Tradewinds

[Sandy VDH]

Chemteach, thanks for your very comprehensive post.

Does TW charge a high percentage apr if you finance? Did they go over the maintenance fees or unlocking fees?

I've never financed. I just work out some agreement like 5K down and the balance due in 6 months.

 

[hurnik]

Tradewinds sounds amazing. I have this now on our bucket list.

I would like to include family and may need 2 to 3 cabins. Is there a way to do this via RCI with HGVC points within the 1:4 rule?

I'm not sure, but SFX has some affiliation with tradewinds as well. I don't know if they're subject to the 1-4 rule or what either.

Just an idea.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

@chemteach Thanks for the detailed update. Wow, this sounds amazing! Would love to return to FP someday on one of these cruises. We visited on our honeymoon 32 years ago, but didn't cruise. It was amazing then too. Fiji is also on our list.

What are the Tradewinds locations that are not on RCI/SFX?

 

[hurnik]

@chemteach Thanks for the detailed update. Wow, this sounds amazing! Would love to return to FP someday on one of these cruises. We visited on our honeymoon 32 years ago, but didn't cruise. It was amazing then too. Fiji is also on our list.

What are the Tradewinds locations that are not on RCI/SFX?

SFX only shows:
Flagship - Guadalupe only

Luxury Class -

• British Virgin Islands
• Guadeloupe
• St. Maarten, Anguilla, St. Barths
• St. Vincent & The Grenadine

Cruising Class -

• St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Belize
• Panama - Las Perlas
• Greece
• British Virgin Islands
• Guadeloupe
• St. Maarten, Anguilla, St. Barths
• Turkey

I haven't looked at my RCI account via Hilton (not RCI Points, it's an odd beast)

 

[turkel]

Apparently there are quite a few people who have points expiring in 2020. If you can travel in 2020 it might be a great opportunity to get on a Tradewinds cruise. I found a great deal via Facebook pm me if you need info on who to contact. (I am not the seller, or related to the seller in anyway, the timing just isn’t right for us)

 

[CalGalTraveler]

.

 

[Sandy VDH]

There is NO active base in Panama -Las Perlas or Turkey right now.

There likely should be an Antigua listing. French Poly and Fiji has also had deposits in RCI.

Don't know if Abacos or Exumas in the Bahamas were ever deposited into RCI.

Rest are members only. FYI

 

[chemteach]

The biggest issue for us is getting to the bases. Man, the cost of airfare to get there is the big stumbling block.

We do the credit card game. I have 300,000 points now on Air France. It’s 55,000 points round trip lax to ppt. (But you have to be on it to get the lowest point fares.). We had 60,000 points from a citi thank you credit card sign up offer, then 3x points for all my timeshare maintenance fees, plus they ran a 30% bonus for Air France. I had been saving up thank you points for a long time, and transferred them all over to Air France last year. I also have a citi at&t card that gives 3x points for all online purchases. That one makes the points really add up. I don’t think that card is offered any longer, though. I’m trying to figure out the cheapest way to get to Fiji in 2021.

 

[chemteach]

@chemteach Thanks for the detailed update. Wow, this sounds amazing! Would love to return to FP someday on one of these cruises. We visited on our honeymoon 32 years ago, but didn't cruise. It was amazing then too. Fiji is also on our list.

What are the Tradewinds locations that are not on RCI/SFX?

Tradewinds has a boat now (and likely 2 in a few years) that goes to a new destination every 6 months. (Seychelles, Maldives, Madagascar, etc.). These are not put into RCI because members book them up within a few hours of their availability posting on the Tradewinds member site. We really wanted to be able to go on one of these.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I’m trying to figure out the cheapest way to get to Fiji in 2021.

I don't normally fly these long distances in coach. I ususally use FF rewards and go biz class, but I got a fare on Fiji Airways this spring and I booked it through the Chase portal so it costs the equivalent cash value of $263. That was return air LAX to Fiji. And since I used points and not real money, I will even earn AA points for the flight, since they are a partner. I leave for Fiji in less than a month.

I can't even fly to the Caribbean for that price.

I am hoping that the Fiji sale pops up again next year, and I will then likely return. I just paid for the Economy PLUS seat out of pocket, so at least I will have leg room on the bulk head.

 

[chemteach]

I don't normally fly these long distances in coach. I ususally use FF rewards and go biz class, but I got a fare on Fiji Airways this spring and I booked it through the Chase portal so it costs the equivalent cash value of $263. That was return air LAX to Fiji. And since I used points and not real money, I will even earn AA points for the flight, since they are a partner. I leave for Fiji in less than a month.

I can't even fly to the Caribbean for that price.

That is an amazing fare!! We flew home from French Polynesia in a bulk head seat - was really nice!! (But I've never flown business class...). We had lots of leg room.

 

[Sandy VDH]

That is an amazing fare!! We flew home from French Polynesia in a bulk head seat - was really nice!! (But I've never flown business class...). We had lots of leg room.

I am 6'0" tall. Typical Dutch girl. I have legroom issues.

