Just returned from a 10-night stay at WDW (11/24-12/4). Had the Breathless booked for an IllumiNations cruise on Dec 1. Received a call from the Yacht Club marina two days before saying that the Breathless has been decommissioned. We were offered & accepted a pontoon boat instead.
On the night of the cruise we discussed the situation with our boat skipper, Shane. He said Breathless has extensive damage to the main rib structure. Disney executives are deciding whether to renovate the boat, scrap it & buy new, or scrap it & not replace it with anything. From what we gathered, it's a budget issue and the decision is not at the YC marina nor WDW recreation level at this time, but at the corp exec level.
Shane said the rehab could cost more than the price Disney paid for Breathless new in the early 90s. New ChrisCraft boats are significantly more than what WDW originally paid for the Breathless. He also said mahogany boats like Breathless are meant to spend half the year out of the water in drydock. Breathless spends nearly 365 days a year in the water, has not had the maintenance it should over the past few years, thus it has suffered.
The YC marina staff said they were disappointed that WDW Recreation was still offering bookings on the Breathless since they had told them countless times to remove it from the list of available vessels indefinately. I was told it had been booked from Dec 1-14, and all of these bookings were cancelled.
Just thought y'all would want to know, and not to hold your breath for Breathless to sail anytime soon.
On the night of the cruise we discussed the situation with our boat skipper, Shane. He said Breathless has extensive damage to the main rib structure. Disney executives are deciding whether to renovate the boat, scrap it & buy new, or scrap it & not replace it with anything. From what we gathered, it's a budget issue and the decision is not at the YC marina nor WDW recreation level at this time, but at the corp exec level.
Shane said the rehab could cost more than the price Disney paid for Breathless new in the early 90s. New ChrisCraft boats are significantly more than what WDW originally paid for the Breathless. He also said mahogany boats like Breathless are meant to spend half the year out of the water in drydock. Breathless spends nearly 365 days a year in the water, has not had the maintenance it should over the past few years, thus it has suffered.
The YC marina staff said they were disappointed that WDW Recreation was still offering bookings on the Breathless since they had told them countless times to remove it from the list of available vessels indefinately. I was told it had been booked from Dec 1-14, and all of these bookings were cancelled.
Just thought y'all would want to know, and not to hold your breath for Breathless to sail anytime soon.
