Windjammer Barefoot Cruises

I bought a timeshare on windjammer. It was basically 5 cruses over a 10 year span. We were able to use 1 of the 5 cruses the they went out of business. We did not even know they were having troubles. Now I have no idea or way of getting my money back. I have lost over $6000.00.

I paid into the Windjammer 'Salt It Away' program for years, to prepay cruises for my husband and myself for our 25th Anniversary. When it was time to look at sailing dates, I learned they were out of business. I lost about $1200.00 in prepayments. I have a lot of 'PAID' receipts.

We also bought a 10-cruse timeshare on the LaMer of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises and only was able to get one cruise before they went out of business. We were out $10,000. Sure, I would like to that back although, would have rather had the cruises.

I booked a cruise and paid for insurance, airfare and a cruise for Costa Rica. The total cost was over $3000. The cruise was canceled three days before it was to sail. I never received a refund from Windjammer or an apology.

My husband (deceased Feb. 28, 2008) and I bought a 10 cruise time share for the ship De Le Mer (Cabin 622, week 6). We never took a cruise against the time share. On August 16, 2009 I requested a refund of the $18,135 that had been spent. A Ms. Sargent said that our request would be honored. Since then I have heard NOTHING. I could not even get in contact with any one concerning probate of my husband's estate (the time share was in both or our names).

Is anyone doing anything about those of us who lost a lot of money? Are there any law suits pending? Can anyone Help? We paid $18,135 for the time share. I am now a widow with fixed income. I had to sell our house and move to a smaller place with a 30 year mortgage in order to afford housing. The return of my money would have helped prevent that.

my wife and myself took our honeymoon on a windjammer cruise in '02, and it was the best trip i have ever taken. in feb. of 04 we recieved a message in the mail, from windjammer, about a special forum they were holding in richmond va. for previous "cruisers", that they thought we might be interested in. well, we said what the hey, lets go and check it out.

well what they were selling was time-shares on a ship that was being refurbished in trinindad called the le-mar. it was 5 cruises in 10 years for x price. that evening, some may have financed, and paid more, but i offered $8000.00 cash for the package, and with some phone calls to, i'm not sure whom, they accepted $8260.00. we took our first of five cruises in '05. again, it was a dream vacation of a life time.

there apparently is no more windjammers, so we are out of four cruises, or 80% of our money. what can we do to recoup either the trips, or the money?

You have received dozens of complaints about Windjammer, including one from my husband and me. We bought a timeshare on LaMer and have not heard one thing. Gary Pollack, Windjammer's lawyer, says that those who purchased timeshares on LaMer will receive their money back. What is the status of this? Is Windjammer still in business? The purchase of a timeshare was a 65th birthday present that has never been realized. We are in our 70's and can use the money. $6500 is too much to lose!

I purchased the time share program on the LeMer for 10 cruises for $9000...I went to book a cruise and all I got were ans. machines...I have not been able to get ans from anyone to find out if I can get any money back. I wanted to give my daughter one of the cruises as a wedding present..So much for that. I am now disabled and the Windjammer Cruise is about the only way I wanted to go on vacation. I had taken 3 cruises in the past and loved them that is why I went for the timeshare. I am so unhappy and wish there was a way to at least get some of my money back. It would help with medications... I know people have lost more money than I have and the decent thing for Windjammer to do if they had any morals would to see that people got some of their money back. In these hard times with our economy we could use what ever could be returned...

Where are the ships??? Did any one go to jail for stealing money?

Never was refunded for 2 sail 5's which is over 5,000 dollars. was never told anything in referrece they were having problems and they were selling the sail 5's, when they knew the problems they were having. It set us back and very upset about the whole thing. I could not contact anyone all numbers disconnected. I do not know how to get my money back. I only make 10 dollars and hour

This was indeed, one of the best vacations I've had in my life! Although I planned my trip solo in 1985, the people and crew were the best. However, I was paired with an older man named John to share a cabin. We sailed from Freeport to Nassau. On Thursday of the trip, John had a massive heart attack on the ship and died. We performed CPR on John for approximately 2.5 hours with no success. The regular captain was in a body cast and we had a substitute captain in command of our ship, the "Fantome". I met wonderful people that I still correspond with to this day. I feel badly about the financial hardships experienced by the Windjammer Barefoot Cruise company. It was a wonderful trip that I will never forget.

Paid for 5 cruises in advance0$2500. took one.

Lost $2000, but Citibank reimbursed me. I hope the others try this method for resolving their losses.

My girlfriend and I booked a cruise aboard the Polynesia in January of 2007 for a February 2007 cruise. (Spur of the moment urging). We had the most wonderful one week vacation we have ever taken! Everything was just as advertised. St. Barts, Anguila, Nevis, Statia, just the best time ever. Tried to book another cruise in Jan. of 2009. Then we found out about the bankruptcy etc. Way too bad about everything. We were very fortunate in our timing.

In late October 2004 I purchased a timeshare on the LaMer with Windjammer. The ship was never completed. I did receive a 3 page letter outlining the re-fittng delays signed by one of the Burkes. However, the letter was a lie. Result: Loss of $15,000.00 I was NEVER once contacted by anyone from Windjammer. And when I called to ask for information I was lied to or sent to voice mail.

Loss of $15,000.00

I lost $500.00 deposit for a Feb.08 cruise. Same stry as the rest.

I contributed $1300.00 to the Salt-It-Away program but never got a cruise.

loss of $1300.00 no cruise

I have sent over $500.00 for something called the salt it away club to prepay for a cruise. Apparently the co. is no longer sailing, and I would like to know how to get that money back.

money loss. No cruise provided.

In October 2003 we purchases a timeshare on the laMer with Windjammer for $7,495.00 plus $225.00 closing costs. This was for five trips for two every other year starting with the year 2005. We were told the ship would be ready to sail in 2004. We took one trip on the Polynesian to the ABC Islands in May of 2005 when we were told the laMer was still under construction. Our next time slot was in 2007. Due to health problems we asked for a deferral until 2009 which was granted. I now find out that Windjammer is no longer and we out the money for the remaining four unused trips.

We have lost approximately %5,300. Besides feeling betrayed we feel anger towards the people running this organization who allowed this to happen. We bought the timeshare with expectations of a sail on a luxury vessel to the Mediterranean or to Tahiti. We had been on Windjammers in the past and were happy mates prior to purchasing the timeshare. All this takes away those good times. What, if anything can we do to recover our loss?

In late August 2004 we purchased a timeshare on the laMer with Windjammer. The boat was supposed to be in the water November 2004. I have heard that it never will be. We are out $15,000+. We used one cruise on the Legacy in 2005.

After I had heard that Windjammer was in trouble, I contacted a lawyer. All he was able to do was to track the escrow company that was used in California to a new address in Pleasanton. They are not answering phones either. I tried to dispute the charges since I used my Visa but Bank of America only allows disputes within 60 days.

I bought a Le Mer $14,500 + $250 closing cost timeshare for cruises along with my brother and friend and we were suppossed to have 10 cruises for 2 people (ie: 10 cabins for 2 on cruises) I used one of my 4, Ronald had 3 and John had 2.

I have lost approx $4,500 of my investment which was not able to be used, Ronald and John both lost approx $4,500 also. Additionally My husband and I were booked on the Nov Windjammer cruise out of Costa Rica which was cancelled - we used one of our Le Mer cabins and had to also pay port charges and taxes of $360/couple plus $50 for fuyel surcharge which we lost, plus the charge of $200 (to reuse) for the two airline tickets we cancelled and had to later pay the fee of $100 each to reschedule and use.

trying to book our time share cruise we paid $17,000 for la mar time share no response from windjammer bare foot cruises

out $17,000, last time we sailed we were incouraged to not use our time share but to purchase 4 discount tickets and SAVE our time share for another time which we did.

Purchased a time share on S/V La Mer that ship in July 2004 sailed once. That ship has never sailed. We did sail on another Windjammer ship, so we used one of our trips, we our out 9 trips I now believe company is out of busniess. What can I do?

WE our out $15000.00

I purchased a La Mer timeshare and have not as of this date heard anything at all. Please help me file a complaint against this fraud. I tried several e-mail that were never answered.

No cruise, no refund, no settlement. I,m out of pocket $7,720.00

Bought a SAIL 5 package in September of 2006, used two, owed three sailings...any legal recourse? any lawsuits to recover owed monies?

appx 1500...

I purchase a timeshare on LA MER in may 23rd 2004. I have 6 cruises that are paid in full and yet to be used. I was not aware of the trouble the company was in.

the economic difficulty having to retrieve thousands of dollars spent. the psychological trauma is that white collar crime is not punished, especially when is knowing [cheating] people of their hard earned money.

