Something appears terribly wrong at Windjammer Barefoot Cruises. If you can believe the Windjammer Flotilla message board on the 'Jammer Babe web site, the unconventional line with the "world's largest fleet of tall ships" has apparently run into a cash crunch that threatens to sink their operations. A buy-out of the troubled company is reported to have fallen through.
While Windjammer headquarters in Miami remains tight-lipped concerning the situation, members of the Windjammer Flotilla aren't. One message board post over the past weekend reads in part, "A Captain's meeting on the Polynesia just finished. The crew was told, THE DEAL IS OFF. No buyer. The company is completely out of money. They cannot pay the crews and they cannot send them home."
True? It's hard to say. However, one thing is certain... passengers who arrived in Grenada for the Sept 23rd sailing of Yankee Clipper were informed that their cruise was a no-go. The ship is stranded in Trinidad.
Loyal 'Jammers are steadfast in their support of the ships' crews and keep the faith that rum will forever flow and the tall ships will continue to sail. While the company is still accepting reservations--and payments!--we doubt that passengers will be lining up at the rail on very many Windjammer cruises to moon foo-foo ships in the near future.
While we cannot confirm this information, ConsumerAffairs.com documents some recent experiences. It doesn't sound promising. Caveat emptor.
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