How do I choose??
If you have ever chartered – or considered chartering – a yacht, you know how confusing it is to sort through all the options and pricing. There are more than 2,000 luxury yachts from which to choose coupled with a series of add on’s like “plus expenses”, VAT, Delivery, gratuity and more. This is a ‘how to’ guide with ten steps to help you navigate these confusing waters and find the perfect yacht for you and your guests.
Step one: Where do you want to go?
The choices are endless. In North America you have numerous choices including: The Bahamas, the Caribbean, Alaska, New England, British Columbia and the Great Lakes. Perhaps you want to go to Europe where again there are many options: In the western Med you have: The French Riviera, The Italian Riviera, Sardinia, Corsica, Amalfi, Capri and Sicily. Or go to the Eastern Med and explore Croatia, Venice, Montenegro, Turkey and Greece. Perhaps you want an exciting adventure like the Galapagos Islands, the Amazon or the Mekong Delta. Or maybe the exotic south pacific with renowned destinations such as Tahiti, Bora Bora and Fiji that are calling your name. For ideas on where you may want to travel on your luxry yacht holiday, check out our Destinations page as well as our Featured Yachts and Fascinating Itineraries.
Step two: When do you want to travel?
Do you have specific dates that are not flexible because of other commitments? Or perhaps you want to celebrate a special occasion on board a luxury yacht such as a birthday? Or perhaps the Christmas / New Year’s holidays? Or do you have a range – for example anytime in July?
Step three: How many people will be traveling with you?
For starters, there are very few private luxury yachts that can accommodate more than 12 guests. If you have more than twelve guests we have two options: One is to do a tandem charter of two or three yachts traveling together. The other is to charter one of the very few luxurious yachts that are certified to carry more than twelve guests. We call these the ‘Exceptions to the Rule’ covered in another section. How many people will YOU have?
Step four: Do you have employees/staff that must travel with you?
Do you have a nanny? Do you have bodyguard(s)? What about a Personal Assistant? As long as you can document that they are truly employees and not your cousin’s wife’s sister in law, then we can usually bring them in addition to the 12 guests on your luxury yacht charter. They must, however have accommodations in a stateroom. No sleeping on the couch in the main saloon. I once had a Prince that wanted to bring 12 servants and said they could just sleep on the floors in the hallways. No, it doesn’t work that way.
Step five: What type of accommodations will work for you?
Can your guests share a stateroom? The staterooms on most yachts will accommodate two guests. Are there kids? If there are young children they could possibly sleep in a Pullman berth which would enable 3 or 4 people in a stateroom. Are there guests that need their own stateroom? Some of the larger private luxury yachts may will still only be able to carry 12 guests – but they might have 7, 8 or even 9 staterooms.
Step six: Do you prefer a motor yacht or a sailing yacht?
Most of the charter yachts are luxurious motor yachts because they offer more space, have room for more toys and many extra amenities. However there will usually be a few luxurious sailing yachts in any destination you choose and especially in the Caribbean and Greece.
Step seven: How long do you want to be on the yacht?
Most yachts have a seven (7) day minimum. A few will have ten (10) day or two (2) week minimums, especially during the peak holiday seasons, and occasionally you can find one for a three (3) or (4) day charter, however those are usually only during low season.
Step eight: What is your budget?
In addition to the base rate of the yacht you will also have the expenses of getting to / from your destination and any additional hotel stays you may want either before or after your charter. It is suggested that you come up with a budget for just the yacht portion of the trip before you start looking for a yacht?
Step nine: What are the ‘plus expenses’ and how do we estimate the total cost of the charter?
There is one last step before going to the yacht search pages and that is calculating how much the total yacht charter will cost. This is the most difficult part of the trip to understand. You will see yachts and their price is stated as “from $100,000 USD”. But that is not the total cost of the trip – that is only the ‘base rate’ for the yacht and crew (usually including their food). In addition to the ‘base rate’ you will also be responsible for all expenses for the yacht during your time on board including your food, beverages, fuel, dockage, taxes and gratuities.
