How Much Does a Gulet Charter Cost?

What Moves the Price

Six things account for most of the gap between two quotes:

• Length and cabins. A longer gulet has more cabins, larger cabins and more deck and dining space, and it costs more to crew and run. More cabins also means more guests to share the rate.
• Build and refit. A recent build or a thorough refit often brings air-conditioned cabins, roomier bathrooms and newer equipment, and owners price that in. An older gulet that has been well kept can still be the better buy.
• Crew size and service level. A smaller gulet may sail with a captain, a cook and a deckhand; a larger one can add a dedicated chef, more stewards and extra deck crew. A higher crew-to-guest ratio and a more ambitious kitchen both raise the rate.
• Destination. Rates differ by country and by base port, reflecting local running costs, regulation and demand. The rates table splits gulet prices by country so you can compare them directly.
• Season. July and August cost the most. The shoulder months, May, June, September and October, are typically 15 to 25% below them.
• One-way or round trip. A charter that finishes somewhere other than where it started can carry a repositioning fee, explained further down.

What the Weekly Rate Includes

The weekly rate normally covers the gulet and its standard equipment, the crew, linen and towels, the yacht's insurance and basic onboard service. Non-motorised water toys such as paddleboards, kayaks and snorkelling gear are included where the gulet carries them. Some gulets also include a fuel allowance, set out in the charter terms, often as a number of engine hours per day or a standard route.

Meals are where gulets differ most. Some include breakfast, lunch and dinner cooked aboard in the weekly rate. Others charge a food package priced per person, or run an APA or provisioning arrangement from which food is bought to your order. A rate that includes meals and one that does not cannot be compared until you add the food back, so check the inclusion list for the specific gulet before setting two quotes side by side.

Drinks are usually extra whichever model the gulet uses. Some boats keep a stocked bar and settle the tab at the end of the week; on others drinks are bought to your order and paid for from the APA.

How an APA Works

An Advance Provisioning Allowance, or APA, is money you pay ahead of the charter to cover running costs that depend on how you use the week. It is usually set as a percentage of the charter fee and paid with the balance, before you board. The captain draws on it during the charter for whatever the agreement puts under it: typically food and drinks bought to your order, fuel, and port and marina fees.

The APA is not a fee and not a tip. It is your money held on account. The captain keeps receipts for every purchase, and if spending runs ahead of the allowance during the week, may ask you for a top-up. Near the end of the charter, usually on the last evening, the captain goes through the accounts with you, receipts included. If you spent more than the APA, you pay the difference on board; anything left unspent is returned to you.

APAs are common on motor yachts and less so on gulets, many of which sell meals as a per-person food package and include a fuel allowance instead. Some gulets use an APA for part of the running costs only, such as food and drinks, with fuel and ports in the rate or on separate lines. The qualifier on the rates table mentions APA because the table covers every yacht type; your quote says whether your gulet uses one and what it covers.

A Worked Example: Eight Guests or Twelve

Take a six-cabin gulet that sleeps twelve, booked for a week in June. With twelve guests aboard, each person's share of the charter fee is one twelfth of the weekly rate, which is what the per-person column in the rates table assumes. With eight guests on the same boat, each share is one eighth. Twelve divided by eight is one and a half, so each of the eight pays half as much again as each of the twelve would, for the same boat, crew and week.

The extras behave differently. Fuel and port fees depend on the route, not the headcount, so they split like the charter fee and fall per person as the group grows. A gratuity set as a percentage of the charter fee works the same way. Food and drink are the exception: they scale with the number of guests, so a per-person food package costs each guest the same whatever the group size. Overall the larger group pays noticeably less each, though not a full third less, because food and drink do not shrink.

The same arithmetic helps when choosing between boats. A gulet that sleeps twelve has to cost more than half as much again as one that sleeps eight before a full group of twelve pays more each than a full group of eight. The per-person figures in the rates table, including the length breakdown, let you check this across sizes. The catch is the word full: an empty cabin costs the same as an occupied one, so pick a gulet that matches your group rather than the largest one you could fill on paper.

How a Gulet Quote Is Laid Out

A written quote should set out the full cost of the week line by line, so you can see what is fixed and what depends on how you use the boat. A complete gulet quote normally covers:

• The gulet, your dates, the embarkation and disembarkation ports and the number of guests.
• The weekly charter fee, with any early-booking or seasonal discount shown separately.
• What the fee includes: crew, meals or not, any fuel allowance and water toys.
• Provisioning: meals included, a per-person food package, or an APA and what it covers.
• Estimated or itemised extras: fuel beyond any allowance, port and marina fees, local taxes.
• Any repositioning fee for a one-way route.
• VAT, stated as included or added.
• Payment terms: deposit, balance and APA due dates, and any refundable security deposit.
• Exclusions such as the crew gratuity, transfers and excursions.