nescubasteve
August 12th, 2007, 10:11 AM
In a word – AWESOME! My 13 year old son and I embarked aboard the Juliet (http://www.sailjuliet.com/) out of Miami on July 13 for some Bahamas diving. The whole experience – the boat, the crew, the diving, the food - was unbelievable! What a GREAT trip!
It was our first liveaboard, but hopefully not our last. Based on the great information on this board, this Liveaboard_Packing_List.txt (http://www.scubaboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39415&d=1186860226) was my travel list. I ALMOST used everything I took, with the exception of the rain and fleece pants. The weather was great. Also, I traveled with a pony bottle (gads – I can hear some of you clicking out of this report right now). In any case, I put it in my checked luggage and didn’t have a problem.
Booking the Trip
The Juliet is frequently (always?) booked by diveshops as a charter. Late last year after we decided we wanted to do a liveaboard trip, I contacted the Juliet directly. As expected, they were booked solid. John did give me the contact information of several shops that had booked the boat for the weeks I had available. I then contacted those shops and was put on a wait list. Luckily, two spots opened up with a group from Kansas City (Midwest Aquatics (http://www.midwestaquatics.com/)), so we booked with them.
Travel to Miami
Well, we flew in on July 12th. Have previously had issues with same day arrival, so decided to plan ahead to make sure we would make the boat. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami (http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/miabb?rpb=hotel&crUrl=/h/d/hi/1/en/hotelsearchresults). If you are going on the Juliet, this is the hotel recommended on the Juliet website and there is a reservation page you can print out and fax to the hotel to get a better room rate. MAKE SURE YOU CALL shortly after you fax in the reservations! We faxed the sheet months in advance, but when I called days before departure, there was no reservation. On the website, it tells you to call a few days after you fax in your reservation, which I hadn’t done. Note to self: next time call earlier! In any case, after we got it sorted out, we got a room with no further problems.
The room was nice, but the location was GREAT! Right across from the Bayside Marketplace - a fairly nice outdoor mall with lots of shops and restaurants (including the Hard Rock Café which is adjacent to seawall where you board the Juliet). Basically, if you can find the Hard Rock, you can see the Juliet. Easy walk from the Holiday Inn the next morning with our luggage and gear to board. Though we couldn’t embark until 6:00pm, they took our luggage at 11:00 (which is when we checked out of the Holiday Inn).
The Boat
The Juliet is a 104 foot three-masted schooner. They only take twelve passengers and usually have 5 crew. For our trip, there were actually seven crew members, but it never felt crowded in the least. Plenty of room to gear-up, to relax, to move around, etc. One of the best features of the boat.
Another wonderful feature is the unlimited fresh water. Though I suppose mathematically there may be a limit, but we never heard about or experienced it. There were three freshwater showers (two below decks and one on the dive deck) and we were told to use as much as we wanted. No 30 second limitation here! Frankly, some folks took more than one shower a day. There are three heads (not the marine heads you have to pump), so never a wait to relieve yourself.
Passengers are berthed in one of five individual rooms. There are also two “curtained bunks” in the forward section of the berthing area. The rooms vary in size, but I believe all had two bunks. There is a sink and 110v outlet in each room and plenty of drawers and cabinets for all your gear. Jonah and I stayed in room #5 in 148 diagram. I am nearly 6’6”, so I had to sleep diagonally (you tall guys will get this) in the lower bunk, but I was able to stretch out to sleep.
The Crew
Can’t say enough good things about the crew. Seriously. John, the captain, also happens to be the owner. It was obvious in the way he handled the boat, the crew, the equipment and the passengers that he truly loves what he does. Though I would love to write out each thing the rest of the crew to make this such a wonderful trip, I think I would run out of room. I just want to say a hearty “THANK YOU” to Greg, Aleka, Kat, David, Christin and a teenager whose name escapes me (I knew I should have done this review sooner!). It was great meeting and diving with all of you. Okay, I just can’t NOT say a few things… Thanks Greg, Kat, and David for the great diving. Thanks also Kat for the pictures. Thanks Aleka for the good-tasting and ABUNDANT food!
