Croatia Yachting Arvostelua 

AVOID THIS COMPANY!

We took a Hanse “Hotstuff” for a week. We spent a fortune on this boat and expected total luxury.

Before we even left we had to get the cleaners back because the sheet in one of the cabins was wet and had a big stain on it. They changed the sheet but didn’t tell us it was actually the mattress which was wet. We found the reason for the wet mattress was that one of the hatches didn’t latch properly so leaked into the cabin every time we washed the cockpit down.

Dreadful smell in one of the bathrooms from day one which meant it was virtually unusable.

The bottom draw in the kitchen doesn’t latch so swings open when sailing.
Boat advertised with a dishwasher. There is no dishwasher!
The coffee machine doesn’t work. (We were told they would have brought us one but we were miles away when we discovered it and didn’t want to hang around for a day waiting for them)
The hob coffee machine was full of the last people’s coffee when I opened it.
The freezer leaks rusty water
Autopilot came off 3 times. Just turned itself off
Instruments showing false wind readings. TWS.
Sensor in water tank showed it was empty so went to shore and it was full.

To top it off we were charged for a damaged rudder which we don’t believe we did. I wish I had read the reviews before we hired as I see 2 others have been charged for the same thing. No before photos for us, only after photos. We were told they wouldn’t refund the whole deposit and we would have to take it up with head office. I do not fancy our chances with them!

The Yacht was brand new very clean but the best thing was the service inside the Yacht
Marieta was at our disposal anytime we needed something, always the table was very chic and well dressed, the food was fresh well cooked and good quality.
The skipper Romano was also so nice with kids, following the weather conditions and exploring the best spots.

EXCEPT and I think it’s the yacht company rules, the fact that the trip ended the Friday at 17h00 at the marina was very disappointing!!!! You have to review this rule because we paid the last night outside the marina according to the agent who sold the Yacht trip.

Worst charter experience ever – avoid at all costs!

We chartered a Bali 4.1 catamaran with Croatia Yachting expecting a premium holiday for our family. What we got was a nightmare. The skipper’s cabin was unusable, forcing him to sleep in the salon—invading our privacy and waking our kids every night to use their WC. The boat was in horrible condition: broken freezer, foul-smelling toilets, damaged furniture, and a dangerous auxiliary boat engine that stalled every 5 minutes. Everything was misrepresented. We paid thousands for what was sold as luxury and got misery. They were warned before departure and did nothing. Stay far away from this company.

We chartered 5.8 Bali with Skipper Romano and Host Marieta . The Bali 5.8 was a great living space for 3 couples, it can accommodate 10 but having the extra space and rooms was great . Romano is a great experienced skipper , Marieta’s catering and service was first class . The whole week was fantastic, with new harbours and bays every day to experience and explore.

The whole team was very helpful and friendly.
Check in and check out were hassle free.
The boat was in very good shape, a Bali 4.5.
Small technical issues were handled with the help of the technician via WhatsApp.

From check in to checkout it was an amazing experience. Thank you.

Stay away from this yacht charter company!!!
We were charged with damage to our propeller (Bali Catspace) (600 euros), which we never caused. According to the diving company - which made a check - everything was fine beforehand (no photos of proof, just a "report"), but according to the after-image, we were accused of having touched something hard, which caused the damage (which we didn‘t).
The operator's reaction to our outrage was beyond arrogant and unprofessional.

The yacht additionally had some defects when we got it:

1) something was missing from the sails, so we were never able to set them. After we called the technician, he first said we had lost it (so our fault again) and then that we could buy the missing part ourselves (??).
2) One cabin was also leaking: rain was pouring in on our electronical devices and books and on the bed. When we came our bedaheet had already bron stains on it from it…
3) a toilet stopped working after just one day (and no: we didn’t threw toiletpaper in it)
4) one cabin smelled disgustingly and indefinably for the entire week.
5) for one whole day we didn‘t have water, because they didn‘t tell us that we have to switch the tanks already at 20 %.
6) they started with the checkout without waiting for the skipper even if we said they should wait.

All in all, a nice vacation for our group, with a terrible ending.

Croaria Yachting Charter should be ashamed of their behaviour. They will defenitly hear from our inscurance and/or lawyer!

All was done fine and in time, as ordered.
Also handling of issues / request response during our week was fine.

