Moorings and mandatory trip insurance

In this time of fees for just about everything it is frustrating to calculate the "REAL" cost of any transaction from banking, airlines and chartering. We were charting with The Moorings out of St. Martin in May. Our friend booked the charter and as we settled up on payments with him we also paid The Moorings for the mandatory trip insurance ($99 each) and $150 for a night at Captain Oliver’s.
As it turned out my wife's mother became ill was hospitalized, then to hospice and she passed away the afternoon we were to have sailed out of St. Martin. Needless to say we had to back out of the charter but our friends continued on without us.
I called The Moorings to cancel the Captain Oliver's hotel room over 3 weeks prior to the reservation only to discover the hotel reservation was just like the charter fees, no cancelation this late. The customer service rep was curt and business like but when she understood the reason she suggested I contact the trip insurance firm, I had totally forgotten about this.
So I contacted them. Our reason for canceling was totally within the insurance guidelines. I explained that I did NOT want any portion of the charter refunded as the other couple was going to honor the contract; it was in his name anyway. So I submitted a claim for Captain Oliver’s and airline tickets.
After about a month I received a letter, definitely written by attorneys and a check for $150, the night at Captain Oliver’s. Seems you have to put all your eggs in the Moorings basket. I happen to live in a small Florida market but with good American Airlines connections via Miami to the Caribbean. Since I was able to book at a substantially lower rate on American out of my own town than I’d get with The Moorings they explained that the insurance was only good on items paid for through The Moorings. Gotta read the fine print I suppose. $198 paid for insurance that paid off with $150 or a net loss of $48.
I don’t feel so good about this especially since I was forced to buy their insurance. The Moorings boats may be newer but I’m back to Barecat on my next charter. There is no bogus $50 a day insurance “fee”, you put down a cash security deposit and, if you don’t break anything, you get it back really fast. No daily fuel charge, like car rentals you get a full tank and bring it back full. And the rate is much lower allowing for a longer charter for the same cash.
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Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. I think there may be some confusion between you and your friend or your friend and Moorings.

The trip insurance is not mandatory. The only reason it may have been in your case is because its insurance for the whole charter - so if your friend who booked it wanted the insurance, it had to be applied to the entire charter. If you book online, there may be no way to remove it, but if you call them, you can have it removed.

The insurance is there to reduce your deductible to $650. Without it, you could have a deductible of up to $6000 for some of the more expensive boats, plus $6500 for the dinghy. It's just part of the cost of using the Moorings, Sunsail or Footloose.

Same with the fuel, although Moorings doesn't charge extra for fuel. You get a full tank and bring it back with whatever is left. The fuel is built into the price. Sunsail has a separate line item for fuel. Personally, I think not having to worry about filling up on fuel at the end of the trip is nice.


Just want to clear that up for anyone else that reads it. I think you also might have done better doing a sleep aboard the night before, rather than staying in the hotel, although that really depends on the number of people and the cost of the boat.

Correct Trip insurance is not mandatory with the Moorings (boat insurance is). I had to cancel 4 days before my trip in 2004, just my wife and I , Insurance refunded the full cost of the trip, all boat, air and hotel costs. Got the check two weeks after contacting the insurance company.

Interestingly enough I was reading some of the paperwork a little more carefully and it seems there are 2-3 levels of added insurance you can get. Each level affects the cost but also lowers the deductible.

EDIT - My comment is in regards to the boat insurance, not trip insurance.

this is why we always buy trip insurance, a crap shoot, yes, but sure nice when something goes wrong.

We are taking a Moorings trip this summer off of the Amalfi Coast and I'm having trouble finding reviews anywhere. Could you give a rough review of how your friends thought the trip went? I know you personally didn't make it, but did they have a good experience? Thanks!

This is a really old thread - might want to start a new one with your question. But, I can give you our experience..

We've been using the moorings since 2009. First trip booked direct with them on a Leopard 47 and then 2nd through an owner on a Leopard 46. Bought a boat after that and have been a total of 9 times. Every trip has been great - we've been treated the same prior to owning and after owning - basically, they treat everyone equally as well.

Obviously each base can differ. We've had the same good experience though in both the BVI, St Lucia and we also stopped a the St. Vincent base and Canouan base - all great too.