What Do You Expect from a Charter Operator ?

[SweetSerenity]

I am curious, and would like detailed input from you all...those who have chartered, as well as those of you that have never chartered a sailing yacht...

What do you expect from a charter company?

Do some research...check out the websites and the promises...?

Do you expect them to stand up and keep their promises?

[SweetSerenity]

that goes for charter agents as well...what do you expect from them?

would love to hear from those from within the industry as well!...everyone, anyone...chime in a give us your 2 cents!

[boatman61]

A two week charter in the BVI's would cost me more than I paid for my boat...
+ airfare
My opinion of Charter companies is pretty much the same as my opinion of anything less than a 5* hotel... you'll never get what you think is value for money.
Never Chartered and never will... but I've had to stay in a quite a few Hotels around the World...

Rephrase.... you'll never get value for money..
The only one I've seen that did was in St Martin and that worked as a membership that gave you 7days on a skippered cat.... along with 3 other couples... but never saw anyone come off unhappy.... $450 if memory serves me well

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by SweetSerenity

Do you expect them to stand up and keep their promises?

I expect EVEYONE to do this! Is there a special pass normally given to a charther company to do otherwise?

[nautical62]

I expect the boat to be ready to go when promised and in reasonable operating condition with all systems functioning. I realize any boat can have a breakdown when in use.

I own a boat in charter and frequently trade for other boats. Overall, the charter company has lived up to their promise.

Bottom line as above post said: I expect people to uphold their agreements what ever those agreements may be.

[Palarran]

Your constant flaming of Horizon is so ridiculous. Go somewhere else and complain.

[maytrix]

As others said above, I expect a boat in working order and expect them to resolve any issues in a timely manner or compensate for lost time..etc.

That doesn't mean I don't expect to check out the boat myself. I'm the Captain - I'm responsible for the lives of those that board and I'm going to make sure the boat is up to my expectations before allowing them on. Any good Captain would do the same. If I was to find an issue, I'd report it and have it resolved before we depart.

I've chartered twice with the moorings. Both times we slept aboard the first night and I checked things out then and again in the morning going over the boat with the briefer. In both cases, the only things we needed were extra towels, some sheets and toilet paper. Mostly because we were using extra sleeping areas (crew cabin, saloon) and in the last trip we were short a couple pillows and toilet paper. Nothing was a miss as far as the boat was concerned technically.

Both times, we also had issues. First trip the generator wouldn't start our second night. Called the moorings the next morning and they met us at Salt Island and resolve the issue while we dove the Rhone. Turned out to be a broken fuel guage and we left without a full tank. They fill it using gas cans and made sure all was well. This past trip we broke the boat hook and the transom shower also broke (shower head fell apart). We got in touch with service and they couldn't meet us the day we contacted them but would the next morning. I told them we expected to be at Soper's hole by 9am and they said they would meet us. I called in the morning to confirm and they met us right around 9am and fixed the issue in about 5 minutes.

That's what I expect.

I will also add, that I understand there can be issues and expect that our departure could be delayed due to such an issue. I do not make any time sensitive plans our first day just because of this.

[maytrix]

Originally Posted by Palarran

Your constant flaming of Horizon is so ridiculous. Go somewhere else and complain.

Nothing was mentioned about Horizon, so I really think this comment is out of place. It's a general chartering question. A good one for Serenity to ask, because I think she and her partner's expectations were a little unrealistic.

[SweetSerenity]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

I expect EVEYONE to do this! Is there a special pass normally given to a charther company to do otherwise?

thank you sir!! YOu get it!!!

Integrity....always is the bottom line!


cheers to you!

[SweetSerenity]

Originally Posted by nautical62

I expect the boat to be ready to go when promised and in reasonable operating condition with all systems functioning. I realize any boat can have a breakdown when in use.

I own a boat in charter and frequently trade for other boats. Overall, the charter company has lived up to their promise.

Bottom line as above post said: I expect people to uphold their agreements what ever those agreements may be.

Thankyou!!! yes, Yes , YES!!!!

Integrity...live it...expect it!!

yay!

[maytrix]

I'll add seeing your comments and knowing the history that led to them, that in order for someone to live up to their promises, they must be given that chance.

