Reviews

Name: Mike Janson
Yacht: Sun Odyssey 419-Vuillard with Dream Yacht Charter - Compass Point Marina, St. Thomas
Charter Dates: 06/24/2021 to 07/01/2021
Broker: Joann Higgins
Area Cruised: St. Thomas - USVI
Overall Rating: 5
5 being the highest 0 being the lowest
We hope your charter lived up to your expectations and we are eager to have your evaluation and impressions of your yachting vacation. Please answer the following questions and add any comments you may have.

1. Were the staff at Dream Yacht Charters friendly and accommodating?
Yes

2. Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Yes it was in good working condition but it could have use an extra detailing

3. Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes we were pleasantly surprised that all the equipment was on Board including the lighter

4. Was the boat well ventilated?
Yes

5. Did the staff at Dream Yacht Charters do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
A+ service on the orientation briefing

6. Did you like the area you cruised?
We ended up going all the way around St John and St Thomas and it was a wonderful

7. Could we at Virgin Island Sailing, Ltd. have helped you further in any way?
We will be looking to charter again next year with VI Sailing, maybe a cat this time

8. May we post this review on our website?
Yes

9. Additional comments on your charter?
US Virgin Islands have a lot to offer for the first time Bareboat charterers It was a wonderful adventure for our families

Name: Jeff Cameron
Yacht: FP 37 Power Cat-Stolen Booty with TMM Yacht Charters - Road Reef Marina: Road Town, Tortola
Charter Dates: 07/02/2021 to 07/09/2021
Broker: Joann Higgins
Area Cruised: Tortola - BVI
Overall Rating: 5
5 being the highest 0 being the lowest
We hope your charter lived up to your expectations and we are eager to have your evaluation and impressions of your yachting vacation. Please answer the following questions and add any comments you may have.

1. Were the staff at TMM Tortola friendly and accommodating?
Yes

2. Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Yes

3. Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes

4. Was the boat well ventilated?
No so we used AC all the time. It’s a power cat. Not sail.

5. Did the staff at TMM Tortola do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
Yes

6. Did you like the area you cruised?
Sure

7. Could we at Virgin Island Sailing, Ltd. have helped you further in any way?
No

8. May we post this review on our website?
Yes

Name: Jack Spaeth
Yacht: Saona 47-Smile Maker with TMM Yacht Charters - Road Reef Marina: Road Town, Tortola
Charter Dates: 07/02/2021 to 07/12/2021
Broker: Joann Higgins
Area Cruised: Tortola - BVI
Overall Rating: 4
5 being the highest 0 being the lowest
We hope your charter lived up to your expectations and we are eager to have your evaluation and impressions of your yachting vacation. Please answer the following questions and add any comments you may have.

1. Were the staff at TMM Tortola friendly and accommodating?
Yes, very

2. Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Yes

3. Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Pretty much

4. Was the boat well ventilated?
I would say no. Needed generator and a/c all night

5. Did the staff at TMM Tortola do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
Yes

6. Did you like the area you cruised?
Yes

7. Could we at Virgin Island Sailing, Ltd. have helped you further in any way?
No

8. May we post this review on our website?
Yes

9. Additional comments on your charter?
Charter was originally with Navigare but they pulled boat less than 2 weeks before charter claiming they were moving boat. This caused unnecessary stress before the charter. Then we ultimately saw Summer out on charter our first day out. Even though they ultimately paid for an "upgrade" at TMM, their initial offer was less than fair and the whole thing was definitely unprofessional. As the organizer of this charter it refected poorly on me. I do appreciate the efforts of Joann Higgins in finding Smile Maker and having Navigare pay for it. In the end Smile Maker was fine. We really appreciated the Rainman Water Maker as we never had to stop to refill the tank, and also permanent propane grill. In comparing the Fountain Pajot Saona with the Lagoon 450F I think I prefer the Lagoon, but only by a little, ventilation being one along with forward cockpit and center flybridge helm. All and all, my mostly first time crew was very happy and we got to most of the places we wanted. We timed it pretty well as we avoided the 4 day quarantine and then only slight inconvenience when they introduced new early closure restrictions due to the new covid outbreak.

Name: Scott Hill
Yacht: Lagoon 50 - Bollinger with Navigare Yachting - Conch Inn Marina: Marsh Harbour, Abacos
Charter Dates: 06/18/2021 to 06/26/2021
Broker: Joann Higgins
Area Cruised: Bahamas - Abacos
Overall Rating: 4
5 being the highest 0 being the lowest
We hope your charter lived up to your expectations and we are eager to have your evaluation and impressions of your yachting vacation. Please answer the following questions and add any comments you may have.

