Chartering a motor yacht or a sailing vessel is nothing like being stuck on a cruise ship with the same itinerary as 1,500 other people. Your personalized charter lets you decide what beaches and sights to see and which activities you want to do and when. It is all about personalized service that has been totally tailored to your preferences and likes.

Steps in booking a yacht

Personalized service
Once you have chosen a motor yacht or sailing vessel and secured the dates for your vacation we will send you the necessary paperwork to reserve and personalize your charter. We will ask you to complete a questionnaire that will detail your preferences, special needs as well as dietary and medical requirements. This will help our professional staff design and personalized your itinerary and daily activities. Your captain and crew know the area well, whether at sea or ashore, and will recommend the best places for activities such as fishing, scuba diving or snorkeling. They can also suggest the best secluded beaches for sunbathing, the best lively harbor town to shop, dine or even where to go night clubbing. The crew will take total care of you by preparing your gourmet meals, mixing your cocktails and assisting you with activities and equipment as you travel to and from different islands – they will make sure that you have the best time possible.

Understanding your preferences allows us to pay close attention to personalized details so please let us know all your likes and dislikes.

1. Once you have decided on a motor yacht or sailing vessel and notified us with your preferred cruising dates, we will then put an " option" on the boat. Assuming that the boat of your choice is available during the dates you have selected, this option will secure the boat for 48 hours giving us time to prepare and send you the necessary paperwork.

2. We will send you a contract for you to review and sign that contains a full disclosure of costs for your chosen chartered yacht. At this point an initial deposit of 50% of the yacht charter fee is required unless the charter dates are less than 30 days in advance at which point payment in full is required.

3. With your dates and deposit secured and your charter confirmed we will then start working with you to personalizing your Bahamas yacht charter. You will then receive a questionnaire to fill out with your preferences for food and beverage, activities and any other likes and dislikes that will help us to better personalizing your chartered vacation.

4. Once Bahamas Boat has received your questionnaire we will arrange a call between you and your crew so that you can discuss and arrange every detail of your vacation. We will also help you to arrange your flights and transfers to and from the Bahamas , limousine service and any other travel needs you may have.

5. Lastly, the balance of your Bahamas sailing charter is due 45 days prior to your charter date as well as the funds to cover the Advanced Provisioning Allowance ( APA ) .

Explanation of charter fees and other expenses

Sailing charters
The rates quoted on our website are ‘All Inclusive’ rates and are usually quoted according to the number of guests.
All Inclusive rates include meals, beverages including standard Bahamas Bar, fuel, ice, water sports.

Additional fees: dockage and marina fees, transfers, cruising taxes and communication fees are extra.

Motor yacht charters
The rates quoted for motor yacht charters do not include the following running expenses:

Running expenses:
All expenses related to the charter, food, bar, fuel, dockage, port taxes are for the Charterer’s expense.  This cost usually averages out at 30% of the base charter rate.  A 30% Advanced Provisioning Allowance (APA) is sent to the yacht ahead of time together with your preferences and the crew will use this to provision the yacht.  The Captain will present a full accounting to you at the end of the charter.  Any balance will be refunded.  If the expenses run over the APA then you will need to take care of the balance before disembarkation.

Taxes:
Bahamian tax is 4% and it is added on top of the charter fee.

Gratuity:
Keep in mind the gratuities (10 - 20% of the charter rate) are at the charters discretion and are not mandatory but recommended. For crewed charters it is customary to leave a 10-15% gratuity which is usually handed to the captain at the end of the charter.

Payment policy:
An initial reservation deposit of 50% of the charter fee is required to reserve the yacht of your choice and the balance is due forty-five days prior to departure. At that time you will also be asked to send funds to cover the Advanced Provisioning Allowance ( APA ), for a motor yacht charter. The payments are done by bank wire transfer and will be held by the yacht's main agent in an escrow account until just before the charter date.