Katharyn L.
Yelp
We have just returned from our cruise. This was in no way anything that we expected. Did we have fun? Yes...because we made our way, thankfully safe, to two or three islands where we could enjoy cold drinks and good food. Let's start off with "Duration: 7 Days"; Sleeping at the dock on Sunday night, and returning by 5:00 on Friday does not constitute 7 days. Sailing? We "sailed" on the last day...still with the motor running. We basically boarded a boat and enjoyed a noisy engine THE WHOLE TIME...even the three nights (Sunday, Thursday and Friday) that we were docked. Thursday night we were treated to fumes that were unavoidable from the engine. I'm not sure which was worse, the stench from the toilets downstairs, or the fumes upstairs. One day I had to literally hold my nose when I went to our cabin; our hot cabin, stifling hot cabin, when we were sleeping at the docks, as there was no breeze whatsoever.
Let's talk about the food. Does it get anymore basic? Hot tomato soup and mildly warm grilled cheese on a summer sail? Yum. A bowl of stew over some rice? Warm milk for the cereal? "Sausages" with the eggs? No one was quite sure what they were made of. The last two days the food did get better. Not sure what happened at the beginning though. Still basic. Beef on our Friday night dinner was good...as we were already tied at the dock in Nassau. At that point we all just wanted to get through the night and get off the boat.
Let's talk about ice. Why wasn't the boat stocked with ice??? The first couple of days didn't seem that bad, then it got bad. By the end, the beer was warm, and our "bar" drinks, the ones we paid almost $200 for, were iceless. We did see them trying to bring some ice on the boat, in the dinghy that almost sunk with passengers in it. That was fun. Getting wet because of waves when going ashore was one thing, but when the guy steering the boat is literally IN THE WATER trying to get us ashore, and we are bailing as fast as we can for him, it's not fun. I heard one of the trips ashore was extremely scary the boat was so far down in the water. We had to hitchhike a ride back to the sailboat because the engine wasn't working. And guess what? He had MUSIC on his boat! What a great guy to do that for us. Because we had been just waiting and waiting on the dock with no word.
Kayaks? Little sailboat to sail around? Paddleboards? Not even offered. We stopped at a shipwreck in the middle of somewhere. In all of the beautiful islands and places to go snorkeling, this is where we end up? I've snorkeled a lot; this was pitiful as far as snorkeling. We never really did go to anywhere to do real snorkeling. We could have. There was time on the way back, but instead we stopped in the middle of nowhere so we could just jump in the water and get back on the boat, not an easy feat. We went to an island to see the Queen's Bath and hike up to the Glass Window Bridge. The crew brought chairs for us and drinks...the beers were warm because the "cooler" didn't even zip shut. Why aren't they given proper supplies?? We drank what beer there was, and asked for more, and whoever brought it said they brought light beer because that's what they liked. What??? They also brought us some rum punch. There must have been A LOT of rum in it, or something, because at least two of us got so drunk on it (after only two cups) that we were absolutely wasted, to the point of no fun. I even missed whatever meal was served that night. I assure you I can put down some alcohol, and I have no idea what was in that punch, but it was not okay.
Let's talk about music. What boat in the bahamas DOES NOT have music????? None. When I asked for it, the crew tried to make it work, but it wouldn't. Boat needs marine speakers that won't corrode. FINALLY one of the crew members let us use their speaker. Luckily we were able to connect to Pandora, as no one had a playlist to use. That was for one night. That was a fun night, because we were drinking all day on the island, and then had some music at night. But as I say, that was only one night. I did however, notice that there was music for the crew in the galley, cooking, and I saw a crew member at the helm with some earbuds jamming away. Music might have helped tone down the noise of that motor we had THE WHOLE TRIP!
This boat needs updating. I mean hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of updating. The floors are disgusting, bathroom and hall. There is mold in the showers. Some of the flooring is unstable, will give way soon. You need adequate ice coolers, meat coolers. Whoever owns this boat must just not care, just wants to collect as much money as he or she can; and then what? It's not going to last forever. Oh, the "bar package". What a joke. I had to bring my own tequila, as there wasn't any. No tonic or soda. No limes. No ice.