charter in Le Marin · Lagoon-Bénéteau Lagoon 620 - 6 + 2 Cab. (2020)

We had an outstanding vacation aboard Dream Baliceaux. It was everything we had hoped it would be, and the Windward Islands lived up to their reputation as one of the finest charter destinations in the world. Our skipper, Lucius, did a great job getting us to the islands we wanted to visit, and was quick to answer any questions we had about our proposed itinerary. His local knowledge, and contacts ashore helped us organize shore activities, and it was clear that he was looking out for us even when we weren't aboard. Our cook/hostess, Alice, was absolutely fantastic. One unresolved issue that we still had as a group when we arrived in Martinique, was how many lunches/dinners we would eat ashore. After our first dinner aboard on Saturday evening, nobody mentioned eating ashore for the rest of the trip. Alice, your meals were amazing! It would have been nice to know before we arrived, that as a "private" charter group, we had significantly more latitude with respect to our sailing itinerary than was apparent from the materials provided by "Dream Yachts" just prior to our departure from the U.S. This mentioned a "skipper's briefing," to be held on Sunday morning, the day after we arrived on board. It turned out that Lucius did his safety briefing immediately after dinner on Saturday, and suggested that we sail overnight to our first destination on Bequia. Several of us may have eaten and drunk less at dinner if we had realized this was an option. We had already indicated in our preference sheet, that we were happy to sail during the night if this allowed us to make better use of the daylight hours, but leaving on Saturday evening was quite a surprise. It actually worked out better than any of the proposals that we had come up with as a group, and gave us at least an extra day in the Grenadines. During the first night sail, it rained very hard for about two hours, and the forward starboard cabin hatch leaked. The skipper thought it was possible that the hatch had not been locked down tight, but as we had no more rain, nor seas over the deck at any time after the first night, we never discovered whether it was a true leak. Baliceaux was due to be out of commission for a month's maintenance after we left the boat, and presumably this issue would be addressed then. The instructions for using the head were explicit and complete. Several of us found the A/C perplexing, and a little more complicated than just selecting a desired temperature. A short instruction guide for the A/C control would have saved us several days before we finally figured it out. Overall, these minor quibbles had no impact on the quality of the vacation. We couldn't have had a better or more amenable crew than Lucius and Alice. How Alice managed to keep a perpetual smile on her face when preparing three meals a day for twelve people, I will never know. The quality and quantity of all her offerings were exceptional. Our whole group concluded that this was one of the best vacations we ever experienced. Thank you Click&Boat, and Dream Yacht Charters.