Your guide to booking a fully crewed luxury yacht charter
Being on a luxury yacht is an unforgettable experience. As an experienced yacht charter broker I can help you through all stages of the booking process and the lead up to the charter to help you achieve your dream holiday.
To start, give some thought to:
- the destination, the type of yacht and when you’d like to charter.
- the number of guests and if they are couples, single adults or children as this effects the cabin layout you’ll require.
- an indication of the budget you have in mind.
- any specific amenities or activities you would like during your charter.
Then, contact Marlow Worldwide Yacht Charters and have a chat with me, Liz Marlow. Together we’ll go over everything you require. We’ll talk about the people in your charter party, their ages – some yachts will not charter with young children, but most will. And for elderly people, there are some yachts which are better for less agile individuals. Are you water-sport mad, or party people….or both?
Based on what you tell me, I’ll be able to present you with a short-list of suitable yachts especially for you. There will be brief information about each boat, the charter rate and links to web brochures with all the amenities aboard and crew profiles. I have access to hundreds of yachts currently chartering but will only present to you those which suit your needs and are available for the dates you’ve indicated. It’s quite possible that during this early stage your idea of what you need may change – but that’s okay as it’s a learning, evolving process. Along the way I’ll be pointing out to you the full costs involved.
When you’ve chosen your charter yacht we’ll reconfirm availability with that yachts Central Agent and then go to the contract stage for which your full name and address are required.
There are different types of charter agreement depending on the yacht you’ve chosen. Usually, I work with either the Charter Yacht Brokers Association (CYBA) or the Mediterranean Yacht Charter Brokers (MYBA) agreements. Both are e-contracts bearing unique contract numbers.
The charter agreement will detail the full terms and conditions of the charter. It specifies the charter dates with the ports of boarding and disembarkation, the charter rate, payment schedule and a whole load of other essential information such as cancellation policy, insurance and other important details. It is essential to carefully review and understand the agreement before signing.
To confirm the booking, you will be required to sign the agreement and return all pages to me. Then you submit a deposit of 50% of the charter fee. All payments should be made by you, the Principal Charterer, by wire transfer. We do not accept credit card payments. The balance of the charter fee and any extra costs if applicable will be paid for in a second instalment six weeks prior to the charter date.
Once the charter is confirmed, we will then go over the itinerary in a bit more detail and involve the Yacht Captain for their recommendations. In the charter itinerary we’ll be including the places you want to visit and shore excursions as well as activities such as water-sports.
We will also discuss your food and drinks preferences for the trip. This will enable the Chef to plan and provision according to your requirements. It will be important to know if any members of your charter party have any dietary requirements such as food allergies or if you have any particularly favourite foods and drinks. The menu each day is a set menu but it does allow for significant variation for guests who have different food tastes and requirements for example gluten free, seafood allergy, vegan etc.
You’ll be given advice on what to pack, meeting arrangements/transfers will be taken care of, and any last-minute requests or questions will be dealt with.
After your charter, when you get home I’ll be in touch again to hear your comments about the trip, the yacht and the crew. Ensuring that my clients are happy with their charter is extremely important to me and getting your feedback is always helpful.
