Seafarer Cruising & Sailing Holidays Anmeldelser 41

We have just returned from our first ever sailing holiday as a family, where we wanted to arrange sole use of a yacht to start our training journey. We decided to use Seafarer as their initial response was quick, personal, informative and accurate. I had sent our needs to a few companies and Seafarers personal approach was very reassuring. In the run up to the holiday we had a number of questions and alterations to make, all were dealt with quickly and efficiently by Suzie, which again was reassuring. We all had a fantastic successful training week with Keenan, a great instructor, who became part of the family for a week. We loved it so much that we wanted to return for another week this season to complete our Day Skipper training. Due to family commitments we had a single week available to us and once again Suzie has come through. As it is a busy time of year we have not been able to book out exactly the boat we wanted for sole use and training, but we are really confident that the team has done (and will continue to do) all they can to get us close to our goal as possible. We are all looking forward to our next adventure in 7 weeks time and at present wouldn't consider using any other company for our onward sailing journey.

Just back from another sailing holiday with Seafarer. This time we went to the Sporades, to get more wind for sailing. We've done a number of trips to the Ionian in the past and wanted a change.
Seafarer aren't a large company - so you do speak to the same people. This makes you feel as if they care about your holiday. They answer queries quickly and efficiently (and answer the phone with a real person - not an app and a chat bot!)
They do subcontract their boats from elsewhere, and in general - you get what you pay for. A newer boat will have fewer issues, and will cost more. The technical handovers are very comprehensive, and the flotilla crews will try their best to fix most technical issues that arise during your holiday. This time we paid for a new boat (2022) and it was great.

The flotillas are well organised, improve your sailing ability and give great recommendations.

Why do we keep booking with them? Their prices are keen and they give a personal touch.
We love the flotilla holidays for meeting new people with a similar interest, and the joy of having someone else save you space and grab your lines. All you need to do then is give the Skipper a gin and tonic and relax on the back of your boat in the most beautiful harbour and watch the sun go down. Thankyou Seafarer!

I went to the Nikiana Beach Club for a weeks holiday and sailing and had a blast. Staff were really friendly and helpful, a great atmosphere and it was easy to make new friends.....such a great place to spend a week. Boats were always available, fully rigged and ready to go and there were a few new laser dinghies on the fleet too. Food and accommodation was great, staff were very friendly and knowlegable. I enjoyed it so , much, I'm going back in September, and have booked a flotilla holiday too. Thankyou Nikiana team. Oh....and the admin team are great too!!

I have been on several holidays with Seafarer- and have loved all of them. The booking process is easy and personal. The phone is always answered by a human and the team are quick, knowledgeable and responsive.
Nikiana beach club is a small friendly resort. Dinghies, paddle boards, kayaks and windsurfing equipment is included in the price.
The accommodation is typically Greek , each room has a balcony, air conditioning is included. The sea view is absolutely beautiful and although most people don’t send much time in their rooms it’s worth the extra cost!
The Seafarer staff working at the resort are friendly and generally keen to help and give advice.
The bar and restaurant area is clean and the food and drink is basic Greek/ European and of excellent quality. The Greek staff are lovely .
This is a holiday for sporty, active people but you can also relax, sunbathe, shop and try out the lovely food in the various restaurants.
Kayaking across the bay for lunch, yoga on a paddle board, snorkelling and swimming in the sea watching the sun rise are some of my favourite experiences.
The resort is very safety conscious, there are 2 safety boats patrolling the sailing area and the team are keen to advise and assist if needed.

Just returned from a flotilla holiday along the Saronic coast. A great holiday despite the lack of wind. The lead skipper Marcus and Jess could not have been more helpful. Nothing was too much trouble and they were always available to help when help was needed! Lovely venues spied out for morning briefings and evening meals. Thank you!

Appalling.

The yacht is in dreadful condition. Anchor not working properly, deck littered with screws and bolts. Bow thrusters not working,ropes unfit for use. One cabin can not be used due to leaking diesel can and smell. Dinghy punctured and fenders flat. Bimini broken and unusable To top it all no water in tanks

Simply dreadful

While Seafarer may be a little cheaper than some you don't even get what you pay for. We spent a week in Greece without a working fridge. It didn't work when we got on the boat but was "repaired" in the morning when we were at the day 1 briefing. It didn't work for most of the rest of the week. We spoiled lots of food, missed out on beach BBQ's, and spent a fortune off the boat getting cold drinks in restaurants. The flotilla engineer took 3 days to come on the boat and got the fridge working for 5 hrs. When we got back to base the boat owner's people said the fridge control on the master board had been jerry-rigged as it was broken and that we should have been told that at outset. Seafarers MD has refused compensation only offering a discount a 10% discount on another holiday. Other boats on the flotilla had dead batteries and none functioning depth gauges. According to Seafarer no faults were logged on the trip despite that WhatsApp group chat reporting them all. Avoid them like the plague.