My husband and I bought a Le Mer timeshare for $17,000 plus dollars. We were told to book a different boat since LeMer wasn't ready. We experienced the same frustrations as many have described when our cruise from Aruba was canceled. We rebooked onto legacy, paid extra change fees for our airfares, and were one of the last cruises to sail on Legacy. There was definitely a feeling of despair that week as crew had not been paid, services for excursions were compromised or canceled and despite the best efforts of the crew, it was a rather stressful week, with many feeling strong disappointment.

Since I had sailed with WJ in the past, I knew I was getting less than the best out of our cruise. Besides, when we bought in to Le Mer, we were buying with the expectation of sailing on a luxury vessel in the mediterranean. The fact that we settled for much less is small compared to the fact that we still owe on our timeshare and have to pay every month to a credit union in Florida that the WJ company had us finance through. Since we opted to finance (not having that much cash to buy up front) it is now a loan that we are obligated to pay. WJ got the money a long time ago, but we continue to pay and pay.

Mental/emotional stress & anxiety; close to $20,000 for our initial purchase plus the costs of airline change fees and extra hotel expenses. Dreams crushed as we cannot afford to sail on any of the alternative tall ship cruise lines, and the big hotel boats do not appeal to us.

I'm just writing to all of the people who complained about their Windjammer experience. I took my first Windjammer singles cruise in May of 1991 on the Polynesian. The crew and the captain were wonderful. The food was delicious and the decks were polished every morning. It was by far the best vacation I ever had. After I got married I showed pictures of the ship to my husband and told him about my experience. I couldn't wait to back.

I called Windjammer shortly before our trip to ask where our package of information was. They told me it had been sent. It took many calls until I finally asked me to e-mail the information to make sure I had it. (That should have been my first clue that there was a problem). The package that was mailed arrived after I left. When we arrived on the ship in March of 2007, 17 years later, I was in shock. The decks were never scrubbed, probably because the mops couldn't get past all of the grey duct tape that patched the numberous cracks on the decks.

One of the female crew members told us she hadn't washed her hair in 6 months. (no surpise from the looks of it). Some of the crew members would dirty dance in the middle of the lower deck every night. The food was awful and, one morning I got up to take a shower and didn't even have enough water to wash my hair. One of the places I wanted to visit when I returned was the widows net at the end of the ship. You couldn't even get close to it since there was junk piled up in that portion of the ship that wasn't even accessible.

So it was no surprise when I learned just 2 months later that passengers were being left stranded at various locations. What a surprise! I then thanked God that my husband and I weren't with them. I have been searching the net to see if they have filed for bankruptcy and I see nothing.

I like many others purchased a time share with Association de La Mer for 5 cruises over a 10 year span. Luckily we were able to use three of the cruises but since paid the time share off within a year we are out approximately $4000 for two more trips.

$4000 in unrealized and unavailable cruises

Bought timeshare and only used for 2 trips. Made arrangements for trip to Costa Rica and had airfare for Thanksgiving 2007 and the day before we left they cancelled. We went anyway and got to the west coast of Costa Rica and saw the ship. We met some of the crew in one of the resort casinos. Has anyone brought suit? Has anyone started a class action?

We lost a substantial amount based on the fact that only had 2 out 10 cruises and could not get the promised additional 10 cruises for substantiallly less

I purchase $2,500 special buyinh me to 5 trips with 5 years to use. I booked a trip last Dec and it was cancelled. I was assured they were just doing maintenance. I now am ready to book a trip and see they have gone belly up! I would join any lawsuit!

out $2,500 and $150 change fee for airline ticket cancellation

bought a timeshare with Windjammer in Dec 03 for over 13k. 2 cruises have been used. Imagine my surprise when I was trying to book a cruise and there is no way to contact anyone. I see there are a lot of similar complaints, who will begin the lawsuit?

My husband and I booked a cruise with them in 1987, paid for a cabin with a regular bed (the admirals suite) and boarded to discover we were in a cabin with bunkbeds. when we complained, we were told everyone who booked the admirals suite was charged the same fee as us and since no one got it, they didn't owe us anything.

they neglected to tell us there was not even an admirals suite on the ship we were booked on. what a ripoff organization. unpleasant trip in a bunkbed on a second honeymoon...

I and numerous other disappointed consumers of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises and Association De La Mer have made detailed complaints that are posted on your website, yet no one has contacted me or left information on whom we can contact to have our complaints resolved. Isn't ANYONE pursuing a lawsuit against Windjammer or Association De La Mer? Isn't ANYONE collecting names of people who Windjammer owes money?

My husband and I have seven weeks of unused cruises on a timeshare that cost us over $12,000, and we have no idea who to contact. We had hoped that our complaint on Consumer Affairs, as well as the numerous complaints by others, would have resulted in some contact information from Consumer Affairs.

Barbara should consult an attorney.

We purchased a time share on the LaMer and spent $15,000.00 and have not been able to contact them about this. We saw that many others have sent information regarding this and we would like a referal of an Attorney who will pursue this, if it has not already been done

Loss of money and distress trying to find out how to recoup the damages.

We booked a cruise on 11/17/2006 and paid a $500 deposit for a cruise that was to happen on 12/23/07. When final payment was due, (10/24/2007), Windjammer was in the process of cancelling many cruises and promising that some would go on. We requested our $500 back. Windjammer emailed that they would send the money, but never did. How do we go about getting on a creditors list??

$500 lost.

A Timeshare for 5 cruises was paid infull in the amt. of $5,995 in 2006. We used 3 cruises before the collapse of Windjammer. Please tell us what steps to take in order to have the remainderof our investment returned.

#1 No one wants to lose any amt.of $ in this given economy, especially that which was spent in good faith. Surely, Windjammer should have felt the responsibility to their faithful customers to at least make them aware of what was happening to their business.

I have been on 5 windjammer cruises and finally joined the Old Salt Club to save up for a cruise this winter. I had $800 in the club and sent a check in for another $100 and had it returned. I called Windjammer and emailed them. There was no response from either.

I'm out $800.00

I went on a cruise June 2006. Within a month or so of being back home, I recieved an offer for the Sail 5 membership, 5 cruises for $2,500. I purchased the membership, and was planning on using two of hte cruises this fall wiht my sister to pay her back for some finacial help she has provided to me, as well as physical help, since I have become disabled in the past year. My income now is only about $400 a month. I have been dreaming of taking these cruises as much needed breaks, and now am distraught! I could use the money in a huge way!

Loss of $2500, whick now is twice what I am earning in a year!

I have been putting money into the Salt-it-Away Program for years. My friend and I were going to finally get to take a cruise this year. However, when I tried to make a reservation I did not receive a response via email or phone which prompted me to research and find they were going under. They have continued to cash my checks despite their financial troubles.

I have $3000 in the Salt-it-Away program and my friend has $1000. That was all of our vacation money which we weren't able to take. This was supposed to be a savings program. They have obviously abused the trust of their customers. How do we get our money back? Do we have any recourse?

Since purchasing a timeshare with Windjammer in October'04,I have not received a single response to any of my phone calls or e-mails.I would like to know if there are any other individuals with the same concerns as me.I would hope for a total refund,but maybe I am reaching for the stars.

In October '04 I invested $15,000 for a timeshare on a cruiseship that to this day has not sailed.

Windjammer Barefoot Cruises is now out of business. I have a $2250 deposit on a cruise through their Salt-It-Away program. Please advise if there is any recourse or protocol to follow to try and receive some sort of reimbursement. Or even if this could/will be a tax write off for us.

We joined Windjammer Barefoot Cruises Salt-It-Away Savings Book program after our first cruise on Legacy out of St. Thomas USVI/BVI week of Jan 18, 2004. It was a great way to save in advance for our next cruise. We would send a monthly check along with our coupon and account number. We sailed for two weeks on Legacy Jan 16-28, 2005.

We continued to Salt-It-Away by now into our third Savings Book always running a credit balance. We sailed for one week on Legacy Jan 22, 2006. We were told the new location for Legacy was going to be Costa Rica instead of USVI/BVI by Captain John.

We continued to send our monthly payments now into the fourth Savings Book with a savings balance of $3700.00. We were emailed through our CyberSailor Newsletter about Legacy now in Costa Rica so we booked by phone as normal Nov 19, 2007 calling 1-800 and spoke with John. We booked week of Feb 9-16, 2008. Our cost of $1299.00 each total $2598.00 was pre-paid by our Salt-It-Away Savings account leaving a savings balance of $1102.00. The only thing different was John informed us we would have to book and pay for our own airfare and any pre-post hotel nights.

We paid our airfare by credit card and was in the process of researching hotels and land tours when we received an email from Joseph our cruise was cancelled! We were instructed to Fax to request a refund or to rebook. We chose to request a refund and to close our Salt-It-Away Savings account and receive our $3700.00 cash savings refunded in full.

