Seafarer Cruising & Sailing Holidays — Local services in London

Dear Seafarer Management,

It is with a degree of sadness that I write this e-mail as despite everything we had a good holiday. However it was clear to me that your operation in Kefalonia was not ready to run a flotilla such as the one we went on and I am not satisfied that we had value for money from this holiday. It would have been much better if there had been a smaller number of quality boats, rather than the number on the flotilla with their associated problems. There are a number of reasons for this which are detailed below and I would like to think we would be due some level of compensation.

Crew Firstly let me thank the lead crew for their hard work during the week as a number of Boats had quite a few issues across the week including ours. Rick the base manager, who also accompanied us on this flotilla, was excellent fixing a number of problems with our boat. Lottie the skipper did her level best in some difficult circumstances. Steve the mate, had a terrific personality and did his best to please but this was his first flotilla in this area so was not really able to give the usual advice on lunchtime/anchoring/swim stops.

Also on most days we were asked to be in relatively early, by 15:00hrs in Frikes !!, far too early, so often missed the best sailing wind because of this. There was no after flotilla awards/social interaction at the end of the week as we had been told there would be therefore it just fizzled out. I put this down to the lead crew being exhausted as they were still fixing issues with the boats well into Saturday evening back at the base. This was also the first time (10 previous flotillas) I have had no crew/boat list handed out at the beginning of the week which made social interaction slow to start.

Boat There were a number of issues with the boat which I detail below, some annoying some potentially dangerous. The lead boat also had a mechanical issue when trying to help build a raft in Fiskhardo therefore delaying our anchoring by a considerable time.

1. It was not possible all week to get a GPS fix from either VHF Radio or the chart plotter. There was also a problem with the VHF which meant we could not be heard by the lead crew until we were about 30 metres away. Rick was kind enough to lend us his hand held VHF which got round the problem but this is simply not good enough.
2. The Skipper who handed over the boat to us demonstrated how the sails worked, however he then furled the main in under load, which meant the first time we used the main it jammed and would not unfurl properly, Rick fixed this for us at the end of the first day.
3. The Skipper who handed over the boat to us demonstrated how the autopilot worked, however the demonstration he gave was incorrect as the mechanism was loose and it stopped working on day 3. Again Rick fixed this but this should not have been delivered like this.
4. The anchor remote control was incorrectly wired, the down button lifted the anchor and the up button dropped the anchor which could have been problematic in difficult circumstances.
5. The outboard was dry of fuel, it did start when demonstrated but did not run for long with the handover skipper shrugging his shoulders making no real attempt to find out why. There was no jerry can of petrol on board and the kill cord was also broken, both issues were fixed on day 2.
6. The Boat had been poorly cleaned prior to being handed over to us, including some of the previous occupants hair still remaining under the swim ladder hatch and in the shower tray. Covid 19 cleaning procedure should be better than this.

I do understand that it has been difficult year and companies are under a lot of pressure because of the Pandemic however there were just too many...

I'd have given no stars if I could. We were outraged by how badly we were treated on our flotilla.

We were made sick by a unconnected fuel pipe leaking diesel into the bilge. We had to complain repeatedly to get them to take us seriously and when an engineer was finally called he was mortified when he discovered the disconnected pipe and the level of diesel fumes we had been exposed to as a result.

The lead crew remained was unsympathetic, despite acknowledging the boat was leaking diesel into the bilge and creating a sickening level of fumes and was rude to us throughout the rest of the trip.

Fumes, and delays while the engine was stripped down and repaired, meant the first two days were intolerable and we lost the first day's sailing (and you only get 6). No compensation was offered, not even a free coffee while we waiting 6 hours in port for the engine work to be completed and after barely any sleep due to fume exposure.

This wasn't the normal level of diesel smell you always get with boats, this was symptoms provoking levels i.e. intolerable smell, headaches, feeling sick, etc. No alternative accommodation or replacement boat was offered, despite the issue. If we hadn't persisted in our complaints for them to find the problem they would have let us leave port will a disconnected fuel pipe, quite apart from the fumes I wonder about the safety issues of this.

On taking it up with head office on our return they admitted the crew hadn't handled it well, but offered no compensation. When I said I felt this was unsatisfactory given the impairment to our holiday and the surly way we were treated all week (no doubt because we dared we complain that we were being made sick and insist something be done about it!!!!) they would come back to me.... They never did....

We've done about 20 flotillas... this was the worst customer service I've ever had. We are not idiots, we know there are lots of things that can go wrong on yachts, the difference is that with every other company we've sailed if there have been issues they have been sympatheic in their response and dealt with them appropriately. I know the pipe leak was beyond their control, that's not the issue, it that we were basically told we were making a fuss over nothing (despite being proven right) and should take a 'chill pill' (crew words) and spend more time on deck (FYI, there being a thunderstorm all night). We were deeply unhappy with the way in which our concerns were dismissed at and a wholly inadequate and inappropriate response from the crew and head office. We will never travel...

BED BUGS AND TERRIBLE ORGANIZATION We booked our sailing tour to the Cyclades islands in September through an Italian supplier. Not only our holiday was ruined, but the customer service was ridiculous, and we never got reimbursed. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!! DISORGANIZED In short, the Italian website was not aligned with Seafarersailing.co.uk. While we were promised a specific tour, passengers who booked directly through them were told that the tour would include one new island per day, with no guarantee of which one. This already messed up our plans on what to visit… This was the first sign of general disorganization and misalignment with their official vendors. Also, the snorkeling advertised on their site was canceled due to COVID19, with no notice. BED BUGS Me and my wife both had bed bugs bites after our first night on the boat. We were not initially sure, but after our third day, when the number of marks increased, we contacted a doctor. The doctor clearly identified the red, swollen, triangular-shaped bites and strongly advised us to quit the sailing tour. We could easily confirm through previous footage that these bite marks were not present on our body before sailing. We were told that this was impossible because “the crew thoroughly sanitized and cleaned the boat before our arrival for COVID19 issues”. But this does not mean that they killed any bed bug since they hide in seams and wood and require a different treatment (fumigation). We had to thoroughly disinfect EVERYTHING once at home... The crew did not believe us and unprofessionally dismissed our claims, saying they believed this was just an excuse for us to leave the cruise, because we did not like it. Because of this, we really doubt any check was performed. We understand the surprise about the situation, but it is not unheard of that bed bugs can be found on boats with different guests every week. After we reported this to the managing director at seafarer, he also dismissed our claims since in 25 years he had never heard of such problems. However, funnily enough, he also added “Nonetheless, to be 110% sure, they have been instructed to carry out the appropriate remedial actions, just in case.” Even after saying this, they categorically refused to reimburse not even a part of our trip. This all led us to have to reschedule our holiday, pay a whole new set of hotels and lose 2000 euro. We find unacceptable that a company which should value the health and safety of their passengers would put so little effort in such...