 

[hurnik]

We do the credit card game. I have 300,000 points now on Air France. It’s 55,000 points round trip lax to ppt. (But you have to be on it to get the lowest point fares.). We had 60,000 points from a citi thank you credit card sign up offer, then 3x points for all my timeshare maintenance fees, plus they ran a 30% bonus for Air France. I had been saving up thank you points for a long time, and transferred them all over to Air France last year. I also have a citi at&t card that gives 3x points for all online purchases. That one makes the points really add up. I don’t think that card is offered any longer, though. I’m trying to figure out the cheapest way to get to Fiji in 2021.

Cheapest way in terms of money or award tickets?

If you're planning on award travel, you might consider the services of an award ticket booking specialist (I've used one company in particular twice now). It's how I was able to plan ahead and get 2 first class tickets from US to Maldives next year. The credit card game, but it was helpful to know the ins and outs of the programs and which miles to accrue.

Flyertalk forum is useful, but they aren't very kind/forgiving on some things, so expect a lot of snark and rude comments (IMO), but if you have a thick skin, can be helpful (if you post).

I used a company called Juicy Miles (they now have an online/self-service subscription you can purchase if you want to see what's there and you know the booking rules, etc.) If you want their "full service" service, it's more expensive, but like I said, I used it twice.

In my case, we stocked up on Korean Airlines (as I already had some) and AA miles to book either Etihad or Qatar (I couldn't rack up enough Alaska or JAL miles to get Emirates and Singapore Airlines apparently has very tough availability for 2 tickets with their new First Class suites). Ended up in the Eithad Apartments, but even that was tough (glad I had them do all the work). They have to call the AA office in New Zealand as for some reason the US office can't see all the flights. Same with Korean. Online booking was a nightmare, so the agent had to call in and deal with all that (fortunately he knew Korean Airlines very well) and was able to piecemeal something together.

Good luck and let us know!

 

[Robin G]

I was on Sweet Pea in May, it’s a new 60ft in TradeWinds fleet . It was the inaugural sail, we went fro Nassau to George Town in Great Exumas.

It was nice, something different. Love cruises too.

 

[RNCollins]

Attached are some pictures of my Tradewinds experiences in Antigua and the British Virgin Islands (BVI):

 

[RNCollins]

View around a ‘59 Tradewinds Catamaran:

 

[turkel]

6 days and counting. 4 working days left. French Polynesia here we come! Thanks for the pictures!

 

[Sandy VDH]

I'm excited too. I have less than 3 weeks to Fiji.

 

[hurnik]

@turkel and @Sandy VDH

I'm looking forward to any pictures of the boat/cabins and the reviews from your upcoming trips.

Thanks!

 

[SciTchr]

Here are some assorted shots from different trips. St. Vincent Grenadines (New Beginning 70 ft. Flagship); St. Martin (Home 60 ft. Luxury); Antigua (Further 59 ft. Luxury).

 

[RNCollins]

I just wanted to post an update on the Tradewinds sailing offerings in the Bahamas. The base in the Abacos is not functioning so there is an alternative schedule.

Below is a list of the three offered sailings in the Bahamas. RCI codes are listed.

TradeWinds Nassau (#DQ99)
Embarkation at Palm Cay Marina in Nassau
Disembarkation at Emerald Bay Marina in Great Exuma

TradeWinds Exumas (#DQ39)
Embarkation at Emerald Bay Marina in Great Exuma
Disembarkation at Palm Cay Marina in Nassau

TradeWinds Bahamas (#D577)- while the Abaco base is down the 2020 sails will be out of Great Exuma.
Embarkation at Emerald Bay Marina in Great Exuma
Disembarkation at Emerald Bay Marina in Great Exuma

 

[Mosherrskl]