We faxed a second request Feb 16, 2008 to Joey and/or Danny and/or bookkeeper accountant Windjammer Barefoot Cruises. We have not recieved our $3700.00. We called the airlines to cancel our tickets and was charged $100.00 each cancellation fees. We have one year to use the airline tickets. Meanwhile we have emailed Joseph several times to no avail. Today's date is July 13, 2008 and we would like to know what legal action is available to us (if any) with ConsumerAffairs.com Thank you,

Cash savings $3700.00 which took almost two years to save. Airfare cancellation fees of $200.00 which will be charged to us when we rebook our flights. Total $3900.00.

My wife and I both purchased Sail 5 memberships when they first were offered. We tried to register for a cruise in December 2007. We were informed that Windjammer cruises were not sailing at that time. No indication was provided on when cruises schedules would be available.

My wife has recently retired and I am scheduled for retirement in November 2008. We sure woul like to take those 5 cruises or obtain our $5,000 back.

I bought a cruise in November 2006 by Master Card Credit card for my son as a wedding present. I spent $2400 for a $3000 certificate. He has not taken the cruise yet and my latest information is that Windjammer is no longer in business.

I have tried to reach them by phone but the numbers are disconnected. I've tried the website but it is not actively responding. I am afraid we are out $2400 unless there is some recourse to getting this by some means.

I bought 5 cruises for $2500, and as I understand it, the company was already in trouble when they sold me that. Would be nice to get the money back or I'd settle for one cruise! Just add me to the LENGTHY list of unhappy customers!

Purchased Time share for Association de la Mer. This was suppose to allow for me and my wife to sail for 10 weeks over 10 years. After we booked a 2 week cruise in Dec. 2007 on the Legacy and Polynesia ships, we discovered that these cruises were cancelled. At this point we have 4 more weeks of cruises in our time share that have not been allowed by Windjammer.

Having to rearrange our 2007 vacation plans cost us substantially more than we had planned. My greater concern however, is for the $7000 we are still due by Windjammer.

We bought a 5-year timeshare from Windjammer on the SV Le Mer in 2006. Repeated calls as to inquiries go unanswered and there is no information forthcoming from the company. We feel we have been mislead and there seem to be some serious ethical and fraud violations based on the munber of complaints.

We have lost about $9,000 in timeshare value as we cannot even apply it to another of their vessels because they appear to be out of business. Won't some enterprising lawyer consider filing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of defrauded time-share owners of Le Mer?

We seem to have no hope of recovering our hard-earned money.

My wife and I purchased a timeshare on De Le Mer, never took a cruise, never saw the ship. Several calls with Danny Walsh and other employees showed we were getting close to getting our investment back for a ship which never sailed.

After reading of the troubles they were in we hoped we would be one of the few to get are money back. As quickly as they took are money they were gone! We read lawyer's blogs with the promise of a solution but do we EVER see a phone number, address, fax or E-mail to contact. Is there anybody out there?

In March 2004 my husband and I purchased a 10 sail time share for the Le Mer, week 6 cabin 622, for $17,745. We did not take any other cruises against the time share.

My husband passed away this last February and I am in great need for a refund of this money. All I have to live on is my state retirement. I have attempted to contact Windjammer many times, but to no avail.

We booked passage for a Windjammer Barefoot vacation, specifically the Sept. 30, 2007, sailing on the Yankee Clipper in the Grenadines. Hours before our departure from home we received an e-mail message advising us of the sailing's cancellation. We have had no further contact from Windjammer, but were told by one of its sales agents, with whom we initiated contact in October, that we were to receive a refund.

Thus far we have neither heard nor seen anything from the company. We feel fortunate that we actually learned of the cancellation prior to our leaving home, but we are out the cost of the sailing and the airline tickets as well as various miscellaneous expenditures made for a trip anticipated, but never taken, to the Caribbean.

Loss of cost of booking Loss of cost of airline tickets Miscellaneous expenses associated with the trip

In September, 2004, I purchased a timeshare on the LaMer costing me $8,755. Now at age 51, I'm devastated to learn that my vacation investment is worthless. I sailed on Fantome in the 70's and was hooked on Windjammer sailing many more times...one time taking my kids. I learned to scuba at age 40 and had hoped that Windjammer would play a part in my happy retirement.

I'm a single mom with three teenagers, the oldest a freshman in college and I'm ANGRY at the Burke's for stealing my hard-earned cash. I had tried repeatedly to get the status of the LaMer and when it would sail to no avail. No correspondence from Windjammer, the time share company, NO ONE.

My husband and I are two of many Association De La Mer timeshare owners trying to figure out how to get our money back or at least get on a list of creditors who need to be paid. Waiting for La Mer to be built, we used three weeks of our timeshare cruises on Windjammer ships other than the promised La Mer, the last trip in the summer of 2007. We've heard horror stories about the Mandalay being stuck in Colon, Panama and being stripped by vandals.

We used three weeks of our timeshare on Windjammer cruises on ships other than the promised La Mer. We are out approximately $11,0000.

Purchases ticket for a cruise supposively saily 1/5/08 on 8/13/07 in the amount of $1520. Cruise never went, refund never came, no communication can be had from Windjammer since with the exception of a certified letter signed by them.

We are down $1,520. We had to make alternative plans in Costa Rica as soon as we found out they were not going to provide the service we purchases.

I have time share with this cruises line and I think they have gone out of business

In March 07 we made arrangements for a cruise with Windjammer. We paid $700.00 down for a trip to start April 20 2008.

In December 07 we learned that they were not sailing any more. Calls to them were not answered and we would like our money back. We paid with our Discover Card and they will not reimburse our money. Our friends paid with Visa and Visa has credited their account with the money. I would like to get at least some of my money returned.

I have been in the WJ Salt-it Away savings program for several years. They have taken a total of $3,350 of my money.

My Jan & Feb payments were returned to me return to sender, forward unknown. No one answers the phone, there doesn't seem to be any help available for getting my money back.

Apparently, according to internet reports, they were in finanacial trouble... and, yet they still continued to take peoples money, knowing that they weren't going to sail anymore. Any help out there????

Back in 2006 Robert bought Sail 5 and in 2007 Kim bought a Sail 5 also. When we tried to book a cruise we got no response from Windjammer. Soon after that we learned about their financial problems. We have tried emailing and calling them to no avail.

Robert $2,500.00 Kim $2,500.00

I have lost $6255.00

I belong to their Salt-It-Away program, where I send them payments to be used for a future cruise. I have sent them a total of $4,250, and have just recently received several of my payments back by mail 'return to sender'. I have ince found out that they have gone out of business. They do not answer the telephone.

I have now lost $4,250.

My husband and I invested $6000 for a cabin (time-share) on the La Mer for 5 cruises over 10 years. Windjammer returns no phone calls or emails. Other investors were offered alternate cruises on Windjammer vessels, but the cruises never materialized.

We really need our $6000 back.

I booked a cruise with windjammer on Jun 6, 2007 and paid a $500 deposit using my discover card. Windjammer cancelled the cruise and never refunded our deposit. Discover card denied our dispute and we are out $500. Does the Fair Credit Billing Act cover our situation? Services were never performed by Windjammer, therefore should I be liable for the charge?

We purchased an upgraded cabin on the La Mer years ago and a cruise on Yankee Clipper for this March 08. We lost insurance purchase (or did we?) for March cruise and of course the $17k for the 10 cruises on La Mer. Who do we contact for help on this? Should we retain an attorney in Florida>

$17K in lost monies not mention the stress on us, senior citizens who have sailed with Windjammer many many times.

We purchased 5 timeshares on the SV LaMer at a time when the owners of the windjammer Cruise Lines knew they were in financial distress, selling time shares to unsuspecting buyers never intending to provide the cruises. I believe they sold nearly 700 such timeshares at about $8,000.00 USD for a 5 cruise package. I believe that they are still today accepting money for cruises that their customers still believe they will receive. Windjammer has been impossible to contact and it has been impossible to get any law enforcement agency of the federal government or the State of Florida to act on this blatant fraud.

The children of the founder of Windjammer have defrauded their customers out of tens of millions of dollars and nobody in authority or law enforcement is doing squat! The immediate thing should be to obtain from the escrow companies involved a complete listing of those customers defrauded and see what the scale of this fraud is and you will find that it was done on a grand dnd deliberate scale.

Our economic loss was $8,010.00. I believe that there are nearly 700 other individuals that done the same thing.

I purchased a ten cruise timeshare on the la Mer on 15 June, 2005. I was told at the time that the la Mer was still being retrofitted and wouldn't be sailing as a cruise ship until 2005. In 2005, when the vessel should have been ready to sail, I received a four page letter detailing why the vessel wasn't ready on schedule. The letter promised further updates, which never arrived.

Now after paying over $10,250 for now worthless paper, I learn; not from them, that the company is defunct. What are my options? At this point what can be done? Any information would be helpful and greatly appreciated. Thank-you

Luckily, we only lost $412 which is nothing compared to the other people who posted complaints on this web site, We had a $3000 voucher from friends but paid some insurance and other fees to Windjammer.

