Thank you for sharing your experience with us. First of all nobody was calling liar, but we need to answer listening both sides as we were not there. For this reason we checked the situation with the boat captain and the local manager and here are some points:
1. We have been advised that Enzo was your captain yesterday. Our company is in Rome but we personally know Enzo. We know he is a great captain, this is why he owns and drives big boats. I can’t imagine him being with 10 people for 4 hours without speaking one word (you said he didn’t speak for 3 hours);
2. Regarding towels: the local manager and the captain know days in advance (since the booking date), how many people will be on the boat that day, so organize everything in advance. There were 10 yellow towels on the boat, for sure, because everything is double checked;
3. Drinks: we have the pictures of the amount for drinks that you drank on the boat and were not only 4 bottle of water and 4 soft drinks as you said, but more (beers, prosecco and fragolino red wine). I am sure that you can consider that the tour do not include infinite amount of drinks. The boat is not a bar on the sea. The boat tour is to admire the panorama, to jump in the sea, relax, have fun with friends. If you knew you were needed more drinks you could ask us in advance (paying an extra), or take directly with you before boarding. Usually the island tours only include some soft drinks and water and we expect customers to understand that alchool can dangerous when drank under the sun. We never know how a customer can be under the effect of alchool, and we want to avoid problems. In the tour you booked one bottle of prosecco or white wine was included (check on included and not included section), this is why the captain asked to our local manager if you had to pay the extra for the beers, the prosecco and the fragolino bottles that you drank. Even if only one bottle was included and you had more, no extra money was requested to pay. When you said that money was requested I also should expect that you confirm that nothing was paid to him. Again, only water, soft drinks and one bottle of prosecco was included. The extra you drank was not included and you DID NOT pay anything. You said that you checked in the cooler and saw only “4 bottles of water and 4 soft drinks (which is not true looking at the pictures of what you drank) floating in water in a cooler with no ice”. I hope you can consider that you were 4 hours on a boat under the sun an no electricity available to keep the ice box cold.
4. Blue grotto. The entrance in the blue grotto is NOT included in the tour (check on included and not included section), also because we don’t know if it is open or not due to high tide, wind or rough sea. When the captain asks you if you want to visit it, you must consider the waiting time until your turn arrives. The waiting time spent in front of the blue grotto cannot be recovered.The decision is only yours. The entrance of the grotto is managed by Capri City Hall (Blue grotto is considered a museum), and managed by the few sailors with small boats, which can contain max 4 people a time, this is why your turn takes long (you should know this being there in 2016, but you shoul also consider that times are changed since that year). The captain can have an idea of the waiting time (you said he told you 30-40 minutes) but cannot be sure 100% . When you arrive in front of the grotto you must wait you turn and there isn’t any other way to skip the line. Your boat captain is not responsible for the waiting time. It is up to you if you want to wait or continue your tour. The captain told us you wanted to wait and after one hour and half you decided to move and continue the tour island. You did the other grottos, jumped in the sea, swimming, admiring the view of the island from the sea. You said that you were back at the sea port at 4:00pm when after you said that the tour ended at 4:15pm.
5. Then you group decided they wanted to return back to the sea port. The captain called the manager advising of your decision to go back a bit earlier then 5:00pm (end time of tour). We have a registered message of our captain which says at 4:15pm that he is going back to the sea port also saying that he will take 10 minutes. The local manager said that she was going to meet him and this is what she did. You met her 15/20 minutes before 5:00pm, but to go back earlier was your decision. We have registered messages for this conversation.
In your message you said that you were at the sea port at 4:00pm so you asked to go back to the blue grotto because you had one hour left. The stop at the blue grotto must decided at the beginning so the captain can customize the tour deciding from which side of the island he has to start. To reach the grotto, go inside and go back to the sea port need over one hour. In any case as said you must decide before. Regarding opening time of the grotto, the official time, that you can check on internet as well is 5:00pm, but you must consider that it is in the sea and weather conditions can change even in few minutes. The expert employees at the grotto can decide to open or close the grotto when they think is safe to let people enter or exit from it, without any advice. Yesterday the weather was a bit windy and the sea wasn’t flat, so the grotto closed before 5:00pm.
If the situation of the boat was not as you were expecting you should advice the captain and the local manage.
We really apologize!