Re: Wind Dancer in Tobago (Oct 4-11) Trip Report

http://makeashorterlink.com/?X6392270A

> The food on board was somewhere between uninspiring & underseasoned.
The
> entire crew, on the other hand, was delightful, enthusiastic,
competent,
> and helpful in every way. It's a shame such a fine boat and crew is
placed
> in Tobago as a location for a liveaboard. It is more or less the
unanimous
> view expressed among the divers this week that we would not return to
this
> lacation ever again. It made Bay Islands, the location I loathed,
look good,
> in comparision.

Chris Pflaum, in HIS report, two days later, about the same trip,
brought
out travel agent Forest Aten in a 35-post flamewar in which Forest
accused
Chris (and later me) about our reports from being "inaccurate" to
"lying".

http://makeashorterlink.com/?K1796170A


I just ran across this Peter Hughes email on my return from Polynesia:


*> Yes, Peter's gone "out of his mind again",

Peter has gone out of his mind when he put the liveaboard in Tobago in
the first place. He is getting DESPERATE to put passengers on it now!



*> Celebrate the start of the New Year with some fabulous diving in
*> Tobago aboard the Wind Dancer during the month of January and you
*> pay only $ 999!

*> That's right, only $ 999 during peak diving season in Tobago.


That's indeed the ABSOLUTELY fantastic PRICE for a liveaboard week --
in "peak diving season in Tobago" no less. I AIN'T going! Though I
would have gone to ANY other PhD liveaboard for that price.

Forest Aten, are you loading those boats up with your clients?

"Doc" Adelelman and a few other Tobago fans should take this "bargain"
as probably never-again deal -- because it looks like that liveaboard
will be out of business soon. Or move elsewhere and survive.


"You get what you paid for" seems to speak about this location.
-- Bob.

My buddy and were signed up for the dec18-25 wind dancer/tobago trip
and it was cancelled a couple of weeks ago because there weren't enough
passengers. Now I don't feel so bad about not going and am heading down
to T&C tonight to ease the pain.

-lance smith

outs...@ziggyworks.com wrote:
> My buddy and were signed up for the dec18-25 wind dancer/tobago trip
> and it was cancelled a couple of weeks ago because there weren't
enough
> passengers. Now I don't feel so bad about not going and am heading
down
> to T&C tonight to ease the pain.
>
> -lance smith

I thought for a minute you were Forest Aten's client jumping in to
tell us what a wonderful trip Forest had booked for him and how
Chris Pflaum and I were lying in our trip reports.



Readers should go back and read what Forest Aten posted about
this liveaboard, and Cozumel, and elsewhere. AVOID his
travel agency like a plague! Read Forest Aten with a TON
of ROCK SALT.



I LIKE the Peter Hughes Fleet very much. Have made at least
25 trips on the PhD Fleet, from Belize, Bay Islands, Turks &
Caicos to Palau (and Tobago .

They were all wonderful trips EXCEPT the Tobago one.

Peter has made a bad business decision, as I said in my trip
report. Your week is probably not the only week of cancellation.

But $999 is actually a very good price for a week, even if
its Tobagos. The river run-off of silt should be over by
then.

I've dived on the Sea Dancer in Turks & Caicos half a
dozen times. One of the best liveaboard locations in the
Caribbean. Whether you'll be on a liveaboard or diving
with a land-based operator in T&C, there are many terridic
sites there.

Enjoy.

-- Bob.