Boa Vista Adults-Only Cruise

Don’t book is a SCAM nobody came to pick us up. Phone or email not working. SCAM SCAM stay aeay from it. Is 4 month not working . Is very bad for Trpadvisor to sell Scam Trips. Can’t believe it.

On this dryd essert island I was looking forward to getting onto the sea for a change. The boat looked amazing, I'd seen it in the harbour. The website was easy, using TripAdvisor. Went downhill from there. Got a WhatsApp message saying the day booked had been cancelled, could I come the next day and agreed. Fairly long whatsApp exchange ended with us agreeing pickup at the hotel entrance and they would take me to the harbour, which sounded the easiest way. No one turned up, No one replied to WhatsApp messages for a while as I baked in the tropical sun. Then rather sub optimal conversation by WhatsApp again where they argued I wasn't at the hotel and I argued I was, sending them selfies to prove it. Eventually they agreed I was where I was meant to be and they had gone to the wrong place. Thought they were coming to get me, but after a bit of nagging they said they weren't because the tour had left. They offered me another day, a week later, but, but that was too late for me. Still waiting for the refund. My suggestion is go on the tour, it looks great, but make your own way to the harbour. If there is a problem be persistent and don't let them blame you.

Quite simply, the worst boat trip ever. Sold by the TUI rep as having a visit to a beach. We did not go to a beach. Having a free flowing bar - we were offered a free juice on boarding then only two other drinks during the afternoon. This may have been because the crew were more interested in sitting in a corner of the boat and chatting to each other, and examining their phones than interacting with passengers. We did eventually anchor for snorkelling. But in a place where there was no undersea interest - what’s the point of that? Equipment was just brought out in a bucket and placed on the deck, and everyone had to sort out the usable from the rubbish themselves. A bit of help from the crew to some of the older and less able passengers when they were trying to get back on board would have been nice too. Maybe they were too enthralled by the rap music that was constantly playing. The average age of the passengers must have been late 50s to early 60s, and it would have been appreciated if the crew would have broadcast an age appropriate playlist. But the crew seemed to enjoy rap, and as they were more focussed on themselves rather than the paying customers, we all had to listen to rap.. We were told by the TUI rep there would be a buffet. I suppose it depends what you call a buffet. The TUI brochure that we examined before booking on the shows lavish trays or fresh fruit and fish. The actuality on out trip was 4 platters. All served cold. 1, Half a tasteless cake cut into cubes. 2, A platter with about a dozen pieces of small bread slices with a smear of cold melted cheese and two of the tiniest, practically pin head size, pieces of diced chorizo. If it was meant to be bruschetta it failed. 3, a plate that, after a discussion among the passengers, we think (can’t be sure) was meant to be a pizza of some kind. Cut in slices of about 2 to 3 cms it was soggy bread stained with what we assumed to be some kind of odd flavouring akin to tomato, with noodle size strands of limp tasteless vegetables on it. 4. The worst till last I’m afraid. A platter of sandwich quarters. We watched as one of the crew took a break from her phone, cigarettes and crew mates entered the galley and made these sandwiches. Out of the whole platter - about 8 sandwiches cut into quarters (check the size of the boat you can get quite a few on board 8 would not had been enough if they were edible) only one quarter of one sandwich was eaten. The fact that bread was damp and soggy, the filling was tasteless and at the same time greasy, was not the main reason why the passengers avoided the sandwiches. It was the fact that those at the back of the boat that watched her in the galley make the sandwiches and place the other food on the platters noticed that not once when cutting, spreading, filling or presenting food did she wash her hands. No wonder most of the food, what little there was of it, was left untouched. It would be an understatement to say everyone who left the cruise was disappointed and downbeat. So when the local tour guide stopped the minibus taking passengers their hotels in Sal Rei High Street and stated we were “stopping for 10 minutes shopping” it is no surprise that nobody took her up on the offer, and she was told to drive on and get us back to our hotels as soon as possible. This may have been a good cruise a few years ago, but it should be avoided now. The good things were - the hotel pick-up was on time, and there was our transport waiting for us when we got back to the port. The boat is also nice, a true Turkish Gulet with deck space for about 16 to 20 to sunbathe and cover at the stern for 10 to 12 who want shade. BUT if you are holidaying with TUI and look in the brochure for the adults only Boa Vista cruise, do not believe what you see and read. The TUI brochure misrepresents the 2023 tour. I don’t know if the captain, management, crew or anything else has changed recently, but they all need to get some customer focus, and if they don’t then TUI should stop selling the tour. At present this tour is not worth the money or wasting an afternoon of your holiday on. You return from it disappointed or angry, and probably thirsty and hungry. I think TUI should take action to improve the tour or stop recommending it, as it will eventually affect the TUI reputation as well.

Very bad, no one showed up to picks us up, we’ve been waiting whole morning , whole day ruined, tried to contact them and nothing. Will be requesting refund

No transport arrived to collect me i waited over an hour not altogether a surprise as had had no contact whatsoever about pickups I asked them no réponse so I could only go by the provisional information printed on ticket. Impossible to contact when I was looking on Viator trying to see how to apply for a rebate I found some reviews all saying the same as me it’s a scam there is no boat trip DO NOT BOOK this trip it doesn’t exist whether the company does Salina Sails I don’t know