Christmas on board a superyacht

If you are a crew member on a yacht you may well be away from home on the big day, 25th December. In an ideal world, the crew would be given the day off and the captain would organise something special or different for them to do wherever the yacht may be docked!

In reality, however, the winter holiday period is a popular time for organising a luxury yacht charter, to relax and enjoy an extravagant and different Christmas family gathering. Whilst this is wonderful for the family and friends on board, spare a thought for the hard-working crew who will be striving to ensure that their guests have the most special day.

Our top tips should help to make it a happy and fun day for everyone on board.

Top tips for surviving Christmas on board:

• Wear Christmas jumpers – if all the crew are wearing some festive knitwear (or a festive accessory if you are somewhere very tropical!) it will give you a sense of unity and increased Christmas spirit. The guests will also appreciate the extra effort you have gone to in order to make it special for them.
• Decorate – have a competition with your crew mates as to who can decorate your door or cabin in the most festive way.
• Gifts – if you’re a senior crew member or captain, organise a small gift for everyone on your team to make them feel valued.
• Secret Santa – another popular idea is to give presents via a ‘secret Santa’ where everyone buys for just one other person with a set spending limit. This is always a fun and often humorous way of exchanging gifts, especially if one of the crew dresses up as Santa to hand out the gifts!
• Christmas food – after your duties are over share a delicious Christmas meal with your crew ‘family’ – this could be the ideal time to exchange your secret Santa present. In reality, this may actually take place on a different day depending on your duties and hours on the 25th itself.
• Alternative Christmas – and of course make sure you set a different date to celebrate (in November or January perhaps) with your real family and friends back home so that you don’t feel like you are completely missing out.