Escape to the remote and rugged Yasawa Islands on a full-day cruise from Port Denarau Marina near Nadi. On board a comfortable, high-speed catamaran, take in the stunning and varied scenery as you cruise through the ancient volcanic islands of the Yasawa island group.
Posted By : 444parnab
8 hours spent in a passenger ferry. Continuous announcement for disembarking passenger, no tourist information provided.
Rating :
Posted On : 2022-12-25 20:52:21 
Posted By : Tammyli
We have emailed this to the Fijian cruise company, let's hope they refund our money and change their adverts!
———
We have left both a facebook message and facebook post hoping to reach someone. We are contacting you here to try and gain a resolution of our complaint, which we detail further below.
We booked the Yasawa Islands Sightseeing Cruise after reading the hotel brochure titled 'Full Day Adventure Cruise...' on board the ''Yasawa Flyer' a comfortable, fast catamaran...'. We had been on the Captain Cook dinner cruise the night before and expected something similar but during the day and longer and is why we didnt mind paying the asking price of $215 per person.
On Saturday 2 September our bad day started with the transfer bus not stopping at The Westin to pick us up, we were there waiting and saw the bus pull up but was not even there long enough for the concierge to go to his door to ask what transfer it was and then the bus took off. We then had to get a Taxi for $10 and almost missed the boat. Upon arriving to the port, we were given our tickets and were told to rush because the 'Yellow Ferry' will be leaving very soon. And so we rushed to board.
The day then become worse, we could not find a seat to sit on, for the first hour of the trip, there were many people who sat on the steps or on the floor as the only seats left were broken. We eventually sat in the many seats that become available after that first hour. We then enquired about being able to get off the ferry to hop from resort to resort (as this is what the brochure inferred we could do) and we were told we were not allowed off the ferry as we didnt have the bookings at the resorts; we were explained that what we booked was purely just to stay on the ferry for the 9 hour expected trip out and back to the port. By this stage we were disappointed and annoyed that the brochure conveyed such grandeur, stating we would be on '...a comfortable, fast catamaran...'. The seats were not comfortable, the seats were either ripped and or broken or had thin foam; not something that you sit on for 9 hours! No where did any advertisment say we were to stay on the ferry. We assumed by your brochure that the red dots were where we were able to disembark the boat to look around the island and island hop for the 'full day adventure curise'.
As we has been up since 6am to meet the 7.45am bus transfer, we were getting hungry and expected lunch to be around 12.30pm (midday). We again made enquiries for lunch and were told that lunch is picked up at the end of the trip. We then enquired about our drinks vouchures and were told it was one water and one soft drink per person. This is definately not sufficient liquid for 9 hours and was disgusted that we were not informed to bring extra water or drinks. Finally at 1.45pm we received our packed lunch which was a COLD toasted sandwich with COLD egg and ham and COLD meant to be hot chips. We could not eat this and had to dispose of the food in the bin.
Upon sitting inside we found the air conditioning to not work efficiently and saw cockroaches and ants on the tables. This ferry had not been hygienically cleaned and was not the standard portrayed on your brochures. We felt duped and disappointed and after all that money spent we lost a day of our 5 day Fijian holiday on board this passenger ferry.
We are seeking compensation, a full refund of $430 Fijian Dollars. And would like you to change your brochures and advertising to ensure other like-minded travellers do not experience the same disappointment as we did.
Rating :
Posted On : 2020-05-18 03:33:01
Posted By : Pedro G
We have the worst experience of our lives in this cruise. First of all, people reviewed it as "best snorkelling" etc...but we were not able to get off the boat. THERE IS NO SNORKELLING EXPERIENCE HERE!
