Certified Yacht Charter Program
You may remember that I wrote a post back in January raising some red flags about a website called eYachtCharter.com. They didn’t take too kindly to my review of their site, including my concerns that they would accept any boat that called itself a “charter yacht” in their paid online listings. In response to my business-like critique of their site, the owners launched a fairly substantial campaign to smear my personal reputation all over the Internet.
Despite these personal attacks against me, I’m an honest and fair journalist, and thus am pleased to report here that the owners of eYachtCharter.com appear to be taking some steps to ensure that the yachts they offer on their website are actually living up to a certain standard of quality. Yesterday, the site sent out a press release announcing the creation of its Luxury Yacht Charter Certification Program–the only such program I’ve ever encountered from an agency not directly involved with managing yachts.
According to the press release, only those charter yachts that meet certain criteria will be listed for charter in the eYachtCharter.com directory. The criteria include having accessible captain’s and crew licensing and certification, appropriate vessel licensing and insurance, charter agent referrals, listing agent contracts, and more.
That sounds a heck of a lot more rigorous than what I was told six months ago when I asked how the yachts on the site were being qualified. The answer from the site’s marketing director back then was, “We have our ways.” It’s nice to see they are now correcting at least one of the problems I suggested were pretty obvious in their business model.
I’m still not crazy about the idea of you, as a charter client, trying to find your own yacht online without the help of a reputable charter broker who gets paid to know what’s going on beyond a yacht’s superbly airbrushed brochure pictures. Further, all the certifications and licensing in the world, in my opinion, are still no substitute for working with a broker who has actually stepped onboard the yacht to make sure everything is as it should be (see our CharterWave Special Report about the sinking of the charter yacht Lady Candida if you need proof of that).
Even still, I congratulate eYachtCharter.com on responding to my criticism and attempting to become a better online resource with this new program.
Now, if only I could get them to become better people and stop smearing me personally all over the Web…
June 12th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Dear Kim,
As a world traveler, i take such offense to your comment about how your not crazy about the idea of individuals taking it upon themselves to find our own charter.
I have traveled the world several times by different means weather it was by a plane, car, cruise ship,my own vessel or train, I take offense that you don´t think i know what I am doing. I am probably double your age, have done all the things you have done and done all things that your going to do in the future.
I lived in many country’s all over the world and can relate to many cultures.
After doing research i found that your home office is located in the garden state, why they call it that i don’t know since its consumed with waste dumps, but thats here nor there. Your office is about 20-30 miles away from the nearest body of water which happens to be the Hudson river, by Jersey City or Hoboken which ever is safest to travel through.
I am trying to figure out where you have the audacity to comment on how people plan their vacations or how informed they are.
I went through a charter agent once, and i found it very strange that the agent did not and would not let me talk with the owner or the captain of vessel in which i was taking my family on for a week. Since I am going to be spending 7 nights and 8 days with people i don´t know and in trust my family’s well being with, not to mention it´s my MONEY being spent, I should have the latitude to talk to these people, don´t you agree?
Well to make a long story short the broker/agent promised me that all my demands would be met and assured me a great and more importantly to me a memorable vacation with my family members one who was being shipped off to Iraq to fight for his country i was sorely surprised that the captain and crew had no idea of my requests and looked at me with a dumbfound look on their face when i asked about the provisions being dietetic since my wife is a diabetic, there was not one item on the vessel which did not contain sugar, have you ever seen a diabetic person have a seizure, its not pretty.
This blog was not to put you down but to show you how powerful words could be.
THIS BLOG WAS POSTED ON JUNE 12, 2008 12:05 PST.
If you’re that journalist you say you are you wont remove this blog you will let others see how in correct you are. By keeping this blog posted will show that you can take your lumps like a professional.
I said my peace
Brian Alden