The one question I asked and never got an answer to in regards to your past charter was how much you pursued getting the issues you saw prior to departure resolved? It still seems to me meeting your schedule was more important and when the employee you were dealing with didn't seem to concerned that you just decided that was that and went along your way.

You then also didn't give them any other chance to resolve things in a satisfactory way by not calling them during the trip. I'm not saying they would have lived up to their website statements, but any company can have a bad day or you can deal with an happy employee, so sometimes escaliting to management is necessary. I never saw anything that indicated you did that. I'll add as well that in the charter business, the employees probably deal with far more crap than most and probably deal with many who think they know more and I suspect that could have played a role here. Not saying its right though.

[pwilliams]

I've chartered from Moorings twice, once in BVI and once in Sea of Cortez Mexico. Both times they were exactly what I expected (and paid top dollar to get). The boats were in good shape and any problems were quickly resolved. In the BVI the dingy flipped during the night while on a mooring at Cooper Island. We told them we were headed to Peter Island and they met us there with a new dingy engine and fresh gas tank.

I have used other charter companies in the Los Angeles area (Newport Beach and Marina Del Rey). These companies pale in comparison to the Moorings. Tired boats that are past their prime. One company wanted to replace a missing dodger at 11:00 am when our charter began at 9:00 am!

I guess I'm trying to say that you get what you pay for. High on my list was a positive experience for my wife. I paid for it, and that's what I got. Now that's she's got a few charters under her belt, maybe we'll go second tier for our next charter.

Good luck

[maytrix]

Originally Posted by pwilliams

In the BVI the dingy flipped during the night while on a mooring at Cooper Island.

Wow, must have been quite the seas?

As far as using moorings and them being more expensive - It's not necesarily the case if one takes the time to look into owners time. That's what we used this past trip and we saved over 25% which puts them in line with many of the 2nd tier companies.

[Rubikoop]

Originally Posted by SweetSerenity

I am curious, and would like detailed input from you all...those who have chartered, as well as those of you that have never chartered a sailing yacht...

What do you expect from a charter company?

Do some research...check out the websites and the promises...?

Do you expect them to stand up and keep their promises?

I would expect them to do their best to meet the customers expectations. Not all customer expectations can always be met. Then a compromise is the only remaining option. That can only be achieved through communication between both sides.

If I had any concerns about the safety, steering, mechanical etc. functions of a vessel I wouldn't leave the dock until they were resolved to my satisfaction. Those are my rules whether it is a charter boat or not. Smaller less "trip crictical" things should be noted in writing and photographed during the briefing, once again, before leaving the dock.

How long do you think a briefing should last and what information do you think should be provided? Do you think you should go out for a quick check to raise, reef and tack the sails? How long was your briefing and did you have a "sail check"?

All charter companies have different policies and procedures but I would imagine somewhere in the paperwork there is a line that says something to the effect that "the boat is in operable condition, briefing has been completed and by signing, one is accepting responsibility for vessel". Granted it would not seem reasonable to expect a charter guest to crawl over every square inch and test every mechanical item. Does stuff get missed? Sure. Is there a procedure in place to remedy that? Sure is. As soon as reasonable one should call the charter base and discuss their concerns and possible resolutions. If a guest doesn't give the operator the abilitly to resolve the issue then the guest is accepting their situation as is for the remainder of the trip.

I have read your and your crew mate's comments on other forums which has provided me background for your question above.

It is too bad that your charter vacation did not meet your expectations. It is also too bad that you had such a tight schedule planned that you were not willing to let your charter company try and resolve the problems that you've indicated on so many forums. Could things have been fixed without affecting your plans? Who knows. I do know of charter companies that will go to extrardinary lengths to try and appease their guests.

Maybe an alternative question would be----

What do charter companies expect from their guests?

I can tell you that the charter boat business is very competitive and if a company is truly doing a bad job, it won't last long.

[Bash]

I've chartered several times--it always makes me more appreciative of my own boat when I get home. The first time I chartered it was to check out a boat I was thinking of buying. I ended up buying a completely different make of boat as a result. There's no substitute for spending a week sailing a boat to determine whether her manners suit your particular style of sailing.