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Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights? #287294
08/14/2022 12:05 AM
08/14/2022 12:05 AM
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 256
Gallatin, Tennessee
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Murdock Offline OP
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Murdock  Offline OP
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Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 256
Gallatin, Tennessee
Family of 3 considering Dream Yacht Charters in June 2023….If anyone has some thoughts good or bad I’d be grateful. Love the idea of being at Scrub and close EIS…grocery situation sucks, but not a deal breaker.

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Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights? [Re: Murdock] #287297
08/14/2022 08:40 AM
08/14/2022 08:40 AM
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,993
GA/NC
GeorgeC1 Offline
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GeorgeC1  Offline
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,993
GA/NC
They are it looks like planning to move the operation back to Hodges Creek. You might check on planned move date.

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
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 69
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BoatDrinks2 Offline
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BoatDrinks2  Offline
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 69
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.
Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights? [Re: Murdock] #287301
08/14/2022 10:04 AM
08/14/2022 10:04 AM
Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 1,126
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MIDiver Offline
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MIDiver  Offline
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Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 1,126
Highly suggest that you read all the reviews on Facebook. There is even a group dedicated to the not so glowing reviews. Stick with one of the boutique charter ops that care about their customers and boats.

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
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 886
Louisville, KY
NoelHall Offline
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NoelHall  Offline
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 886
Louisville, KY
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
Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights? [Re: Murdock] #287303
08/14/2022 10:22 AM
08/14/2022 10:22 AM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 933
Georgia & South Carolina
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Deepcut Offline
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Deepcut  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 933
Georgia & South Carolina
Research DYC experiences on FB... As noted above, there is a group with name, followed by "sucks"... But many other comments about satisfaction (or dissatisfaction.... or worse) with the big guys.

TMM consistently get great reviews(I was so happy with them and now I am owner of 2nd boat in TMM fleet).

Several other boutique companies get great reviews as well. Do your research NOW.


Wes
s/v Sea Tiger (2022 Lagoon 46)
www.BareBoatBVI.com

Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights? [Re: Murdock] #287339
08/14/2022 05:13 PM
08/14/2022 05:13 PM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 47
Georgia, USA
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NGAWolf Offline
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NGAWolf  Offline
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 47
Georgia, USA
Agree with above comments. We have enjoyed probably 15 BVI charters with multiple companies. We once got a deal on Dream and used them. Just not the same experience as TMM, BVI Yacht charters, Horizon or the local smaller companies. I’ve found personal service and relationships matter. I feel like I’m visiting family when seeing them in the BVI or even at the Annapolis boat show.

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
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,647
Memphis, BVI, CT
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RatmansWife Offline
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RatmansWife  Offline
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,647
Memphis, BVI, CT
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.

Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights? [Re: Murdock] #287372
08/15/2022 10:24 AM
08/15/2022 10:24 AM
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 117
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Rush Offline
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Rush  Offline
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Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 117
We just returned last week from a very good charter experience with Dream Yacht on a newer Lagoon 46. No issues and friendly helpful staff. Scrub is a nice place to start and return to. However, they did tell us they will be moving to Hodges Creek sooner than later. One annoying thing about Scrub was that they told us to refill fuel in SpanishTown the morning that you return. So we stayed at Cooper our last night and arrived at VGYH to refill at 8 am, then back to Scrub. We had 2 prior more challenging experiences with older boats at other Dream Yacht bases (during Covid). Both boats had engine issues and both were in rough physical shape with lots of other smaller issues (gauges didnt' work, pump toilets with broken seals, missing cushions and curtains, watermaker that didn't work - bunch of little items that added up). From those experiences, we are usually picky about the boat we choose - although no guarantee you will get the boat you reserve.

Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights? [Re: Murdock] #287373
08/15/2022 10:39 AM
08/15/2022 10:39 AM
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 207
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Kegoangoango Offline
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Kegoangoango  Offline
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 207
We've used DYC (and three others) over the last ten years. Personally, we like DYC best (only used them since they moved to Scrub). That's not to say we wouldn't reuse any of the others we have used in the past or use someone we haven't in the future.

IMHO the chartering in BVI is like a mid-level cruise line. Some experiences are great, some good and some not great at all. Like a mid-level cruise line, the traffic through the boats is going to put wear and tear on them. Sometimes, because things break, when you're out on a 1-2 year old boat you'll have a problem. Sometimes, because the maintenance people just completed a great service, a 4-5 year old boat has zero problems. Our expectations in the BVIs, even on "new" boats, is to have at least one problem (and at least two with the dingy).

On DYC we haven't had anything major and they have already responded quickly.

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
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 46
Annapolis, Md
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bviicatter Offline
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bviicatter  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 46
Annapolis, Md
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

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
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 396
Pacific NW
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snmhanson Offline
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snmhanson  Offline
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 396
Pacific NW
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!

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
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 5,720
Massachusetts
maytrix Offline
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maytrix  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 5,720
Massachusetts
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
Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights? [Re: Murdock] #287656
08/21/2022 09:30 PM
08/21/2022 09:30 PM
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 38
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SkipperChip Offline
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SkipperChip  Offline
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 38
I'm a long-time skipper in the BVIs, chartering from perhaps 6 different companies over the years. The only one we ever had major problems with was contracting "owners time" on a 54' cat based in DYC (the "Malcoha"). Too many major problems to mention, but due to extremely poor basic maintenance of the boat, we required many service calls by DYC staff (who did a good job responding to us) and we lost 3 full days of sailing during a nine day cruise, plus daily aggravations. The agent for Owners Time in FL, plus the boat owner in NYC, has refused to compensate us for the ruined trip, and are hoping we will just go away. Beware.

Re: Heyo- Any recent Dream Yacht Charterers Wish to Share insights? [Re: Murdock] #287695
08/22/2022 06:01 PM
08/22/2022 06:01 PM
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 10
St Louis MO
F
falcon20 Offline
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falcon20  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 10
St Louis MO
We used DYC out of St Thomas last November, had a Lagoon 450S owners version, boat was nice and the staff was good and helpful.


Scott
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