I rarely leave review, but this time i must leave it to describe everything from the beginning to the end of the trip. We planned to have a trip at 4pm but then captain called and asked us to come at 1:45. I got there ontime as scheduled at 1:45 pm. I got on the board. The boat was clean and new made of carbon instead of aluminum as other boats. The captain was sitting in the middle, that gave us an ability to move around freely. When i boarded i volunteered to pay for the trip, the capital asked to pay at the end. Probably wanted to get tips at the end which is fine, i wished i could have known it. I started asking questions regarding the depth when he responded rudely “It is deep enough”. Maybe it was normal way for others but not for everybody. Then the captain told me ” you are asking too many questions”. Since when people cannot ask questions especially when they pay money. Then we got to the place by driving 1.5 hours. I thought we would go in the open ocean far east with fresher and cleaner water as other people go but it did not happen, that is fine. People go where the fish is. The captain and crew did not allow us to hook the bait ourselves, always assisting us. Possibly doing it trying to get tips at the end or worried to be sued. If they did then they should have asked us to sign a waiver for not being responsible for anything. I prefer to learn and ask when if i need help rather than someone does it for you all the time. That is me, other people may prefer to be assisted if they never fished before.
I personally caught 3 big striped basses 20-25 lb each and i thought i could take them home. But at the end captain told us that everyone gets 1 fish. Even if you catch 3 or more you will get only 1, i understood it as a catch limit in NY. It is fine with me. Not a big deal. I wish i could have known it earlier so i can plan ahead and decide whether to share it with anyone or release it into the sea. The capital screamed if someone was not doing what he expected to do or checked the bait too often or anything like that. Therefore, controlled everyone in my opinion. I did not feel comfortable. Maybe for others it is ok. The boat was not prepared for any COVID, nor hey did not have any soap and asking anything was a pain, they did not ask us to bring one, i would have brought mine. The captain and crew did not have any masks on. When we docked in Howard beach capitan asked us to pay. I paid in cash for myself and others were trying to pay. The captain did not explain what type of payments he accepts. His helper had to call his assistant so she would dictate her venmo account to other people to pay. This was a big disorganized mess. They did not tell us in the beginning that they accepts no credit cards, only cash, quick pay and venmo. Even though we caught fish my experience was not the best one. I would recommend this captain the following things for improvement:
1. Have soap for people to wash their hands, have masks on for safety. Is it not a normal time, people are dying.
2. Organize the process of collecting money, explain people how they are expected pay, in the beginning or at the end.
3. Help if needed vs all the time help, let people fish themselves. Explain the people safety with handling the fish, how to take how not to take, how to react when fish is hooked, what to do what not to do to avoid any aggressive tones during the trip. If someone wants to be assisted, let them be assisted. I would have left the tips anyway if i liked the service no matter someone assisted me all the time or not.
4. Recommend to use restrooms before the trip.
5. Explain where to sit while going to destination, whether to move or ask questions and when.
6. Tipping structure.I understand that this is the business but customers have to be treated as customers, but we were treated as employees who paid $125 each for this trip + $20 or more in tips.
7. Explain people when to have lunch or break.This review based on the real service.
I rarely leave review, but this time i must leave it to describe everything from the beginning to the end of the trip. We planned...