Other than disappointment in hoping to do something thta seemed to be better than what had already experienced with Winjammer, can say any physical or emotional damage, but economic loss would probably be $5K plus as have no way to determine value of lost 3 sailings.

We purchased 2 cabins in the new Discovery Le Mar. We have been trying for 2 years to reach anyone about this. Do you know who I can contact?

We are out $9,000.00.

In December 2003, I bought a Windjammer timeshare on LaMer for 10 years of cruises. Believing in the organization, I was surprised not to hear any progress reports for a long time. When I finally got a hold of Alice over two years ago, I was told to expect an update soon. I never heard from them again.

My investment of $12,500 appears to be lost at this time.

I purchased the Sail 5 program from WBC in 2005. When I tried to reach them to inquire about taking my first cruise, I was unable to access the WBC website. The 1-800 number was disconnected and the local number in Miami FL had been disconnected.

I paid $2,500 for the SAIL 5 program where I could sail for 5 weeks in a 5 year period. I am out 2,500 dollars.

I have sailed with Windjammer since 1996. I've sailed on ten previous cruises. This cruise was special; it was in the planning for two years. I was celebrating my 45th BD. I book the cruise In Fed. 2007, and three days before I was to leave for Costa Rica to sail on the Legacy I was sent an e-mail saying the cruise was canceled. I purchased air, hotel, cruise and insurance through Windjammer. I'm out $3000.00. Windjammer gave me a really special BD present.

I'm out $3000.00 that I spent with Windjammer Barefoot cruises. I repurchased air and lodging and activities to Costa Rica. I wasn't able to stay where I wanted to or do the activities I wanted to do because of the extremely short cancellation notice. In addition, I need the $3000.00 back asap. It is and has been very stressful; I'm still paying for a trip I never took.

I purchased a cruise to leave January 5, 2008. I sent a deposit of $500 dollars in May of 2007. Unaware of the problems they were having, I sent a check for the remaining balance of the cruise in November of 2007. By this time they were fully aware of the financial difficulty and the likelihood of the cruise ever happening was next to none. Needless to say, the company cashed the check and was never to be heard from again. I became aware of the problem through a little section of their website that I stumbled on in the press release section of the website which was still functioning in December of 2007.

I called the company and at this time they were still answering the phone, and they told me they would have a different boat running and being that I bought this cruise as an anniversary gift for my 20th, and it was to be our first cruise, I decided to switch to the different boat. I didn't know this boat was not going to run either until 2 days before Christmas. Once again, I found this out in the press release section. I immediately called the company and the phones were always busy, after awhile they were all disconnected. I tried the fax number and sent my request for a refund like the press release said, but no response. This company took our money with no intention of providing a cruise or they would have sent some type of documentation long before the first ship wasn't sailing. They not only took our money, they stole it. If I had not been searching the internet, I would have been standing in a foreign country with no where to go. I never did hear from the company in any respect that this cruise could be canceled or when it was canceled. Upon doing research, I have found that this has been happening for a long time and they have been taking money from people and not providing the service. I have contacted the Better Business Bureau, and the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and I really don't think they will respond to any mailings at this point.

I had to find something to do that week since I would lose the airfare. I had to pay to rebook into resorts in Tortola since that was where the boat was to sail from. I had to book a resort in St. Maarten since that is where the boat was to dock and the flight out was there. I had to spend an extra $3600.00 in bookings, and I am out the $3281.00 I paid Windjammer.

In 06 Aug. 1982, I paid $3,500.00 to become a Windjammer Lifetime Shipmate. The contract states that This fee includes cabin accommodations on a 6-day cruise each year, any ship, for the rest of your life (there will be a small fee for pre-cruise Stowaway night and your share of grub & grog, never to exceed $100.00). I have taken only one of these Windjammer Barefoot Lifetime Shipmate cruises. I do not know how many other Windjammer Lifetime Shipmates there are/were ... do you have any idea? I really like Windjammer's original vision of providing affordable vacations and preserving sailing ships. They have straying from this vision and treating their loyal customers very badly. With all the sad news about none of the Windjammer Barefoot Cruises ships sailing at present and their looming bankruptcy, the chances of me receiving any more of these promised cruises is not looking good. IF they do reorganize, I do hope that the new entity will honor my Lifetime member benefits. Please let me know if there is a class action or other remedies I can persue.

Windjammer Barefoot Cruises in 2005 approached us (as loyal previous Windjammer cruise consumers) about buying a timeshare interest in a proposed new luxury sailing vessel called La Mer. We and a number of others bit--for amounts ranging (in our case) from upwards of $13,000. to (the deluxe accommodations that others purchased) upwards of $19,000, for 10 or more 'berths' (that is a 2 person cabin) to be used over the next 10 years. Three years later and after a number of lies and other misinformation from Windjammer, the La Mer has been totally abandoned from ever being built, and the company itself appears to be facing bankruptcy such that their entire fleet of other sailing ships--which had been available to redeem our yearly 'timeshare' cruise interests while awaiting for the LaMer--are as of November '07 no longer sailing.

Efforts by myself and a number of others (LOTS of consumer complaints filed at consumeraffairs.com/travel/windjammer) to even get telephone calls or emails returned from Windjammer have gone unanswered by the company--much less any hope of any monetary refunds. Based on LaMer materials given to us at the time of purchase in '05, there were 75 berths up for sale and each offered over the 52 weeks of the year, at a minimum of $13,060.00 each. If all were sold, that's a total of $50 million dollars which has been largely squandered at this point by the company (which has now clearly abandoned intent to refit and sail the LaMer), and apparently is bankrupt or close enough to it that the rest of their fleet is also finished with sailing.

We spent $13,060. for a timeshare on a ship that was never built and is now unuseable on any of their other fleet, either- since it appears that Windjammer ceased sailing any of their vessels due to functional bankruptcy from Nov. 12, 2007 forward. We did use 3 of the 10 berths purchased before that happened, but the remaining 7 that we will not be able to redeem comes to a prorated loss of $9142.00. There may be as many as 3900 other consumers with similar or greater losses, depending on how many of the 'timeshares' were sold.

My wife and I purchased a prepaid cruise timeshare for the S/V La Mer in 2004 for over $15,000. The only communication from Windjammer was that we could exercise our option to cruise on a different vessel. Now there is no communication from Windjammer. I have filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney General. Regrettably, I have not received any acknowledgment or response from the AG either.

I am a Windjammer La Mer time share puchaser. Having paid about 15K for 10 cruises, I'm scheduled to cruise Feb 2 out of Costa Rica. I have been unable to confirm my trip despite several attempts by various means to reach someone at Windjammer. I already paid for my airline tickets- what should I do? Does anyone know a good class action suit lawyer?

I'm out 15K plus other fees.

We booked our cruise on the Mandalay Ship for the West Indies in September of 2007. As we were told the cabins were filling up and we could get a special offer, we paid up front entirely for the cruise, the flights, 3 days Hotel at the Admiral's Inn in Antiqua. They cancelled the sailing 3 weeks prior, saying we could reschedule another cruise to Costa Rica, but had to make our own flight arrangements. We thought about it, and declined the offer. We were told that we would receive a full refund ASAP. They were notified of our cancellation by phone, by letter, and another registered letter. I cannot get through the phone lines, no response. Emails are returned undelivered. I see that the ads are still online, they are still accepting bookings and payments, and I believe the ships are all landed, arrested, and are not sailing. They have had our money since September, it is now January 14, 2007. They owe us approximately $5,200.00. What recourse do we have at this point?

Approximately $5,200.00. Lost vacation, we rebooked another with of course additional cost. Much frustration and anxiety due to the run around from Windjammers Cruises. This made even more stressful with the fact that they are still accepting bookings and payments and cannot fulfil their obligations. No one is stopping them. Maybe I am naive, but when you owe this much money to customers, you sell your ships and complete your obligations. Those of us smaller companies would be required to complete restitution.

In April 2007, I booked a cruise for two on the Yankee Clipper which sailed out of Grenada in October 2007. In addition, through Windjammer, I purchased three nights' hotel stay (one night pre-cruise, two nights post-cruise). They offered a discount of $100 per person if I paid for the cruise in full (which I did). They also requested that I prepay for one night's hotel stay. In late September, I realized that I had not yet received my cruise documents. During a search to find WJ phone number, I discovered an article about their difficulties and the cancellation of a number of cruises. I phoned WJ home office in Miami and asked about my cruise documents. They stated that until I paid for the remaining 2 nights' hotel stay, they would not send the documents out. I asked if my cruise was being canceled, and the agent assured me that all cruises are back on schedule. I was skeptical. So here was my dilemma: not send them any more money--and just eat a loss for what I had paid for so far; or to send them the remaining dollars owed and eat an even bigger loss if the ship didn't sail? I rolled the dice and paid them the balance.

