What is the difference between a fully crewed and captain-only charter?

Chris de Kock
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

On a fully crewed charter you are a guest; on a captain-only charter you are the crew. Crewed means captain plus chef: meals cooked, cabins made, bar stocked, toys launched. Captain-only gives you a professional at the helm while provisioning, cooking, and dishes stay with your group.

The BVI is the world capital of the crewed catamaran with chef, and the price gap to captain-only is smaller here than most guests expect, especially on all-inclusive boats where provisioning is already inside the price. In our experience the crewed version is what people picture when they imagine this vacation, and it is worth stretching for.

If the numbers do not work, talk to us before settling: a slightly smaller crewed cat or different dates often closes the gap without losing the chef.