Dream Yacht Charters

We are considering chartering through Dream Yacht Charters based in SXM next year. Does anyone have any experiences to share with this charter company? We typically charter with tier 1 companies and I am assuming DYC falls into this category.

The reason we are contemplating DYC is that we wish to charter a (relatively) new Bali 4.5.

Or does anyone have input on a Helia 44 versus Bali 4.5?

Thank you

I looked into DYC on SXM briefly. I understand they are well established in Europe and seem to be reputable. I have not done business with them so I can't comment on that. My reason(s) for not going with them was that your first night was at the dock. This isn't an "evening start" at a reduced rate, this counts as one of your regular nights. The reason is,

1) They are inside the lagoon
2) They don't do the boat briefing until later in the afternoon,
3) The bridges only open at certain times and you can't get done with your briefing and still get through the bridge that day.

Coming back, you are also restricted by the opening times of the bridges and the need to find a marina for refueling. If your flight is early, you might have to come back the previous day. All that seemed to restrictive to me so I went with The Moorings (I know they don't have the boat you want).

As a side note, we saw a DYC boat at one of the anchorages and it was emblazoned with www.DREAMYACHTCHARTERS.COM on the boom and maybe somewhere else. I thought it looked tacky.

Not trying to dissuade you from DYC, just letting you know some things to ask about and plan accordingly.

Update:

We chartered with DYC out of SXM and were very happy. No issues whatsoever.

We have in the past chartered with The Moorings/Sunsail out of Oyster Pond. I decided to try DYC as the price of the boat was half the price due to a promotion DYC was offering. The price was just too good to pass up.

Yes DYC is inside the lagoon, but had no problems with the procedures exiting. DYC was more than happy to ensure we were ready to go in the morning to make it through the 10:00 and 10:30 am openings of Causeway and Simpson Bay Bridges.

They factor in a sleep aboard so that we were able to familiarize ourselves with the boat the night before, in the morning during check out we were able to finish the boat briefing. Their offices open at 8:00 am which makes it easy to accommodate the boat briefing and departure in time for the bridge openings. We were visiting in low season so there were fewer openings but we did not find this to be an inconvenience.

Regarding refueling, the fuel dock is inside the lagoon close to their base. Once you re-enter the Port Royal Marina via the Causeway bridge, a Skipper from DYC boards the vessel and motors to the fuel dock to top the tanks.

We chartered a 4.5 Bali luxe with flybridge and for the most part, were very happy with it. It was very spacious and comfortable for our group of 7. The sails were undersized and sailing performance not the greatest but all in all we had a wonderful time. Would I purchase a Bali - no but I would charter one again.

Thanks for the update. It's good to know that my concerns were not an issue. At half price, I should put them back on the consideration list.