Not only did we not get the courtesy call from Windjammer advising us that the cruise had been canceled, but we flew down to Grenada and waited for a boat that was not even in the same country! Windjammer sent word (through a local travel agent that had rounded up all of the passengers) that the boat was detained in Trinidad, but that they would cover two nights' hotel stay to give passengers enough time to come up with an alternate plan. Thinking that WJ would just work out the two free nights' hotel stay with the resort, imagine my surprise to get a bill for the two nights from the hotel. According to the hotel, WJ would reimburse us for these nights. Very clever indeed. While I could dispute any credit card charges with WJ, how could I, in good conscience, dispute any charges directly to the hotel when they actually provided a service?

Not only was I out the cost of the cruise and airfare to get to Grenada, but also the three prepaid hotel nights. Additionally, because we spent the week in Grenada, we had to pay again for hotel stay, meals, etc (all things that would have been provided with the cruise). On a positive note: I did file a dispute with my credit card (Am Ex issued though B of A), and they did find in my favor. Overall, however, the time spent on the island for meals, hotel, etc. was more expensive than the cost of the cruise for two. And there was the disappointment of not being able to sail through the Spice Islands as planned.

My Wife and I made our first Windjammer cruise in 1992 aboard the Poly, along with 14 other friends most of which had sailed with Windjammer before, sence then we have made a Windjammer cruise every other year doing a two week or back to back cruise as one week just wasen't enough. We have always been with a large group of friends, as we were all Windjammer hooked.

Our next cruise was to be in April of 2008 a back to back onboard the Mandalay and Poly, as in the past there was going to be 8 of us on this trip, as main deck cabins fill up rapidly we all booked in April 2007 with a $1,000.00 deposit.

We first became aware of Windjammer's financial problems in August when a friend of ours showed us an article in the Wall Street Journal, which talked about Windjammer ships being siezed, crews not being payed etc. We attemted to call Windjammers Office in Miami several times but could never get ahold of anyone, Windjammers Web site was also none operable. As things at this point were looking very shakey we spoke with our credit card company and they suggested we cancel our cruise and request a full refund in writing, they told us that due to the lapse in time (more then 90 days) that was our best bet, if that didn't work they would do what they could but didn't give us much hope in retrieing our deposit.

We have since written several letters, but have recieved no response. I did however talk to a Windjammer Agent 3 weeks ago, and again canceled over the phone, I asked him when I could expect my deposit back, and he said he didn't know that he was leaving Thursday of that week because he had not been paid.

We had also booked Air which we had to cancel, and that cost us $200.00 cacellation fee and a year to use the remaining fare.

At this point things are not looking very good, and Windjammer doesn't seem to care to much about those loyal Jammers who over the years have spent millions sailing with them.

I bought a time share on the new ship that never got built.

On 3/18/07 I booked a Windjammer cruise for my husband and me on the Polynesia to sail 3/2/08. At that time I gave a $500.00 deposit on my American Express. On 8/6/07 I called and again used my American Express to pay the balance of $3,126.00. I know it probably seems foolish paying so far in advance, but we've been on several of their cruises and never had a problem. We had no idea they were having financial difficulties and just wanted to have it paid for and not worry about it. However, it's very obvious now that the Windjammer organization knew they would be unable to operate our cruise but took our money anyway. After learning through USA Today what was happening on 10/31/07, I called Windjammer to find out what was going on. I was told at that time I should not cancel as the agent I spoke with was fairly certain they would be sailing by March. After speaking with my husband that evening I called back on 11/1/07 and cancelled our trip as the agent verified that the cruise we had booked was definitely cancelled. I was told I would receive a complete refund, including the insurance I had paid for. I have called numerous times since then and cannot get a straight answer out of any of the many people who seem to be answering the calls as to when we can expect that refund. I contacted American Express and they refuse to dispute the charge or assist us in any way as it was over 60 days since the charge so we have no recourse through them. We have $2,200 worth of nonrefundable airline tickets that we have to use by April and need to have the money back from Windjammer in order to book another trip and not lose that as well.

We have $3,626 in Windjammer tickets and $2,200 worth of nonrefundable airline tickets that we are going to lose. Total of $5,826.

After being placed on hold for over 10 minutes Alice Sargent finally answered.

I was told that they stopped seling weeks on the La Mer over 1 year ago. Alice told me that all those who purchased on the ship La Mer had the option to use other ships. She then told me that as of today, 11/12/07 Windjammer does not have one ship from their entire fleet in operation! She also told me that the entire company is having problems. Well, like everone I specifically purchased a week for 10 years on the La Mer. I do not want to use another ship. (which of course is not even available to me if I wanted). When I point blank asked her if the company were filing for bankrupcy she told me I can not predict the future. Then told me to check back in one month!

In August of 2004 I purchased a cabin on the La Mer for the price of $15,855. I received my deed Sept. 21, 2004. almost 1 year later. After numerous calls and letters to Windjammer, they had no record of my purchasing a cabin. The escrow company sent my information to a totally different person in Long Beach, California, not NY.

It wasn't until the MBNA credit company started default proceeding on my account that I was able to rectify the situation. I should have know from the mishandling of my account right from the very beginning that I was in for trouble.

I was a happy customer with Winjammer. I suffered a loss on Sept 11, 2001 which prevented me from taking my original cruise. Winjammer stood by me and did everything to help during a very difficult time! However, I am appalled by the way they are treating customers now. People had faith in them and the company. And they have completely disregarded us. My image of them is shattered. My memories are now and will forever be tainted!

This is a ton of money that I am out! The decision to purchase was not one that I made without careful consideration and planning. I am not a wealthy person. This money was spent with the hope that I would ensure a peaceful, fun filled, safe and memorable vacation with my family and friends for the next 10 years! I am heart broken! And I feel completely deceived by all of you at Winjammer.

On November 20, 2004 we purchased a 10-year timeshare for a Lifestyle **** cruise on the SV La Mer, stateroom 603 to sail the 13th week of the year starting 2006 costing $18,885.00. We have contacted Ms. Alice Sargent customer rep., Kathy Milkowski from the Escrow company, Barry Jones and Robert Schackner from Windjammer. NO ONE returns our emails or phone calls. We have told Ms. Sargent on NUMEROUS occasions, we want our money back, and she says she will take care of it but NEVER gets back to us. I see their Attorney Gary W. Pollack of Miami has stated on your web page that he has tried to contact anyone who has complained and tried to satisfy them. Funny, we have never heard from him.

We do not want another cruise time or ship. This is a lifestyle **** cruise and no other ship offers this. I purchased 10 years on the LaMer, and they have not honored that. It seems simple to me. Give me my money back!

My husband, Michael, and I bought timeshares in LaMer. The retrofitting of the boat has never been completed, and Windjammer has not communicated with us as to how we may use our investment. We want to have our money back, and are requesting it from Windjammer.

Due to the problems with the company, we are concerned that we may not get a good resolution to this. We just want the money back that we paid, since they never complied with their part of the agreement.

On May 4, 2004 I purchased a 10-year Timeshare in Windjammer Barefoot Cruises newest ship the SV La Mer for $13,260. The Deed of Ownership states that it is Cabin Number 426 during time period number 27 dated 14th day of June 04. The S/V La Mer is now called the S/V Discoverer. The S/V La Mer was to be completed in 2005. It is now near the end of 2007. Alice Sargent does not answer emails, nor does she return telephone calls. Currently the Windjammer web site is shut down and no one ansswers the telephone.

According to Doug of Huachuca City, AZ (03/23/07) the Discoverer is not in dry-dock. It is in the water at a deserted pier in Trindad along with the Flying Cloud and Amazing Grace which are barely floating. The Association De La Mer has taken the money of the timeshare owners. They have not used it for the reconstruction of the Discoverer.

In addition, the Association De La Mer has been charging maintenance fees of $330 for a ship that is not sailing. I am one of many that feels that this is a scam and wants a refund of my money. It is my hope that an attorney will file a class action against the Association De La Mer (Windjammer Barefoot Cruises) to recover the money of the time share owners.

The economic damage is the loss of $13,260 plus a $330 maintenance fee.

My wife and I are booked on a cruise on the S.V. Polynesia which was to leave St. Maarten BVI on November 18th. We understand from your website and others that this is unlikely to happen. The ship is stuck in Aruba with a crew that is having to be fed by the charity of former pasengers and the Red Cross. We paid Windjammer $1200.00 and are unable to speak to anyone via telphone or email about our trip and are very uncomfortable to say the least. This was to be our honeymoon trip and my wife booked this under her maiden name at the end of March to take advantage of the half-price rate. Her credit card holder, First Merritt Bank, claims that since it has been more than 120 days they will not help, but I am trying to get them to reverse the charges ASAP as it looks like Windjammer will do nothing and may go bankrupt. We may lose some more money when we cancel our flights if this becomes necessary. It seems we are not alone, and time is of the essence.

$1200.00 to Windjammer and possibly more depending on airline cancellation fees.

