USVI Charters - Dream Yacht Worldwide

Part 1: Seven women rented the 40ft Bali Catspace "Zephyr" for a Mon-Sat trip in the USVI for (2) 50th birthday celebrations. We booked through 12knots.com and the boat is kept at Compass Point Marina on St. Thomas, USVI. Between the 7 of us, we own 12 boats from center consoles, wake boats, deck boats, tri-toons, jet skis and runabouts, so we are very experienced on the water. Firstly, our captain (who we had to provision, buy and cook food, for) was not assigned until Saturday before our Monday trip, although we were told we would know who it was 1-2 weeks in advance and kept asking. We were able to last minute contact him via text to find out his food preferences. Figuring out food for him was absolutely the most stressful part of planning the trip! His name was Captain Osay and he was amazing. Just the hardest worker, funny, friendly, kind, attentive and such a good sailor. He tailored the trip to our preferences, abilities and tried desperately to keep a very poorly maintained vessel working properly. He took pictures, played DJ, danced, cooked and took us on snorkeling adventures! He suggested beautiful and fun spots, even found calm places to snorkel for our 2 newbies! He caught people falling down slick stairs, retrieved loose floaties, identified all sea creatures and generally enterained us! We were offered help (by the marina manager) with a taxi after we had already boarded the plane. I spent many hours securing a taxi that would also take us by the store to purchase food (20 minutes) - JS Miller - he was great! It was challenging, at best, and the last-minute offer of assistance was irritating. The taxi services and car rentals listed in the "base guide" we were provided did not stop at the store or pick up rentals at the marina as advertised. This was a very hard thing to navigate and should not have been. When we arrived, we were not greeted by anyone. We did not see an office, a sign or any personnel. We called Captain Osay and were given directions down the dock to the boat. The wheelbarrows to carry our stuff to the yacht were all locked up or full of trash. We couldn't locate the boat and he had to came to find us. Once we got there, the 2 paddle boards we rented for the week were not on the boat - we had to ask and the Capt. had to go retrieve them. Also, we did not have the "starter pack" with extra linens that we paid almost $1,000 for. Our beds were bare, unmade and very difficult to make. After asking, Osay again had to go to the office and we were given a bag of random mixed linens with lots of top sheets, towels no comforters or blankets. I slept with a mixture of bath towels and flat sheets on my bunk/bed. There are 2 larger cabins in the fore of the boat with a queen and a single. One of the larger ones, which we assumed we would have use of since we were 2 and 3 to a cabin, did not have working a/c the entire week, so the captain used that one. The 3rd bunk in my room fell apart at least 4 times. The a/c in one of the aft rooms did not cool adequately. One of the windows leaked in the other aft room each time the boat took a wave. We got repeatedly locked out of our room when the boat took a wave because the bathroom door would pop open and jam the entrance door from inside. Capt. Osay would have to climb into the top hatch to let us in. Our kitchen window hydraulics did not hold. We stuck all sorts of things in the window to try to get a little air flow - cushions, jugs of water. It made the galley 4000 degrees while we were cooking. On the 2nd evening, Osay finally got them working.

Wonderful company, great staff, lots of nice new yachts. We sailed out of St Thomas and had a wonderful week exploring the Spanish Virgins of Vieques and Culebra. Not sure about the other bases, but the USVI base is A1+. Highly recommended!

Julia Brown, Part 2: The kitchen did not have a cookie sheet, a measuring cup, measuring spoons , scissors or enough forks for the 8 of us. We had only one working knife. We did not have a wine opener and had to purchase one. We were told that there was not a microwave, blender or coffee machine on baord (we asked multiple times), but all 3 were present. We bought groceries based on that information and were very disappointed to not have accurate information as we would have made different selections. The fridge did not cool enough to keep the butter firm. We were also told that we would NOT have snorkels or fins multiple times, even after being asked our foot size and us re-confirming that we would not have snorkels, so many of us bought and packed them. Then, when we arrived, we were told we did actually have them. We also were not told that we would be provided with beach towels, so we packed them, then we had them on board. There were no bungee cords available to secure the (cheap) Igloo cooler (which also wouldn't hold ice for more than 12 hours) so our entire cooler of drinks (wine, beer, water, gatorade) flipped off the boat in a wave and vanished. Probably about $400 in beverages. Several times before we had caught it. Captain recovered the cooler, but not the contents. The sump pump on the port side ran constantly until it burned out completely and stopped working. We had 4 bathrooms. One of the bathroom toilets exploded on day 2 (no one was in it at the time). Feces and urine were on every surface in the bathroom. Bolts, screws and other parts also came up through the toilet. Osay fixed it somehow. Then, on day 5, it flooded when one of us showered in another bathroom. The winchless anchor would not work for half the trip. Osay tried to get someone to come fix it and worked on it tirelessly. We couldn't anchor - mooring balls only. He finally was able to get it going. We were told that there were bluetooth speakers on the boat, but they were not functioning at all. Thank goodness one of us brought a small speaker. Not having music would have been trip-ruining for us. We were without water to flush, wash dishes, brush teeth, rinse off salt water on 2 occasions. The tank ran dry and the desalinator did not refill. The top deck, which shows full cushions in all the pictures, had zero cushions. It was bumpy (non-slip) and hard to sit on. The front of the boat was missing 2 cushions. I feel sure that Captain Osay fixed more things than we are aware of, so these are just the things that I know about! To say the very least, we were shocked at the condition of the boat that is a 2022 (almost 3 years old). When we got back to the marina to disembark, we told Arnold (the assistant) all of these things but Brendan (Compass Point Marina manager) didn't come speak or say anything to us. I also wrote this all on the checkout sheet. Our Captain, Osay, was AMAZING! He salvaged the trip in every way!

