I chartered a yacht in Croatia through BoatBookings.com for my wife, my son, and two of his friends. I worked with Ben Sutton, who was responsive early on -- he sent yacht options, we decided on a yacht and signed the contract. I paid the deposit and final payment on time. I sent the preference sheets for all guests months in advance of the charter. But after that, communication basically stopped. I asked repeatedly for a pre-trip call with the captain, something I'd done on a previous charter and found essential for getting provisions right. I never got that call. Six days before the charter, while I was already in Split on vacation, I emailed Ben with my concerns and disappointment about not getting a call with the captain and crew. He assured me the call wasn't necessary and that everything was in order. "Every charter is different and calls don't always happen," he said. Apparently, all was not in order. The Wednesday before the Saturday charter I received a text from Ben and an email from Kim in the office stating it was imperative I call the captain right away -- he was about to lose cell service and had only an hour or so left. No one had looked at the preference sheets and realized that champagne and wines were not specified. They had no idea of the brands or amounts. I had to drop what I was doing at the beach with my family and take the call without my notes or preference sheets. The captain was professional and pleasant, but we never got to the liquor list, and he had no idea one guest had dropped out -- so they stocked for five instead of four, including some bourbon I'd specifically told Ben I didn't want.
I was paying for all the provisions out of my own pocket, and Ben didn't seem to care that we'd gone from five guests to four, or that I'd dropped the bourbon, as he didn't inform the captain of either. The waste wasn't much, but it's not about the money -- it's the principle. I spent a significant amount of money on what was supposed to be the highest-end vacation possible, and all I wanted was a fifteen-minute phone call before I left the USA -- not while I was already on the beach in Croatia, on vacation.
The captain and crew were excellent once we were aboard. The trip itself was wonderful. But the planning process was frustrating, and I wouldn't recommend BoatBookings.com based on how this was handled.
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