Future of Tradewinds

[Bunk]

Attached is the annual maintenance letter that was sent out yesterday. I have no complaints about paying the maintenance.

We've been Tradewinds members for nearly 20 years, and have fond memories of all of the trips we've taken and friends we've made and are looking forward to future trips to come. (Next up is Croatia.)

But I have a sense of unease about the future of Tradewinds, largely because we have never received any financial information and so have no idea about the financial condition of the company. Tradewinds suffered terrible damage from Hurricane Irma and to a lesser extent from Hurricane Dorian. We've seen the company try to reinvent itself by emphasizing more luxury and asking members to buy the boats and lease them to Tradewinds. We've seen the company create different classes of cabins, so some boats now have premium cabins.

Tradewind's demographics are changing as the original members age. I believe that Tradewinds will be able to attract younger members. I think the post-Covid climate might actually make a Tradewinds membership and trip more attractive because of the small number of crew and passengers.

There are members whose trips have been cancelled and whose memberships are expiring soon. I believe that Tradewinds will do the right thing in determining how to handle that.

But the total absence of any financial information is very troubling. I've mentioned this to the captains when they speak to us about re-upping, and have never gotten a satisfactory response. It would be nice to know whether Tradewinds has the reserves to remain in business during the pandemic and to continue to operate without significant sales of new memberships.

 

[klpca]

I'm with you. We only bought points for one more sailing so it's not a ton of money, but that is the only timeshare related expense that I am concerned about losing. We were able to move our trip from this past May to November 2021 but the $64k question is whether or not they will be around. There's a good facebook group for Tradewinds in case you are on FB. I have seen some other posts about this, but of course, no one knows. I sure hope that they are able to hang in there. It was the best trip that we have ever been on, hands down.

 

[Sandy VDH]

There is nothing in that letter that indicates that there are financial problems. This is the normal time when tradewinds asks for MFs. Nothing about it seems unusual to me. Just Magnus and Edith sending out their usual letter.

But with little AI revenue and new sales coming in, I am sure they will be happy with the cash influx. They have office staff to pay. But they have slightly less boat maintenance and operations to pay.

They have new boats and boats with premium owners cabins because they have a yacht purchase program, similar to Moorings. Those owners pick the layout and the name of the yacht. So those owners have picked the owners suite configuration.

 

[Bunk]

There is nothing in that letter that indicates that there are financial problems. This is the normal time when tradewinds asks for MFs. Nothing about it seems unusual to me. Just Magnus and Edith sending out their usual letter.

I'm not saying that there are financial problems. I'm saying that it is unfortunate that we have no information about the finances of this timeshare.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I'm not saying that there are financial problems. I'm saying that it is unfortunate that we have no information about the finances of this timeshare.

We have NEVER received a financial statement. But it is a CLUB not a timeshare. It is a different model.

 

[ocdb8r]

But it is a CLUB not a timeshare. It is a different model.

Agreed - and all the more reason one might be concerned. Unlike a timeshare, there is no Board with a fiduciary duty to ensure maintenance, upkeep and continued ability for members to utilize the "points" they purchased. No duty to ensure there is a budget with expenses outlined and some assurance that "maintenance fees" are used in accordance with a reviewed budget. I have no idea if Tradewinds is in any sort of trouble - however, it is obvious that every other travel provider is in some sort of distress and has needed to find cash somewhere.

And while I agree that the letter doesn't sound unusual at all given this is the normal time of year for their maintenance fees to come out, if I were Tradewinds, I might be a) very anxious to ensure as much money comes in as possible and b) anxious that the current economic situation and fact that Tradewinds cruises are still suspended was likely to increase the amount of "defaults" on maintenance fees.