we didn't have time to go explore.
Conclusion:
Now remember I've never been on a live aboard before, so keep that in mind as you read these conclusions. I have however, dove off a lot of boats, so I am confident in my praise.
The Caribbean Explorer 1 is an incredible value. We paid $995.00 pp for a below deck double occupancy room. It has since gone up $100.00 and I still feel it to be a bargain. I couldn't imagine settling for Blackbeards at less then a $200.00 pp savings. There is a $75.00 port tax not included in the price and at present, a $100.00 fuel surcharge. Upper deck cabins had windows and en suite heads, costing an additional $300.00 pp double occupancy.
Finally, I would do this trip again tomorrow if I were able. Even the sites we visited twice didn't allow enough time to check everything out. On several sites, I could have dove (dived?) there for two days and still been finding new stuff, they were just beautiful. I'm seriously considering this as my birthday present to myself for next year too.
Overall Impression:
Fantastic! What a great way to spend a week.
Food:
I would rate the food as very, very good. Our chef, Zack, made extremely tasty pork loin, fajitas & tacos (both for Taco Tuesday lunch), lasagna, mahi, shepherd's pie, marinara sauce, shrimp Alfredo sauce, turkey with all the trimmings (for Thanksgiving Thursday), hamburgers, Eggplant casserole and NY strip steak.
Snacks consisted of fresh fruit, quesadillas, chocolate chip muffins, banana muffins, cheese and crackers, potato skins, fresh cut veggies & dip and rice krispie treats.
Cabin:
Nothing fancy, but perfectly comfortable. I'm glad I didn't spend the extra dough on the upper cabin with private head. There was never any wait for one of the two lower deck heads (shared by 10 people) and the crew did a fantastic job of keeping them immaculately clean. During a storm-forced crossing, our cabin was the most comfortable place on the boat; middle of the ship at the water line. Beds were made everyday and turned down at night with a chocolate on the pillow.
Salon:
Very comfortable with plenty of room for everyone. The line got a bit long with everyone trying to eat at once, but our group was great. Everyone was polite and patient, so there was no problem. There was a TV, VCR, DVD player and stereo for entertainment.
Sun Deck:
Unfortunately on our trip it would have been better named the rain deck. Sure looked like it would have been comfortable with 8 padded lounge chairs. There was also a covered portion where many lunches were held. Under the roof was the drink fridge, and two tables with room for everyone on board to sit.
Dive Deck:
Even though we had a full boat, it never felt crowded. This was in part again to such a great group on board. It might feel a bit cramped if you didn't like the person gearing up next to you. Entry into the water couldn't be much easier. There were three entry points, two being port and starboard gates which used giant stride entries with drops about 5 feet...wheeeeeeeeee. If you went off the back, you had to go down some steps to the swim platform where the crew would help you put on your fins, then a quick giant stride into the water.
Photo/video:
The crew was great with housings. If you went off the side they lowered your housing via a rope. On the back, they handed it to you after your giant stride. They took the camera from you before you exited the water and were also very careful about putting them into the rinse tank. There was a huge camera only rinse tank on the starboard side. Right above the tank was a fresh water hose to do a final rinse. The camera table was also very large and there was always a fresh supply of dry camera-only towels. Beside the table they had a cylinder with an air hose to blow dry your housing if you preferred.
Crew:
Our crew was just great. Friendly, funny and helpful (in which ever order was appropriate). Dive briefings were thorough, their knowledge of the marine life was vast and their enthusiasm for diving infectious. One of my most enjoyable nights on the boat was Friday night when the crew had much less to do than normal and we all just hung out together talking diving and whatever else came to mind (until 2:30 a.m. in my case....ugh). The captain was an absolute laugh riot, personality to spare.
Diving:
I'll give a dive-by-dive in the full report, but I found it to be well above average and pretty close to on par with Cozumel save the current and pinnacles. The boat visited Long Island, San Salvador and Conception. We dove walls with amazing swimthroughs, some patch reefs, and spur and groove. I found the coral to look very healthy in most spots and saw the largest sea fans in my diving career. Nassau grouper seemed to be everywhere. I also noted amazingly long (for me anyway) tube coral and many fish I have never seen before. I'm getting the DeLoach/Humann book for the full report. I was very satisfied with the underwater sightseeing. We paid the extra $150 pp for Nitrox and for the most part, we were between 32 & 33%, with three fills coming in a hair over 34%. I was a bit worried the first day when the boat briefing stated a full fill is anything over 2800 lbs, but I should not have been. Neither my wife nor I had a fill under 3050lbs, with most of them being close to 3200...sweet!
Exuma:
Probably wouldn't go there for a vacation, seemed expensive for what is there, but it was a nice pace to spend a Saturday waiting for the flight. We had some drinks at Peace and Plenty, which looks out over the water. The water is beautiful, but the town is ugly. The islanders (Exumites?) were very friendly and polite, even the beggars (not kidding here). I'm sure there are nice nature areas, but we didn't have time to go explore.
Conclusion:
Now remember I've never been on a live aboard before, so keep that in mind as you read these conclusions. I have however, dove off a lot of boats, so I am confident in my praise.
The Caribbean Explorer 1 is an incredible value. We paid $995.00 pp for a below deck double occupancy room. It has since gone up $100.00 and I still feel it to be a bargain. I couldn't imagine settling for Blackbeards at less then a $200.00 pp savings. There is a $75.00 port tax not included in the price and at present, a $100.00 fuel surcharge. Upper deck cabins had windows and en suite heads, costing an additional $300.00 pp double occupancy.
Finally, I would do this trip again tomorrow if I were able. Even the sites we visited twice didn't allow enough time to check everything out. On several sites, I could have dove (dived?) there for two days and still been finding new stuff, they were just beautiful. I'm seriously considering this as my birthday present to myself for next year too.