We had an amazing experience sailing in Croatia on our Bali 4.6 catamaran Charter with Croatia Yachting.
We went to islands of Brač, Hvar, Šolta and Vis and had an week to remember.
Support by Croatia Yachting was great from start till finish.
Our booking agent Martina really explained everything we needed to do in detail and I thank her for this.

I have rented yachts in Croatia, Greece and Turkey since 1997. I consider myself being a very experienced sailor and I am aware of and can accept that things on a yacht sometimes can break. But I the case with a yacht rental (Hanse 388 called Brukus) from Croatia Yachting base Biograd, my view is that Croatia Yachting fail to pay attention to proper maintenance, care and repairing broken items which ruined a large part of mine and my wife’s vacation!

We checked-in July 13 2024 for a two week night rental of a Hanse 388 sailing yacht "Brukus". Technicians informed that stove in the galley was partly broken and a window hatch was broken. Unfortunately we were not informed about the consequences to come concerning the stove.

Throughout the rental period we had daily, constantly new flaws coming up, destroying our vacation.

a) Main batteries broken! They went flat on third day and were replaced after we had to wait 8 hours which spoiled the planning totally that day.

b) Broken cover in the galley got worse. It took two people to cook, one doing the cooking and the other keeping the stove horisontal otherwise the pots slide down towards the wall and the fire misses the pots.

c)Twisted and loose guardrail in stern, one of them came off totally after one week

d) Sprayhood and Bimini awfully dirty!

e) Some bedlinens torn apart.

f) The yacht wasn’t cleaned outside when we got it. We spent one hour the second day to clean it ourselves.

g) Broken and rusty details of the three guardrails in the stern. I spent two hour trying to fix the flaws.

h) Shower drain clogged, I had to rinse the drain myself to get a decent functionality.

i) Drain in one of the sinks were filled with mold.

j) Fuel gauge malfunctioned, showed 100% full constantly. Apparently the tank was only half full when we got the yacht.

k) Hydraulic cylinder to platform in the stern not working. This hydraulic item is supposed to prevent the very heavy platform in the stern to crash down. We were forced to use gloves and be two people lowering and raising the platform throughout the whole renting.

l) Fridge couldn’t be closed properly the last four days due to that a gasket was coming off. This caused increased battery usage, ice-build up in fridge and our food wasn’t cold anymore.

We explained and showed all of the flaws to the staff in Biograd. The only thing they said was ”No one else have complained!”

Never ever Croatia Yachting again!!

2500€ Extra costs.
We asked boataround for a Gennaker and received the message that a Gennaker was 270€ and the caution 750€.

The caution for the boat was set to 2500€.
Two separate cautions were taken, one for 2500€ and one for 750€.

We had an incident (we were not given way and had to maneuver to avoid collision) that led to the loss of the Gennaker, the boat was not damaged.

The charter company took both deposits of 2500€ and 750€ = 3250€ instead of the 750€ that was communicated to us from boataround.

Croatia Yachting customer service reported that this was customary and we should have know this, even
this is not mentioned on the boat page!

Boataround customer service repeatedly promised a solution, but after a month of communication, they show us an inquiry for a new gennaker that is 7300€ and want to close the case.

This is absurd as the total loss of the boat, which is +300.000€ results in the loss of a 2500€ caution.

We were in no way informed that the loss of a gennaker would result in a 3250€ cost, if so, we would never have taken that risk!

We still hope they come up with a solution,
If so, we will update this review.

We advise against Croatia Yachting and suggest chartering a boat with a company that offers insurance for the caution.

Date of experience: 08 October 2022

Be aware that if you can have a bad sailing experience!

Our vacation was not up to expectations and at after two days half the crew left the ship!!

-Diesel smell in the right back cabin
-smelled like old fish/urine in the kitchen/left cabine
-The batteri got worse day by day and we could not use the refrigarator at night or the electrical anchor at all.
-the sails where very old and worne and the boat sailed very slowly
-the manual lock to the stearing weel did not work which they tried to fix with no success
-the regulator to the refrigarator did not work and we needed to adjust the fridge with manual tools which worked but not optimal

Spending EUR4500 for a week with a ship in a poor condition is not satisfactory. After complaining to Croatia Yachting they accepted responsibility and offered a refund of EUR200 on the next charter (which will never happen).