Just got back from my 3 1/2 week trip to French Polynesia. The Tradewinds Cruise Club part of the trip was amazing. French Polynesia as a destination was beyond what I could have imagined. It was like being in the Cayman Islands 40 years ago. (I went there when I was very young - at Grand Cayman is way too touristy for me now.). We flew into Papeete and stayed one night, rented a car, and took a ferry over to Moorea with the car. Stayed there 4 nights in a Pension. Moorea is a beautiful island with many blue toned lagoon beaches. There is a little motu you can get to via ferry, with a lunch place called Coco's on the motu. Great snorkeling at the motu. We took the ferry back to Papeete and flew to Huahine the next morning. Spent 5 nights in Huahine. Another beautiful island. Fewer blue water beaches, but less touristy than Moorea. Beautiful mountains and very scenic. Flew to Raiatea in the Saturday morning of the cruise. Most places are closed on Saturdays on Raiatea. There is a grocery store open in town, and 1 lunch place, but not much else. The sailboat cruise was fantastic. It was a great way to get to see Bora Bora and Taha'a. The lagoons are wonderful. Sailing was much fun. Meals were great. You will be lucky if you are on the boat with Alex and Tomas. Alex was the cook. Thomas the captain. A lovely couple from France. They have their own sailboat in French Polynesia right now. We did end up purchasing a small package of points. A typical week uses between 100,000 and 150,000 points. (Depends on season and boat type.). They offered 1,200,000 points for about $22,000, 4,800,000 points for $67,000ish and 2,400,000 for somewhere in between the two amounts. The points are good for a 12 year period. They don't seem to haggle on prices, but they will try to entice you by offering extra points for the same cost. We could not envision going more then every 3 to 4 years, but wanted to go to more places than the RCI offerings. (They have a boat that moves to a new place every 6 months or so, and has been to the Maldives and Seychelles. We wanted to be able to book that type of sailing, which one cannot do via RCI.). We explained that we would never use even 1,200,000 points over 12 years. They offered 6,000,000 points for about $13,500 (plus an initiation fee of $900.). We finally decided to do it when they added 100,000 points to the package. That would allow us to go on 4 trips on the sailboat that will travel across the globe over a period of 7 years, and one additional trip. (The Wanderlust trips (the sailboat that moves every 6ish months is called the Wanderlust) are 150,000 points for a weeklong trip.). They are adding a new bigger yacht that is uber fancy - but we were not interested. We figured we would enjoy being "forced" to go on a sailing trip every 2 to 3 years over the next 12 years. After the sailboat trip, we flew to Maupiti, which is the gem of the French Polynesian Islands. They do not allow commercial businesses on the island - no banks, no hotels. It is like a mini Bora Bora. Beautiful waters!! We rode bicycles around the island, walked from the island to one of the motus along a shallow part of the lagoon, scuba dove with Manta rays, and swam with sharks at the the pension we stayed at. The snorkeling at all the islands was fantastic. The dog at our pension had survived (over a period of years) attacking a shark, (yes - she attacked the shark - and then the shark came at her) a sting ray (she did get stung by the ray, and spent a month on another island recuperating) and a moray eel. An amazing dog was she! Another note about Maupiti - whenever we mentioned to anyone that we would be staying in Maupiti for 5 days, the reaction was always the same - a look of longing and letting us know how lucky we were to get the opportunity to stay there. They were all correct! It was our favorite island to visit.

As for Tradewinds - I would definitely do it again! If you do Tradewinds in Guadelupe or French Polynesia, you will get the 59 or 60 foot boat (one of the luxury boats.) If you go on Tradewinds to any other RCI place, you will most likely be on a 52 foot cruise class boat. Also, if you do purchase from Tradewinds, there is no longer a 1 in 4 rule with RCI. However, for us, it wouldn't make any sense to use RCI for a cruise because we have too many other things we want to do. As an aside - if you are interested in going on a cruise that is marketed in Tradewinds site, owners can likely get a cabin for you at 1/2 the cost that is shown. This is likely a bit higher (the cost would be $3500 - $4700 for a 2 person cabin including AI fees depending on place and season) than using an RCI exchange, but you can go on a Luxury or Flagship boat, and/or a place that isn't available on RCI. I think there are a few TUG members who are also Tradewinds members who can give referrals. I don't believe you can go on a referral cruise if you have used RCI for an exchange in the past.

If anyone has any questions about French Polynesia or Tradewinds, I'd be happy to try to answer them!

On buying Tradewinds - I think if you don't care about being on a bigger boat and having air conditioning overnight, and you don't think you would want to go more than once every four years - there is no reason to buy. But if you want to ensure being on a bigger boat and/or want to go to one of the specialty places, then buying could make sense. There really isn't a resale market for ownerships that I could find anywhere. I looked for a long time before actually going on the cruise. It is possible to buy points from someone and have them book a cruise for you if you can find someone who is trying to sell off some of their points.

Good luck to any and all who are interested! It was truly a vacation of a lifetime!! (That now I will get to go on every 3 years. )

We have used TW twice thru RCI - BVI 4 years ago and Guadalupe last January. We would love to do French Polynesia, but not have to wait 4 years for RCI. Can you recommend how to buy points from a member? Also, if you go that route do I have to pay the membership fee? I understand I would have to pay for the points (appx $2k) plus the AI (about $2k) and tips.
thanks for your great post!

 

[chemteach]

We have used TW twice thru RCI - BVI 4 years ago and Guadalupe last January. We would love to do French Polynesia, but not have to wait 4 years for RCI. Can you recommend how to buy points from a member? Also, if you go that route do I have to pay the membership fee? I understand I would have to pay for the points (appx $2k) plus the AI (about $2k) and tips.
thanks for your great post!

There is a tradewinds facebook page - I think some people there sell their points to others. You could try that! The points come up every so often.

 

[SciTchr]

The Facebook page is Tradewinds Cruise Club Cruisers. You need to be admitted to the group. People often sell points. They can book the boat you want in their account and charge you the agreed upon price. You would pay the AI fee. We purchased points once to extend our membership and it worked out fine. There are always people selling points on that page.

 

[melissy123]

Quick question for Tradewinds Members who have done both BVI and St. Marten. Which one would you recommend. Which one would have better snorkeling.