My wife was feeling sick and the head of the crew staff (Mrs. Ro Iva) did not want to allow us to get off at any stop. We were even considering a reservation for an overnight stay at any resort on the way up. Mrs. Ro Iva was very unable to deal with the situation. We had the impression that she wanted to put barriers for any possible solution. We asked her to ring the Botaira Resort to see if they could have us as day guests. She said that they wouldn't without even calling them. We insisted to speak to the the Botaira's resort manager. Surprisingly there was no barrier at all. We hopped off to the resort and in our way out Mrs Iva said that she wanted to let us know that we had to pay 57 dollars each pax to catch the cruise on the way back what should be already included in our package. We dropped off anyway.
On the way back, before paying I've asked to speak to the manager. Mrs Ro Iva didn't want to connect me to the manager at the first request. She made a call and spoke to someone in Fijian and then told me we did not have to pay the 57 dollars. In addition, she asked me if I still wanted to speak to the manager. OMG!!!
The manager Mrs Adi was really attentive and apologised the for the upsetting situation. She offered us an upgrade in the captain's lounge. We declined because we did not want any compensation for that. However, we decided to accept it when one of the crew staff denied to provide us our lunch pack that was included in our tour with the excuse that we had already had lunch in the Botaira resort. However, we have payed for the lunch and day pass out of our pockets.
It was very unpleasant to feel like hostages in the boat. We had no where to go and relied on them for anything.
The crew should be able to better assist people with motion sickness. And also to troubleshooting situations like this in a professional manner.
I strongly do not recommend this cruise to anyone!!!
Rating :
Posted On : 2018-05-10 00:47:41
Posted By : Cheryl S
The snorkelling was the best, the food was great, the staff were wonderful, will definitely go back next time we visit Fiji
Posted By : Greg M
Beautiful and efficient. What can you say about the beauty of the Yasawa Islands - Stunning!
Posted By : Angela M
This tour was extremely disappointing. First the transportation to and from the port was unpleasant. The bus was damp, freezing cold, and the music was a very loud pop station. Further at one resort, the bus pulled up, stopped for approximately one minute and started pulling away as passengers were walking towards the bus. The passengers had to run to catch up to the bus and to get it to stop for them. The bus driver was also fairly surly. Second, the tour operator had very poor communication. The operator did not let me know when pick up would be or send me any sort of confirmation. I had to call the evening before to get the details. Additionally, the check in once we arrived at the port was very confusing and disorganized. Third, the cruise to the island Navitu--Botaira Resort was actually a crowded, dirty public-style ferry that stopped at several islands not just the two listed in the tour description. Fourth, while the island was beautiful, it would be much better if there were no Botaira Resort there as the resort detracted from the experience. The resort's staff were unfriendly. The lunch was the worst food I had in Fiji. One of the staff told us we could not drink the water but offered no alternative--luckily we brought our own water! The snorkeling equipment was dirty and broken--again, luckily we brought our own masks and snorkels, we only had to use the fins. There were not kayaks to use. The toilets were filthy and unusable. And the showers did not work so we had to ride the ferry back having not rinsed off the salt water. This really is the worst tour I've ever been on. It makes me distrustful of anything on Viator in the future and I will not book through Viator again.
Posted By : Sisa_W
Octopus island is a lovely resort, food and service was good. Whether you lie on the beach under palm umbrellas, or swim in their pool, it's a nice, relaxing time in paradise.
Posted By : Sisa_W
Botaira island was beautiful but the snorkeling was not great. Service and food were excellent, but not a lot more to do than hike in the jungle. Snorkeling equipment was broken and in need of replacement.
Posted By : Kenneth E
Disappointed. Cruise was just a boat taking people to drop them off at different island resorts. Resort that we were dropped off at had a total of 4 people. the seafood lunch was just some fried fish very dry, some kind of vegetable and salad. The boat picked us up and we stopped at all the same resorts to pick people up on the way back. Would recommend that anyone going to Fiji stay at one of the nicer island resorts.
Posted By : Michael
A great experience combining the chance to relax, explore and heaps of picture opportunities. The staff at Octopus Resort were fantastic and the food was good.
