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Shasa catamaran/snorkel

funinthesun1964

By funinthesun1964,
in Barbados

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eclipsethecat

eclipsethecat

Posted
Posted

We booked Shasa Catamaran based on recommendations on trip advisor and cruise critic. We were very happy with the results. The communication was a little slow while we were booking, but the trip was well organized and fantastically put together. We were picked up at the cruise port and driven in a clean air conditioned van to the place where the catamaran was. There were approximately 12 people on the tour and it did not seem crowded. The first stop was the turtles and they made sure to get us there before the crowds. Once we got there Carlyle and John made sure everyone was comfortable before we got into the water. Carlyle stayed near us and made sure that even those who were not experienced with snorkeling felt at home. We brought our own snorkel gear but they also offered the option of using theirs if you needed to. Rum punch, beer, soda and water were available as soon as we stepped foot on the catamaran and were offered throughout the trip. After swimming with the turtles, which was super cool and an experience I will never forget, we continued on to the “ship wreck.”

 

 

 

The ship wreck was not old but still had a lot of fish swimming around. The water was getting a bit rough but Carlyle stayed near us to make sure we were all safe and was helpful without being intrusive- if he thought you were struggling he would offer to help. We watched a group from the cruise ship come in and someone in their group almost drowned because they didn’t know how to swim and the guides were not helpful- Carlyle and John were yelling hints to help get the guy out of the water.

 

After the ship wreck we dropped the rest of the three hour group off and then there were only four of us. We had a wonderful lunch (very good food,) and rode the catamaran around (both sailing and motored,) it was a beautiful and very relaxing day. After that the catamaran took us back to the shore and a van picked us up and took us back to port.

 

 

Overall the day was magical and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

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tbmrt

tbmrt

Posted
Posted

[quote

After the ship wreck we dropped the rest of the three hour group off and then there were only four of us. We had a wonderful lunch (very good food,) and rode the catamaran around (both sailing and motored,) it was a beautiful and very relaxing day. After that the catamaran took us back to the shore and a van picked us up and took us back to port. UNQUOTE

 

Can you tell me if you had lunch on an island or on the catamaran? My understanding was that the 5 hour tour included 2 hours of beach time. (I don't know if I want to ride around in the catamaran after lunch)

 

Thanks

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eclipsethecat

eclipsethecat

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Posted

No problem- I was happy to be able to write the review so others knew what to expect!

 

We had to eat lunch on the cat because it was so unusually choppy that we were not able to get up safely to shore anywhere. It was fine with us but I think the norm is to get off of the ship and eat on the beach.

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  • 2 weeks later...
tbmrt

tbmrt

Posted
Posted

We had a good time snorkeling with Shasa, especially appreciated the help from two guides (sorry, forgot names). Lots of boats in the Paynes Bay area viewing turtles and 3 wrecks though. Looked like Coney Island!

 

However, the water at the beach where we were to enjoy our delicious lunch with them was too rough so we had to eat onboard the small catamaran and then just hang out on it for about 2 hours with no music, etc....A bit boring. We just sat around and chatted....would have preferred a livelier atmosphere.

 

In retrospect, we should have either just booked their 3 hour snorkel tour or taken a catamaran for the 5 hour trip that had music, etc on it to enjoy the second 2 hours more.

Barbara

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zzziippyyyy

zzziippyyyy

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Posted

We went last week on dec 28th. Things no one else mentions that you should know. Jason is a smoker and a chain smoker at that! Not very enjoyable having to smell his smoke all day. Also he is rude with money! We reserved with a credit card and were told the card would be charged the day of the tour not the case he demanded cash when we got on board thankfully we had enough cash on us but this did hamper our cash plans for the rest of our trip. Also as we and the others onboard paid he would greedily count the cash twice right in front of all this I consider RUDE sure count it but be discreet in doing some are vacationers not thieves trying to rip you off. Also Jason does not converse well as he spends most of his time on his phone texting whomever and sitting there smoking cigarettes. He asked if anyone was a first timer and I said I was so he threw me a flotation device with no instruction how to inflate it or put it on. Pretty poor on his part. He is also in love with his catamaran which honestly is 7 years old and it shows the wear of it being a for hire vessel everyday. It is also the smallest cat we saw doing the turtle tour that day others are way nicer roomier and have better music from what we actually saw and heard. He is also rude and barks at you if you step in the wrong spot or god forbid if your in the water and rub up against the hull he barks at you to get away from the boat. One more thing we never saw him disinfect the snorkel gear and did see the other boats doing so with a bucket and antiseptic,Jason pulls his out of the storage. Area gives it to you and puts it back after your done with no cleaning that we saw. Honestly if you have booked with him reconsider someone else he really offers nothing you cannot get elsewheres. I would never recommend or book with them again.

