Bareboat BVI again

[danedee]

Money is tight, but I'd still like to go bareboating in 2014, this time with my 2 kids with me (7&9).

I've used TMM in the windwards, and service was excellent, boat was older though... no issues.

I used Sunsail in the BVI last year, and felt that service was lacking.... we had dinghy motor issues non-stop and even at Saba/Bitter End, the issues were never resolved. (luckily we had also rented a center console runabout) The rest of the companies on the list below I've no experience with, so looking for advice, other peoples experience.

Dates: nov30 sleepaboard, then sailing 1Dec and return boat 8 Dec to return home, no provisioning or extras requested as we always provision the day of arrival/sleepaboard.

BVI Yacht Charters Lagoon 410 2006 4+4 $4,075.00
Horizon Yacht Charters Leopard 40 2008 4+2+AC $5,395.00
TMM Lagoon 38 $5,170.00
Sunsail 384 4+2 $6,265.30
Dream Yacht Charters Lag 38 4+2 $5,016.70
The Catamaran CompanyLag 380 3+2 2009 $4,962.00
Conch Charters Lag 380 4+2 1999 $3,899.00
Barecat charters Lag 380 3+2 $3,500.00
Mardi Gras direct Lag 39 2014 4+2 $4,590.00

I was a bit surprised that booking directly from owner didn't end up being the cheapest (Mardi Gras Direct). Also the Horizon quote does NOT include the sleepaboard or required permits.

Thoughts? I'm leaning towards BVI Yacht Charters, but then read quite a few posts saying they are HORRIBLE? but not WHY....insight?

[denverd0n]

I haven't chartered with BVI Yacht Charters myself, so I can't tell you how good or bad they are. One thing I will say, though, is that whenever I read a review that rants on about how bad some company or product is, but doesn't explain exactly why, I ignore that review.

I want to know exactly what happened: what you did, what they did, everything. Without that I cannot judge for myself if you were just a jerk who expected way too much, or if the company really does have a customer service issue. And this is the internet, so no way am I just going to take your word for it that the company is bad. I need all of the details so that I can decide for myself.

(And I hope that everyone reading this understands that in the above paragraph I am using "you" generically--not to refer specifically to the OP.)

[Hoofsmit]

We used BVI yc for a month in Feb13 on Kiora 380 lagoon 3cabin, I was very impressed by the service they gave, yep the fridge broke and 3 cars on the main lost there bearings but they were straight on it and we hardly lost a day, even then we were offered a free day on our next booking, it's a 8 yrold craft that's been in charter and was the cheapest we could find in the BVI's so we didn't expect perfection! But for a month of cruising in a 20knt average with a few squalls that went over 30 knots we felt happy with the boats failings
We found every member of staff to be polite and efficient, I work in a service industry and maybe that makes me look at things differently when things beyond employees control happen, and being English, maybe don't have the service expectations of the cousin on the other side, we definitely found a smile and a hello went down well, it's the Caribbean .... If I wanted it all to be high pressure I would have gone somewhere else.

[pathlesschosen]

Usually you get what you pay for.

With that said. The Horizon boat includes AC which some would find a big plus. They are a good company. BVI yacht charters has a good reputation. Maybe someone on this forum knows the 410 in question.

Too bad about the negative experience with Sunsail.

[danedee]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

(And I hope that everyone reading this understands that in the above paragraph I am using "you" generically--not to refer specifically to the OP.)

no offense taken, and appreciate the input.

[danedee]

Originally Posted by Hoofsmit

We used BVI yc for a month in Feb13 on Kiora 380 lagoon 3cabin, I was very impressed by the service they gave, yep the fridge broke and 3 cars on the main lost there bearings but they were straight on it and we hardly lost a day, even then we were offered a free day on our next booking, it's a 8 yrold craft that's been in charter and was the cheapest we could find in the BVI's so we didn't expect perfection! But for a month of cruising in a 20knt average with a few squalls that went over 30 knots we felt happy with the boats failings
We found every member of staff to be polite and efficient, I work in a service industry and maybe that makes me look at things differently when things beyond employees control happen, and being English, maybe don't have the service expectations of the cousin on the other side, we definitely found a smile and a hello went down well, it's the Caribbean .... If I wanted it all to be high pressure I would have gone somewhere else.

Agreed, I think everyone should HAVE to work in the service industry, just so they know what it's like and how to behave while they're out in public dealing with an inconvenience lol. (i can't stand when people are rude to waiters/waitresses!) Being American, perhaps I have a higher standard of service expectations when paying a few thousand dollars for a vacation, that said, i know things won't always go smoothly (last trip, dinghy motor kept failing) but at least TRY to take care of it until it's fixed.

for the person above who needs an explanation about bad reviews, here's mine on sunsail. And they WERE pleasant the whole time, as was i, just frustrated they wouldn't send a boat out with a replacement motor for us.
*sunsail arranged for a mechanic at saba to look at it, since we were on a ball there, but when he couldn't fix it, their solution was.... bring it back to base and we'll exchange it, which was NOT in our float plan at all, i felt they could've met us halfway or at another island, but we always spend 3-4 days at VG, didn't want to have to go back to base for a new dinghy motor.

[Hoofsmit]

Originally Posted by danedee

Agreed, I think everyone should HAVE to work in the service industry, just so they know what it's like and how to behave while they're out in public dealing with an inconvenience lol. (i can't stand when people are rude to waiters/waitresses!) Being American, perhaps I have a higher standard of service expectations when paying a few thousand dollars for a vacation, that said, i know things won't always go smoothly (last trip, dinghy motor kept failing) but at least TRY to take care of it until it's fixed.



for the person above who needs an explanation about bad reviews, here's mine on sunsail. And they WERE pleasant the whole time, as was i, just frustrated they wouldn't send a boat out with a replacement motor for us.

*sunsail arranged for a mechanic at saba to look at it, since we were on a ball there, but when he couldn't fix it, their solution was.... bring it back to base and we'll exchange it, which was NOT in our float plan at all, i felt they could've met us halfway or at another island, but we always spend 3-4 days at VG, didn't want to have to go back to base for a new dinghy motor.

As my mother always said " good manners and patience cost nothing" so good 'on ya'
Agreed, non functional equipment is frustrating , especially at the cost per day to charter.
we were lucky to have a long charter, so a trip back to Road harbour from north sound VG was no toil apart from only using the genoa when the master/ main cars failed and only pushing 4 knots ( we only used 12 gallons of fuel in 4 weeks) but we filled with water for free and stocked up at rightway which is really convenient from Joma - BVI yc's base

The 410 is a s2 from memory, but I only saw her from the dock, but she looked ok as you will always get a clean boat from them as the staff were great, they even cleaned our boat whilst we went shopping whilst fixing the cars, the 410 is no youngster , so don't expect the condition of new this season boat !
Hope you find a good deal , best of luck

[bstreep]

I wouldn't hesitate to go with BVI Yacht Charters. We've done a dozen BVI/VI trips, and they've been the best - and certainly the best value.