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Hospitality of the charter
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Check-in/out procedure
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Assistance in navigation
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238 persons recommend this owner
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Not so good
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We chartered the Catamaran Arkab in Olbia. This 2018 boat has been chartered in Caribbean until March of 2025 and in April when arrived in Italy went thru some basic repairs. The boat was beaten up, cushions were old and ripped, lack of some basic cocking supplies, no microwave oven, no fans in cabins, no TV set, some reading lights not working. Months before the trip, I asked about a place to hold some luggage and over the phone I was informed by Marenauta, that Dream Yatch base has a place to keep it. This was not correct, and I was informed only at my arrival at the base that we only had space for 2 luggage although we were a crew of 10. By chance, the skipper came in with a car and we put all luggage inside his car. I asked Marenauta the skipper’s and hostess’s phones weeks before the trip to organize my vacation, however, I was informed by Marenauta the contact numbers only at the date of the departure. Due to the lack of response from Marenauta about such contacts, I managed to call Dream Yatch directly and got the phones numbers a week before. Those things show that Marenauta has no clue of the conditions of the Dream Yatch base which is not good when compared to Portisco, there is no service near the base. We paid for early checkin and we only were free to leave by 3:30 PM with little difference from the standard 5:00 PM time. The inventory at the boat was not fully checked and the dinghy had no rows, thus we had limited use of the dinghy. Finally, last night some of the crew had an unpleasant discussion with the skipper over the place to stay as we were tied to a gasoline station in Aranci Port with choppy conditions, although better places were available such as the place we spent in the day after. If known in advance the conditions of the place, probably the discussions could be avoided.
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September 2024, Sibenik with Lagoon 42 - 4 + 2 cab.
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July 2024, La Trinité-sur-mer with Dufour 450
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June 2024, Phuket with Bali 4.5 - 4 + 2 cab.
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April 2024, Pomer with Elan E4
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April 2023, Portorosa with Lagoon Lagoon 40 - 4 + 2 cab
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September 2023, Sibenik with Lagoon 400 S2 - 4 + 2 cab.
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September 2023, Sibenik with Lagoon 380 - 4 cab.
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June 2023, Phuket with Lagoon Lagoon 42 - 3 + 1 cab.
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June 2023, Pomer with Elan Impression 40
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October 2022, Kos with Beneteau Oceanis 41.1
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Bad service, they tried to fool me, and the equipment was wanting
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Nobody came to conduct the pre-charter briefing until almost 11:00 a.m. when I intercepted an employee of the company and begged him to come to the boat for the pre-check. During the pre-check, I mentioned that there was an alarm that sounded periodically, approximately every 5 minutes. After waiting a while longer for a mechanic to come to the boat to check the alarm, the employees of the charter company tried to convince me that every Dufour makes that sound. I am not an imbecile, so I did not accept that explanation and asked them if I was supposed to spend the whole week with the alarm 24 hours/7 days. Evidently, they did not share my opinion about me not been an imbecile, so they insisted that said alarm in normal in every Dufour. Finally, my wife fixed the alarm which was caused by a malfunctioning sensor. Since it was already passed noon, I asked if I could return the boat the last day later in the afternoon. Trying to get approval for that fair request was another ordeal. I had to look for the supervisor all around the marina and, at the end, was instructed to call them a couple of days before the end of the charter to see if they authorized the late return of the boat. A couple of days in my vacation the anchor windlass began dropping the anchor while we were sailing. I tried to stop it but could not. I had to pull the anchor and the chain by hand while under way. I will not charter from this company again under any circumstance.
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May 2022, Scrub Island with Dufour 412 GL
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September 2022, Saint-Mandrier-sur-mer with Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 449
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Partying vs. Sailiing
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I specifically selected the Sun Loft because it is (besides a very few exceptions) the only way to have 6 real cabin. There is a 7th skipper "cabin" at the bow.
To make this happen, all the living space has been brought up on the deck (you only have cabins and bathrooms under deck).
The Charter company (base location, people, service, etc.) is great.
On the plus side (boat): very social, everyone is together; huge table/sun bath on the back.
On the minus side (boat): you don't have a separate space to drive or trim the sail. You end up moving across people preparing lunch to trim the sale. The mast seems really short, the boom is really high (to clear the sun top), which means the mainsail is pretty small.
The jib is self-tacking, which means it is really small as well.
So the boat is ok when you have a lot of wind, but remember you have the kitchen right there by the steering wheels...
