What does a crewed yacht charter include?

Short answer. A crewed charter in the Grenadines includes the yacht, a professional captain and chef living aboard, all meals prepared on board, soft drinks and a standard bar, snorkelling gear and water toys, bed linen and towels, and fuel for normal cruising expenses. What sits outside the rate is usually called an APA and for European based boats this can include fuel and provisioning allowance, marina fees, park and mooring fees, customs. Crew gratuity tends to be additional to all quotations. .

What is included

The crew. A captain and a chef on a 45–52ft catamaran; add a stewardess or deckhand on larger yachts. They live aboard in their own quarters, run the boat, cook, clean, service the cabins daily and plan the route around what you want to do.

All meals on board. Typically breakfast, lunch, canapés and dinner every day, cooked to a preference sheet you fill in a few weeks before. Most guests eat ashore one or two evenings — tell the chef and they will plan around it.

Drinks. A standard bar: beer, house wine, spirits, mixers, soft drinks and water. Champagne and premium spirits are usually charged extra or bought through APA.

Water toys. Paddleboards, snorkelling gear, kayaks and fishing gear as standard. Larger yachts add seabobs, e-foils, wakeboards and a faster tender.

Everything domestic. Linen, towels, beach towels, cabin service, laundry mid-week on most boats, and the entire washing-up problem solved.

Fuel for normal cruising on most sailing yachts, plus the yacht's insurance and safety equipment.

What is not included

APA (Advance Provisioning Allowance) on yachts quoted "plus APA" — typically 25–30% of the charter fee, paid before boarding. It is your money held by the captain to cover food, drink, fuel, dockage, park and mooring fees, with a full accounting at the end and the balance returned to you.

Meals ashore. The lobster BBQ on Petit Bateau, dinner at Basil's, lunch at Jack's on Bequia.

Marina berths and moorings. Mustique moorings around US $85 a night, Tobago Cays park fees per person per night, Sandy Lane marina by the foot.

Crew gratuity. Customary at 15%-20% of the charter fee, entirely at your discretion and paid at the end if the crew have made the week.

Flights, transfers and travel insurance, and any special requests such as a private chef ashore, a photographer or a proposal set-up — all of which we will happily arrange.

All-inclusive versus plus-APA

Smaller crewed catamarans in the Grenadines are often quoted all-inclusive: one price covering everything except gratuity and meals ashore. Larger and European yachts may follow the Mediterranean convention of plus APA. All-inclusive is easier to budget; plus-APA is more transparent because unspent money comes back. Neither is a trick — just ask which one a quote is, and we will tell you the realistic total either way.

What a day actually looks like

Coffee and fruit on deck around seven, cooked breakfast when everyone surfaces. A short sail mid-morning to the next anchorage while the crew tidy the cabins. Swim, snorkel or paddleboard before a lunch served on the aft deck. Afternoons ashore, in a hammock, or towed behind the tender. Canapés and a rum punch at sunset, dinner under the stars around eight, and someone else clears it away.

That is the honest difference between a crewed charter and a bareboat: not the sailing, which is wonderful either way, but the fact that nobody in your group is responsible for anything.

See our luxury crewed charter page for the yachts we book most often, and the cost guide for what a crewed week costs in 2026–27.