The Diving
I got in 13 out of 14 available dives (skipped last dive on last day due to early flight next day). Jonah a few less because as a junior open water diver, I didn’t take him deeper than 40’ (much to his chagrin) until he finished up his Jr. AOW. During the trip, we dove three wrecks, numerous reefs and walls, and of course – Bull Run. We did a few drift dives, but most were dives from the boat while it was attached to a mooring line. Easy entry and exit from the boat. Entry is a BIG giant stride (maybe 4-5’ to water from platform), exiting is via staircase out of the water. The dives were not divemaster led, though they would dive with you if you asked. As long as we were back aboard with 500psi in our tanks, everyone was happy. Here is a list of the divesites: Piquet Rock, Sapona, the Strip, Hawksbill Reef, Road to Atlantis, Hesperus, Bimini Barge, Tuna Alley, Moxon Rocks, and Bull Run.
My favorite dive was the Hesperus. Actually favorite two dives. We dove it during the day, then returned for a night dive. The difference was astounding. During the day, the wreck was covered by grunts. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Lots of stingrays in sand near the wreck and lots of barracuda patrolling a loose circle around the wreck. For the night dive, however, quite a host of different characters. Nary a grunt in site, but there had to be 10-15 large loggerhead turtles all over and around the wreck. Each having a number of attached remoras. And there were four lionfish out and about. Kat described the remarkable difference as being similar to the difference you would see in a big city. Certain people out and about during the day – others out and about at night.
Jonah’s favorite was Bull Run. He finished his Jr. AOW on the trip, so he was able to do this dive. Unlike other boats, the Juliet doesn’t do a shark feed, but there were plenty of blacktips swimming about on our arrival. Got some good photos of my 13 year old son diving with sharks. How cool is that?
Summary
This was a wonderful vacation. Can’t wait to go again. And wouldn’t hesitate to sign up for another trip with the Juliet!
Here (http://picasaweb.google.com/sjschmidt4/2007TheJuliet?authkey=IasDmbkrGCo) are the pictures.
Steve
It was our first liveaboard, but hopefully not our last. Based on the great information on this board, this Liveaboard_Packing_List.txt (http://www.scubaboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39415&d=1186860226) was my travel list. I ALMOST used everything I took, with the exception of the rain and fleece pants. The weather was great. Also, I traveled with a pony bottle (gads – I can hear some of you clicking out of this report right now). In any case, I put it in my checked luggage and didn’t have a problem.
Booking the Trip
The Juliet is frequently (always?) booked by diveshops as a charter. Late last year after we decided we wanted to do a liveaboard trip, I contacted the Juliet directly. As expected, they were booked solid. John did give me the contact information of several shops that had booked the boat for the weeks I had available. I then contacted those shops and was put on a wait list. Luckily, two spots opened up with a group from Kansas City (Midwest Aquatics (http://www.midwestaquatics.com/)), so we booked with them.
Travel to Miami
Well, we flew in on July 12th. Have previously had issues with same day arrival, so decided to plan ahead to make sure we would make the boat. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami (http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/miabb?rpb=hotel&crUrl=/h/d/hi/1/en/hotelsearchresults). If you are going on the Juliet, this is the hotel recommended on the Juliet website and there is a reservation page you can print out and fax to the hotel to get a better room rate. MAKE SURE YOU CALL shortly after you fax in the reservations! We faxed the sheet months in advance, but when I called days before departure, there was no reservation. On the website, it tells you to call a few days after you fax in your reservation, which I hadn’t done. Note to self: next time call earlier! In any case, after we got it sorted out, we got a room with no further problems.
The room was nice, but the location was GREAT! Right across from the Bayside Marketplace - a fairly nice outdoor mall with lots of shops and restaurants (including the Hard Rock Café which is adjacent to seawall where you board the Juliet). Basically, if you can find the Hard Rock, you can see the Juliet. Easy walk from the Holiday Inn the next morning with our luggage and gear to board. Though we couldn’t embark until 6:00pm, they took our luggage at 11:00 (which is when we checked out of the Holiday Inn).