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Seavoyage

Seavoyage

Posted
Posted
We went last week on dec 28th. Things no one else mentions that you should know. Jason is a smoker and a chain smoker at that! Not very enjoyable having to smell his smoke all day. Also he is rude with money! We reserved with a credit card and were told the card would be charged the day of the tour not the case he demanded cash when we got on board thankfully we had enough cash on us but this did hamper our cash plans for the rest of our trip. Also as we and the others onboard paid he would greedily count the cash twice right in front of all this I consider RUDE sure count it but be discreet in doing some are vacationers not thieves trying to rip you off. Also Jason does not converse well as he spends most of his time on his phone texting whomever and sitting there smoking cigarettes. He asked if anyone was a first timer and I said I was so he threw me a flotation device with no instruction how to inflate it or put it on. Pretty poor on his part. He is also in love with his catamaran which honestly is 7 years old and it shows the wear of it being a for hire vessel everyday. It is also the smallest cat we saw doing the turtle tour that day others are way nicer roomier and have better music from what we actually saw and heard. He is also rude and barks at you if you step in the wrong spot or god forbid if your in the water and rub up against the hull he barks at you to get away from the boat. One more thing we never saw him disinfect the snorkel gear and did see the other boats doing so with a bucket and antiseptic,Jason pulls his out of the storage. Area gives it to you and puts it back after your done with no cleaning that we saw. Honestly if you have booked with him reconsider someone else he really offers nothing you cannot get elsewheres. I would never recommend or book with them again.

 

Thank you for your review - based on that I would never book with these folks. Trust you had a good time otherwise. Shame on that guy!!

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Shasa

Shasa

Posted
Posted
We went last week on dec 28th. Things no one else mentions that you should know. Jason is a smoker and a chain smoker at that! Not very enjoyable having to smell his smoke all day. Also he is rude with money! We reserved with a credit card and were told the card would be charged the day of the tour not the case he demanded cash when we got on board thankfully we had enough cash on us but this did hamper our cash plans for the rest of our trip. Also as we and the others onboard paid he would greedily count the cash twice right in front of all this I consider RUDE sure count it but be discreet in doing some are vacationers not thieves trying to rip you off. Also Jason does not converse well as he spends most of his time on his phone texting whomever and sitting there smoking cigarettes. He asked if anyone was a first timer and I said I was so he threw me a flotation device with no instruction how to inflate it or put it on. Pretty poor on his part. He is also in love with his catamaran which honestly is 7 years old and it shows the wear of it being a for hire vessel everyday. It is also the smallest cat we saw doing the turtle tour that day others are way nicer roomier and have better music from what we actually saw and heard. He is also rude and barks at you if you step in the wrong spot or god forbid if your in the water and rub up against the hull he barks at you to get away from the boat. One more thing we never saw him disinfect the snorkel gear and did see the other boats doing so with a bucket and antiseptic,Jason pulls his out of the storage. Area gives it to you and puts it back after your done with no cleaning that we saw. Honestly if you have booked with him reconsider someone else he really offers nothing you cannot get elsewheres. I would never recommend or book with them again.

 

 

 

I would like to reply to this by first of all saying that I am a smoker ,however I am not a chain-smoker,nor do I smoke where anyone can be affected by it as I stand at the very back of the catamaran downwind of everyone as I do know that they are people outhere that do not smoke and I am aware that it is offensive to some people. I would also like to go on and say that I have built my buisiness on personalised service and would never "bark"at anyone farless throw anything at them. When you are in the water if you are close to the boat what will happen from time to time is the wind changes direction and the boat moves, and i certainly wouldn't like anyone to bump their head on the boat. As far as our snorkeling gear is concerned, it is disenfected before and after every tour, if other buisnesses do this during their tours thats up to them. With regard to counting the money I was always taught that good reckoning makes good friends. I certainly do not demand cash as we do offer a credit card facility. Your opinion towards my catamaran is yours and you are entiteled to it.You were the one who booked the tour as the catamaran is clearly described on our website. We maintain our catamaran to the highest standard and therefore your discription is biased and unfair. I urge anyone reading this post to look at the glowing reccomendations that have been left on cruise critic and trip advisor before making their final decisions as we pride our selves on personalized service second to none.

