Reviews

Charter Dates: 01/18/2024-01/15/2024

Name on Your Reservation: Maria Horres
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Yacht Name: Free Ingwe
Yacht & Crew
Please answer the following questions pertaining to the yacht you chartered and the crew.
Rating of Yacht & Crew: 5
Was the yacht comfortable and clean?
Very much so. Beds were super comfortable and we had plenty of room for lounging on the trampoline and on the stern.
Was the yacht well ventilated?
Yes
Was the crew friendly and accommodating?
Yes. They always made sure we had everything we could possibly need.
Was the food good and well presented?
The food was spectacular and presented beautifully. Extra thanks for the birthday dinner and the fantastic cake.
8. Additional comments about the yacht and crew?
Alan and Randeen were wonderful hosts. Communicated with us on the itinerary and gave us wonderful tips and recommendations for each stop.

Charter Dates: 01/18/2024-01/15/2024

Name on Your Reservation: Maria Horres
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Yacht Name: Free Ingwe
Name on Your Reservation: Maria Horres
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Yacht Name: Free Ingwe

Charter Dates: 01/10/2024-01/17/2024

Name on Your Reservation: Goulard
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Boat Name: Happy Fluke
Charter Company & Yacht
Please answer the following questions pertaining to the charter company and the yacht you chartered.
Rating of Charter Company & Yacht: 4
Upon arrival and during your charter, were the staff of the charter company friendly and accommodating?
Yes very friendly
Did the staff do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
So so
Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Perfect
Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes
Was the yacht well ventilated?
Yes

Charter Dates: 01/10/2024-01/17/2024

Name on Your Reservation: Goulard
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Boat Name: Happy Fluke
Charter Company & Yacht
Please answer the following questions pertaining to the charter company and the yacht you chartered.
Rating of Charter Company & Yacht: 4
Upon arrival and during your charter, were the staff of the charter company friendly and accommodating?
Yes very friendly
Did the staff do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
So so
Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Perfect
Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes
Was the yacht well ventilated?
Yes

Charter Dates: 01/10/2024-01/17/2024

Name on Your Reservation: Goulard
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Boat Name: Happy Fluke
Virgin Island Sailing® Team
Please answer the following questions about your experience working with the VI Sailing team.
Rating of VI Sailing Team: 4
Is this your first time booking with a charter broker? No
How was your experience working with your broker to book the yacht? Very Easy
After booking the yacht, how was your experience working with the Concierge Team? Very Easy
How would you describe the information provided in your Vacation Planner?
Check as many as apply: - Thorough
How would you rate the frequency and content of communication from our team? Good Amount of Communication
Would you book your next yacht vacation with Virgin Island Sailing®? Yes

Charter Dates: 01/06/2024-01/13/2024

Name on Your Reservation: Steve Wiegel
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Boat Name: Shamwari
Charter Company & Yacht
Please answer the following questions pertaining to the charter company and the yacht you chartered.
Rating of Charter Company & Yacht: 4
Upon arrival and during your charter, were the staff of the charter company friendly and accommodating?
Yes
Did the staff do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
Yes
Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
No, had many problems with the boat but they brought us another boat.
Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes
Was the yacht well ventilated?
Not the first boat
Additional comments about the charter company and yacht you chartered?
Like I said we had problems with the first boat but they made it right with an upgraded boat to finish our trip. Staff was great especially Kendall. He is the reason we'll be coming back again.
Cruising Area

Did you like the area you chartered in?
Yes

Charter Dates: 01/06/2024-01/13/2024

Name on Your Reservation: Steve Wiegel
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Boat Name: Shamwari
Charter Company & Yacht
Please answer the following questions pertaining to the charter company and the yacht you chartered.
Rating of Charter Company & Yacht: 4
Upon arrival and during your charter, were the staff of the charter company friendly and accommodating?
Yes
Did the staff do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
Yes
Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
No, had many problems with the boat but they brought us another boat.
Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes
Was the yacht well ventilated?
Not the first boat
Additional comments about the charter company and yacht you chartered?
Like I said we had problems with the first boat but they made it right with an upgraded boat to finish our trip. Staff was great especially Kendall. He is the reason we'll be coming back again.

Charter Dates: 01/06/2024-01/13/2024

Name on Your Reservation: Steve Wiegel
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Boat Name: Shamwari
Virgin Island Sailing® Team
Please answer the following questions about your experience working with the VI Sailing team.
Rating of VI Sailing Team: 4
Is this your first time booking with a charter broker? Yes
How was your experience working with your broker to book the yacht? Somewhat Easy
After booking the yacht, how was your experience working with the Concierge Team? Somewhat Easy
How would you describe the information provided in your Vacation Planner?
Check as many as apply: - Thorough
- Informative
How would you rate the frequency and content of communication from our team? Good Amount of Communication
Would you book your next yacht vacation with Virgin Island Sailing®? Yes