- First we will add the APA (Advanced Provisioning Allowance) This is an advance given to the yacht to provision the yacht with the items you want for your charter. You will complete a Preference Sheet before your charter and the crew will buy the items you request. Do you want Beluga caviar? Hotdogs? Cristal? Pabst Blue Ribbon? The requested APA is usually 30% – 35% of the base rate. The money is kept in a separate account and the captain will keep all receipts for purchases made on your behalf. If the things you have requested cost less than the APA, any unused funds will be returned to you at the end of the charter. Likewise, if you go over budget, the captain will let you know when you are getting close to using all the money and will ask for additional funds. I once had a client that ordered wine on his preference sheet and before he had even arrived for his charter he had used up his entire APA! The captain had to call and confirm that he did in fact intend to order wine that was that expensive and if so – he was going to have to send more money. He did.
- Next we need to determine if any taxes will be due on the charter. In the Caribbean as of this writing (May 2020) there are no additional taxes or VAT. In the Bahamas they are currently charging a 4% sales tax on the ‘base rate’ portion of the charter. In the Med there is VAT that usually runs between 20% and 24% depending upon the county where you are chartering. Other parts of the world have charges between 8% and 15%.
- Delivery charges. Be sure to double check your charter agreement before signing it to see if there are any ‘delivery / re-delivery charges’. This is especially common in The Bahamas as many yachts will base in Fort Lauderdale and if you book them for a charter in The Bahamas, they will add the cost of getting the boat from Florida to The Bahamas and then back. This could be $2,500 – $10,000 depending upon the size of the yacht and what the owner wants to charge. Some yachts are based in the Bahamas and have no fee. Others agree to waive the delivery fee if you book a one week minimum, so be sure to check this.
- Lastly. Your crew will work tirelessly during your charter to ensure that every aspect of your trip is perfect. They will be up long after you have retired for the evening and will be up before dawn to make sure the yacht is ready for you and your guests when you are ready to start the next day. While it is not required, a crew gratuity in the range of 10% – 20% of the base rate is usual and customary depending upon where you are chartering. If you are high maintenance and entertaining 50, 100 even 200 guests every night during the Cannes Film Festival an even higher gratuity may be in order. Ask us about what is the norm for your charter.
WORKSHEETS
Let’s do a couple of worksheets assuming a yacht with a ‘base rate’ of $100,000 .
1. First we will do a worksheet for the British Virgin Islands (BVI)
- Base rate $100,000
- APA 35% – added $35,000
- No VAT in the BVI’s
- No delivery charge
- Crew gratuity of 18% ($18,000)
TOTAL FOR YOUR CHARTER IN THE BVI’S WILL BE APPROXIMATELY $153,000 (an additional 53% over the base rate of $100,000)
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2. Lastly we’ll do the same worksheet for Italy
- Base rate $100,000
- APA 35% – add $35,000
- 22% VAT – add $22,000
- Let’s assume the yacht was in another port and you wanted to board in Naples – owner charges $2,500 delivery fee
- Crew gratuity of 15% – add $15,000
TOTAL FOR YOUR CHARTER ON THE SAME YACHT IN ITALY IS APPROXIMATELY $174,500 (an additional 74% over the base rate of $100,000)
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As you can see, the TOTAL cost will run between 50% and 75% more than the base rate. So please keep this in mind when looking as pricing. So refer to step seven when you determined your budget for the yacht charter portion of the trip, and keep that in mind when choosing your yacht. If your budget was $150,000 then you need to look for yachts in the $90K – $110K range.
Step Ten: You’ve made it to the last step – choosing your private luxurious yacht!
If you would like to peruse a sample of the luxruious yachts that might be available for your charter you can go to our ‘Yacht Search’ page and see dozens of examples. This is just a small fraction of the yachts available but you might enjoy looking through these as a staring point for planing your perfect luxurious yachting holiday.
However, the most efficient way to proceed, is to answer the nine questions above and contact me now. I’ve been doing this for almost 30 years. I travel all around the world, attending yacht shows, inspecting the yachts and meeting the crews so that I can help my clients find the perfect luxury yacht of their dreams. I will search through thousands of luxurious yachts throughout the world to find the best options for your perfect yachting holiday! click here for more info – it cost nothing to look!