On August 19th, we arrived at the airport only to be told, along with other passengers, that the crew was on strike and no one was allowed on the ship and which hotel would we like to go to. We spent the night at the Renaissance, which was very nice, seeing our ship in at the port only a few blocks away, but no one was allowed to go to the dock. One of the passengers had international telephone service, so called Miami and was told that an executive would be on a plane first thing in the morning to take care of the matter.

He never arrived in the morning and then we were told he was coming in the afternoon, then the evening of course, he never showed up at all. Then we were told the company was being bought out and we would probably sail the next day; then we were told they had a generator problem and we waiting for a part, which of course, never showed up.

There were approximately 85 passengers that week and Id say 40 of them left and went home. 25 of us stayed on the ship and the others stayed at hotels as some had kids with them. One passenger came all the way from Germany with his wife to go diving in Bonaire and Curacao and was very disappointed not to see those islands -- it is unlikely any of us will have an opportunity to go there in the future.

Monday afternoon, when we checked out (with a new reservation for that night if we needed it), we called the Windjammer pickup service (which we had paid for) and were told they could not take us to the ship under the circumstances. So we called a cab and when we got to the ship, were told they were accepting passengers but the rooms were not made up, so we left our bags and went into town.

The crew did their best to try and take care of us even though they had not been paid in over two months, but having sailed the Polynesia before, the ship was very run down and definitely needed a lot of repairs.

Each day we were told some story from the captain or crew which was not the same story we were given from Miami (one of the passengers had an international telephone and access of e-mail). Finally, by Wednesday, we knew were not sailing anywhere, so began making our own plans for activities in Aruba. At that point, we basically used the Polynesia as a home base for activities on Aruba.

Wednesday night we were told by the Captain that we would take a little sail on Thursday and the rest of the passengers showed up. There were also some other people from Aruba on the ship and I asked the woman if one of the crew was a family member; she told me they were guests of the Captain and then slipped and told me she was from Immigration and Customs and promptly terminated the conversation when she realized she had slipped. We basically sailed up the coast, turned around and sailed back and just drifted in front of the town where we were docked and redocked about 4 pm and the Customs people left.

Obviously, the Captain worked something out with them for us to get a little sailing experience, but it was obvious we were not allowed out of sight.

On Friday early evening (and I have a photo to prove it), Customs boarded the ship around dinner time and seized the ship. We heard from the crew that 3 other ships were seized in port and the Panama boat had no food as the vendors had not been paid in some time. One of the other passengers told us they saw Customs before they boarded, on the dock talking to the Captain, then the Captain had a meeting with his crew in the wheelhouse and it was after that, that Customs boarded the ship.

We are now in the process of trying to get reimbursed by either Windjammer or the travel insurance. Upon return, I spoke to the Windjammer Customer Service and we were told to submit our expenses and that we would be getting a letter of apology and a recruise certificate. We have received the recruise certificate, but are concerned that with new owners, will they honor that certificate. They seem to be blaming the crew and a maintenance problem and make no mention of the ship being seized. I don't know how long it will take to get reimbursed for hotel and meal expenses.

I also contacted our travel insurance (through Windjammer) and was told the first time that the insurance only covered us if we had to leave the ship for some reason. I told them that from what I read, the policy mentions Trip Delay due to a strike. I am presently arguing with them on this issue and have sent them backup material such as letters from Windjammer and the Captain where strike, labor issues and maintenance problems are mentioned.

Meantime, we are out 52,500 miles I had to use to get to Aruba and over $800 for one airline ticket. Windjammer knew Saturday the crew was on strike (and probably other problems they tried to keep hidden) and could have called us to cancel the trip, thus not spending the money and miles on air fare. And after reading other consumer complaints, it now comes to our attention that Windjammer knew on August 11th that ships' crews were out on strike and had plenty of time to notify all the passengers.

Had to make other arrangements for hotel accomodations, meals. Disappointing for the entire family, including our 13 year old daughter. We are seeking damages from the company.

Purchased passage on SV Legacy for 8/11/07-8/18/07 Costa Rica trip. After flying from Californa to Costa Rica, took 3 hr transfer bus to Legacy. When we arrived, we were told that crew had scattered a few hours earlier because they had not been paid for more than 3 months and that there was no gas in the ship. Money had not been wired from the Windjammer corporate office to pay for gas.

We were told that at the earliest, gas would not be available until late Monday or,perhaps, Tuesday, or, perhaps, even later. In addition, it was required that they take the ship to foreign waters once every 7 days. If they failed to get gas and get to Panamanian waters, the Costa Rican government would seize the boat. It was unknown how they would get the crew to come back to sail the ship as there was no means of communication. The passengers were told that they were welcome to stay on the ship (no services) or leave. Leaving meant finding transportation back to San Jose at a cost of $120 per taxi cab.

It was questionable whether passengers would be refunded any money even tho' the problems were caused by Windjammer's cash flow issues. Passengers were stranded with no means of communication in a foreign country.
Windjammer was unwilling to help.

I left the Legacy Sunday morning, as it was dark and rainy when we arrived late Saturday night. I spent $120 on a cab back to San Jose. Could not get a return flight back to California until Tuesday. Any sooner would have cost an additional $1100 in airfare. Instead, had to stay in a hotel near the airport for two nights so I only had an increase in airfare of $115.

Since my return Tuesday, I have been unable to reach Joann Cuevas, the customer service manager for Windjammer. Her voice mailbox remains full. No other requests for a return phone call have been answered.

Windjammer knew that this was going on for the past three months. They could have notified me prior to leaving California. No excuse. Very, very poor customer service. Very poor business practices. Shame on you, Windjammer!

I also saw Dan Schlossberg's May 22 article regarding Windjammer LaMer. Based on that article, it appeared that Windjammer was finally going to acknowledge people who have been complaining about their shabby handling of the whole LaMer timeshare fiasco. On May 30th I sent certified letters to Windjammer's Attorney Gary Pollock, LaMer CEO Paul Maskell and CFO Iris Mayaudon requesting a refund since I did not purchase the timeshare to take cruises on their existing ships. To date no one has replied.

I called Attorney Pollock a couple of times and he acknowledged that there were several customers who were due refunds, but that Windjammer had not yet advised how those refunds were to be processed. Since Windjammer has not approved any refunds, recently his office has been referring callers to Polly Burke at Windjammer. I've called her office several times, and her phone is never answered.

I've left multiple voice mail messages requesting a return call, but no calls have been returned. (This is a typical Windjammer tactic: Hide behind the voice mail system and don't return calls.) When I tried to call today, the system advised that her voice mailbox is full and messages cannot be left.

As John of Lynn MA mentions, Windjammer personnel advise they are trying to learn about timeshares. The few times I've been able to talk to anyone, I've been advised the same - for 3 years now!

The ship was not available in 2005 as stated in the contract. No one at Windjammer can tell us when it is targeted to be available, or will even talk to timeshare owners. My money has been in Windjammer's pockets for almost three years, and a financial accounting of the timeshare monies (as stated in their contract)has never been provided.

My father invested $32,700 and his monies were removed from escrow on 2/18/05 and sent to Beach Bank in Miami. His funds, as stated in his contract with Windjammer, were not to be released until his goods (his timeshare) were given to him.

The boat on which he purchased the timeshare is still not ready and my father is seeking a refund. We contacted Atty. Gary Pollack as advised in the article written on May 22, 2007 by Dan Schlossberg. We are told that Atty Pollack is no longer handling the timeshares refunds. We are attempting to work with Windjammer but are getting nowhere. Noone can tell us where my father's funds are. We are being told that they (Windjammer) are trying to learn about timeshares.

In the meantime, Windjammer still holds over $32,000 of my father's monies.

On 5/17/07, I booked a family cruise for the week of 7/1 from Aruba. On 6/21 was notified that the cruise had been cancelled due to mechanical failure. WBC offered accomodations at a Villa in Aruba and vouchers for a free cruise in the future.

Upon arrival, we were told that we'd have to stay on the vessel in the shipyard - the Villas had been cancelled. The view of dumpsters & the shipyard, along with the smell of diesel fuel wasn't acceptable.

We arranged our own accomodations in Aruba and tried, in vain, to contact representatives at the corporate office. One week AFTER our non-cruise ended, Joanne Cuevas, the Customer Service Manager sent an email to me asking for receipts to begin the reimbursement process.

Since WBC hasn't provided any of the services that we had paid for, I've opted to dispute the charges via MasterCard and get a full refund.

From what I can extract from various message boards, the s/v Polynesia broke a drive shaft in early June. The company is contacting customers and cancelling cruises about 10 days prior to their sailing date.

I also found it very suspicious that the cruise was only 1/3 full, and most fares were booked at fire-sale rates. From what I remember from business classes, hotels need to operate at about 75% occupancy, just to break even. In my mind, WBC has made a business decision that it is more cost-effective to sit in port rather than to sale and lose money.

