Andrew,
I would like to do a catamaran vacation, my friends
say it is wonderful, but I get motion sickness
in our car.
Catamarans do not heel over when the wind blows,
they have stability which no other craft has.
In 17 years I have never had anyone of our guests
say they felt bad due to sea sickness. We take
all the necessary precautions and we plan meticulously
with the captain if there is even a remote concern.
As I said in 17 years we have not had one issue
of motion sickness affecting a great vacation,
Many have been concerned but none were affected
negatively. And all were aboard a stable and very
spacious catamaran.
As your service provider, it is my job that I
take very seriously and obligate myself to things
concerning your vacation including I communicate
your tolerance / excitement level with the Captain,
we typically keep guests away from "large
passages" crossings, so we look for locations
with calm and quiet lagoons and easy sailing from
one to the next. We may also want to stay closer
to shore where the swells are not so dramatic.
Your captain knows the spots and will try to keep
things as calm as he can. All the captains and
crew are sensitive to guests that may have motion
issues and will talk all necessary precautions
to make your vacation a happy and healthy one.
In addition there are spots such as the British
Virgin Islands, where there are 32 islands set
in a rough circle and it is this circle which
protects all of us from the "ocean swell.
These are amongst the calmest boating conditions
known. Look in the background of all the pictures
you see of the Virgin Islands and the water has
no swell, this means there is no ocean swell present.
1.) Choosing the correct location is paramount.
2.) Selection of the right Captain and crew is
extremely important
3). Working with your catamaran’s Itinerary which
is customizable to you, is again paramount.
I suggest you bring your wrist
bands, your ear pads and your dramamine, but
do not use them, unless you feel you absolutely
need to. I preplan with your captain to make
your first sail very short and on dead calm
water then we plan to stop and play for the
rest of the day. Happy hour and dinner follow
in a dead calm anchorage.
The next morning you have taken no pills and
no wristbands and you are more eager to get
sailing than anyone else in your party.
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Andrew,
three years ago my husband took our family on
a “keel sailboat” (mono hull and not a Catamaran)
sailing vacation, he loved it, the kids loved
it, but there was no space in the cabins, no
space when you came inside and little space
on deck. Mmmm now he wants to do a catamaran??
Today a private catamaran vacation is not a
camping trip, those days are gone. A catamaran
is a floating hotel with all the perks you can
expect at a top hotel. A modern Catamaran has
double the space inside and on deck than any
yacht one and a half times her length size.
The modern catamaran features 4 equal queen
sized beds, each cabin has its own private toilet,
private shower, and private wash-hand basin,
hot and cold running water 24/7, with your catamaran
fully air conditioned. The salon can be the
width of the catamaran 20 feet by 14 feet deep
with 7 feet headroom, with controlled ac. Many
prefer the kitchen/galley to be on the same
level as the salon so that your chef is included
in all the action during your charter. Most
meals are enjoyed in the cockpit which is an
outside area to enjoy under the stars by candlelight.
Your cockpit normally seats 8 to 10 guests outside.
On deck you have heaps of clutter free deck
space to walk around plus a 15-x 12 feet play
/ sunning area (trampoline) so catamarans do
have a ladder leading down from the trampoline
to the water or the beach. Space is what a catamaran
has definitely got and lots of it. Douce France
is 56 feet wide and 139 feet long which is larger
than most homes. The 6 cabins and beds are huge.
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Andrew,
I am used to having the good things in life,
so comfort to me is paramount.
Great then you will love the worlds most gorgeous
high-end luxury catamaran Zingara. No other
catamaran mark has 5 cabins with walk-around
beds, this is the closest you will get to a
luxury hotel or resort room 2 king sized beds
and 3 queens, flat screen TV sets in each cabin,
a/c, private toilets, private tubs, private
showers. The interior of the salon is finished
with Ostrich skin, wow this is far more luxurious
than ivory leather and it shows immediately,
every water toy imaginable, It took one year
to select the correct captain and the correct
chef for this position, so expect charming folk
to be around and expect the world's most exotic
cuisine at each sitting. Zingara is 76 feet
and far more luxurious than Douce France at
139 feet. In the past 17 years I have not inspected
a more luxurious catamaran than Zingara. If
you want the best in the industry then Zingara
is the only one out there leading the way.
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Andrew
as this is our first time how do I know I can
enjoy a full week on a boat? Is there enough
for my children to do?
Wonderful question, I love first time folk because
I know what is in store for you. Once you do
a private yacht vacation you will be spoiled
forever, vacations in your future will be very
difficult to select. As a past captain for 5
years I found that every party who did 5 nights
would beat themselves for not doing 7 days on
board. I never once came across anyone who was
happy to go home, everything you see is brand
new to you, uninhabited islands, pastel colored
shops with gingerbread touches under coconut
palms seem so unique in their tropical settings.
