Booze cruises - deposits now required :(

I was hoping not to have to implement pre-paid deposits, and I've resisted it for years, but after a few of the cruises this year I've decided there really is no choice due to the number of no shows. One cruise we had 14 people show up out of 33 who said they were coming, another time we had 17 show up from over 30 who said they were coming.

The minimum for a private hire is 30 people, I will run a private cruise with 25 people and cover the cost of 5 myself if necessary. However, when we get 14 or 17 people I'm not going to cover the cost of half the group which means we inevitably end up having to share the boat with others not from Temptation. While we do ensure the others are adults only they do not always fit in, nor us with them. This means the cruises tend to take on a different vibe and are often not as fun as they should be. No shows also mean we overspend on transport - paying for a bus for 40 people and ending up with a group of 14 or 17 is kind of silly.

We should also remember that whenever we have to share instead of have our own boat a crew of 5 gets sent home for the day with no pay, having turned up at work, for us. During high season the boat owners are sometimes turning away other clients because they are full (with us having pre-booked 30 spaces) and then we show up with half a group - it doesnt go down well with them.

I wouldnt really mind if we had the odd no show here and there due to sickness etc. but too many people seem to be signing up with a 'lets see how we feel on the day' kind of attitude.

So, from now on (including the cruises already planned for Feb) I'll be asking for $25 deposit per person in advance with $40 payable on the day. If we dont have 25 lots of $25 5 days before the cruise it will be cancelled and all those who paid a deposit will be refunded. I think the people who genuinely want to go will be happy to pay a deposit in advance, those that dont want to pay a deposit probably werent serious about coming anyway.

I think overall this will result in less cruises and a lot more administration for me but it will reduce no shows and ensure the cruises that do run are the maximum fun as they should be. It's clear an honor system isn't working.

 

Just in the process of updating the individual booze cruise threads and will also send out PM's. But the link to pay via paypal is here:

Cancuncare Booze Cruise Deposit Payment

 

haha, true enough! Unfortunately a few people from other hotels have complained at some of the antics our people get up to

 

Not sure what you mean by "email money transfers" please could you explain a little further?

I should add that with paypal you dont need to have an account with them, you can pay with debit or credit card via a secure connection.