At best, I'll get all of the money I sent to Windjammer back via the MasterCard dispute process. This doesn't begin to compensate me and my family for the quality time lost (a week in Aruba isn't a week on a ship - that's why we booked the cruise).

The crew of the Polynesia began preparing the ship in the middle of the week, prior to our arrival in Aruba, based on instructions from their management in Miami. Had they contacted me at that time, I would have rescheduled our vacation.

I too was deceived into a timeshare on La Mer. I paid nearly 19K for the top cabin (Burke's), which is not available on most of their other ships. I am resigned to use the other ships, but I did not spend all that money to be with college jocks or families.

I purchased week #8, which is clothing optional. Windjammer runs two such charters a year, however they will not allow me to use my timeshare on those, and they refuse to set aside a like week for us. I am spending $4000-6000/year for full fare resorts that have such a program, and I may not live long enough to see La Mer on line.

In January of 2004 we attended a sales promotion in Louisville, KY and as a result, purchased an admirals cabin on the LaMer for $16,000. We have been waiting for this ship to be completed and have not had any satisfaction as to when it will - if at all - be completed. This was a gift to me (Arlene) for my 65th birthday. Since I had taken 9 prior voyages on Windjammer ships, I thought this would be a perfect gift.

The perfect gift has turned out to be a giant rip-off and a huge disappointment.

I do NOT want to take a voyage on any of the other ships. We purchased a time share on the La Mer. We signed a contract with Windjammer for a timeshare on the La Mer - not on any of the other vessels. If Windjammer doesn't intend to complete the reconstruction, we want our money back in full. We should get interest on the money since Windjammer certainly has had use of it for 3 years and 4 months.

On a cruise in October 2006 on the Windjammer Polynesia, we started in Trinidad. I own shares on the to be La Mer (which is still emblazoned with the ship name Discoverer painted on her sides!!!). I decided I would take pictures of her tied alongside a Trinidad shipyard deserted pier (she is definitely NOT in dry-dock !!!)

I was almost arrested by several burly Trinidad dock security guards as I got closer. I managed to get around them, and very close to the ship. It is in the water at a dock that obviously not been used for months or years, since there is no activity, but there is gravel, dirt piles, concrete, and debris covering any access to would-be ship construction areas. No construction has recently taken place on this ship, IF EVER !!!

The Discoverer looks in comparable ill repair as the Flying Cloud and Amazing Grace which are barely floating nearby. The Flying Cloud and Amazing Grace look to be very sinkable in a substantial storm. And the Discoverer doesn't look much better. I have the pictures to prove it. The story has it that work is being done on the inside of the Discoverer to convert it to the La Mer. HOGWASH. There is no activity anywhere closely. And no evidence of any in the past !!! The owners of La Mer shares have been TAKEN for a ride, but no cruise.

I did get a two for one exchange for my time on the LaMer. Iw was not easy and had to be approved by the board. Appears everything must be approved by the board and they are never around.

Totally disapointed in the Windjammer operation.

Based on years of seeing Windjammer's ads I booked a trip on their Legacy during December 2005. I anticipated a sailing experience like promised in all the pictures and descriptions. The reality is the Legacy never raises full sails and even if it did she's incapable of sailing without motor.

In December 2006, I sent the following letter to Mr. Burke, which explains in detail what happened. To date, I have received no response...

On August 22, 2004 we purchased a cruise timeshare on the cruise ship La Mer with the understanding, based on information provided to us by individuals representing your company and as stated in the contract, that we would be able to cruise on the La Mer in Cabin Number 415 during our Time Period (week 22) in the Initial Cruise Year of 2006. As you know, we are unable to use the timeshare because the ship in not ready and there has been no information from Windjammer regarding when the ship will be completed and, therefore, when well be able to take possession? of the timeshare we purchased.

If it had been disclosed to us when we bought this timeshare that it would not actually be ours to enjoy for several years, we would not have purchased it. It was our expectation that La Mer would be completed by our initial cruise date and we would be sailing to Tahiti and the Greek Islands on La Mer. We just reserved space on another Windjammer cruise for next May. Similar to pouring salt on a wound, this would be the second time wed have to pay a maintenance? fee for a ship that isnt even built, let alone being maintained, so that we can take a cruise on a ship other than La Mer.

When we purchased the La Mer timeshare we received a one-year membership in Trading Places, a timeshare exchange club, which we were supposed to be able to use to exchange our La Mer week. Giving us this membership reinforced the expectation that we would have a timeshare to exchange. Windjammer knew the ship would not be ready, so we can only assume their intention in providing the Trading Places membership was to further mislead prospective buyers.

We believe that Windjammer and CS 300 misrepresented the facts relative to the timeshares they were selling, and has breached the terms of the purchase agreement. We are requesting reimbursement of the purchase price of the timeshare ($13,260) plus the maintenance fee paid last year ($330), less what we would have had to pay for the cruise we took last year ($2,400), within 14 days of receipt of this letter or we will pursue legal action.

Like lots of other folks, I purchased a timeshare on Windjammer's SV LaMer, which was supposed to be in the water in late 2005. As far as I can tell, it's still in a drydock in Trinidad, and I don't know if any work is being done to make it seaworthy. Windjammer seems to be having major cash-flow problems. Several months ago I received a three page letter from the LaMer people that said all kinds of things; but failed to mention anything close to an expected date for this ship to be in service. It sounded like what is called a lulling letter.

Windjammer says you can go on another of their ships, but why would I want to trade a week on a luxury ship for an equivelant time on an ordinary ship? Perhaps if they made it a two for one offer it would be more acceptable. Anyway, is there any possibility of a class action suit in relation to this matter?

As time goes by and Windjammer suffers cash-flow problems and appears to be getting rid of ships, ie; Amazing Grace, it appears that I may lose my whole investment of approximately $14,000 if they go belly-up.

My family has done 2 Windjammer Cruises (Indies / Virgin Islands with our 2 teenagers), and although we enjoyed our Windjammer Trips, we would like to say B E W A R E to anyone who cares about customer service quality. We loved the casual aspect of the trip, and are adaptable so we were ok with the primitive accomodations, BUT we found out a lot about Windjammer management / operations at the very end of our 2nd trip by misplacing my husband's carry-on, and then telling us that it must have been stolen from the dock where the suitcases had all been dumped in a heap (unattended) when we were all being shuttled to the dock. Windjammer staff assured us that all suitcases were off the ship, we headed to the airport.

Our suitcase was found on the ship minutes after we left for the airport, and Lindblad made NO ATTEMPT to contact us or to get it to us, even though our phone numbers were clearly labeled on the suitcase tags + they had our flight info (we only found out because another passenger told us at the airport that they had found it, offered to get it to us since we were in the cab before him, but Windjammer refused to let him take it). We spent several hours in the airport trying to get someone from Windjammer Barefoot Cruises to return our calls & to get the suitcase to the airport (a short drive) while our flight was delayed for 4 hours. The Windjammer office said they would have the Captain of the Polynesia call us. No one contacted us at the airport and we returned home without the carryon.

JOANNE of Windjammer finally called us 2 DAYS LATER to tell us that YES - they had found the suitcase, and they were shipping the suitcase to us, but since it had to be shipped internationally, the customs agents had to discard all my husband's medications. She proceeded to reprimand us for trying to SHIP MEDICATIONS IN A SUITCASE INTERNATIONALLY. I had to remind Joanne that this suitcase WAS MY HUSBAND'S CARRYON AND WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE SHIPPED, and since it was Windjammer's fault it was shipped, I asked for a refund for the medications. Joanne refused, but said we could send try sending a letter to Windjuammer HQ, which we did. I then asked to speak to the Director of Customer Service and she told me that she W A S the Director. My husband sent a letter to Windjammer HQ, and also to the Windjammer CEO. WE NEVER GOT A REPLY FROM EITHER HQ OR THE CEO.

Basically -- once you pay out those tips at the end of the trip, they're done with you. Since the Windjammer incident we switched over to Lindblad Expeditions (expeditions.com), which is a fabulous company with excellent trip offerings and superior staff and management. My family has taken their Sea of Cortez trip and their Alaskan Coastal trip. For anyone who likes nature, wildlife, small ships, nice crowd, very casual cruising -- check out Lindblad at expeditions.com. Great company that treats their customers with respect!

My wife and I became buyers of a sea-cabin aboard the S.V. La Mer which was to be added to the Windjammer Barefoot Cruise fleet in 8/05. Since our purchase agreement in 10/04 we have communicated, via email, on at least 20+ occassions with minimual response and with literally no information regarding the status of the La Mer.

The questions I have asked on numerous occassions are: 1) What is the current status of the refitting of the La Mer, 2) what is the current sailing date of the La Mer, 3) what are the names and addresses of the Board of Directors for the Association De La Mer (which the Disclosures... say owners are entitled to).

I paid $12,000 plus for a product I have received virtually no communication on and spent many hours on the computer trying to communicate with the Manager of the Association De La Mer and Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, with no results!

