I am dutch and a long time reader of Bonaire talk but never added my comments or asked any question.By coincidence I "walked" into this webpage and based on the enthousiastic comments of all the contributers,decided to go on holiday to bonaire which I did from jan 12-20.
Based on all your comments it was not so difficult to choose and pick resort and restaurants.
I am not a diver but love snorkeling.
So ended up into Divi which I considered a fantastic place to spend holidays.The room was
very good,the service excellent(what a friendly people).I also walked into the Plaza which,at least on me,made a sterile and too businesslike impression but that of course is my personal opinion.
I had dinner in:
It rains fishes: excellent food and friendly service.
Richards:food good,service mediocre
Zeezicht:very mediocre food,lousy service and
they cheated me on currency and what a shame to have such a nice and romantic pier and to have such terrible music(house)and loud television.
Mona Lisa(de barhap) excellent,good value for my
money
De Tuin:Excellent food,very friendly and efficient service
Den Laman:mediocre food and service

I went to Klein Bonaire with the Seacow,the friendly captain advised me to do a driftsnorkeling,arranged that my stuff was put on no name beach and dropped me into the water sothat
could go along with the current back to the beach.
FATASTIC EXPERIENCE,i have even seen 2 turtles!!!!

Rented a car at Budget to drive over the island and visited Rincon and yes,I found the icecream
about which is talked somany times here.

One of the most impressive experiences however was a tour on the Aquaspace,the sailing trimaran with a fantastic underwaterobservation deck.
As I told you,I am not a diver and by snorkeling you get only a small glance of what is going on
under water.But making the trip on the Aquaspace
you go under water and the big glass windows give
you a panorama view of the coral,the fish i.e.
the underwater wonders without diving. Now I understand why you,divers,dive because what I have
seen was breathtaking.
This apart from the fact that after having been
"underwater" I enjoyed being on the sundeck and
being "spoiled" with drinks and snacks(toast with
salmon!!)and the very friendly crew.

Now I understand much better what you are talking about and I am thankfull for all the comments I have read here giving me a fantastic holidays.
Bonaire.....I felt in love with you and I will be back soon!!!!

This is the second recent trip report that mentions getting ripped off at Zeezicht. What's happening? The following was posted on 15,December regarding Zeezicht: "The problem has been solved! The person who was making the errors, either by design or by error has been terminated. Johan Visser, the owner, was quite upset. Zee Zicht has been in business for eighty years and he is the third generation to run the business and has a teengage son who most likely step in to his father's shoes........."

Is the "Enterprising Waitress" still working there? Is someone else following in her footsteps?
Does Johan Visser really want to know?

your trip sounds great! Where was the Aquaspace docked?

It's another good reason for "The Dive Bus" doubling up as "The Restaraunt Bus" like I suggested a while back, eh Bob?
Apart from the security aspect which was the subject previously, the driver would only pull up outside those where he was getting good feed back (sorry for that) from the customers.
Actually.....It might not be such a crazy idea.
I bet there'd be no shortage of eateries offering all kinds of inducements for the bus to grace their premises.
I think I might apply for the evening shift drivers job. It should be "a nice little earner", with the added bonus of a company uniform to wear.
I just hope that the cap will fit.
Well, must dash.....I've got a CV to write.

Aquaspace was docked on a mooring between Karels Beach Bar and Bonaire Nautico Marina

You got me there Andy. What color will your uniform be?

Andy, I'll make a sugestion, your uniform should have the same nice color as the dive bus... Wouldn't that look great on you?

OK. If it has to be pink...So be it.
Probably wouldn't have been my first choice, but if it means that I get the job, then it's a small price to pay.

Diny, great trip report, and I am glad you had a great time. This board helped me plan my first trip to Bonaire so well (I have never been so organized on a vacation in my life!)...Glad you saw the turtles, we didn't get to see any when we were there...I know, i am still whining about that one...next year...are you going to learn to dive now????

Cynde,No,I believe I have to leave the diving to the heroes under us.I am already very proud on myself that I can snorkle but especially because of the trip on the Aquaspace I fully understand
the motivation of divers.

