スクーナークリアウォーター-クリアウォータービーチでのサンセットセーリングクルーズ

Hello Christine, My name is Tim Penna I am the owner of Schooner Clearwater and I was to be your Captain on your scheduled trip this past Tuesday. I fully understand the disappointment that comes with a cancellation, especially when the trip is for a celebration. Unfortunately, you have provided some inaccurate and ill-informed information on a public review. I will clarify for the benefit of those who read reviews to decide if they will sail with us. We are a small family owned and operated business that operates in nature and currently during the end of a very active weather time in Florida called the “rainy” season where strong storms are usually nearby later in the day and the deciding factor is whether they will strengthen/come our way, fall apart, or stay away. At Schooner Clearwater, when deciding whether a trip will or can proceed we consider 2 main factors: Can we do it safely and can we provide an enjoyable experience in line with what we promise and what you are paying for? When you come aboard our Schooner you do not need any knowledge at all of Sailing or boating/seamanship, nor do you need to even consider the local weather patterns and associate risks for a sailing vessel of this caliber – we do that for you and we always err on the side of safety. There is no benefit at all for our team to cancel a trip. When a trip is cancelled nobody here gets paid that day and the company loses money. When making an operational decision we pull from 30+ years of local knowledge operating vessels in the area and personally from my over 30 years of going to sea as a formerly educated Ship Captain all over the world. We use a multitude of the latest weather predicting tools and models. When possible we try to make the call in a timely manner out of respect for our guests’ time. This advanced notice is not always possible and it is a risk for us, as weather conditions and predictions change rapidly for the worse or for the better. On Tuesday, the decision was made to cancel the trip due to nearby dangerous weather including strong storms and dangerous lightning (which can strike over 6 miles from the producing storm) nearby and the consistent predictions that these storms would expand and be in our immediate area during our sailing time, as they had throughout multiple days prior and following Tuesday – during a very active multi-day weather pattern. The forecasts and warnings, accurate or not, are also seen by potential knowledgeable customers on their devices who usually opt for boating on another day, making it difficult to reach our minimum (break-even) booking requirement. The vast majority of the operators in the marina made the difficult decision to close that evening. You were notified, as were the other guests scheduled for that trip, by email initially at 3:15 that afternoon for a 6PM trip with a check in time of 5:15. We then followed up with text notifications and would further follow up with calls for those who did not respond to make sure they got the message. As we suggest, most of our guests take a flexible approach to sailing and take cancellations in stride, understanding that we do not control the weather or the forecasts. We operate in nature, and we are looking out for YOUR safety. There are many operators who will gladly and knowingly take you out in unpleasant and even dangerous conditions for your money, I see it often. We are not one of them. I would much rather spend my time responding to an ill-informed attack like this than apologizing for putting you in an unpleasant or even dangerous situation on your special day. Finally, you purchased your tickets through Viator/Trip Advisor, instead of directly through our website. Viator/Trip Advisor is a reputable third-party re-seller of our tickets. They receive and they hold your money when you book through them. The trip was cancelled through them following all of their appropriate protocols and timing requirements on our end and it is their responsibly to provide a timely refund to you per your agreement with them. Please reach out to their customer support for any issues with a refund. Thank You.

Thank you for taking the time to write a review of our business. We are glad that you and your family went on to have an enjoyable evening on Clearwater Beach and we hope you enjoyed/are enjoying the rest of your vacation. We understand the disappointment that comes when a trip is cancelled but our decisions are not made lightly and are based on being able to provide a Safe and enjoyable experience for our guests in a very dynamic environment on a large Sailing Vessel – the only one of its kind in the area. Unfortunately, much of the information you provided is not accurate so I will take the time to clarify for the sake of customers reading reviews while considering sailing with us. Florida's weather changes rapidly, especially during this time of year (Summer Rainy Season). On this particular day there was unsettled weather and storms in the area most of the day. As we approached our sailing time there were rapidly forming and expanding storms including strong thunderstorms, Several Marine Warnings and Statements from the National Weather Service in the area during the day, and predictions of more of the same. More than half of the operators in the marina actually made the difficult decision to close their operations for the day. The decision was made to cancel (2 hours prior to the trip) our sunset trip based on this and a multitude of factors (including timely notification to passengers). Notifications were then sent out from our booking system. As per protocol Viator was also notified at the time of the cancellation which set in motion additional notifications and options to you, from Viator, based on your preferences at the time of booking. In short, you received numerous timely notifications from multiple sources, despite your initial assertion that you were not notified at all. The trip had several groups booked for that evening, all notified in the same way, and nobody else had an issue. Most rebooked for another time and have since sailed and had a great time. We take absolutely no joy or benefit in cancelling a trip – our small family owned and operated company loses money and the crew does not get paid. Despite this we will always err on the side of Safety and quality of the customer experience to make our decisions. As the owner and the Captain for that day, I would much rather spend my time replying to an attack like this than apologizing for putting you and your family in harm’s way unnecessarily, or worse. Finally, you attack our business, encouraging others not to come, promoting another business, and even attack the boat itself - A modern, custom built 52 foot Steel USCG certified Sailing Vessel– again, a small family owned and operated business who was looking out for the safety of Your family, including a child, having to make difficult business decisions based on a multitude of operational factors for a vessel of this type that you don’t understand or even begin to consider. Absolutely shameful. -Tim Penna Captain/Owner Schooner Clearwater