The Vida Mia — Attraction in Honolulu

I had high hopes for this cruise. After searching high and low for a classy alternative to the typical club-vibe catamaran sunset cruises offered from Waikiki, I was thrilled to have discovered the Vida Mia. The boat is beautiful and I was thrilled to have found a great way to celebrate my 30th birthday. I called the company before booking to ensure that they would be able to accommodate a fiend who is vegan and was assured it would not be a problem. The woman that I spoke to was helpful and approachable. The day before the cruise, I called again to confirm that they would be able to give her a meal. They said it was no problem and in the notes for the evening.

When we arrived on the boat, it was much smaller than expected which was no problem except it seemed to be overbooked and there was absolutely zero seating for myself or my four friends. Even if the cruise had booked five less people it would’ve been perfect. We had to resort to sitting anywhere we could which presented issues for a guest with a knee injury and guests in dresses. Not only that, but the only feasible location to sit was on the bow of the boat where we couldn’t see the sunset nor hear the live music.

When it came time for dinner, we moved to the only open seats inside the boat. When they were bringing out food I mentioned to the woman serving that my friend was the vegan I mentioned to someone. She seemed annoyed and inconvenienced and mentioned that she “had no idea there would be a vegan onboard” despite me confirming multiple times. My friend was then given a plate of the same food as the rest of us without the meat which meant a side of farro salad, green beans, and watermelon salad that wasn’t even vegan given it had feta in it. I understand that asking to accommodate dietary restrictions is an additional request but I would expect at $250/each, they should have been able to accommodate or at least offer a discounted rate. At the very minimum, the crew should have been aware. The rest of our food was fine, nothing special or that I would really recommend— portions were small and the food was good but I honestly was expecting more.

We were willing to look past these hiccups and did the best to enjoy our final night. The boat truly is beautiful but there was minimal space due to being overbooked, one of the bathrooms was overflowing the entire ride, the food was pretty good but definitely not as good as I was expecting for the price point, and while the people on the phone were kind and helpful, there was not one member of the crew on the boat that was kind or helpful. The entire time we were on the boat, we were met by stoic and cold demeanors and was treated like we were an inconvenience rather than a guest. The only time I felt any kindness from the crew was when we were getting ready to dock at the end of the night as they started chatting a bit more.

Overall, the cruise was fine. The boat was beautiful, the live music was great (that we were able to hear in the minimal time we were able to find space in the back of the boat), and the concept was amazing but the execution was lacking. I am disappointed to report that given the chance, I would likely not rebook...

I bought six tickets for my family to go on the Vida Mia coffee cruise to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. We arrived at the dock before 7 am, as instructed by the confirmation email I received several days prior to the cruise. There were a few groups of people also waiting for the Vida Mia. However, the boat was not there when we arrived, and there were no crew members or employees at the dock. In fact, no one ever came. Other boat owners at the harbor saw us standing there and came over to tell us they didn't think the Vida Mia was going to show up.

I never received any communication from the company advising that the cruise was not going to go forward. And, despite trying to contact them several times by text, call, and email (both the morning of the cruise and in the day following), I have still not heard a single thing from anyone--no explanation, apology, or refund. So not only did we not get the cruise we paid for, they have also been completely silent on refunding me the $750 I spent on the tickets.

I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt at first, thinking that there might have been some emergency. But the more time that goes by without a response and the more that I see others posting about having similar experiences (including a couple whose wedding plans were affected), the more I feel compelled to warn others not to trust this company. Plus, I've seen that the Instagram account has been active since I tried to make contact, so the total lack of communication can't be because they are completely unavailable. It seems like they are just deliberately ignoring their customers.

If, for some unanticipated reason, the boat and/or crew were not available that morning, fine. But the failure to communicate and withholding of a refund are really unacceptable. This was an extremely disappointing experience and I am honestly surprised by the lack of professionalism from what I previously thought was a reputable boat...

DO NOT BOOK. We booked this coffee cruise on Sunday and paid $214.20. Arrived Tuesday at 7 am and no one was there. After 2 phone messages, we were finally able to reach someone who said the tour was cancelled due to 'Maintenance'. We received no notification, and had already changed our rental car accommodation to be able to take this cruise.

We were told that we would receive a refund. After not receiving any type of refund receipt, we attempted to co tact them and again left 3 messages until we finally called and someone answered. We were informed that we needed to contact Viator (Trip Advisor) for our refund. We did so, and they informed us that we needed to co tact the operator, being that they could not reach them, by phone.

Upon reaching The Vida Mia... the woman was extremely rude, taking over me and saying that ' there was nothing more she could do' when we asked for a receipt of the refund she stated that she had sent it that morning and she wasn't doing anything else. I tried to explain that she was being rude when all we did was book a tour , that they had cancelled without notification so we wanted our money returned. She said the cancellation was due to '' weather', although it was a beautiful blue sky day.

This was obviously a scam.

She did send the receipt, that she stated she had sent hours previous

Now. We wait for the refund. They have $214.20 and we have received no services, no goods and only a hassle and rude behavior on the last day of our...