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Comparing Bare Boating Rental Companies
You'll find links to all bare boat rental companies on our website. Use them to choose your charter company. Look up boat prices, company sizes and how long each has been in business. Ask your friends about their charter experiences. The more you learn, the better you will be able to make an informed decision. Here are some other questions you may want to consider in making your ultimate boating choice.
When Does the Bare Boating Charter Begin and End?
What About Overnighting Before the Charter?
What are the Payment Terms?
Are Credit Cards Accepted?
What's Included in your Bare Boat Rental?
Security Deposits and Damage Insurance
Repeat Customer Discounts
Fleet Discounts
Are There Sailing School Discounts?
Boat Show Discounts
Does it Pay to Order Early?
Last-Minute Bookings
What if I Need to Cancel my Bare Boat?
What If Something Goes Wrong on Charter?
What About Provisioning?
When Does the Boat Rental Begin and End?
How many days does your charter last? Typically, in the Caribbean most charters are for 7 days, beginning and ending on the same day of the week and most companies begin and end at noon. Your chart briefing and boat checkout often takes place earlier in the morning. Some companies may not start your charter until the evening of your first day. Consider adding an extra day to the charter to increase your time on the water.
What About Overnighting Before the Charter?
Most companies start your checkout early in the morning, so you will want to arrive the night before. Does the Bareboat Company offer a sleep-aboard option and if so, what does it cost. If they don't, what will a hotel cost you?
What are the Payment Terms?
Most companies either require 25% initially and the balance 60 to 90 days prior, or 50% initially and the balance 30 to 60 days prior. If your charter's a long way off, the lower initial deposit could be quite appealing.
Are Credit Cards Accepted?
Can you use your credit card for all payments, or just the initial deposit? Which cards are accepted? Credit cards afford a degree of protection that you won't have if you make your charter payments by another means and as a bonus, you may get points, too.
What's Included?
Are airport transfers included or do you pay for them? Is fuel and water included or must you refill the yacht's tanks at the end of your trip? Is there a cleaning charge? If you need to be checked out on the water the day of arrival, is there a charge?
Security Deposits and Damage Insurance
Most yachts offer optional damage insurance and some bareboat companies make coverage mandatory. The cost is generally between $25 and $35 per day. Find out what the deductible is, and whether everything is covered or not as in some cases, the dinghy and motor, worth around $3000, are not covered! Find out what your liability would be if you don't take the insurance, then deduct the cost of the premium you would pay for the insurance from this figure to find out how much extra you'd lose in the case of major damage. Are you willing to risk this?
Repeat Customer Discounts
While this may be your first charter with a particular bare boating company, do they offer you a discount if you charter with them again later on? If one company doesn't and another offers a 10% repeat discount, that's something you might want to consider in making your bareboat decision.
Fleet Discounts
If you and your friends will be chartering several yachts, there is probably a fleet discount, which varies depending on the number of yachts involved. Usually you need to charter at least 3 and sometimes 5 yachts to get it, but in some cases even two yachts chartered simultaneously might get you a small discount.
Are There Sailing School Discounts?
If you are a sailing school graduate, ask if the company offers you a discount. Some of the major companies do!
Boat Show Discounts
Discounts are often offered during boat shows, so if you are planning to charter and a boat show's coming up soon, find out if your bareboat company will be there and if they will be offering a discount.
Does it Pay to Order Early?
By ordering before the fall boat shows you'll usually be able to charter next year at the current year's prices. Around September most companies announce their rates for the coming year and quite often there are substantial price increases.
Last-Minute Bookings
Several companies offer discounts for last-minute bookings, typically within 30 or maybe 45 days of the charter. Discounts can range from 10 to 40% but remember that you'll be chartering the boats that nobody else wanted and you may be paying a lot more for your airfare than if you planned ahead.
What if I Need to Cancel?
What happens if your plans change and you have to cancel your charter? There is almost always a penalty, but it can vary for very little to the entire cost of the charter depending on the company and the time remaining before the start of your trip. If there's any chance that you might have to charter, make sure that you consider this difference from one company to another. Also look into trip cancellation insurance as well.
What If Something Goes Wrong?
Bareboats will almost always have problems. You are renting a complex piece of equipment with hundreds of working parts that exists in a wet, salt-laden environment. A bareboat gets heavy use and is often roughly handled by people who may be marginally qualified to operate it. And, when the boat is returned, the previous charterer may not report problems in fear that his or her security deposit might not be refunded! So the chances are pretty good that something will go wrong. What if it causes more than minor inconvenience? What will the Bareboat Company do about it, and is their policy in writing? Now is the time to find out!
What About Provisioning?
By all means check out the provisioning option offered by the Bareboat Company, but don't choose a company based on provisioning, as there are other options available if you don't like their provisioning service.
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