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Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights?
[Re: Murdock]
#287298
08/14/2022 09:10 AM
08/14/2022 09:10 AM
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 69
BoatDrinks2
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 69
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Book with TMM and cast your worries aside! They have very well maintained boats and their service is top level. Riteway grocery is about 200 feet or less from their base operations. www.sailtmm.com
Last edited by BoatDrinks2; 08/14/2022 09:15 AM.
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Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights?
[Re: Murdock]
#287302
08/14/2022 10:05 AM
08/14/2022 10:05 AM
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 886 Louisville, KY
NoelHall
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 886
Louisville, KY
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I've chartered previously with DYC at four different locations, and they all went fairly smooth. Others report they have had poor experiences with this company. My impression was the DYC staff (or lack thereof) seems to be rather transient or inexperienced, although everyone gave their best attempt at being helpful. My experience with DYC at Scrub was just okay, it wasn't bad, nor wonderful. Our crew stayed two days at Scrub before boarding our boat, which was fantastic. Yes, it is very close to the airport, and yes, provisioning is a bit of a hassle. In addition, the previous poster is correct there are rumors they are moving their location from Scrub, but these seem to be only rumors. I haven't seen anything official. Bottomline, would I book with DYC again. I suppose 'perhaps', depending on the location, my due diligence, and other options available at the time. There are many good charter companies in BVI, and all boats have issues from time-to-time, as well as the charter companies themselves. I've found what works best for me is being very proactive when approaching my charter date, hoping to avoid any unpleasant unexpected surprises upon arrival. These things have a tendency to not go exactly as planned, no matter who the charter company might be. That said, being flexible and knowing options for 'plan B' ahead of time has always made our charters enjoyable. Just my two cents, nothing more.
Noel Hall "It is humbling indeed, to discover my own opinion is only correct less than 50% of the time." www.noelhall.com
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Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights?
[Re: Murdock]
#287361
08/15/2022 08:42 AM
08/15/2022 08:42 AM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,686 Memphis, BVI, CT
RatmansWife
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,686
Memphis, BVI, CT
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Recently DYC has dealt with two things that hurt their reputation. First was Covid, and DYC's decision to stop paying their "guaranteed" contracts. That caused a lot of angst and requests to move boats out of the BVI.
Then much of DYC's fleet was seized in port by Customs, ruining many vacations. Moorings faced the same problem, which they attributed to various factors, including staff reductions during Covid.
Most of the smaller, family-run operations were in full compliance with Customs by the date required.
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Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights?
[Re: Murdock]
#287377
08/15/2022 10:54 AM
08/15/2022 10:54 AM
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Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 46 Annapolis, Md
bviicatter
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 46
Annapolis, Md
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Hi, I have been a BVI charter cat owner and charterer since 1998. I prefer renting over owning. I have chartered with: Dream Yachts; TMM; Moorings; SunSail; CatCo; and BVI Yacht Charters. No doubt Moorings has it down to an art. Always an excellent experience. I have had negative experiences at one of the companies which I won't name. It wasn't Dream Yachts. As far as Dream Yachts- I am a repeat customer. Have chartered with them about10 times since 2014. When Irma hit in 2017, we were scheduled down to BVis. Dream Yachts switched us to Martinique at no charge. I would say the Hodges Creek Marina is a big step down from Moorings. Scrub Island, on the other hand, is really nice. We also chartered (twice during covid) out of the USVI marina on the eastern side of St Thomas. That operation was the least user friendly, but there was a good grocer in walking distance. We had a breakdown near Christmas Cove USVI during charter October 2020. The tech folks were there within three hours to change an impeller. As a renter, I have had good experiences with DYC. Boats are decent or better; customer service is the same. It is not a top- drawer experience like Moorings, but it gets the job done. I find the pricing to be usually 10-20% lower for DYC than Moorings. Hope tis helps. JAM Annapolis, Md
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Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights?
[Re: Murdock]
#287401
08/15/2022 03:56 PM
08/15/2022 03:56 PM
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 402 Pacific NW
snmhanson
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 402
Pacific NW
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I'll add my experience to this thread. We have chartered with DYC, TMM, Horizon, Sail Caribe and Voyage - most of them multiple times. I have found that Dream has been fine for the most part with our biggest disappointment being when we chartered a Lagoon 52 from their fleet but was switched to a (much less roomy) Saba 50 when we arrived due to "mechanical issues" with the Lagoon. However, we saw the Lagoon 52 we were supposed to be on just a couple days later so it must not have been too serious. I think they may have double booked the boat or maybe one of the other L52s had issues and they had to shift things around. Regardless, it was a bit frustrating as we had a pretty large group with us and would have appreciated the space on the Lagoon. We also had fuel filter issues on the starboard engine on that boat when motoring in rough water when returning from St. Thomas, but they met us in Sopers Hole and replaced the filters for both engines.
We have had problems with a couple of the other companies that we chartered and haven't always received as prompt service as DYC. That said, stuff happens and I can't think of one charter we've been on that didn't have at least one minor thing pop up. I consider a bit of troubleshooting to just be part of chartering.
I do love that DYC is based out of Scrub and it is disappointing that they will be moving. The proximity to the airport (no taxi required), the nice marina setting of Scrub, and being able to use Scrub's facilities at both the start and end of the charter was a major reason for using them on our last trip. I would consider using them again depending on boat and price availability, but I do like some of the other companies as well. FWIW, we are chartering with Horizon this April and we are chartering with DYC out of Antigua this June.
Good luck on your decision!
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Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights?
[Re: Murdock]
#287403
08/15/2022 05:53 PM
08/15/2022 05:53 PM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 5,720 Massachusetts
maytrix
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 5,720
Massachusetts
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We used them in St. Thomas last summer. We didn't have any issues with them. They were clearly though ignoring some more basic maintenance issues since it was the end of the season. We were missing the stack pack for the sail for example and the main door into the boat wouldn't stay closed or open without a piece of wood in place. Otherwise all the systems worked well, boat was also well equipped with genset, water maker and even a washer/dryer unit. All worked well too!
It is too bad in the BVI they are moving from Scrub tough, that certainly seems like it would be a huge selling point. Their base in St Thomas was fine but there was nothing to do for the few hours we had to sit and wait.
Matt
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Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights?
[Re: Murdock]
#317649
04/09/2024 11:31 PM
04/09/2024 11:31 PM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 168 Chicago, IL, USA
vytis104
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 168
Chicago, IL, USA
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I have chartered with Sunsail (multiple), BVIYC (multiple), Dream (once - most recent - Hodges Creek), Captains Compass (three times - 1x fat hog, 2x old one)) since Irmaria.
A few benefits of DYC. Price. Charters any day (ie, will do Tuesday to Tuesday for example), Easy from EIS with two big grocery stores on the way, Not the best base, but not the worst I have used either.
A few negatives - we also had a service call, resulted in different boat (big upgrade) which was nice, but we only had 3. Other than that, they were pretty great.
I will use them again. But when I do I use Samboat to book it. You get the discount still, but have a 3rd party to do the dirty work for you if something goes wrong.
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