In December 2003 my husband and I purchased a cabin on the new ship LaMer which was to sail in 2005. So far the ship is in the same condition it was in when we purchased and I have pictures to prove it. I have a feeling that I will never see this ship sail and I feel we have been victims of a scam.

We can not find out any information from our Association or the Windjammer company as to what is happening. They refuse to return telephone calls or answer any communications. There has been no election of a board for the Association or an accounting of the funds as promised in the By-Laws. The ship, Polynisia, is scheduled to go out of service by 2010. The Amazing Grace and the Flying Cloud have been retired. This leaves three ships afloat. Two of them are old and will need a lot of work to remain viable. As of now only one is safe enough to operate out of a US port.

right now I would like an accounting of our Asscoiation and an election of a Board that will answer the concerns of the membership. They are still selling timeshares on a ship that most likely will never sail.

I purchased a time share for Windjammer's new ship La Mer in Nov 2003. After many phone calls with questions, I was finally given Alice Sargent as a contact. I talked to her many times and ended with her promising to follow up on the info I would send her. I sent information proving:

1. I was over charged $1,725 for my cabin from the base price.

2. A Pre-Const. Disc. of $3,000, 1st day incentive was promised when I signed the contract and it was never taken off the base price. They promised the ship would be in the water no later than Sept 2005. It is now May 2006 and I still have not heard anything about the ship sailing date. In Nov 2003 I was told the confirmation of an alternate sailing date was 2 weeks notice, in Dec 2004 I heard it was changed it to 120 days. I bought the timeshare to sail ONLY in the South Pacific which is what was promised at the sales meeting in Nov 2003.

Like so many others, we are terribly disappointed with the lack of service from the Windjammer staff and family. We have sent letters and phone call messages regarding the timeshare purchase on the LaMer, which should have been sailing in 2005. We have received no updates. This is absolutely inexcusable on the part of the Burke Family and Windjammer.

$14,000 of our money was given in good faith for a 10-year timeshare purchase on the LaMer in November 2003. It's now May 2006 and no word on when we might expect to utilize our purchase.

I would like to still be able to walk when the LaMer is ready to sail.

I agree with Tom of Meredith NH. I also bought a Sea Cabin on Windjammer's new ship La Mer, and am having a hard time getting information from Windjammer or Association de La Mer. When I bought the Timeshare in November, 2003, they said the ship would be in service by late 2004 or 2005, but no one will tell us when it will be in service. Based on information I've been able to gather:

A) The ship (currenly called Discoverer) has been in a Trinidad shipyard for 3 years with no visable work completed,

B) The original plan was to sell only 1/2 the cabins as Timeshares, but now all cabins are up for sale as Timeshares, and

C) They now need more capital to complete the project,

E) No one at Windjammer or Association de LaMer is communicating with the Timeshare owners nor will they return phone calls, emails, or letters.

I question whether I have fallen prey to one giant scam and have therefore lost a lot of money. Although the Timeshare plan does allow you to take cruises on other existing Windjammer ships, the main reason many of us bought into the LaMer was the plan for LaMer to sail to other areas besides the Caribbean (Mediterranean and Pacific).

Has anyone else been having a hard time getting information about the status of La Mer, a cruise ship that is reportedly being built by Windjammer Barefoot cruises? I bought a timeshare on it, and can never get Windjammer to return any Calls or emails regarding it's status and I'm getting concerned.

We are unable to book cruises on La Mer, and are instead being given berths on their other ships. The biggest concern is the lack of communication, as we and many others have invested a considerable amount of money to purchase a Sea Cabin and can get no status on when it will be available.

I am the customer service manager for Windjammer Barefoot Cruises and it has come to my attention that you have complaint postings against our company as old as 2002 and 2003. What is your company's policy on updating and removing old/outdated complaints? Surely you don't keep complaint postings indefinately. Also what would you require from Windjammer Barefoot Cruises to obtain a satisfactory rating with your organization. Other organizations such as the BBB offer businesses the opportunity to change their rating status by re-reviewing the complaint and closing out the file. What is the policy or procedure on closing out a claim and removing it from your postings? Your immediate attention to this very important concern would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to speaking with someone about this. Sincerely, Joanne Cuevas, Customer Service Manager, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, telephone 305-672-6453, ext. #1320.

I inquired about booking a cruise with my brother and two sisters and spouses on Windjammer in Oct. of 05. They sent a brochure and an e-mail with information. In the information it stated that if we booked before 12/1 the prices would be discounted. After 12/1 the 06 prices would apply. We decided to go on their ABC Island cruise Aruba) which was advertised in the brochure. When I called back in early Nov. I was told that the ABC cruise was not on the schedule for 2006 but was replaced by a trip on the same vessel starting in Antigua. I was told that the price would be the same as that advertised for the ABC cruise.

After checking with the rest of the family I called again 1 week later (Nov. 13) to book the trips. I was told that the price had gone up some $400 per person from that price for the same accomodations in the brochure. I booked the trip anyway but called back 2 days later to inquire about the original claim for a discounted prices and to change the level of one of the reservations. I was told that It did not matter what they had put in writing but the owners had changed their mind and decided to apply the 06 pricing on Nov.1.

She refused to give me the name of anyone else in the organization I might contact, would not discuss it any longer and said goodby and hung up. If they treat customers on the phone this rudely, I am not optimistic about the treatment you will get when aboard. I was not necessarily looking for them to honor the original price (although that might have been nice based on what they wrote and said on the phone) but some sense that we are customers that keep them in business would have been nice. Than attempting to charge an additional $90 to change a 2 day old reservation was salt on the wound. One of the poorest customer attitudes I have encountered.

On occasion, the one can best rate a cruise adventure by how well the cruise line responds to its failings. This report falls within that category. In March 2005, my wife sailed on Windjammer'fs Amazing Grace with the expectations of transiting from Freeport Bahamas to Port of Spain, Trinidad with 9-12 port calls. Unfortunately, a letter sitting on our stateroom bottom bunk informed us that an engineering problem would reduce ship speed-of-advance to six knots. The reduced speed would only allow the ship to travel as far as Sint Maarten.

After returning from the cruise, we sent a mild letter of complaint to Windjammer, which focused on the last minute itinerary change. Windjammer Barefoot Cruises' Customer Service Manager finally responded after 2.5 months. A major portion of the letter follows.

"Thank you for contacting us in March and sharing your concerns regarding the unfortunate change to your cruise. On behalf of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, I do apologize for any inconveniences you experienced. We understand that many passengers were upset with the last minute notice in the change of sailing/itinerary schedule. Unfortunately, Windjammer was given minimal notice from the ship owners and operators of the changes and we in turn did not have the luxury of time to advise passengers prior to sailing. Once onboard, everyone was advised of the changes and given the option to sail or disembark. We tried to provide as much assistance as possible in re-arranging flights, hotels and other miscellaneous changes for passengers who chose to sail. We also absorbed many of the air cost and change fees incurred as a result of the change in disembarkation port. I am sorry if you felt our efforts were lacking. In closing, I would like to refer you to our policy on Sailing/Itinerary Changes, which is clearly disclosed in our brochures (under Important Information') and our website (under Know Before You Go')."

"The policy is as follows. Advanced or Delayed Sailings/Itinerary Changes Windjammer has the right to cancel, advance, postpone or substitute any scheduled sailings, itinerary or port-of-call without notice. Windjammer may, but is not obligated to, substitute another vessel for sailing and cannot be liable for loss to passengers by reason of such cancellation, advancement, postponement or substitution. The Captain's judgment on any action or inaction is considered final. Reservations are subject to change in the event of a full ship charter. Customer Service, Manager Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, Ltd. "

From my reading, the letter of response appears to cite factors leading to the problem (1) Windjammer was given minimal notice from the ship owners and operators of the changes and we in turn did not have the luxury of time to advise passengers prior to sailing; and (2) Windjammer has the unfettered right to cancel, advance, postpone or substitute any scheduled sailings, itinerary or port-of-call without notice.

The first argument would give one the impression that Windjammer employs the services of distinctly separated shipowner/operators. In fact, the Burke family owns the entire operation and all entities share office spaces. For documentation, see Henry v. Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, 851 So. 2d 731; 2003 Fla. App. LEXIS 7491(Fla. 3rd DCA. 2003).

The second argument has merit if one accepts that Windjammer can drastically change the itinerary at will and the customer therefore has no recourse. Two schools to thought seem applicable in this case: (1) let the buyer beware), and (2) the expectation of the reasonable man (man used here in the generic sense). ...

I cannot, in all honestly, recommend against booking passage on Amazing Grace if one exercises due diligence and metaphorically puts the Windjammer?fs sales staff through the wringer. Amazing Grace is a grand old ship with none of the amenities or pretense of large cruise ships. The crew provides great service, and the ship has the "potential" to provide a great adventure. I only wish we had benefited fully from that capability, and Windjammer had made Amazing Grace reasonably suitable for the intended purpose.