Diny - I would not call divers "heroes". For years growing up I thought I could never do it. In my early 40's I decided to give it a try and wished I had done it many many years sooner. A good, safety conscious instructor can help most anybody (within health limitations ofcourse). You know best what you feel you can do ofcourse, but don't say no too easily :-) Just my words of wisdom for the day.... thanks for the great trip report. Denise

IN REPLY TO DINY TIMMERMAN

I'm seven days a week at the restaurant and there is always someone in charge. If you had any complaint, you should have complained right away. This is just to break people. About the terrible music and loud television, some people ask to see their games and ask for their music. You don't specify the day you were there or the waiter who cheated you on currency. I always strive to please all customers and this will continue to be that way. With this complain of yours, you gave me the idea to use name tags for everybody and as we are the oldest restaurant on the island, we know that there is a lot we are doing good, but as a matter of fact, you can't be everywhere and you have to trust the people that work for you.It is easy for bad news to travel.

Madeleine Visser
Zeezicht Restaurant

Good for you Madeleine-I don't know what people expect us (business owners--all of us, restaurants, hotels, villas, car rentals, shops, etc.) to do if this is the first time the complaint is mentioned. It simply isn't fair to not give a proprietor a chance to correct a mistake, while it still can be corrected. I'm copying something below that I wrote on the Dining link a few days ago, because it's appropriate here too.

The fluid nature (changing supply lines, changing staff, etc) of restaurants should be kept in mind as one is chosen or critiqued, especially after only one visit. Most (actually, I think all) of Bonaire's dining establishments are family owned and operated (and ZeeZicht has been around since 1929 folks!). Even if you are a professional critic, all you can hope to do is predict what a restaurant might be like at some unknown future date, and what it might offer for an unknown group of diners.

These businesses are literally our bread & butter; we want our customers to be happy and satisfied (but no one hits it perfect every time)-so we hope that they give us an opportunity to correct a wrong when it happens; there's almost nothing a restaurant can do once the customer leaves. (Was it just a bad night? Did half the staff not show up? Or any of the staff for that matter? Did the supplier forget to order lettuce that week, so that's why there was no salad? Is something being made to order? Is someone using 1.75, and someone else expecting 1.8 as exchange rates? Perhaps there's a language problem-four are "supposed" to be spoken here, but that's not always the case....Who knows?)

Again, please, there is so much to enjoy here, and so much is so right-please give everyone a chance to correct a mistake before you slam their establishment on the world wide web. Thank you.
Ruth van Tilburg, Owner KFC & President of the Bonaire Restaurant Association

I agree with you Ruth - but in this case there were problems before. Also, with Croccantino (sp?), I had problems and mentioned them to the owner I assume, but she certainly gave the impression she didn't care, and I am more than happy to give the benefit of the doubt, particularly on vacation, but 2 hours for salad and spaghetti in an uncrowded restaurant is just too much. :-(

Carl

barry and i ate at croccantino feb 2001, but we had fine service and wonderful food. guess we hit a good day.

Carl, you mention 'problems' before, but really, there was one that Bob L. brought to light, and indeed it was a doosey--but he explained the situation well enough so that it could be taken care of. Another 'one' was unsubstantiated by an anonymous. As for this one.....well, not much of an explanation, is there? So how to solve it? How to satisfy him now?

Hey, they're my neighbors here in town-we're fellow business owners, competitors at times, and watch each others backs too-it's a small island. I know Maddie lost sleep over this, I know I would too, wondering if it happened, or who did it, or where to order name tags....?

Eh, time to go guys--it's night time karnaval parade tonight, enough of this serious stuff! Even a bad day here is still probably better than a good day up there, right?!

Ruth and Madeleine,

Thanks for the reminders to be in contact with the manager or owner of a restaurant/establishment, if you have received poor service for a meal. This may or may not bring the particular customer satisfaction, depending on the individual's criteria for "satisfaction". When we had very slow and forgetful service for a meal at a restaurant on Bonaire, last Spring , we were probably just too tired and frustrated to think of that useful protocol, and went away dissatisfied. Then I complained on this board about it. However, since that particular esablishment has received primarily great reviews on this board, I realize it was probably one bad night out of many many good ones in the overall picture. So, now I'm sorry I brought my complaint here before talking to the management. I know that a restaurant with good management will usually make an effort to compensate dissatisfied customers when the problem has originated with the establishment. And, as you both said: these places are run by people, and the human factor means imperfection exists (for both customers and servers!). So, maybe compassion can be served from either end of the situation when things go awry - and good service can be acheived when a reasonable complaint is lodged.

Thanks again.