4 Days/ 3 Nights on the 80ft Presidential Yacht leaving from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Cost $3,900.00 plus tip 15-20% (we did 20% per couple), no points are needed. Its all done with $. Trip was Nov 23-26, 2019 Cost is for rental of entire yacht. You can take up to 6 people for this price, price is the same if you only take 2 guest. We took 3 couples and split the cost 3 ways. ($1,300.00/couple plus $260 per couple for tip). There is a master bedroom with large bathroom with queen bed, a guest room with bathroom and queen bed and a guest room with a bathroom and twin beds (not able to put together). To book your vacation with Grand Yacht Club. Log-in to your Bluegreen account. Go to Travels Plus Tab, then choose Outdoor Travel Experiences, then Grand Yacht Club. Call the Bluegreen Number the site lists and let them know you are interested. They will get it all set up and then Grand Yacht Club team will contact you and take it from there. They are more than happy to answer any and all questions you have. Breakfast and Lunch were provided and set out each day. Bottled Water is provided. Dinners are out. You are welcome to bring your own snacks or give the first mate a list of grocery items you will need prior to check-in. You can bring your own alcohol. Breakfast- 3 continental style breakfast- examples: sausage and egg sandwiches, gourmet donuts, yogurt, fruit, OJ, Coffee and oatmeal. Lunch-2 continental style lunches- examples: pulled pork sliders, shrimp po boy sandwiches, shrimp cocktail, chips, fruit, or sub sandwiches with the fixings. Dinners- Dinners each night were off the yacht, you will be docked and able to go to a local restaurant. The crew had many great suggestions and helped greatly with finding where to go. The crew then uses the time you are away to clean up the yacht. This was a great time to enjoy the local area. Included in the cost were activities such as snorkeling, fishing, jet skiing, sightseeing, kayaking, etc… If you are on 3 night trip they suggest you pick 2-3 activates that interest you and let your crew know. This will help them plan accordingly since different activities are done in different areas. All equipment is supplied by the yacht. Motion sickness was not a problem for us. I am usually easily effected by this and took Bonine. I had no trouble at all. Seas were calm and weather was wonderful (75-80 degrees). While moving on the yacht it was a little cool but we had sweatshirts and they provided blankets so it was very enjoyable. Of course, rougher seas could have changed seasickness, so we were grateful for smooth sailing. We booked in May 2019 to sail in November 2019. We sailed the Saturday- Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving. The staff at Grand Yacht club answered all our questions (and there were a lot of questions, LOL) and even texted me pictures of our yacht and said I could text them with any questions I had. Then Leo, the first mate, took over and texted me many times the two days prior to boarding through our time on the yacht making sure we had all we needed. They were very attentive to all our needs and had thought of everything. Day 1: We arrived at the yacht at the 4pm check-in time. Our first mate Leo (who was awesome) had been texting with me since the day prior to ensure he had picked up everything we needed and was ready for us. He was able to get us wristbands for the beautiful Diplomat Hotel for the day of check-in since we were in the area early that day. He also, picked up a special dessert for us since we were celebrating a couple birthdays. He then let me know when our yacht was ready and met us upon arrival. He helped us get settled and then gave us a list of local restaurants to try for dinner. We chose The Tipsy Boar and it was delicious with a great beer selection. We decided to Uber to the restaurant since parking in the area is so expensive even though one couple had a car. That night we returned to the yacht and enjoyed an evening docked. We watch yachts come and go and even a wedding that was taking place close by. The movement was minimal since we were docked which was nice. Day 2: We set sail around 10am. Captain Dave joined us and gave us a brief sightseeing tour as we left Ft. Lauderdale and headed out to the ocean. We did some trolling (fishing) as we sailed down to the keys. Seeing many beautiful views of Miami and Stiltsville along the way. Since a short rain shower popped up we took a short tour of the beautiful homes along the water in the area. We arrived in Key Biscayne around 4:30pm. We tied off in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park and took a short stroll to the Cape Florida Lighthouse and watched a gorgeous sunset. We then had a delicious cuban inspired dinner at Boaters Grill overlooking No Name Harbor. Boaters Grill would have even cooked the tuna we had caught earlier in the day even though we decided against this. If you like coffee I would highly suggest the Colada. That evening we stayed tied inside No name harbor which was nice because again there was minimal movement of the yacht. Day 3: We left No Name Harbor behind to head out into the open water to jet ski. After, some time jet skiing in the smooth water we climbed aboard the dinghy to head out to the sandbar. We were able to wade around and search for shells and sand dollars. Then we headed out to the reef for snorkeling. This was probably the roughest part of the trip. The open water tossed us about a good bit but it was well worth it! The reef, which included a shipwreck, was beautiful with many gorgeous fish, my husband even spotted a small shark. The crew also rolled out a large floating mat for us to hang out on and drove the dinghy around near by in case anyone needed assistance while in the water. We wrapped up snorkeling and headed back toward Ft. Lauderdale trolling as we went. All in all we caught a tuna, a yellow jack and 2 Spanish mackerel. Watching another beautiful sunset as we neared the dock where we had docked the first night. We again ate dinner in the area and spent one more night enjoying the yacht and playing cards in the comfortable living area. Day 4: We awoke to more delicious food and coffee and prepared to say goodbye. We were sad to leave and are already planning to go back. We checked out and called an Uber to take us back to the airport at 10am.
2 Comments
Anna Morales
11/30/2019 08:34:26 pm
We have been really interested in this Yacht adventure. Unfortunately, my husband had a stroke and now is wheelchair dependent. I really hope someday to make this trip.
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Charles
11/30/2019 10:20:49 pm
They told us it was 300 per person per night with our yatch club membership
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Vanessa MillerWe are a family that loves to travel. Any chance we get we are off on an adventure. We want to remember and share them all here with you! We hope that our adventures inspire you to have your own with your family and friends. Archives
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