Jason

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merinski

merinski

Posted
Posted
I would like to reply to this by first of all saying that I am a smoker ,however I am not a chain-smoker,nor do I smoke where anyone can be affected by it as I stand at the very back of the catamaran downwind of everyone as I do know that they are people outhere that do not smoke and I am aware that it is offensive to some people. I would also like to go on and say that I have built my buisiness on personalised service and would never "bark"at anyone farless throw anything at them. When you are in the water if you are close to the boat what will happen from time to time is the wind changes direction and the boat moves, and i certainly wouldn't like anyone to bump their head on the boat. As far as our snorkeling gear is concerned, it is disenfected before and after every tour, if other buisnesses do this during their tours thats up to them. With regard to counting the money I was always taught that good reckoning makes good friends. I certainly do not demand cash as we do offer a credit card facility. Your opinion towards my catamaran is yours and you are entiteled to it.You were the one who booked the tour as the catamaran is clearly described on our website. We maintain our catamaran to the highest standard and therefore your discription is biased and unfair. I urge anyone reading this post to look at the glowing reccomendations that have been left on cruise critic and trip advisor before making their final decisions as we pride our selves on personalized service second to none.

Jason

 

Jason, I am very glad that you wrote. We feel reasured & we Know that it wouldn't matter what tour we went on there could be smoking. I apprieciate that you take care not to affect anyone who doesn't smoke. We have read so many good things about your tour & you, that we are still coming & look forward to meeting you & going on your tour! :)

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zzziippyyyy

zzziippyyyy

Posted
Posted
I would like to reply to this by first of all saying that I am a smoker ,however I am not a chain-smoker,nor do I smoke where anyone can be affected by it as I stand at the very back of the catamaran downwind of everyone as I do know that they are people outhere that do not smoke and I am aware that it is offensive to some people. I would also like to go on and say that I have built my buisiness on personalised service and would never "bark"at anyone farless throw anything at them. When you are in the water if you are close to the boat what will happen from time to time is the wind changes direction and the boat moves, and i certainly wouldn't like anyone to bump their head on the boat. As far as our snorkeling gear is concerned, it is disenfected before and after every tour, if other buisnesses do this during their tours thats up to them. With regard to counting the money I was always taught that good reckoning makes good friends. I certainly do not demand cash as we do offer a credit card facility. Your opinion towards my catamaran is yours and you are entiteled to it.You were the one who booked the tour as the catamaran is clearly described on our website. We maintain our catamaran to the highest standard and therefore your discription is biased and unfair. I urge anyone reading this post to look at the glowing reccomendations that have been left on cruise critic and trip advisor before making their final decisions as we pride our selves on personalized service second to none.

Jason

 

 

Jason, it would have been nice to have seen this so called service you speak of firsthand while on your vessel. We did ask for credit card service and you flat out said cash only! If you want to come on here and discredit my review that is your prerogative but the facts as I previously stated stand! Your rude and that is that. I hope you change your ways towards your future guest. Have a nice day.

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Shasa

Shasa

Posted
Posted
Jason, it would have been nice to have seen this so called service you speak of firsthand while on your vessel. We did ask for credit card service and you flat out said cash only! If you want to come on here and discredit my review that is your prerogative but the facts as I previously stated stand! Your rude and that is that. I hope you change your ways towards your future guest. Have a nice day.

 

 

We pride ourselves on our repeat clientele and our personalized service is obviously sought after. As far as me saying cash only you must have misunderstood.This is a personal attack I cannot fathom how you assumed I was rude and one cannot please every person out there. As far as you trying to discredit my business because you misunderstood, that also is your perogative, however the glowing recomendations we have recieved speak for themselves. So those facts also stand and I do hope you have a very nice day and a happy new year.

