Crews on charter yachts usually rise to the occasion to celebrate a birthday, wedding, or anniversary. They bake beautiful birthday cakes; they pop champagne; they prepare a ‘romantic couples’ dinner; It all depends on what guests like and request. A yacht charter is like renting a house with a private chef, or it’s a retreat vacation that has a private chef. So by all means let the crew know how you like to celebrate and how you like to have fun. It’s common in the Virgin Islands to don pirate costumes and go out to party at night, as the place has lots of pirate history, and the place has become what people have made it. Yachts often have costume trunks….or guests bring their own T-shirts for the occasion…. The Mediterranean is not as casual, obviously. The dress-style there is quite formal, rather. The Bahamas and New England….? Other crews do International Night, where they serve a Mexican dinner, for instance, and dress ship accordingly; they might serve that meal wearing a Sombrera hat and offer up Margaritas. On Facebook this week one of the crews posted a photo of six yachts all rafted up on a honeymoon charter, showing a cruise in tandem…. No doubt, picnic lunches and kayak races are being planned among the different yachts involved.
Crews like to have fun and have found endless ways to be creative. Another captain has a portable projector which on a very still night he projects onto the raised sails at anchor and shows a movie that everyone in the harbor can enjoy, like Casablanca, King Kong, or La La Land….your choice! Another uses resources ashore to advise him when the turtles are hatching on a nearby beach, so guests can watch the turtles crawl to sea…. Others do wellness cruises, yoga paddleboarding, nutrition cruises, scuba diving cruises. One yacht has those lighted cubes that they release up into the air at dusk, so guests can watch the cubes float up into the atmosphere. Many entertain guests with their drones, which have cameras in them…. Some crews share their knowledge of fish and how they live underwater; yachts have underwater cameras to lend guests. Others use their GPS to hunt for treasure on the beach. Many specialize in kitesurfing. Others do fishing and make sushi.
Captains give their guests options for the various activities available in each port, whether it be a horseback riding, or a nature walk along the coast, a beach bar…..you can select which activity interests you, or you can stay aboard all day and relax and unwind. Many people opt for the latter option, myself included. Itineraries are not planned until after you arrive when the captain pulls out the charts and shows you what the options are. We just plan the beginning and ending dates and ports and let the captain do the rest.
