Yacht charter in Olbia · Dufour — Catamarans 48 (2021)

Da: Mike Ratcliffe <mike@vilafonte.com> Inviato: venerdì 28 giugno 2024 11:46 A: Marina Yacht Charter <booking@marinayachtcharter.com> Cc: Franco Arturo Oggetto: Re: Departure Dufour Catamaran 48 "Vittoria" URGENT Dear Estelle, Before we conclude this trip, I’d like to provide some feedback of what for many reasons has been the worst experience we have had as a group in chartering a yacht (and we have done this for many years in many countries.) 1) The departure and arrival port was wrong, which meant an additional transport needs (paid by operator), additional hotel charges and further distance travelled at beginning and end of trip (about 1-2 hours.) the poor communication also caused confusion and irritation. 2) Due to wind, we could not begin our journey until day 2. However, as we got ready to leave there was a problem with the boat’s sink which added a few hours of lost time. We only left at 2pm on Sunday. 3) Our dingy boat had a faulty engine, which left us stranded several times and made it unusable in the last 3 days of our trip. 4) The boat wasn’t fully equipped or functional. It was missing a foredeck lounge bed and pillows, had broken mosquito nets, the BBQ grill did not work, and had no appropriate cutlery or glasses (no wine glasses.) 5) Skipper broke the rudder finn of one of the two SUPs that we rented on day 2, making it useless. 6) Skipper used the main cabin sofa as a bed every evening, instead of the allotted cabin (with his partner.) 7) Finally, we believe the skipper and his partner had little experience, did not put together an appropriate itinerary, and had loud (and loud screaming) fights constantly, which created a hostile environment. Additionally, the hostess was prone to being sea-sick which raised some additional concerns. 8) Getting the WiFi router onto the boat caused delays and much negotiation with Lorenzo eventually going to his home to get his ‘personal’ router onto the boat. He can across as being quite irritated by this request. Within days the available data on the WiFi router expired and we were without internet for 4-5 days. Despite constant discussion, our crew said that ‘the WiFi had nothing to do with them’. A call to Lorenzo by me was equally useless as he refused responsibility and basically insisted that it was not our problem and that we had ‘used up’ all the data. He appeared irritated and refused to resolve the situation, or even try. We would have gladly paid extra if necessary. 9) Our signed contract clearly states that the charter ends at 9am on Saturday 29 June. We were informed that we had to be back in Olbia by 4pm on the 28th of June to ensure that got into the queue for the patrol station. This important fact shortened our holiday further, but was also never mentioned in our contract or communication- which we checked. I would like to discuss potential ways for you to remediate all of this, and propose a financial reparation. Most importantly, to avoid this happening in the future. Some of these things could have been dangerous (for example, the dingy motor issue.) (for example, the dingy motor issue.) Please keep this email CONFIDENTIAL from the crew until we depart as I do not want our family to be involved in any negative conversations or fights. If you do not take these complaints seriously, we will go public with them on review sites and social media (we have evidence of most of them.) Best, Mike

The boat is very spacious and comfortable to enjoy a perfect week on holiday. It is very well equipped. We have enjoyed it very much. The skipper (Adrian) assigned by the agency was also amazing, with great experience and knowledge of the area, which made the experience even more enjoyable. We would recommed it all very highly.