Screaming Eagle Sports — Attraction in Destin

Screaming Eagle definitely has the potential to offer a great cruise. Unfortunately, they don't have the commitment to do so. My sister and I took a dolphin cruise on the Screaming Eagle in late September. Trent was very friendly at check-in and was generally helpful throughout the cruise. We got off to a good start--the boat is fast and can offer a really fun ride and we saw a number of dolphins pretty quickly, although none of them were particularly close. The captain decided to cruise west along the shore, but then the boat slowed, then stopped. The captain was giving directions to Trent to try to get the engine started again, but no go. The captain had to go back to work on the engine to try to get it going. We sat there waiting patiently. Finally, after 18 minutes, he was able to get the engine started. We assumed that he would make up that lost time and continue on with the cruise. We knew there was no rush to return since I was told that morning that this would be the only trip of the day. We would have also understood if he said that it was too risky to continue the tour because of the engine problems and offered a partial refund. Instead, the captain gave no explanation and offered no apology. He just turned the boat around and headed straight back. I even called out (I was sitting directly behind him) that there were dolphins right next to the boat, and he didn't even slow down for a moment to give us a chance to watch them. We returned to the dock 1 hour and 2 minutes after our departure for a 1 hour tour. Since 18 minutes were spent just sitting there doing nothing, and that's nearly 1/3 of the tour, we felt that we didn't get a full tour. We talked to several of the other passengers after we got off the boat and they were also stunned that the captain didn't say anything about the lost time caused by the mechanical failure or make any attempt to tack that time onto the end of the cruise. My sister has called several times since that day and left messages explaining the situation and asking for a partial refund, but there has been no response. A business owner should always try to do right by their customers, but the management at Screaming Eagle Sports apparently lacks the integrity to do what's right. Save yourself the headache and disappointment and cruise with another company.

Update 10/14/21 The business owner did contact me after reading my review and said she had been unable to respond to the previous messages because she had been out for several weeks with COVID and she offered a full refund, which is more than we had requested. Considering the circumstances, I'm withdrawing my comments about the business being unresponsive and have added...

Made a 10:00 a.m. Saturday reservation. At 9:00 a.m. we could see a storm was approaching. No big deal. Figured company would call and push back to their next slot at 12:00 or 2:00. We would have found something to do and made the adjustment. At 9:15 a.m. had not heard from Screaming Eagle to postpone or cancel. Called the number listed in the reservation confirmation. No answer. We decided to drive over the marina to see if anyone was there. At 9:32 a.m. boat still had cover on it and nobody nearby on docket. Called number listed in the reservation confirmation which is same number on the side of the boat, left a message this time. Still had not heard from owners so at 9:55 a.m. called the reservation company who was able to reach owner. Owner stated they would launch at 10:30 a.m. when storm passes, so we stayed at marina. At 10:30 a.m. I finally receive a call on my cell from owner. Owner stated they were moving reservation back to 12:00 p.m. When I asked why I was just now hearing this, after standing on boat dock for an hour and trying to call their number twice with no answer, owner gave no apology or explanation. In fact, owner stated she called everyone back who left her a message. First, they should have called me to tell me it was being pushed back before I even had to call them. Second, I sure did leave a message on company voicemail and they did not return call. I didn't mind if it was pushed back....with notice. Instead I drove 90 minutes to be there twenty minutes prior to launch time, only to stand on dock for an hour, to then be told it would be pushed back again another 90 minutes. When I called reservation company to cancel, owner stated to reservation company they had been at boat since 8:00 a.m. and we must have been at wrong dock. We were looking at the red, white, and blue boat the entire time, so I don't think so. My one star is for the horrible customer service from owner, who could not even find the heart to say, "I'm sorry we didn't call earlier." To top it off, reservation company will not allow me to leave a review on their site as we did not depart on the boat ride. We sure didn't, but you bet they had taken our reservation and cash up front. I wouldn't have set foot on that boat with the woman (owner) even if I wasn't able to get a refund granted by reservation company. Beware: rude owner with no manners, and a reservation company who does not allow...

October 12, 2024 fireworks cruise. We received information about the time and cruise. We called because we questioned the time after seeing the time for the fireworks. We were assured the time was correct. We then received a call at the last minute that they had given us the summer time, not the October time. So we scrambled to make it in time. We did only to come to a dark dock with no lights. We found a helpful gentleman who pointed us to another dark area. We found captain Pat. He asked us several times the same questions. He was a bit confused and said he had been at a Trump boat rally all day. “Where are you from? Have you been here before? What are your names?” He had difficulty getting out of the dock. Asked us to make sure his light was on in the back. He then asked us what time the fireworks were and did we want him to pull up to a shore before the fireworks so the littles could play on a beach in the dark. Hard no. We were all anxious by then and praying. We realized when we got out in the water the front lights were not working and he blamed it on the hurricane. He got a a bit too close to land and the barge that had the fireworks in it. Long story short, the fireworks were amazing, but we didn’t really enjoy because we were praying to make it back safely. We checked reviews before booking, but really feel we let our family down. Do not take the October...