The Boat
The Juliet is a 104 foot three-masted schooner. They only take twelve passengers and usually have 5 crew. For our trip, there were actually seven crew members, but it never felt crowded in the least. Plenty of room to gear-up, to relax, to move around, etc. One of the best features of the boat.
Another wonderful feature is the unlimited fresh water. Though I suppose mathematically there may be a limit, but we never heard about or experienced it. There were three freshwater showers (two below decks and one on the dive deck) and we were told to use as much as we wanted. No 30 second limitation here! Frankly, some folks took more than one shower a day. There are three heads (not the marine heads you have to pump), so never a wait to relieve yourself.
Passengers are berthed in one of five individual rooms. There are also two “curtained bunks” in the forward section of the berthing area. The rooms vary in size, but I believe all had two bunks. There is a sink and 110v outlet in each room and plenty of drawers and cabinets for all your gear. Jonah and I stayed in room #5 in 148 diagram. I am nearly 6’6”, so I had to sleep diagonally (you tall guys will get this) in the lower bunk, but I was able to stretch out to sleep.
The Crew
Can’t say enough good things about the crew. Seriously. John, the captain, also happens to be the owner. It was obvious in the way he handled the boat, the crew, the equipment and the passengers that he truly loves what he does. Though I would love to write out each thing the rest of the crew to make this such a wonderful trip, I think I would run out of room. I just want to say a hearty “THANK YOU” to Greg, Aleka, Kat, David, Christin and a teenager whose name escapes me (I knew I should have done this review sooner!). It was great meeting and diving with all of you. Okay, I just can’t NOT say a few things… Thanks Greg, Kat, and David for the great diving. Thanks also Kat for the pictures. Thanks Aleka for the good-tasting and ABUNDANT food!
The Diving
I got in 13 out of 14 available dives (skipped last dive on last day due to early flight next day). Jonah a few less because as a junior open water diver, I didn’t take him deeper than 40’ (much to his chagrin) until he finished up his Jr. AOW. During the trip, we dove three wrecks, numerous reefs and walls, and of course – Bull Run. We did a few drift dives, but most were dives from the boat while it was attached to a mooring line. Easy entry and exit from the boat. Entry is a BIG giant stride (maybe 4-5’ to water from platform), exiting is via staircase out of the water. The dives were not divemaster led, though they would dive with you if you asked. As long as we were back aboard with 500psi in our tanks, everyone was happy. Here is a list of the divesites: Piquet Rock, Sapona, the Strip, Hawksbill Reef, Road to Atlantis, Hesperus, Bimini Barge, Tuna Alley, Moxon Rocks, and Bull Run.
My favorite dive was the Hesperus. Actually favorite two dives. We dove it during the day, then returned for a night dive. The difference was astounding. During the day, the wreck was covered by grunts. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Lots of stingrays in sand near the wreck and lots of barracuda patrolling a loose circle around the wreck. For the night dive, however, quite a host of different characters. Nary a grunt in site, but there had to be 10-15 large loggerhead turtles all over and around the wreck. Each having a number of attached remoras. And there were four lionfish out and about. Kat described the remarkable difference as being similar to the difference you would see in a big city. Certain people out and about during the day – others out and about at night.
Jonah’s favorite was Bull Run. He finished his Jr. AOW on the trip, so he was able to do this dive. Unlike other boats, the Juliet doesn’t do a shark feed, but there were plenty of blacktips swimming about on our arrival. Got some good photos of my 13 year old son diving with sharks. How cool is that?
Summary
This was a wonderful vacation. Can’t wait to go again. And wouldn’t hesitate to sign up for another trip with the Juliet!
Here (http://picasaweb.google.com/sjschmidt4/2007TheJuliet?authkey=IasDmbkrGCo) are the pictures.
Steve