And finally - no bow thruster. I can't even understand why you would manufacture a charter boat of that size without a boat thruster.
In summary, I would definitely charter a boat again at this charter company (good location, nice people, effective service), but probably not a Sun Loft 47. You have boats of the same size on the market that are so much more fun to sail - but they will have only max. 5 cabins...
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April 2022, Pozzuoli with Dufour Yachts Dufour 460 GL
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May 2022, Portorosa with Dufour Yachts Dufour 460 GL - 5 cab.
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November 2021, Phuket, Thailand with Bali 4.5
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October 2021, Saint-Mandrier-sur-mer with Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 389
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April 2019, Dubrovnik with Dufour 382 Grand Large
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April 2018, Noumea with Oceanis 41
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October 2017, Raiatea with Catana 41 OC
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May 2015, Lavrion with Oceanis 48
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Storm
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Another vacation with Marenauta. This time Cyclades. We had brand new boat, and again perfect service at Lavrion marina.
Unfortunately we had terrible weather. 3 days of terrible storm. One of those days, we were at the open see with 7 bofors, and wind gusts over 54 kn, and crazy waves. Sailing boats were forbidden to leave ports that day, but somehow we were there. In this hard sea, we had big problem. Some electrical instalation, and bow truster were out of order. In this critical moments we had very good communication with marina manager, Vasilis. He helped us to find a man for help, as well as to encuridge us to continue trip.
This was precious , it that moments when you don't see easy way out.
At the end, we had again exceptional reception in marina. I Have to mention that all cost of reparation, was accepted by agency!
We had perfect last night in Lavrion, and for sure we will go again!
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May 2014, Lavrion with Sun Odyssey 469
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Splendide Cicladi, barca vecchiotta
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La vacanza è stata molto piacevole grazie alla bellezza dei luoghi al poco affollamento, anche in relazione ad alcuni giorni di vento forte (e divertente, anche se impegnativo…fino a oltre 40kn).
La barca era del 2020 (scelta perché avrebbe dovuto avere, il desalinizzatore, che in realtà NON aveva)e come tale aveva una serie di problemi non gravi ma legati alla vetustà.
Il forte vento ha rotto il plexiglas di un passa uomo di prua che siamo riusciti a riparare comprando silicone, nastro isolante ed attrezzi che in barca mancavano.
I fondamentali (scafo, vele, toilet) erano ok ma vari piccoli aspetti a contorno ( attrezzature, bozzelli, porte, fornelli, tavolo interno etc erano “provati” dal tempo con poca cura dalla base di Lavrio.
E’ grave che venga pubblicato il desalinizzatore che non c’era. Se lo avessi saputo avrei scelto una barca più recente.
A Lavrio ho notato operatori in loco più professionali e con barche più nuove. La prossima crociera alle Cicladi la prenoterei con loro.
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Ottima vacanza condizionata in parte dal meteo
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Per quanto concerne l'accoglienza all'arrivo da parte della società di charter (dream yacht): bene le procedure di firma dei contratti e la prima accoglienza, carente se non assente l'illustrazione delle dotazioni della barca (era persino assente la luce del tavolo e ci è stata data una lucina rimediata), le prospettive di itinerario e uscita, e le previsioni meteo dell'area;altrettanto carente è stato il rilascio di informazioni per costituire la cambusa e i relativi transfer, pur nella gentilezza mostrata e nella - eccessiva - confusione degli altri imbarchi, mi sono sentito un pò abbandonato a me stesso, l'unico aiuto è venuto dal gentilissimo ed abile skipper che, però, non era membro della struttura di charter e quindi esonerato dalle incombenze sopra illustrate.
La barca messa a disposizione, un dufour 52 piedi con qualche anno sulle spalle, era grande e ben equipaggiata, confortevole per l'uso da diporto.
Sotto coperta da migliorare la pulizia dell'area cucina e la ghiacciaia - prestazioni di raffreddamento inferiori alla media e un pò datata -.
Su una barca di questa categoria sarebbe stato inoltre utile il collegamento poppiero del comando remoto dell'ancora (presente solo a prua).
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October 2024, Trogir with Elan Elan Impression 40
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October 2024, Saint-Mandrier-sur-mer with Lagoon 39
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August 2024, Pola with Helia 44
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August 2024, Olbia with Fountaine Pajot Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40
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July 2024, Palma de Mallorca with Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 - 3 cab.
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