We all know about support yachts, shadow vessels, however we call them. They extend the capacity of a yacht, carrying toys, tenders, more exotic equipment and sometimes a few extra guests, a video team, musicians… the sky is the limit.
Now, suppose you have a big family, or you want to organise a cruise with your C-suite staff and their families or… If for any reason your party is more than 12 guests, you need to charter a passenger yacht. That is a yacht able to accommodate between 12 and 36 guests.
Curiously enough, most of the passenger yacht available for charter are of a “moderate” size (say 60 to 80m, Flying Fox and Christina O being notable exceptions). So if you want to splash and impress, rent out a fantastic, recent and extremely large yacht, your party is likely to be limited to 12. Even Flying Fox, at 143m, can only take 25 guests. The yacht itself does have the space for entertaining, sport, leisure and fine dining for over 50 people, only no accommodation.
The solution is renting a passenger yacht, relatively cheaper than your mother ship. She will provide very nice accommodation and ample facilities for your extra guests outside of your social program. She will provide sleeping spaces, breakfast, snacks and bar service at all times, and even meals if and when. She has toys and tenders for entertainment, and the level of service is as nice as on the mother ship, only in marginally less space.
The captain of the mother yacht will have to make arrangements with the flag to ensure it is OK to host the whole party as day guests, but that is usually no problem.
Nice examples of passenger yachts can be found in most broker sites by selecting “12+” guest. Of course, if the party is very large, one may have to think about chartering a small luxury passenger ship. That is normally less easy as the charter will have to fit into the ship’s regular cruising schedule and location, and has to be planned way in advance.