1. Were the staff at Navigare friendly and accommodating?
Yes

2. Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Yes

3. Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes

4. Was the boat well ventilated?
Yes

5. Did the staff at Navigare do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
Yes

6. Did you like the area you cruised?
It was ok

7. Could we at Virgin Island Sailing, Ltd. have helped you further in any way?
With setting up required COVID testing during stay was the only area that would have helped out tremendously.

8. May we post this review on our website?
Yes

Name: Brad Southerland
Yacht: Bali 4.8-Yepa with Dream Yacht Charters - Palm Cay Marina, Nassau, Bahamas
Charter Dates: 07/02/2021 to 07/12/2021
Broker: Joann Higgins
Area Cruised: Bahamas - Nassau, Exumas
Overall Rating: 3
5 being the highest 0 being the lowest
We hope your charter lived up to your expectations and we are eager to have your evaluation and impressions of your yachting vacation. Please answer the following questions and add any comments you may have.

1. Were the staff at Dream Yacht Charters friendly and accommodating?
Yes, the staff is very friendly and accommodating

2. Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Yepa is pretty worn out. Overall it worked out, but we were disappointed in how worn it was.

3. Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes

4. Was the boat well ventilated?
The forward starboard room - the A/C did not work and the forward starboard bathroom smelled the entire time even after we released waste at sea. We discovered sewage had overflowed before from a valve on the bow of the boat running under the cushions. The same thing happened a few days into this trip. Once i released the tanks it solved the problem temporarily. The smell was still there. There must be some kind of blockage.

5. Did the staff at Dream Yacht Charters do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
Yes

6. Did you like the area you cruised?
Yes, we love the Exumas

7. Could we at Virgin Island Sailing, Ltd. have helped you further in any way?
No, you guys are great. We may not charter again with DYC however.

8. May we post this review on our website?
Yes

Name: Suzanne Michaels
Yacht: KELEA with Autumn & Shawn Hardesty
Charter Dates: 06/19/2021 to 06/25/2021
Broker: Emily Mack
Area Cruised: St. Thomas - USVI
Overall Rating: 5
5 being the highest 0 being the lowest
We hope your charter lived up to your expectations. We would love to know some of your impressions about your yachting vacation. Please answer the following questions and add any comments you may have.

1. Was the crew friendly and accommodating?
yes

2. Was the yacht comfortable and clean?
yes

3. Was the yacht well ventilated?
yes

4. Was the food good and well presented?
yes

5. Did you like the area you sailed?
yes

6. Could we at Virgin Island Sailing, Ltd. have helped you further in any way?
no

7. May we post this review on our website?
Yes

8. Additional comments on your charter?
We had a great time with Autumn and Shawn! We loved all of Autumns of cooking, she really did an amazing job with accommodating some of us with dairy free meals! Shawn took kids tubing, scuba diving, and snorkeling. They were very sweet and great with our teenage boys! We had 9 moms and 10 boys with two charters so I know that was a lot to handle. They made us amazing dinner reservations and made it very seamless for us! Was a trip of a lifetime!

Name: Gabriel Woolf-Sullivan
Yacht: Helia 44-Sweet and Salty with Virgin Islands Yacht Charters - Compass Point, St. Thomas
Charter Dates: 06/19/2021 to 06/27/2021
Broker: Joann Higgins
Area Cruised: St. Thomas - USVI
Overall Rating: 5
5 being the highest 0 being the lowest
We hope your charter lived up to your expectations and we are eager to have your evaluation and impressions of your yachting vacation. Please answer the following questions and add any comments you may have.

1. Were the staff at VI Yacht Charters friendly and accommodating?
The VIYC was wonderful! Very helpful.

2. Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Yes

3. Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes. A couple things missing.

4. Was the boat well ventilated?
Yes

5. Did the staff at VI Yacht Charters do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
Yes

6. Did you like the area you cruised?
Yes

7. Could we at Virgin Island Sailing, Ltd. have helped you further in any way?

8. May we post this review on our website?
Yes

9. Additional comments on your charter?
Thank you very much for being accomodating and taking responsibility when issues arose.

