Chartering a yacht or ship for your groups program

Many of our clients would like to have the exclusive use of a ship or yacht for their clients programs but erroneously believe that for various reason it would not be possible. Happily that is not the case because if you have a group of 6 people or more you have the possibility of chartering your own vessel.

With so many smaller ships entering the cruise market in the last few years you have lots of choices. Depending on your groups requirements, their budget and the location they wish to cruise there are many options to choose from.  Luxurious river / hotel barges,  classic sailing ships, river-ships, super & mega-yachts and small but luxurious cruise ships as well as the traditional cruise ships and crewed charter yachts. There are many exciting options available to you so do not rule out a charter for your group just because the group is small.

Chartering a vessel for your group or event.

A charter gives you the utmost in privacy, exclusivity, and safety. For incentives or meetings at sea, you have the added plus of an environment that you control, so there are no concerns about a competitor being on board or participants going off-property and getting into accidents or (like you might find on a program at a resort). For a sold out city, special event or convention a “floating hotel” charter provides a unique solution that generates lots of buzz and excitement.

It gives you flexibility in designing the itinerary to suit your specific needs and objectives. On a charter, you can brand the program throughout the cruise without the ship’s staff having to balance concerns for the other passengers. This often means more creativity in customizing the itinerary, dressing up the ship and on-board functions as well as custom shore excursions for the group, plus you will find that you will receive more cooperation and care from the on-board staff and crew members if they only have your group to deal with.

Another plus a charter gives you is the flexibility you have with your numbers. Initially care has to be exercised in pinning down the maximum number of cruisers likely to participate as once you have commit to a charter you do not have to worry about penalties for downsizing the group, however,  if your group does grow then you have a problem as the ship can only accommodate a fixed number of passengers. But since  since the biggest headaches are always attrition, this removes one potential planning challenge.

Yes, but won’t it be very expensive?

It can be but it can also be very reasonable. It depends on many factors having to do with market conditions, the level of luxury you are looking for, the size of your group and other issues.

If you have some flexibility in sailing dates often we are able to obtain some very special rates.  Low season, slow periods or a cancelled charter will sometimes allow us to obtain some exciting pricing for whole ship charters.  Additionally, by buying the whole ship on a charter basis and taking the ship out of the companies inventory early on allows the cruise line to offer a per person per deim rate far below their brochure rate.  Sometime, if they already have a charter booked which is going to leave them with odd days left over or, the ship will be out of its usual area, an economical charter rate can be obtained to "fill-in" these periods. We are the specialist in this field and with our in-house connections frequently hear of opportunities which do not come onto the open market.  So as you can see a whole ship charter is not necessarily beyond your budget, call us, with our knowledge of the market we may find you what you want at a price that might surprise you.

How far in advance can I charter a ship?

The major cruise lines, generally set their itineraries one year in advance and then go to press with their glossy brochures. So, if a whole ship charter is your chosen option, we strongly advise you to make the decision well before that. If you want to design your own itinerary with specific embarkation and disembarkation ports, then the further out you commit the better your chance of obtaining what you want.  For private yachts of all sizes, there is less of a lead time required, unless you want a yacht for a specific high profile event, such as - the Cannes Film Festival, the Monaco Grand Prix etc.  in which case further out you can make your decision the better choice you will have additional, berthing at these events is extremely limited and has to be reserved many months in advance.

Cruise lines will in fact plan their ships itineraries around your charter if your charter is going to areas outside of their normal ports or operation.  For example, great opportunities for charters exist when a cruise line repositions a ship after the cruise brochure has been published. Providing the cruise line has not sold an excessive amount of passengers on the cruise date you want to charter, they will "buy" these passengers off.  This usually means offering them another date and some incentives by way of soft dollars or whatever.  The cost of the buy off will be added to your charter fee, so once the decision to move ahead is made, the sooner you contract the charter, the cheaper it will be.  However, there comes a point where the numbers do not work so the cruise line will not move those passengers in order to accommodate a charter.

What other issues do I need to be aware of?

You need to be fully aware of the commitment you are making.  A lot of work will go into the preparation and research of your charter both prior to contract and far more once you have committed.  Different cruise lines have different contracts, but all will be expecting you to pay for the charter regardless of what may happen prior to the sailing date. The cruise line, upon signature of the contract, will pull your cruise segment from its selling inventory. If you are customizing the itinerary, the line is building other cruise segments around your embarkation and disembarkation ports. So the penalties for cancellation are high, up to the full amount of the charter.  Many cruise lines will do "due diligence" to see if you really are able to meet the commitment.  Often they will require an irrevocable letter of credit for the whole of the charter fee.

With yacht charters it is important to be aware of the different contracts used.  Some, such as the MYBA (Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association) stipulate that ALL expenses related to your charter in the way of consumables (food, beverages, fuel, water berthing, all taxes, fees etc. which can amount to 25% or more of the charter fee) are additional to the charter fee, plus you will be expected to leave the crew a gratuity, which is today's age means something in the region of 15% of the charter fee depending on your satisfaction with the cruise. Beware of charter contracts that are loosely worded as you might end up having to pay for far more than you originally anticipated.

If you wish to receive more details about charter opportunities and to learn what ships might be suitable for your group please click here.

Current Charter Hot Dates/Cool Rates

For updated special charter values, please visit our web-site at the following - link