Resorts lined with coconut palms on powder white
beaches and gin clear water are perfect places
to explore as well. Children and adults are
three times more active on a private yacht vacation
than they are at home, at night after dinner,
everyone attacks their bed for the night. There
are places to dance the night away, but children
go to bed they do not want to watch TV, their
little bodies are too tired to keep their eyes
open. Exploring uninhabited islands, seen real
pirate caves, snorkeling, scuba diving, seeing
coral reefs with rainbow colored fish, taking
pictures from the top of a mountain looking
down at your yacht, jumping off a 20 feet high
rock into the water, picking up sea shells on
the white footprint free beach, enjoying the
hot sun, water skiing, wake boarding, having
a banana ride and breathing the fresh air of
the Caribbean all lead to bed early everyday.
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Andrew
does the crew like children?
Some crew do not want to handle children under
the age of 10, others do not want children on
board at all. Keep away from all of these which
have children problems this is a sign of getting
tired in our industry. The captains who encourage
children of all ages are normally the captains
who are magnificent to be with adults as well.
This is where your broker shines for you, knowing
each crew member of the crew is mandatory. In
the past 17 years I have not missed on November
annual charter boat show in Tortola, this is
how important this question is, it also brings
me to inspecting each individual catamaran,
but it is the crew who are more important, because
you are going to spend one week with them. With
a good agent you will never go wrong and we
will make sure the crew genuinely love children.
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Andrew,
Do catamarans have normal toilets and separate
shower ?
Again a great question, yes many catamarans
have electric toilets, this means you press
a button and the toilet flushes. Normal marine
toilets need to be manually pumped 15 times
to clear away waste. This is not a big problem
to do but we all need to learn the first time.
Your captain will show you the first day and
call him as many times as you need to so you
are comfortable with using a marine manual toilet,
naturally the electric toilets are much easier
to use. Check with your catamaran details to
see whether you have to share your toilet, the
cheaper priced catamarans do not have one toile
for one cabin. Most showers have separate cubicles,
but some have a hand held shower which is in
the same compartment as the toilet so the toilet
gets wet each time you use the shower. Not to
worry about this as the crew normally dry off
the toilet when they clean your cabin.
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Andrew.
Do we need to bring towels with us?
No, you do not need to bring any towels, two
towels are given to each person in your party.
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Andrew are there scuba
lessons available?
Yes but the time taken to teach you to scuba
dive impacts on your vacation. I suggest you
are fully qualified before you come on vacation.
Some folk have their last 4 open water dives
done when they are on vacation well this does
not harm your vacation time at all. If you have
never scuba dived before and you want to scuba
during your vacation then your captain will
call a land based company to come to your catamaran
and take you to do a "resort course"
which is a teaching course, then those same
instructors will take you on a 2 tank dive.
So with no previous experience you can enjoy
a crammed scuba course with professionals.
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Andrew to bring
down price can we have a captain only or if
there is if there is a first mate to ask for
captain only?
Yes there are some yachts that do have only
a captain however, all the captain and crew
teams we work with have full time captain and
crew positions, if the chef was not used then
where would she go for the week you are on board
the catamaran. I do not compromise your vacation
by accepting a price $500 lower because an owner
is offering a special to encourage business,
invariable these are the folk who do not meet
the standard we expect our clients to enjoy
on this private catamaran vacation. Asking for
a captain only puts you in the bare boat industry
which we are not part of. My aim is for all
the ladies in your party to put their feet up
relax and have a vacation like everyone else.
You will be served on hand and foot, no preparing
meals, no planning what to do for dinner, no
washing dishes, no putting dishes away after
each meal, with a full crewed catamaran the
ladies are the queen of the house and are treated
as such. From time to time I do hear of genuine
savings, you will automatically enjoy the saving
when this happens.
The best way to save a lot of dollars is to
book one year ahead of time I normally get this
years rates for next year (savings between $300-$1,000)
then booking through Judy who provides wholesale
airline rates saves $100-$130 per person and
lastly you pay in 3 increments and not 2 making
your payments lower. Kindly know you will enjoy
the lowest possible rate for your charter without
me compromising your magnificent adventure.
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Andrew
why should I come to your company and not work
with another company?
A. Trust is everything, I do business the good
old fashioned way, where my client is number
one. Added to this I have vast knowledge of
the charter catamarans worldwide an unequalled
knowledge of the locations you are going to
be, all these points mean you will have better
knowledge to make smarter decisions. This knowledge
comes from owning my own private catamaran which
my wife and 2 girls chartered for 5 years. I
know every little nook and cranny in the Caribbean
chain and the Virgin Islands. Comfortably stated
is the fact that no other broker working with
an independent company in our industry comes
close to actually chartering in these islands
for half as long. Our banking has remained the
same for the past 12 years our address has changed
once in 12 years. Our staff of 6 has had 2 change
in the past 4 years. Since 1995 guests can reach
me 24/7. My personal telephone number 954-720-0475
is given to guests family and friends in case
of emergencies, over the years I have had many
calls at 1am. 3am. 4am for one reason or another.
I know exactly how to get hold of your yacht
in an emergency, captains normally switch off
their telephones at night so not to wake sleeping
guests, at 6.30am it is turned on again. Excellence
is what I strive to give all our guests. In
a nut shell:
Crew knowledge.
Vessel knowledge.
Location knowledge.
You get the boss 24/7 no answering machines
are allowed here. There simply is no other company
worldwide to compare the service you enjoy with
me. Excellence is what I strive to give all
our guests.
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