Just completed a one week charter through DYC's base on St. Thomas. I cannot say enough good things about the staff, both in the office and on the dock. They were very responsive to our needs. Our 40' catamaran was super clean and in great shape. I would not hesitate to charter here again.

Dream yachts has been our choice of Charter Companies for years, and the team in USVI St Thomas takes honors for the best of teams! Thanks for the great boats and joyful vacations Dream Yachts

My family of four had a number of boat and customer service issues with our charter out of St Thomas that significantly impacted our enjoyment of the trip. I highly recommend chartering in the USVI, but I suggest that you do it with another chartering company. The issues broadly break down into two categories: 1) service/support issues at the base; and 2) maintenance issues with the boat. Service/Support at the Base 1. Checkin was at 5 pm, but our boat was not available until after 6 pm 2. The aft head was backed up on embarkation. This was raised as an issue while at the marina (as the head was smelling), but was told it was fine. Shortly after leaving the marina, it became completely non operational. It took two days, 10+ calls, and several no-shows from the chase boat before it was resolved. 3. We received no formal boat or chart briefing. The supposed briefer showed up at the boat an hour later than scheduled and showed no interest in providing any information that wasn’t specifically asked. He seemed inconvenienced by my questions (probably about 10, so not unreasonable given that no information was offered proactively) 4. The linens on the boat were stained. Half of our starter pack was missing. 5. They only had one electrical cable at the dock. That meant that we had to choose between air conditioning and charging our battery, but not both, during our night in the marina. On top of that, the battery had not been fully charged prior to our arrival. 6. There were a whole list of boat issues (some listed below) that needed to be cared for prior to departing the marina that were only accomplished through repeated nagging and follow up. As a result, we did not leave the dock until 12:30, 3 hours after our scheduled debrief. It was only through active follow up with multiple staff that we were able to leave even at that hour. 7. Upon return, we were forced to hold outside the channel for 75 minutes as there was not a slip available for our boat. We had given the requested 30 minutes notice of our arrival, so there should of been plenty of time to prepare. During this time, communication was poor and unprofessional Boat Issues 1. The stove grate was broken as was the gimbal lock. They jury-rigged a fix, but the oven was still unsafe to use unattended. 2. The forward hatch was broken and would only close to “vent” and not “sealed.” As a result, our bedding in the V berth was soaked when we encountered some swells. Sleeping with wet bedding is not terribly comfortable 3. The cockpit table did not raise and lower well and stopped functioning completely on day 2. This is something that should have been addressed with regular maintenance. 4. A functioning extended mooring hook was not provided 5. The house battery reading was broken and alarming the entire time. We had no ability to know how much charge remained, making it very difficult to manage the fridge and recharging. As a result, some of our food went bad at the end of the trip. 6. The air conditioning did not work in the aft cabins 7. Safety issues: functioning anchor snubber not provided; no length markings on the anchor chain, no Life Throw. 8. There were numerous other issues with the boat that were either addressed (at the expense of waiting around and lost cruising time) or were just annoying. That being said, these issues all seem to add up to a lack of regular and systemic maintenance on the boat (acknowledged by personnel at the Base). In dealing with these issues during and after the charter, the base manager was rude and showed no accountability. “We are really busy” is not an excuse, particularly when all arrivals and departures are all scheduled in advance.

Just finished a very enjoyable 10-day charter with Dream in the USVI. Chartered a 5yo Lagoon 52F. There were several issues with the boat when we got it, mostly from it being an older boat. It was also rigged for 220v, and we hadn't realized that (even though it was in the "equipment list") and didn't have plug adapters. Dream Yacht Charters, and the base managers, Chris and Kizzy, went out of their way to make things as right as possible. Even so, there were some small mechanical and technical issues that were not so great, so 4 stars instead of 5. Not any fault of the people at Dream who were all excellent, but simply drawbacks of an older boat. Also, people usually do not report the things that broke or stopped working on the boat at the end of their charters, probably fearing that they will be charged. But if people do not TELL the company what is wrong, it is darn hard for them to find everything and fix it. Folks, give them a detailed, full, list of anything you find. Even the things we technically broke, they did not charge us anything for and were really grateful for the punch list of things to repair. Finally, one really, really excellent thing about Dream Yacht Charter USVI is that they will send a crew out to the boat in the outer channel and bring the boat in and handle the docking. As any sailor knows, this is one of the most anxiety provoking aspects of any trip, maneuvering a large, and largely unfamiliar, boat in tight quarters. What a gift it is to simply turn it over to the base and have them handle this aspect. Major kudos to the team there in USVI! Did everything go perfect? No. But, if you expect perfect, stay away from boats and boating.

Terrible experience with these guys. 1) the customer service, specifically with Ashley is a train wreck. They’re rude and difficult to work with. 2) the boat wasn’t clean. Stains everywhere. Had to reclean the boat ourselves. Not even sure what the $380 cleaning fee is for because you basically have to do half the work when you return to base. 3) so many broken things on the boat. 4) they are scam artists. Our charter began on a Saturday. When we arrived we were told that we would debrief “sometime Sunday” and could leave after our debrief. To leave Saturday, we had to pay another $570. 5) upon arrival, we did a debrief where everything was checked. Then I was charged again for the holding tanks not being empty. We specifically called out that the gauges weren’t working and that we had dumped them both the morning before and the morning upon arrival. No response. Having to fight them with my Amex now. Overall, terrible experience. I would avoid this company at all cost.