Hi gcoetzee,

Sounds awful.

Are you going to pursue a complaint against Olympos, or is this just to warn other members, please?

Peter

If you are going to lodge a complaint then please keep to the facts of what you paid for versus what you got. Complaining that a taxi was cheaper than the transfer you paid for will get you nowhere

Where are you from gcoetzee as your isp shows South Africa? You may have different laws there.

gcoetzee
It's sad that you had such a bad experience on your holiday.

However, I think some of your comments are not the sort of things that can be put in a complaint to Olympos.

We were trapped onboard with a inconsiderate and selfish family with two children aged 4 and 5. When confronted about the selection of passengers, we (and I include the other 4 couples who complained about this as well) were told the agents had no control.

The possibility of having the 'holidaymakers from Hell' on the same tiny boat as yourselves should have been considered when you made the booking on such a small boat.
Nobody can expect to choose the passengers that they travel with.

Drinks on board was charged at minibar prices of a five star hotel.

Did Olympos give any indication of the price of drinks?
I would guess not.
I personally would have expected the cost of drinks on board to be high.

Please don't think I'm being unsympathetic, I'm not.
Some of your experiences (sewage smell/toilet bin not emptied) are things that should have been addressed by the crew at the time.

Polly

Hi gcoetzee,

While I agree that you do have some valid points, there are a few things that are non-starters in the world of holiday complants as have already been mentioned. I work for a TO and you will get nowhere:

The transfer. Could you have opted out? And would you have wanted to in hindsight? Would you have wanted to take a local bus or taxi even at a reduced cost? Far better to be on the transfer included for you by the company, at least it was there for you when you arrived and you didn't have the worry of finding the bus/taxi and getting there under your own steam. You were 'dumped' at Barbados office and put on a boat. What exactly does that mean? Did you have a rep with you? What were you actually expecting to happen?

The other guests. Don't go there either. They will not be sympathetic. Its just one of those annoying things. You will always get the family from hell wherever you go, even on a 5 star holiday and it is true that the agents have no control over who books a holiday. They don't screen them. Though I'm sure we all agree that in a confied area it must have been pretty awful.

And the drinks. Enough said by Prettypollycat.

As for the other bits and bobs, write to them ASAP. Document it clearly and without personal opinion. Keep pushing. Nobody should expect to live on a boat that smells bad or to not have their bins emptied.

Best of luck,

Louise

Hang on folks before you expend to much energy. We haven't had an answer to this -

Hi gcoetzee,

Sounds awful.

Are you going to pursue a complaint against Olympos, or is this just to warn other members, please?

Peter

Or this -

Where are you from gcoetzee as your isp shows South Africa? You may have different laws there. Glynis HT Admin

Peter

Thank you for the replies.
1) No, I am not pursuing a claim against Olympos Yachting, but would like to warn others against using this company.

2) Yes, I am from South Africa which is why it would be pointless pursuing this beyond warning others. On the yacht with us were a British couple, a Bahranian couple, a Dutch couple, three Turkish ladies, and the family I mentioned.

3) Being 10000km away, I had to rely on advice from Olympos Yachting regarding the transfers from Bodrum airport to the harbour. We were charged at a premium, whilst there were cheaper options available.

4) We were collected by the transferring agent, who then insisted that we pay the balance of our account with Olympos wito him (now does that not sound like a incestuous relationship) before he took us to the Barbados office in Bodrum. Barbados then also asked for payment of the balance and only after we proved that we paid the Transferring Agent did they take us to the boat, East meets West. It seems that after all this, Olympos, whom we paid, did not even have an office in Bodrum!

5) The other guests (and ourselves) complained (to the Barbados agent) on disembarcation about the fact that adult couples were allocated to a boat where a family with children were. The agent was not sympathetic until the little brats started to scream and run about as they did the whole week under the apathetic eyes of their parents. The point is that more care could be taken when creating a passenger list. 13 adults were inconvenienced.

6) We were told that we are not allowed to take our own drinks on board. Once we saw the prices on board we became teetotallers.

7) The fact that the cabins smelled of sewerage and that I complained to the Barbados agent before the cruise started, and that another customer on board got into a serious argument with the captain about the lack of hygiene was reported to the Barbados agent, and elsewhere to the Olympos owner. Neither are interested,

which leaves me with one remaining option, and that is to warn others not to use Olympos Yachting, or their "affiliate" Barbados.

Thanks for that clarification gcoetzee, and for telling us about it.

Peter

Thanks for the warning, and I'm sorry that you had such a miserable time. As a regular gulet traveller this is very useful for me for any future bookings I might make.

Incidentally, most companies do not allow children under 12 in a party unless the boat has been chartered privately (ie the whole boat as opposed to cabin charter which is the case in this instance).