Name: Robert Thompson
Yacht: Lagoon 42-Moana with Navigare Yachting - Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola
Charter Dates: 06/16/2021 to 06/27/2021
Broker: Joann Higgins
Area Cruised: Tortola - BVI
Overall Rating: 5
5 being the highest 0 being the lowest
We hope your charter lived up to your expectations and we are eager to have your evaluation and impressions of your yachting vacation. Please answer the following questions and add any comments you may have.

1. Were the staff at Navigare friendly and accommodating?
Yes

2. Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Yes

3. Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Initially lacking some materials, but pointed out before departure and quickly corrected. No issues!

4. Was the boat well ventilated?
Yes

5. Did the staff at Navigare do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
Covid procedures are now to watch videos. Slightly lacking, but no issue with experience. If a newbie, they need more one on one.

6. Did you like the area you cruised?
Yes

7. Could we at Virgin Island Sailing, Ltd. have helped you further in any way?
Perfect. We didn’t get our bottle of rum though! 🤣☹️

8. May we post this review on our website?
Yes

9. Additional comments on your charter?
Two for two with Navigare. Truly enjoy them.

Name: Edgar Londono
Yacht: LA GRANDE BELLEZZA with Nick Wilson & Kate VanVorst
Charter Dates: 06/30/2021 to 07/07/2021
Broker: Emily Mack
Area Cruised: St. Thomas - USVI
Overall Rating: 5
5 being the highest 0 being the lowest
We hope your charter lived up to your expectations. We would love to know some of your impressions about your yachting vacation. Please answer the following questions and add any comments you may have.

1. Was the crew friendly and accommodating?
The crew was exceptionally friendly and always ready to serve

2. Was the yacht comfortable and clean?
One of the most confortable we have had and very clean and well maintained

3. Was the yacht well ventilated?
yes

4. Was the food good and well presented?
The food was outsanding

5. Did you like the area you sailed?
The storm limited a bit, but Mike managed to compensate

6. Could we at Virgin Island Sailing, Ltd. have helped you further in any way?
Not for the moment, many thanks

7. May we post this review on our website?
Yes

8. Additional comments on your charter?
This is so far, the best Boat we have chartered; great distribution in all 3 levels, looks like brand new, rooms are very comfortable (from the five rooms, 3 of them look like Master bedrooms!) and we experienced one of the best sailing we ever had. The Crew was very friendly and with a great attitude for service. We found Kate with an exceptional energy to serve and Mike and her were all the time looking for ways to make this trip unforgetable for us. Both are very professionals in what they do. We hope we will be able to charter with them next year.

Name: Lisa Miller
Yacht: Sun Odyssey 419-Vuillard with Dream Yacht Charter - Compass Point Marina, St. Thomas
Charter Dates: 07/02/2021 to 07/11/2021
Broker: Joann Higgins
Area Cruised: St. Thomas - USVI
Overall Rating: 4
5 being the highest 0 being the lowest
We hope your charter lived up to your expectations and we are eager to have your evaluation and impressions of your yachting vacation. Please answer the following questions and add any comments you may have.

1. Were the staff at Dream Yacht Charters friendly and accommodating?
Yes, for the most part.

2. Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
The yacht was in good working condition and adequately clean.

3. Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
The cooking and cleaning supplies were adequate.

4. Was the boat well ventilated?
Yes.

5. Did the staff at Dream Yacht Charters do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
DYC did an ok job of familiarizing us with the boat, but certainly not as thorough as other charter companies we’ve used.

6. Did you like the area you cruised?
Yes!

7. Could we at Virgin Island Sailing, Ltd. have helped you further in any way?
Virgin Island Sailing was very helpful and promptly answered all of my questions! I appreciate how easy they made the process.

8. May we post this review on our website?
Yes

9. Additional comments on your charter?
We had an adequate experience with Dream Yacht Charters, but if we had the choice, we would not likely sail with them again. For the most part, they had a nice and helpful staff, but the organization as a whole seemed unorganized. There were no clear procedures or personnel in place for boat check-in and check-out, and no captain briefing like we’ve experienced with other charter companies. We seemed to spend a fair amount of time searching for people to help us when we were at the dock upon check-in, check-out, and when we had a small issue with the boat midweek. We completely understand that Covid presented so many challenges to the business, not to mention the huge recent demand for charter yachts. We would love to see this company succeed, but they’re just not quite there with the more established charter companies like Sunsail/Moorings or TMM, with whom we’ve sailed in the past.