Kararu Voyager question

hi guys,

iam planning to do 2 trips on the voyager later this year.

my only concern about the boat is that there are so many divers if its fully booked.

can you plz give me your impressions about the conditions on the boat when its full (20-22 pax) ??!!

thank you

hi guys,

 

iam planning to do 2 trips on the voyager later this year.

 

my only concern about the boat is that there are so many divers if its fully booked.

 

can you plz give me your impressions about the conditions on the boat when its full (20-22 pax) ??!!

thank you

I just came home 2 days ago from 2 back to back trips on the Voyager. First with Fathoms, second with Eric and Herb. The first trip was fully booked, and it wasn't too bad. The boat is huge, and you can go for hours and only see a few people. In the dive tenders it's a little crowded, but really not too bad either. Ive seen plenty worse.

I do think the Voyager needs some work. I did not like our cabin much (sewage smells, permanent kitchen smells and very random loud hydrolic noises tend to do that to me), and imho it needed a lot of maintenance. They seemed to be continuously on some fine edge of things working or not working. Our first trip the main generator broke down, which meant we did not have Nitrox amongst other things. I also saw more cockroaches on this trip than all other liveaboard and dive trips combined. I wont even mention Eric's problems..

Anyways, despite all the problems we encountered id go back. The diving is just so good.

Cor

hi guys,

 

iam planning to do 2 trips on the voyager later this year.

 

my only concern about the boat is that there are so many divers if its fully booked.

 

can you plz give me your impressions about the conditions on the boat when its full (20-22 pax) ??!!

thank you

It's a huge boat with 5 decks of space to move/hide on. It's hard to feel crowded, even with 20 pax and 18 or so crew.

I just came home 2 days ago from 2 back to back trips on the Voyager. First with Fathoms, second with Eric and Herb. The first trip was fully booked, and it wasn't too bad. The boat is huge, and you can go for hours and only see a few people. In the dive tenders it's a little crowded, but really not too bad either. Ive seen plenty worse.

 

I do think the Voyager needs some work. I did not like our cabin much (sewage smells, permanent kitchen smells and very random loud hydrolic noises tend to do that to me), and imho it needed a lot of maintenance. They seemed to be continuously on some fine edge of things working or not working. Our first trip the main generator broke down, which meant we did not have Nitrox amongst other things. I also saw more cockroaches on this trip than all other liveaboard and dive trips combined. I wont even mention Eric's problems..

 

Anyways, despite all the problems we encountered id go back. The diving is just so good.

 

Cor

my trips would be at the end of the year,did you talked about your "problems" with management ??

where was your cabin ?

what was erics prob ??

TIA

There wasnt much to talk about, they knew, and they couldnt fix them. I put that on the remarks paper. If they know a certain room has pretty much a direct link to the kitchen, maybe they should think about fixing that some time Same thing with the water heater. If you keep adding rooms, just maybe its a good idea to increase the warm water capacity. It's not really something the daily crew can fix.

My cabin was room 108, and supposedly it is a bit of a problematic room Although I know of guests on trip 1 that actually stopped sleeping in their room and moved to the salon because the hydrolic steering noise was driving them crazy. It was driving me crazy too but I have very solid ear plugs to dull the noise.

Anyways, this sounds very negative and all, but i dont feel negative about the boat as a whole at all. It's a VERY spacious boat, with lots of space, very nice dinner deck, very nice salon, very good dive deck, very good camera spaces, very good diving, nice tender boats, pretty good crew, and for me its a serious candidate for lots and lots of trips in the future

Cor

I just came home 2 days ago from 2 back to back trips .....

 

Cor

When I grow up I want to be like Cor

Cor,

how much did you payed for the harbour/fuel ??

i asked my travel agent to ask them what kind of discount they could offer for 2 trips booking.

they told them 100us for the second trip but anyway we would have to pay 100us for the day between the 2 trips,lol.

adding the extra $ for fuel and harbour + no discount for 2 trips,this sounds pretty arrogant to me.

last year i booked 2 trips on the pelagian and wakatobi is really nice in giving discounts for ppl staying longer.

anyway....with the little problems on the boat you told me i feel not so comfortable spending big time money for something that is not perfect.

2 trips for 2 ppl costs me roughly 11500€ with no discount so normaly i expect everything is TipTop for that kind of money.

regards

n@utilus

I paid $150 for port charges, and $150 for fuel charges, per person. We also paid $100 for overnighting on the ship, but I dont see that as a problem. Id rather overnight on the boat than in a hotel. It's also not uncommon for liveaboards not to give a discount. I dont think that sets the voyager apart in any way.

Just avoid room 108 and im sure you'll be extremely happy

Cor

Cor,

 

2 trips for 2 ppl costs me roughly 11500�‚� with no discount so normaly i expect everything is TipTop for that kind of money.

regards

 

n@utilus

I think it'll be difficult to find any liveaboard where nothing ever breaks down or goes wrong. Whether from poor maintenace or pure chance, things break down under such harsh conditions.

Personally, I can overlook a lot of boat problems if the diving makes up for it.

I can say with absolute certainty the diving Voyager does around Raja, Ambon, and Komodo makes up for quite a lot of inconvenience.

-julie

meh, didn't realize I was logged in as cor.

I think it'll be difficult to find any liveaboard where nothing ever breaks down or goes wrong. Whether from poor maintenace or pure chance, things break down under such harsh conditions.

Personally, I can overlook a lot of boat problems if the diving makes up for it.

I can say with absolute certainty the diving Voyager does around Raja, Ambon, and Komodo makes up for quite a lot of inconvenience.

 

-julie

 

meh, didn't realize I was logged in as cor.

My wife and I were in Room 110 and our kids were in 112 on the Voyager -- same trip as Cor and Julie. Probably because of the location outside of the main cabin area, our rooms were great. We had no problems whatsoever. Like Julie and Cor, I would highly recommend Voyager if you're looking for a great trip to Indonesia.

Be sure to ask questions about the Voyager itself when you call in to book. I don't want to spread any rumors, but they are probably switching to a large, pinisi-style boat (like the old one, but bigger) and using the old crew again. I believe this is a good thing. This information is NOT definite, so please don't quote me on it! Just be sure to ask whether you'd be on the Voyager itself, or on a different ship.

I'm headed to the Voyager for a July 6th trip. Just hope the diving is all its cracked up to be. Fortunately, I will be in Rm. 110

Steve B)

Im sure you'll have a great time. You're doing Komodo? Make sure you take at least a 5mm + hood

Cor

New Kararu boat replacing the Voyager.

Obviously, Eric was right.

New boat

Looks sweet to me. In booked to go next April.

Just got word from Kararu, they said we will be using the Voyager for our 6-13th trip. Hope it all goes ok

Steve

Think I read on another board, the new boat starts July 21.

ive just returned from a weeks liveaboard around komodo. before you book have a look at the mermaid 1 liveaboard, it runs the similans and burma for half the year and komodo the other. i was very impressed with the boat, crew and itinerary. the food was thai, which i love, they also made anything for each dietry need. i have been on a few liveaboards and can honestly say i wouldnt hesitate to go on it again. i have actually tried to book their last run to burma next year, but i cant get the time off. the trip after ours sailed with just 5 guests. wow...the cruise director told me that the boat would eveb sail with 2 guests.....check it out....

ps... i do not have any financial gain for recommending mermaid, nor do i work for them.

A little more information on the new boat.

Looks like they will have 2 boats after repairs to the Voyager are complete.

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