Gitana III review

The only thing worse than the food is the captain. No sense of hospitality and safety precautions on a boat in diabolical condition. Total lack of information.

The trip we booked was the worst experience in our lives. I will try to give an overview as complete and structured as possible.

1.       Captain

The captain does not speak English. He was rude, impolite and blessed with a hot temper. He was smoking marihuana all the time! He is very lazy leaving almost all the work to his staff. Girlfriend of the captain was there but did nothing.

2.       Lack of organisation

Transport to the boat was highly unorganised, people waited for hours in the early early morning. Drivers didn’t speak English and took it easy during the many stops. They tried to make up for that time by driving like a maniac. Car sickness guaranteed! Beware of “additional tax” for transportation.

The whole first day was spent on getting to the boat, only to find the boat not ready to leave yet. We waited for a couple of hours for immigration and the staff preparing the boat.

There was a delay of one full day, because things broke down and preparations were not done properly. This delay was only mentioned while on the ocean after three days. The staff was not informed either.

3.       Condition of the boat

There was no safety instruction. We had to ask for it. The life boat boxes were used for storage of many things that should not be in there, including fish hooks. Unclear where life jackets were.

The overall condition of the boat was poor. Windows were not waterproof and had to be covered by a piece of plastic held on its place by spare ropes. Our bed was soaking wet by the water coming in with buckets at a time. Impossible to sleep in there, unless you like showers of sea water in the middle of the night. Very hot in the cabin because there was no ventilation.

Engine broke down in the middle of the night in the middle of the ocean.

Steering system broke down during calm weather. Imagine the possible consequences if that would have happened during the storm in open sea the night after that.

All in all the boat is poorly maintained and needs necessary improvements.

4.       Conditions on the boat

Overcooked pasta was served almost every day. Ice cold sausages on day 2 of navigation. Even though there were people with specific diets, no adjustments were made. So they ended up eating less or nothing. There were cockroaches in the kitchen! We were hungry most of the time while the captain, girlfriend and staff eat whenever they liked. Toilet was a mess and was to be shared with 16 people. Only cleaned once, upon our request. Beds did not have a rail to prevent you from falling out during navigation – one guest actually fell out of his bed hard. Some of the beds are virtually impossible to sleep in during navigation.

5.       Staff

Because of the soaking wet bed, one guest laid down in the common area. The girl who worked there woke the guest up and asked her to move to another bed, because she wanted to lie there, while making racist remarks. The (staff) girl was very lazy and sick during navigation.

There was no communication between the captain and the one girl who worked there, who was our spokesperson/translator. Passport procedure in Colombia was dodgy, slow (1 full day) and not to be trusted.

All in all a loooot of waiting time, even while in San Blas. No organised activities apart from a BBQ for which the local Kuna people paid the toll for having the clean up the mess the day after.

Furthermore, there was no compensation for the delay and the fact that the guests could not sleep in their beds they paid for. Guests on the boat were great and in good spirit but they all disliked the captain and the way things were going. I would not recommend this trip and boat to my worst enemy. Do not pay anything in advance, and pay to your satisfaction upon arrival.

To end with something positive, the boat was very big, so there was a lot of space on the deck. We were three full days in San Blas and the islands were very nice!