Fifth year running. They must be doing something right. They do a lot right and that's why we keep coming back. There were (as usual) a lot of repeat customers. It was another fantastic two weeks of sun, sailing (lots of dinghies for all abilities with a great sailing area) and relaxation. Staff are all brilliant. Room cleaning was a bit sporadic. Kit is becoming a bit tired and would benefit from more investment. Great holiday.

WARNING! Do not book a flotilla holiday with Seafarer sailing. Seafarer subcontract their flotilla holidays in Greece to third parties without transparency. We are currently stranded in a port in Greece with a broken engine on our yacht. The local supplier (Sail Aegean) is a sub contractor of Seafarer and has failed to send an engineer to fix our engine. No response when we or the lead crew try to contact them. Seafarer deny that it is their responsibility despite our contract being with them. A holiday ruined. A claim in the pipeline. Would advise not to book with seafarer sailing.

Very disappointed with Seafarer this week, whom we have used for half a dozen times in the past. We are on their Sporades Flotilla trip with friends. Who came on our recommendation. Never again.

I could not find Mr Neilson’s email address, so putting it out on Tripadvisor.

Avoid this company.

I can’t sleep, as on our second night we are berthed below a disco in Patitiri on Alonnisos. It is 24:00 and we are tired relative beginners who have sailed 35 nm into a headwind earlier today. I believe we were the only yacht that sailed the route. We were told it was 18nm. No time for lunch.

When we arrived we received a nice text from the hostess. Only she forgot to inform us that we should not walk c1km in 35degree heat to the Seafarer jetty as per the Seafarer website, as that was used last year and nobody at Seafarer had bothered to change the photo. I responded with two text and two telephone calls, but the incoming call number has not the hostesses actual number. We then had to walk the c1km back.

The Sun Odyssey 519 is in a sorry state. Bits don’t work. Seafarer/ Agean Sailing can’t count to 7. Barometer read 970 when we arrived. Scratched plastic cups, tools that don’t work, no inflatable life jackets, stays that don’t close, and boat has a tired feel. Complain to the land team who leased yacht and was told that it was a Seafarer problem. Seafarer tells me it was an Agean Sailing problem.

Obviously have photographic evidence.

Tonight the thirty odd clients from ten boats went to a local restaurant where it took 90 minutes to get our main meal. It was actually very nice, but service was terrible. Just to get the staff two free meals?

I won’t be using such a useless company again. Sadly I still have 5 days to go. What else could possibly go wrong?

I have had excellent experiences with Seafarer but also a disappointing one. Firstly, the office has always been helpful and responsive. I have sailed from Croatia and the Ionian Islands. This year I wanted to sail the Cyclades to visit the famous islands such as Naxos and Santorini. The trip started poorly as the yacht could not reach my pick up in Mykonos. I had to ferry to Syros and lost a day’s sailing. I could accept that this was due to adverse winds although the information was provided very late on the morning of my flight to Mykonos.
My problem was that the skipper made it clear that he had no intention of sailing the planned route. He said he had a summer to fill in and sailing the same route would be boring for him. He wanted to explore other places. He ‘sold’ this to the other clients as an opportunity to explore isolated bays and go snorkelling.
The other clients – all French speaking which I had not expected although they were delightful and accommodated my English language – had not sailed before and felt obliged to go along with the skipper’s suggestions. One lady did express her frustration but was overruled. As a result, I did not see any of the islands that I had booked to see.
Seafarer claims their web site states that routes are subject to weather, which I understand. In my case, this was not the reason for the total abandonment of the itinerary. If seeing specific islands matters to you, make sure before you commit that Seafarer understands and makes a commitment in that regard.

Extremely happy with our Searfarer experience. There was a problem with our outbound flight due to an unfortunate cancellation. Seafarer stepped in and sorted new flights for us meaning we had a much shorter delay than if we had left it to the airline. Then our luggage was lost! Again, Seafarer took all that stress away and resolved this on our behalf so we could get on and enjoy our yacht in the beautiful Saronic Gulf. Great team at Korfos, attentive service in Greece and London and a lovely well equipped yacht. Will definitely book again!

We recently stayed at Nikiana beach resort and had a fantastic holiday. We have had a number of holidays with other companies of this type and found this holiday to be by far and away the best. All the staff both English and Greek were very helpful, knowledgeable and attentive throughout our stay. The accommodation whilst basic which is what we expected was clean and well presented. The sailing equipment was well maintained and there was plenty of it. During our stay, at no time did we struggle for equipment to use. We had a fabulous stay, would thoroughly recommend it and are hoping to get back again later in the season. Thank you to all the staff at Seafarer.

