Sunset Sailing Cruise Aboard Schooner Clearwater-Clearwater Beach

Canceled Trip at 3:39 PM

This was booked for our anniversary and they canceled due to impending weather when there was not a cloud in site. My guess is they did not have enough people registered so they canceled. We used a Lyft to drive us up from Madeira Beach and arrived at Clearwater around 3:30pm. Received the text message 9 minutes later. Paid a Lyft to take us back and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset from our condo. If you dont mind paying Lyft both ways the drive was beautiful just would not have waisted an important night and would have found someone more reliable. Of note, we did watch other boats out sailing and they could have kept us inland but that was not even am option. Then when you request a refund I got directed to a link that was broken and gave me a number to call which no one answered. It states that if you do nothing they will automatically refund your money in 5-7 days so I am choosing that route instead of wasting more time on the phone dealing with trying to get a refund sooner. So keep that in mind as well.

Response from the operator: 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.

via Viator

Awesome evening!

Highly recommend! Capt. Steve and first mate Chris were professional & friendly. Made sure everyone felt safe and comfortable. Schooner was spotless and in great shape. Lovely evening watching the sunset, listening to music and seeing dolphins. Definitely will book again!

via Tripadvisor

Highly recommend!

My husband and I had a wonderful time on the evening sunset cruise - Schooner Clearwater. Captain Steve and Christian were outstanding and made our sail even more enjoyable. They only allow a limited number of passengers which made it very intimate.

via Viator

Schooner Sunset Cruise!

It was a beautiful experience sailing with Captain Tim and first mate Jack. Initially I spotted this classic schooner while on Sand Key Beach during sunset and I told my husband, we had to do this! The weather was perfect although a little choppy at the bay but all was calm once we sailed the gulf. We spotted dolphins along the way, enjoyed the majestic sunset, and relaxed the rest of the time. We appreciated that Jack chilled our Sangria and cheese. Also kudos to first mate Jack since we were his first official group that he would take on first mate responsibilities! He did a fantastic job! He was such a pleasant young man and Captain Tim was just so chill and funny. We highly recommend!

via Tripadvisor

Sooner sailing cruise

Excellent, if you haven't been on sailing yacht this is highly recommended. Had a fantastic time, Jack and the Captain were very entertaining. Will definitely be back.

via Tripadvisor