Dream Yacht St. Martin

[lestersails]

I also chartered from DYC in Feb 2022 (but from Scrub Island BVI & Grenada) and while the experience was not perfect, it was good and we had a nice trip. The BVI site actually upgraded us at no charge to a larger boat (before we arrived) because of problems with the boat we reserved. The base was a little bit chaotic and a little thinly staffed, but everything is like that now in the service and hospitality sector. But the staff were responsive to firm, clear, polite, and reasonable requests and they did what we needed. Halfway into the trip, the main electrical panel was on the fritz (constantly indicating low charge after adequate motor time to charge) and they sent out a pair of techs on a fast boat to us and addressed it promptly and adequately, with minimal disruption of our trip.
So I am leaning towards Flagman's view - this is a big company so there are going to be a lot of complainers if 1-2% of trips go badly. On the one hand, I am sympathetic to the charterers - they are spending a pretty penny and if a boat or service problem kind of wrecks their week, that is a major loss for them. On the other hand, I have seen more than a few petulant, entitled, obnoxious people making a ridiculous mountain out of everyday boat-related mole hills. If you know only one thing about boats you know that stuff breaks all the time. It is pretty miraculous if they can keep them in working order 95+% of the time. In my experience it helps a lot to be reasonable and seek an accommodation.

[CaptJimFrei]

I think a lot of the complaints are due to the Hurricanes IRMA and MARIA screwing things up in the Caribbean and then covid causing last-minute cancellations and promised boats not being available. Maybe some flooded boats were put back into service without proper repairs???? All the charter companies have had the same complaints over the past several years.

IMHO, you get what you pay for.

[neilpride]

As far as I know, the entire fleet in SXM was chewed up,
not a single monohull afloat in IRMA, the base they had in Marigot was destroyed as well.

[edsml]

I too, have had problems with DYC at several bases, particularly BVI and Seget Donji (although they got rid of the manager in the BVI, now with Navigare).

But I chartered with them in Anse Marcel January of 2022 and found the entire base crew to be very professional, especially the manager. We were delayed, due to bad batteries and someone who didn't know the difference between an overhand and a figure eight as a stopper knot (truly, this cost us almost an hour with pliers), but that was the fault of previous charterers, not the base. They handled everything as well as could be expected.

I would gladly use them again.

[SV Mia Noi]

ONLY DO IT IF NO ALTERNATIVE!

We chartered a Defour 412 with DYC Anse Marcel base in July 2022 for 10 days. This is the post charter satisfaction survey I wrote.

Boat was NOT in charter condition * Mainsail was missing batons * Told a technician removed batons to put on another boat * Technical Manager said she would fix mainsail next day at latest, repair never occurred * Genoa drum was too stiff to unfurl the sail * Forced to use motor the travel entire trip * spare anchor missing * Anchor hook broken - replaced with D shackle too large for chain * emergency tiller missing * Starter pack was incomplete * Paid Same Day Briefing Not Available - All Staff Went Home * Negative Experience * Waited 1 hour to enter marina for check out * Unlikely to USE Dream Yacht Charter Again * Disappointed *

I never received a response to my review. This was my third bareboat charter with DYC - previous locations were Bahamas and La Paz. I will never give another dime to DYC.

Positives - engine worked great, St Barts and Anguilla are great places to visit.

[bjlerkins]

All I can see is a broker I’ve used for years now will never book with DYC. Recent experience of another broker chartering in Antigua had to get a boat from St Martin reinforces DYC has serious challenges. Sad.I’ve had one great experiences w/DYC in ‘18 and ‘19.

[Bullshooter]

Thanks all. It was so tempting at about 1/3 the price of Moorings, but it seems too risky for having major problems on a vacation.

[bjlerkins]

Originally Posted by Bullshooter

Thanks all. It was so tempting at about 1/3 the price of Moorings, but it seems too risky for having major problems on a vacation.

Yeah, the base base in St Martin is exceptional. I lost my passport in St Barths. She worked feverishly to get my passport to me. Worth every penny. Wish I could remember her name? We booked w/Sunsail - same base.

[SailingHarmonie]

With any charter company you have to be careful with reviews. Having once been a charter fleet service manager, I KNOW it is impossible to keep all customers happy all the time. But the real measure of a charter outfit is not if every boat is always perfect--that's just impossible--but how they respond if things go haywire.

What I see from DYC are some customers got good boats, and had a good experience. Lucky them. What I NEVER see is a review from somebody who ran into a problem, and had it handled well, and professionally and was happy with the end result.

My personnel experience with the Moorings is that they will TRY very hard to make you happy even if things go pear-shaped. Most of the time they succeed.

From what I see, DYC does not have the resources, or (more importantly) the corporate attitude, to make things right if a customer runs into a legitimate problem. You are on your own.

[Gobuffs22]

We have used DYC in SXM for five charters going back to 2019. All in all, we are happy, various smaller issues, and all were fixed promptly, including two in St. Barts where they send a local technician up to Columbier.

As others mentioned, the team rotates, though the admin woman in the office has been the same. We like the price point v. Moorings and have never felt that our boat is not seaworthy.

Please contact me if I can be helpful.

[Bullshooter]

Originally Posted by Gobuffs22

We have used DYC in SXM for five charters going back to 2019. All in all, we are happy, various smaller issues, and all were fixed promptly, including two in St. Barts where they send a local technician up to Columbier.

As others mentioned, the team rotates, though the admin woman in the office has been the same. We like the price point v. Moorings and have never felt that our boat is not seaworthy.

Please contact me if I can be helpful.

Thanks, but I already bit the bullet and booked with Moorings. Could have saved a bundle, though.

[Beppe123]

Bullshooter, did you eventually use DYC at Anse Marcel ? I just booked a charter for February with them. thanks

[Bullshooter]

No, I chickened out due to the numerous posts regarding problems. I ended up going through Ed Hamilton brokers to charter with Moorings.

Good luck on your charter. I truly hope the problems were transitory and you have a great trip. Let us know how it goes.

[Beppe123]

So, we requested a Jeanneau 41.9. Arrived at the marina early (early check in) and found out that the boat was heavily infested by cockroaches, despite several attempts by the marina (as they said) to get rid of them. Many roaches were found dead, but several were still pretty much alive and running around. Eventually they agreed to give us another boat, it was a Catana Bali Catspace. The space was great, but the sailing was a joke. We requested help from the base twice: the first time because one of the grey water tank would keep running. A second time, the monitor panel septs saying that butteries were at 11.9V and not being charged by motor or generator. In both cases they sent someone to fix the problems, within a few hours. Overall people were extremely kind and cooperative. Most boats in Anse Marcel are cats though, and there seems to be little interest in renting monohulls to people who actually like sailing.

[Bullshooter]

Beppe,
Thanks for reporting back on your experience. That sounds better than a lot of the reports we have read on this site.