Seafarer give great service, staff is very helpful.

I enrolled with Seafarer for my RYA day skipper course in Croatia. The company was organised in confirming by booking and sending detailed joining instructions of where I could find our boat at Zaton Marina, Sibenik as well as useful contacts and information.

What I really like about Seafarer is that they ensure that tuition boats are not over crowed and they mix the type of students; we had 2 competent crew students and 2 RYA day skipper students and the instructor on our boat so we all got nearly personal training and ample time to practice our skills.

I also enjoyed that there are no hidden or extra costs. All marina mooring fees, breakfast and lunch and the cleaning of the boat were included in the price.

During our course, a good breakfast was provided and a light lunch each day plus one dinner for the night sail. In the evenings we ate ashore, normally at the restaurants at town quays (a bonus of taking your course at the very beginning of the season – normally you cannot find mooring space at the old town quays.)

An added bonus enrolling in the course at the very beginning of the season was we also had the very experienced Chief Instructor, Oliver Korolija as our trainer who has thousands of hours at sea and a great teacher.

I thoroughly recommend Seafarer Training in Croatian Islands to anyone who wishes to take their RYA day skipper course.

We have done skipper course this summer as a family with Saefarer in Greece.
It wasn’t our first time with company, year before we had amazing time in Nikiana Beach club, so we knew that we are in good hands.
It was a great holiday intense but with beautiful scenery, and new adventures every day.
Everything was very well organised, explained and taken care of. Boat was in used condition however Lissie, our skipper was fully aware what may course problems and it was sorted before we even realise any possible disasters could happen. Training was excellent , all our weak points had been addressed and all questions no matter how silly answered excessively. She had great connection with kids too, they learned a lot. The most important, it was really practical, a lot of hands on training starting with knots, planning the passage and finishing on serious emergency situations.

I recently had a flotilla in Kos, the yacht provided by Dream Yacht Charters was quite frankly shocking, in response I completed a review regarding them where upon they informed me they had been consulting with our brokers “ Seafarer “ regarding compensation I took this up with seafarer who initially responded but have since after 4 weeks failed to answer emails. I would avoid this company and dream yacht charter like the plague.

As yacht owners and experienced charterers this was by far the worst experience we have had. The staff were unfriendly and unhelpful, the yacht was not ready until 3 hours after the time agreed. The mainsail was not fit for purpose and only one of 2 winch handles worked. Below deck insufficient linen, cutlery, crockery & kitchen equipment were supplied until we insisted they brought more. Some of the crockery was chipped or cracked. We were not provided with an inventory. Also the bathrooms ('heads') had not been properly cleaned. We had to insist on being shown the operation of the holding tanks as the representative said 'we don't use them in Greece'( which we knew was untrue and illegal). On returning the yacht, the staff alleged that we had damaged the rudder which we had not. They admitted it had been damaged previously and temporarily repaired (underwater). That repair had obviously failed so one can only assume that in order to ensure that we could not claim compensation for the poor experience, they tried to blame us for the damage but produced no photos to show the condition before we took the yacht. The whole experience affected our enjoyment of the holiday but Seafarer were not interested and offered no apology.

For the second year in a row I have just spent a week at the Nikiana Beach Club and a week on a flotilla with my family. The staff at Nikiana was great (nice to see most of the same crowd from last year!) and the kids clubs really kept the children busy and happy through the week. Nice to have the option of basic dinghies for the children and more advanced ones for us. The rooms are basic but we don't spend much time there anyway and perhaps one thing to improve, on this new world of remote working, is the wi-fi, as the mobile signal is quite weak in the area. Moving to the second week, the flotilla leaders were very helpful and friendly. Niels and Kat went at great lengths to ensure everyone was safe and had fun, including getting the right weather window for us to sail to the unique town of Assos. The boat had a few minor issues but nothing that compromised safety. Despite all the additional issues with covid testing, etc..once you learn the ropes, it is definitely considering to go to Greece (specially how crowded and expensive the UK holiday became). We are already planning a repeat for next year!

Had the worst experience with Seafarers. Very unprofessional and rude. Many things were not in order with the boat and problems continued occurring throughout our vacation. For example the wiring for the remote control of our anchor was illegally made and very dangerous. There wasn’t even lifejackets enough on the boat. We had to go though everything before leaving port, where things kept on not being in order and missing.. These was just one out of many problems - very disappointing... Generally we used a lot of our holiday on dealing with seafarers. I wouldn’t recommend Seafarers to anybody and we have sailed with many companies and this was by far the worst experience..