Liveaboard

[underwaterdan]

I am wondering what experience everyone has had on liveaboards. I want to plan one and I am trying to balance cost with quality. I love high quality, but can I get it at a low cost :-). Anyone with reviews or suggestions is welcome to chime in!

[mike_s]

You get what you pay for on a liveaboard.

Try the Nekton or the Agressor lines.

[thesmoothdome]

Truth is that you do get what you pay for on a liveaboard. Blackbeards offers lower prices and you get to sleep in a common area with 20 other people. Nothing wrong with that. It's the diving you're after anyway. I can't comment on the food personally, but from what a buddy told me it's pretty simple fare.

Then you have the luxury dive boats. Private staterooms, beverage service to the rooms, breakfast cooked to order, 4 course dinners, warm towels and back rubs when you exit the water, etc.

You can't forget about the Peter Hughes Dancer fleet. Damn, do they put on a show! Not only is the crew great, the food is excellent, and the attention to detail is awesome. My wife was feeling a bit green and the chef's assistant asked where she was. I told her and without being asked, she went down to her cabin with some soup (which wasn't on the menu) to help her get on her feet. Little things like that go a long way with me.

[underwaterdan]

Luxury is up my alley :-) Private staterooms are a must and I can't pass on the 4 course dinners and warm towels!

[BSea]

I haven't been on a luxury cruise yet, but I have done a mid priced & a bargain priced Live aboard. To be honest, I liked them both equally well. The food was better on the mid priced trip, but I was there for the diving, and I slept mostly between meals & diving.

Probably the biggest difference is the number of divers. More cost = less divers = more personal details & better food.

The low cost was to the Flower Gardens on the Fling or Spree (I get them confused). It was crowded & the food was plain but tasty. It was a good trip maily because everyone was from my LDS, so it was like a big party.

The mid priced was on the Avalon out of the Bahamas. The boat is the same size as a blackbeards boat, but that was where the similarities ended. There were staterooms for 2 (not very big, but it is a sailboat), and the food was much better than the flower gardens trip. I night we had seared tuna. That was great. The meals weren't cooked to order, but they were good.

I think I'd like a luxury trip, but it isn't required as far as I'm concerned.

[diversteve]

I wouldn't call Nekton luxury. But it is a really good deal for the money.

Luxury?
Try the executive suites on Nautilus Explorer. Or the Four Seasons Explorer. (different companies) Although I've read the FS Explorer doesn't do a lot of dives/day...Or Solmar V

One other thing I'd ask about is how many people are booked on any trip you're considering. We did the Nekton with 31(full boat) last summer, it meant a short wait to gear up, a short wait for food etc. And we had to do the drift dive in groups. A friend did it last winter, they had 13 on their boat. I've heard that anybody that wants it gets their own room in that case.

Nekton also has two Belize trips(winter) that are $200 cheaper. I'm guessing those are the slow weeks...

[tywenglar]

Originally Posted by BSea

The low cost was to the Flower Gardens on the Fling or Spree (I get them confused). It was crowded & the food was plain but tasty. It was a good trip maily because everyone was from my LDS, so it was like a big party.

The Spree was completely redone this past winter. It now only carries 24 divers rather than the 32 on the Fling. It is still not a "luxury" cruise but it is also only a two night trip. You get 7 incredible dives in for $550 which is a pretty good value in my book. As an FYI the Fling is $450 but with 32 divers.

I've been out twice to the gardens and had great trips both times. It is probably the best diving value I have found that can be done in a weekend.

If you want to check it out... http://www.gulf-diving.com/

[Black-Gorrilla]

wow... i was looking at the Nautilus... that thing is nice.
if it's as described on their website, then it is incredible... i would definitively look into it if i knew my schedule for the future... but WOW either way.

[Damselfish]

I agree you pretty much get what you pay for on a liveaboard. So you have to decide the minimum accomodations & maximum price acceptable to you and go from there. For instance, many people enjoy Blackbeards but there is no way I would do one, not my thing. (I haven't done Nekton yet, but do get the sense it's a pretty good bang for the buck, possibly a good compromise if you don't want to spend a ton but don't want to rough it.)

One way to save a bit on the more expensive liveaboards is to watch out for deals they have at their slower times of year, or because of last minute cancellations. Get yourself on the email lists for the various companies to get notifications of these. Of course, you may not be able to plan real far ahead or count on it happening at all.

[thesmoothdome]

I just posted a more detailed, poorly written trip review of my time on the Sun Dancer II last month.

Trip Report: Peter Hughes Sun Dancer II, Belize - June 30th to July 7, 2007

Maybe that will help you make your decision.