Sunsail: USA Reviews 4

We chartered the catamaran "Blue Tiger" in the BVI in May 2025 through Sunsail, and sadly, it was a huge letdown. Despite Sunsail's claims of maintaining their fleet to the highest standards, our experience was anything but that.

Here’s a rundown of the issues we faced:

Air Conditioning Trouble – The air conditioning only worked on half of the boat, even after a technician came out to "fix" it. Needless to say, that wasn’t quite the comfort we were expecting on a tropical vacation.

Foul Bathroom Smell – The bathroom reeked of a nasty odor. We raised the issue with Sunsail before we even left the dock, and they sent someone over. His solution? A deodorizer to dump in the toilet and a shrug – "the best I can do." Needless to say, the smell didn’t go away.

Dinghy Motor Failure – One night, the dinghy motor quit entirely, leaving our Captain to paddle back to the boat. A technician came to "fix" it, but it barely worked for the rest of the trip. Not exactly the reliable support you want when you're traveling on the ocean.

Steering Problems – The Blue Tiger had major steering issues. Our Captain could either motor or sail, but not both at the same time. The usual 2-hour trip from the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda to Anegada took us a grueling 3.5 hours. Sunsail? They didn’t seem to care.

Dirty and Moldy Conditions – Showers were moldy, and the food compartments were downright dirty. Definitely not the clean, well-maintained vessel we were promised.

We’ve been trying to address these issues with Sunsail, both before and after our trip, but getting any response has been an exercise in frustration. They never pick up the phone, and all we’ve gotten are form-letter responses to our emails. Their solution? A 10% discount on a future trip. Really? Why would we ever consider booking with them again after such a disastrous experience?

What’s even more frustrating is that other charter companies offer bigger discounts for the same trip and provide far better customer service.

Bottom line: Sunsail and their sister company, The Moorings, are off our list. Save yourself the headache and book with someone who actually cares about their customers and the quality of their fleet.

Date of experience: May 20, 2025

We had a wonderful bareboat cruise in Greece recently (May 2025). But this was in spite of chartering with Sunsail. Their staff at Corfu are great, until you get to management. At they level, they need major customer service training (see below). The boat (A Beneteau 46.1, which Sunsail called a Sunsail 46.3) had about ten things that didn’t work. Jib Furler was not set up properly, one of primary winches could not be used manually, one shower did not drain, generator did not service AC circuit (so no microwave, coffee maker or plugs/sockets), engine raw water pump was leaking and heading toward death, one 4 foot boat hook (inadequate length), Topping Lift not set up properly, only one halyard, no hoist for the heavy engine, and a 20 Kg anchor for a 48 foot boat (should be 30-35 Kg), and on and on and on.
We damaged one rope clutch, which related to the Jib and port primary winch not functioning properly. But they chose to blame that on us, and charge us for it, despite the myriad of other issues with the boat. They claimed that we did not call them about the issues. We did actually call them on day two of the charter about the generator issue. We did not call about the other issues, because at some point you just want to enjoy your vacation, and accept the fact that you have a subpar boat, but you will muddle through, and make do and enjoy your vacation. We did ask that they not charge us for the broken part, and the manager was quite rude, and just kept emphasizing that we had not called them, which was entirely untrue. He even acknowledged that he had answered our call at the beginning of the conversation. It was a bizarre, Alice in Wonderland, experience, with very poor customer service. I am a fairly experienced sailor, with about 15,000 miles logged on various boats, and I own a 43 foot sail boat that we sail regularly.
To us, there were far too many issues. And almost no accountability at all. And nothing remotely approaching an apology. We will use other charter companies, as we have previously.

Date of experience: May 16, 2025

Sailed from the Sunsail base in Marigot, St Martin island in the caribbean.
We had a lovely 404 catamaran which was perfect for our needs, sailing to St Barts, and down to St Kitts & Nevis.
The boat was very clean and in good condition. In Gustavia bay, St Barts, we had an issue with the anchor chain, and Patrick (a local engineer who lived on St Barts) was with us within 2 hours and sorted the problem.
Very friendly service from the Sunsail Marigot base helped make our holiday one to remember.
Highly recommended!

Date of experience: November 04, 2024

I have chartered in BVI several times over the last 10 years, both with Sunsail, and with other charter companies. Most charters, including my first one with SunSail have been great! They have a big operation and handle the volume pretty well.

The problem? Customer service and issue follow-up are just about the worst of ANY company I have ever worked with in any industry. When we anchored the first night, we discovered that our boat had a temporary plumbing repair that resulted in no hot water flow. It took a couple more days to get it fixed, resulting in no hot water for the first half of our charter. Not fun, but these things do happen sometimes.

What has been so frustrating is the complete disregard for anything resembling customer service. I lodged a complaint before we left, and was assured a follow-up that didn't happen. I have since called (which always goes to voicemail) and emailed them at least a dozen times with no response. Getting our broker involved did get me a very polite call back, for which there was no follow-up after many more contact attempts.

Why even have a customer service email or phone number if you won't respond?

My recommendation - find another reputable operator that believes in service after the sail.

Date of experience: February 10, 2024