Great holiday, more preparation and it would have been perfect
This was our first time on a catamaran holiday, but probably 30th time in Corfu. We had in mind just to use the catamaran as a floating hotel round Corfu, but Yiannis, the skipper, managed to persuade us down to Parga and Sivota in mainland Greece, and Antipaxos and Paxos, with the last 3 days in Corfu. Overall, It was a brilliant holiday, Yiannis was a great skipper and the boat had masses of day space. I didn't enjoy the cramped cabins, but I guess that's just boaty life, and I'm not used to it! I hadn't realised that cabins 3 and 4 had only handheld floor showers which meant that effectively 4 of us had to share the one shower in our cabin.
I loved it, and would definitely go again, but there are definitely a few things which would have improved it enormously:
- more discussion beforehand with the local operator as to what we wanted from the trip. Yiannis wasn't impressed with our plan, and we were determined to stick to it, so it took a couple of days before we all got on - I think discussing it beforehand with a local expert and briefing the skipper would be essential
- we hired a Stand Up Paddle Board at the cost of 120 euros for the week. It was poor quality and not sufficiently blown up. Maybe because we asked for one last minute and all the better ones were already gone.
- check your accom as the skipper needs access to a loo and shower, I hadn't realised his tiny little cabin had no facilities and he had to use ours which I found intrusive. Obviously on the plan of the catamaran it didn't show facilities for him, but it just hadn't occurred to us
- However much bottled water you think you will need, buy twice as much! Same goes for loo paper and don't forget bin liners to put the loo paper in. I think a starter pack of these items would have been good - we got on board and there was nothing! Well, a bottle of wine and olive oil which was v nice, but not much help when you need the loo straight away after your journey!
These are suggestions for improvement really - more pre-prep discussions with charter company and a basic welcome pack for basic needs , plus ensuring all the comfort items such as loo and aircon are working properly.
I would definitely go again, but would save to upgrade to a bigger cabin and something where the skipper could have his own facilities.