Charter Dates: 01/04/2024-01/12/2024

Name on Your Reservation: John Armstrong
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Boat Name: LUCY ANNA
Charter Company & Yacht
Please answer the following questions pertaining to the charter company and the yacht you chartered.
Rating of Charter Company & Yacht: 4
Upon arrival and during your charter, were the staff of the charter company friendly and accommodating?
Yes!
Did the staff do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
I would say yes BUT.
In my opinion the person that does the familiarization with the boat for a new captain on a boat he has not taken out before should be a person with actual captain experience to be able to answer specific real life questions about its operation. Example would be knowing the fuel burn and speed expected to allow a new captain to plan according to real world experience with that boat.
Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Yes. It was a nearly new boat only out 3 times.
Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes
Was the yacht well ventilated?
No - it was fine but the design of this particular boat leaves something to be desired in this area. There are no ports for ventilation in the main cabin and the ports in the sleeping quarters have to be closed while underway due to spray and the front saloon door must be closed underway. This means that one must either run the AC or get by with only the rear sliding doors which don't actually ventilate the cabin underway. Its a design issue with this boat.
Additional comments about the charter company and yacht you chartered?
We loved the very usable spaces on the Leopard 46! The flybridge turned out to be where we ate every meal as the enclosures on the flight bridge made that very usable space. Please note that the pre-sales info showed the boats with a coffee table in the Saloon area not a table top. The boat came with a folding table there which made that area also possible for meals which we used also. A coffee table there would have been a real downer and that is what we were told to expect. Delighted it turned out to be a usable table.

The sleeping cabins and heads on this particular boat were not our favorites compared to others we've chartered. But again the common areas were really nice and we used all of them.

The inside helm station was very uncomfortable and I could not imagine using in a bumpy crossing. This was due to the back rest position.

The Ray Marine System of controlling the lights and equipment via the touch screen was cute but quite annoying over time to use. Would prefer if there was an app so one could control from phone or just manual switches. There were many a time we went to the flybridge and had to go back down to turn on the flybridge equipment first from the screen and then had to wait for the system to boot.

The davit system is unsafe on this boat. The moorings should not order these boats with a winch line davit. The pulleys and winch are undersized and were strained and would skip gears and its going to break (have had that happen to us before). The mfg has a beautiful lift system that should be the standard. I won't charter this boat with that davit system again if I have an option for a lift.

All the staff at the Moorings were great and heads and shoulders above the other companies we've used. Super high marks for the Moorings team!
Cruising Area

Did you like the area you chartered in?
We LOVE the Exumas!
We will be back again.

Charter Dates: 01/04/2024-01/12/2024

Name on Your Reservation: John Armstrong
Are you the Lead Charterer or a Guest? Lead Charterer
Boat Name: LUCY ANNA
Charter Company & Yacht
Please answer the following questions pertaining to the charter company and the yacht you chartered.
Rating of Charter Company & Yacht: 4
Upon arrival and during your charter, were the staff of the charter company friendly and accommodating?
Yes!
Did the staff do a good job familiarizing you with the yacht and its equipment?
I would say yes BUT.
In my opinion the person that does the familiarization with the boat for a new captain on a boat he has not taken out before should be a person with actual captain experience to be able to answer specific real life questions about its operation. Example would be knowing the fuel burn and speed expected to allow a new captain to plan according to real world experience with that boat.
Was the yacht clean and in good working condition?
Yes. It was a nearly new boat only out 3 times.
Was the yacht's cooking and cleaning equipment sufficient?
Yes
Was the yacht well ventilated?
No - it was fine but the design of this particular boat leaves something to be desired in this area. There are no ports for ventilation in the main cabin and the ports in the sleeping quarters have to be closed while underway due to spray and the front saloon door must be closed underway. This means that one must either run the AC or get by with only the rear sliding doors which don't actually ventilate the cabin underway. Its a design issue with this boat.
Additional comments about the charter company and yacht you chartered?
We loved the very usable spaces on the Leopard 46! The flybridge turned out to be where we ate every meal as the enclosures on the flight bridge made that very usable space. Please note that the pre-sales info showed the boats with a coffee table in the Saloon area not a table top. The boat came with a folding table there which made that area also possible for meals which we used also. A coffee table there would have been a real downer and that is what we were told to expect. Delighted it turned out to be a usable table.

The sleeping cabins and heads on this particular boat were not our favorites compared to others we've chartered. But again the common areas were really nice and we used all of them.

The inside helm station was very uncomfortable and I could not imagine using in a bumpy crossing. This was due to the back rest position.

The Ray Marine System of controlling the lights and equipment via the touch screen was cute but quite annoying over time to use. Would prefer if there was an app so one could control from phone or just manual switches. There were many a time we went to the flybridge and had to go back down to turn on the flybridge equipment first from the screen and then had to wait for the system to boot.

The davit system is unsafe on this boat. The moorings should not order these boats with a winch line davit. The pulleys and winch are undersized and were strained and would skip gears and its going to break (have had that happen to us before). The mfg has a beautiful lift system that should be the standard. I won't charter this boat with that davit system again if I have an option for a lift.

All the staff at the Moorings were great and heads and shoulders above the other companies we've used. Super high marks for the Moorings team!