A royal holiday, namely renting a yacht with a permanent crew

Chartering a yacht is a great idea for an active and adventurous holiday. However, if you want to add to this total relaxation and a break from all the responsibilities, you can opt to hire a yacht with a permanent crew, who will take care of steering, meals and tidiness on board, while you can indulge yourself. What is crewed charter and how does it work in practice?

What is a permanently crewed yacht charter?

Chartering a yacht with a permanent crew means hiring a vessel with a professional crew to accompany us throughout the voyage. Most often, the permanent crew consists of 2 or 3 people; a skipper, a hostess and, possibly, a cook. These people will take care of the pleasant course of our holiday, including steering, shopping and catering, as well as tidiness on board. We, on the other hand, will be able to spend our time relaxing and enjoying ourselves without worrying about anything else. This is usually the case with luxury vessels – but there is no rule as to the specific types of yachts that can be chartered with a permanent crew. The only criterion here is the number of berths – each crew member should have his or her own, preferably in the form of his or her own cabin. Permanent crews can be hired on sailing yachts, motor yachts and catamarans. They are also standard on gulets.

Who is part of the crew on the yacht?

The permanent crew is in most cases the skipper and hostess. The skipper is responsible for steering the yacht, its technical operation and ensuring the safety of the crew. He takes us to the places we want to go and meets our expectations, as long as they are feasible and do not compromise our safety. It suggests attractive places to see, including secluded bays, charming islands, local restaurants or less popular sights. The hostess takes care of shopping, cooking and keeping the cockpit, galley and salon tidy. She prepares meals according to our expectations, but it should be remembered that she is usually not a professional chef. If we want top-quality food, we can look for a permanent crew which, in addition to the skipper and hostess, includes a chef who will be solely concerned with satisfying our palates.

Crew hire costs

As in the case of chartering a yacht with a skipper, it is the responsibility of the charterer to maintain the crew – this mainly includes food costs. It is also customary for crew members to receive tips from guests. The total cost of renting a yacht with a crew is made up of the cost of the charter, the cost of hiring the crew, the cost of food, the cost of fuel and port charges.

Hiring a yacht with a permanent crew allows us to fully relax and have fun. It’s a way to have a truly royal holiday where our only concern will be how we want to spend our time or what we feel like eating.