Why is marina booking so hard?

[CaptainGenie]

Just got to the Med and Navily being the go-to cruising app for the region I started using it. I like the marina booking concept but hardly any marinas seem to use it or it's restricted to smaller vessels or short notice booking.

Why aren't marinas more open to the concept? In the hotel and accommodation industry just about every establishment knows that they need to be everywhere to get bookings but I guess marinas get full anyway so they don't have to.

It's a shame, not a fan of spending countless hours enquiring and the process marina offices force you to use by filling out forms and giving specific dates is just not how cruisers cruise. We just don't know when we're going to get there!

Do you have tips to gauge availability and rates quickly?

[Bycrick]

"We don’t know when we’re going to get there." Try telling that to a hotel unless you want to pay for the room whether you arrive or not.

[CaptainGenie]

Originally Posted by Bycrick

"We don’t know when we’re going to get there." Try telling that to a hotel unless you want to pay for the room whether you arrive or not.

My point is they ought to support a last minute booking process to cater for transients. This is 2023, many boats these days are larger than a 30ft mono and calling on VHF on approach is not a good strategy. I like to plan for a safe anchorage or harbour ahead of time and being told "sorry we're full" with miles to sail to the next safe anchorage is hardly a good plan.

The Navily model seems really fit for purpose to me but clearly it's not that appealing to marinas because they aren't in it!

[Franziska]

I dislike these marina booking apps. They level the prices and with this lead to rising prices.

Personally I really prefer to negotiate myself and upon arrival. Have never been sent away upon arrival.
But then again we avoid marinas whenever we can. Anchoring is much nicer.

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[CaptainGenie]

Originally Posted by Franziska

I dislike these marina booking apps. They level the prices and with this lead to rising prices.

Personally I really prefer to negotiate myself and upon arrival. Have never been sent away upon arrival.
But then again we avoid marinas whenever we can. Anchoring is much nicer.

Sent from my MHA-L29 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Very good point about levelling prices. I have never been able to negotiate the published rates, where do you sail? Agree that life at anchor is nice but we're full time cruisers and marinas are nice once in a while!

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Bycrick

"We don’t know when we’re going to get there." Try telling that to a hotel unless you want to pay for the room whether you arrive or not.

It was not that many years ago that it was common and expected to make hotel reservations on a "we don't know when we're going to get there basis" where the hotel would hold the room until a particular time for free, usually around 7:00 p.m. If plans changed it was considered a courtesy to notify the hotel but there were no financial penalties.

Among other things, this allowed the traveler to walk or drive past other hotels in the area and possibly decide to stay at a more desirable property based on curb appearance and an in-person understanding of the location.

As for slips, there are some areas where marinas make an effort to compete for transient business, through amenities, reasonable rates, and service -- including reservation service. Others have all the business they want, and don't care about you, the boater.

When in doubt, anchor out...

[sailingunity]

Do these marina booking apps make you pay in advance? I imagine most would be leery if it was only for making reservations, as there is a high chance of no-shows in the boating world.

[CaptainGenie]

Originally Posted by sailingunity

Do these marina booking apps make you pay in advance? I imagine most would be leery if it was only for making reservations, as there is a high chance of no-shows in the boating world.

I don't believe so. I have never met the criteria to book and could only send an enquiry which is pretty useless. I don't need an app to send an email!

[pjShap]

Originally Posted by sailingunity

Do these marina booking apps make you pay in advance? I imagine most would be leery if it was only for making reservations, as there is a high chance of no-shows in the boating world.

On the US East Coast Dockwa seems to be pretty common for marina reservations. I don't use marinas much, but I seem to remember the app charges you as soon as the marina accepts the reservation request. I prefer calling the marina directly, but it isn't always an option.

[sailingunity]

Originally Posted by CaptainGenie

I don't believe so. I have never met the criteria to book and could only send an enquiry which is pretty useless. I don't need an app to send an email!

In this case - I can see why most marinas wouldn't use it. I'm sure the apps are free, and may or may not take a percentage of the booking amount.

The app might seem like the way of the future, but the traditional method of calling ahead on phone or VHF has worked, and is free to the marina, so I can see the resistance to change.

[Bycrick]

I submit that "I don’t know if I’ll arrive at 7 or 10 PM," is an entirely different animal than "I don’t know if I’ll arrive on the June 5 or July 5." I helped run a mooring field for 8 years, and our policy was first-come-first-served. No reservations.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by sailingunity

In this case - I can see why most marinas wouldn't use it. I'm sure the apps are free, and may or may not take a percentage of the booking amount.

The app might seem like the way of the future, but the traditional method of calling ahead on phone or VHF has worked, and is free to the marina, so I can see the resistance to change.

The apps do have 1 definite benefit for the marina though. They don't need someone sitting there answering the phones all the time, they just have to check in periodically throughout the day and respond to any new requests. Depending on how the marina is staffed, how many employees sit in the office all day vs moving around doing things, etc. that can be a big convenience for them.

[sailingunity]

Originally Posted by Bycrick

I submit that "I don’t know if I’ll arrive at 7 or 10 PM," is an entirely different animal than "I don’t know if I’ll arrive on the June 5 or July 5." I helped run a mooring field for 8 years, and our policy was first-come-first-served. No reservations.

I love this policy. Nothing is worse than calling a marina and having them laugh at you when you ask if you can have a slip or mooring for a month or two.

[SaylorMade]

I think the whole reservation thing is related to culture.
In Denmark where I sail, and have for many years, the marinas are stuffed during summer, but everyone help each other out, so in the end, every boat gets a spot by the help of his fellow boaters.

To see empty berths, being occupied later by some "reservationist" comming in late, is not something that brings out the good mood.
I think that is the reason that reservations never took off here, and it is frowned upon by most boaters.

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by CaptainGenie

Very good point about levelling prices. I have never been able to negotiate the published rates, where do you sail? Agree that life at anchor is nice but we're full time cruisers and marinas are nice once in a while!

We sail at the Iberian Atlantic coast and Med and are full-time liveaboards too.

Regarding pricing, I do not really care about published prices, I discuss at the office and if it's to expensive I usually go elsewhere.

Another really bad and noticible trend is that a lot of good anchorages disappear because either marinas are built there, or fish farms are built or they are into mooring fields.
Sometimes its even giving the impression that fish farms are located strategically so that folks are forced to go into nearby marinas.

I don't like the fully organised camping site atmosphere of most marinas, a small fishing harbour is more my thing, but I do accept that others have different preferences.

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