Jason

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WaggesAZ

WaggesAZ

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Posted

I am not trying to say the other poster is wrong, as the perception of the experience is his/her reality. I just wanted to share my limited experience with Shasa.

 

While I was not fortunate enough to return to Barbados in March 2011, as I had to have emergency surgery 2 days prior to our flight to San Juan, we had intended to sail with them. I want to say how kind and patient Tess was with the reservation process. We were bringing our kids who were 15 & 8 and I had lots of questions/concerns. I was very aware that they took a credit card # as security for the reservation and preferred that you paid cash upon the day of arrival. I also felt they were very upfront, while not the largest or newest catamaran in Barbados, they went to places that the larger cats didn't. That was a plus to me and my family.

 

My husband and I went with Silvermoon in March of 2010, and while it was a great trip, one that will always cause me to smile, it was VERY crowded where they brought us to snorkel. I have swam all my life, and I have always been a strong swimmer. I was not comfortable with the crowds and conduct of other catamaran operators. They didn't even be sure their cruisers removed their flipper before swimming with turtles and I was kicked in the head 3 times before I decided it wasn't worth it! With Jason, they go where there are not as many crowds as their catamaran is smaller...

 

When I contacted Tess to cancel, and there was nothing but kindness from her. No charges ever appeared nor was their rudeness due to the short notice. I can't speak to Jason's behavior, as we have not yet met. We are currently planning a trip in March of 2013, and I am confident our family will be happy with their service!

Safe travels to all...

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zzziippyyyy

zzziippyyyy

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Posted
We pride ourselves on our repeat clientele and our personalized service is obviously sought after. As far as me saying cash only you must have misunderstood.This is a personal attack I cannot fathom how you assumed I was rude and one cannot please every person out there. As far as you trying to discredit my business because you misunderstood, that also is your perogative, however the glowing recomendations we have recieved speak for themselves. So those facts also stand and I do hope you have a very nice day and a happy new year.

Jason

 

Jason, I am going to comment just once more as it is obvious you choose the route of denial on my review of your services. This is not a personal attack it is an honest review of our poor experience with you. You gave no instruction, you rudely smoked and played on your cellphone the entire time, you did not in the presence of us disinfect your gear, you rudely barked orders, you did not even explain where we were going when you took off sailing and YES you refused to charge our credit card and demanded cash only. If you want to cower behind other reviews so be it but as stated in my original review I felt it was important to share with others the negatives we experienced on your vessel. I am positive in the future unless you change how you do business other negative reviews will follow. I cannot and will not recommend your services to any cruise critic members or to anyone else interested. Your actions and lack of service left us with a bad impression of Barbados. Bye!

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tbmrt

tbmrt

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Posted
We went last week on dec 28th. Things no one else mentions that you should know. Jason is a smoker and a chain smoker at that! Not very enjoyable having to smell his smoke all day. Also he is rude with money! We reserved with a credit card and were told the card would be charged the day of the tour not the case he demanded cash when we got on board thankfully we had enough cash on us but this did hamper our cash plans for the rest of our trip. Also as we and the others onboard paid he would greedily count the cash twice right in front of all this I consider RUDE sure count it but be discreet in doing some are vacationers not thieves trying to rip you off. Also Jason does not converse well as he spends most of his time on his phone texting whomever and sitting there smoking cigarettes. He asked if anyone was a first timer and I said I was so he threw me a flotation device with no instruction how to inflate it or put it on. Pretty poor on his part. He is also in love with his catamaran which honestly is 7 years old and it shows the wear of it being a for hire vessel everyday. It is also the smallest cat we saw doing the turtle tour that day others are way nicer roomier and have better music from what we actually saw and heard. He is also rude and barks at you if you step in the wrong spot or god forbid if your in the water and rub up against the hull he barks at you to get away from the boat. One more thing we never saw him disinfect the snorkel gear and did see the other boats doing so with a bucket and antiseptic,Jason pulls his out of the storage. Area gives it to you and puts it back after your done with no cleaning that we saw. Honestly if you have booked with him reconsider someone else he really offers nothing you cannot get elsewheres. I would never recommend or book with them again.

 

We were on the Shasa Catamaran trip the week before. I had given a cc # to them from home just to hold my reservation. I was definitely told to bring CASH or the same cc that we booked with originally which I did. There was no problem at all with Jason taking our credit card graciously. In fact several people on our trip used a cc.

 

I terribly dislike smoking nearby and have to say that in retrospect I do remember Jason smoking, but since we were out in the ocean breeze apparently, it didn't bother me at all.

 

With regard to cleaning the equipment afterward, I didn't see it being cleaned, but we had our own equipment and I didn't pay attention to this. Perhaps this is done after the passengers leave due to space issues?

 

I felt that Jason was "the Captain" of the ship and did his job, sailing well, etc. and and the other guy (don't remember name) was actually our guide, leader in the water and host. He was personable and I couldn't believe how patient he was with a child who was on our trip. He also helped an elderly woman immensely. Nice guy. My husband and I even discussed that we hoped he got a good tip from these folks.

 

As I said in another post, my only disappointment was that we couldn't go to the beach due to weather and had to eat and hang out onboard instead. It was extremely windy which we saw when Jason attempted to head to the beach and that couldn't be helped.

 

Shasa's prices were much lower than Silvermoon and other catamarans and they had fewer people than most of the others which was good since we didn't have to wait long to enter/exit the water, etc.

 

I would also have liked some caribbean music onboard, but felt we got what we paid for!

 

Barbara

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ltdavies

ltdavies

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Posted
Jason, I am going to comment just once more as it is obvious you choose the route of denial on my review of your services. This is not a personal attack it is an honest review of our poor experience with you. You gave no instruction, you rudely smoked and played on your cellphone the entire time, you did not in the presence of us disinfect your gear, you rudely barked orders, you did not even explain where we were going when you took off sailing and YES you refused to charge our credit card and demanded cash only. If you want to cower behind other reviews so be it but as stated in my original review I felt it was important to share with others the negatives we experienced on your vessel. I am positive in the future unless you change how you do business other negative reviews will follow. I cannot and will not recommend your services to any cruise critic members or to anyone else interested. Your actions and lack of service left us with a bad impression of Barbados. Bye!

 

I am looking to book something for March, coming on the Summit. I am from Canada and our smoking guidelines and rules are strict here. I don't think I could go on a tour knowing the person in charge smokes. It is not polite, correct and is not courteous to your follow passengers.

 

Being a none smoker, I can't stand to be beside someone who smokes or smells of smoke. It's good customer service to put that cigaretes down when you are with passengers.

 

I will be looking elsewhere.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Kabbage

Kabbage

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Posted

Hey all, just got back. Fantastic choice! Shasa is a small catamaran - holds only 12. At first the big cats look cooler, but once we saw the 50 people on each, we were really happy we went with Shasa. He gets you moving as soon as you arrive (jump on the boat from the beach-not hard, they collect shoes when you arrive in the van) - so we were first to Payne's before the big ships. And don't panic if you're early to the gate, the taxi picked us up EXACTLY at 9:30am. The other folks at the cruise terminal all knew them and alerted us when they arrived. Julian, ship's mate, is awesome. He has the sardines for the turtles, I just kind of floated after him, the turtles were swimming snug up against me since I was in their way. 9 turtles, couple big ones, very cool. The turtles congregate around the one with the food, so having only a small number of swimmers made for some great close-ups. I can't imagine being in there with 50 other people at the same time trying to get close .

 

Then over to the 'shipwreck" and reef - also fun since Julian has sardines again to entice a huge school of fish to swarm. Shipwreck is just a garbage barge, but it's interesting and the reef has a variety of fish, some translucent. Not Hawaii, but beautiful waters and plenty to see.

 

We pulled in to a calm bay and ate on the boat - there were only 5 for lunch, so maybe on the beach if there's more people. Then a leisurely swim in front of the estate or recovery on the boat with Jason's own rum punch, then back with taxi waiting.

 

Lunch was really tasty, good island fare, attentive service, King Julian to the rescue for any mishaps (he retrieved 2 cameras off the ocean floor for our group and really watches for any problems in the water, gear or otherwise), plenty to drink at any time - water, pop, punch - and a really fun day on the water. Probably easier to walk around on the big cats, but again, much more enjoyable with the small party and really attentive service. There is a clean toilet on board in one of the pontoons, and bring plenty of sunblock - there's lots of shade on the boat, but you get burned quick in the water! So jealous I'm done with mine - had to scrape 4 inches of snow off the car at the airport!

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