Is this level of strictness normal on a private catamaran charter?

[Itsgettinghotinere]

We’re currently on a private catamaran charter in Croatia. For the most part, the week has been great, the Islands are beautiful and it’s been wonderful to see so many different places.

That said, I’m not sure if our experience of our skipper and hostess is usual or not…

We planned a sailing holiday as we wanted to do an activity holiday with our teens. I’ve sailed and grew up with small pleasure boats. We made this clear when we booked via the charter company and specifically listed it on our preference list. The preference list also stipulates that learning to sail is one of the possible options. We have not been allowed near the helm let alone sail! To be fair, the wind has been minimal so we’ve been under engine all week but yesterday would have been perfect but no, we are not allowed.

We are also not allowed to:

1. wear shoes on the boat. We know this however our hostess constantly shouts “shoes, shoes, shoes” at us as soon as we walk on to the sugar scoops! Every time. Without fail.
2. Sit on any outside seating while wet from swimming. When swimming we have to stay at the front of the cat until we dry off. I’m referring to the all weather outside seating. It’s making it very difficult as we’re not allowed to get any water while we swim as were might drip on the teak.
3. We are not allowed to drip anything anywhere: my husband was washing his hands in our cabin but the cabin door was open. While drying his hands some water dripped on the floor and our host saw and immediately came into our cabin and dried up the 3 spots.
4. We are told to eat over our plates. Our teens are 14 and 13 so it’s not as though food is dropping everywhere. My son was told to eat his watermelon over the plate as our host didn’t want to spend her time cleaning after him. We are not allowed to leave any crumbs on the table and look out if any accidentally end up on a cushion (out door cushion).
5. One evening my husband had a glass of red wine and it came with a warning not to spill any.
6. They have made restaurant bookings ahead for us which is fine for the most part but one was very expensive- (€650) and we only had two drinks each. The next evening was the same so we said we’d like to move our booking to a different restaurant and was told that it would make things awkward for them, they wouldn’t honour future bookings maybe and we ended up eating there.

There are other instances like this. The obsession with everything being clean all the time. We are very clean, tidy and respectful people. We just feel like we’re intruding on their boat.

While I’ve typed this I’ve been told we can only apply sunscreen off the boat, nowhere on the boat as apparently the front is full of sunscreen! I make us all stand on the front and apply sun cream. We don’t use sprays and I’m very careful about applying it. But it’s not enough and now we can’t use sunscreen unless we’re in the harbour or on land! In fact, our packing list said sun cream would be provided as they understandably want to use creams that won’t damage the boat. We arrived to find none so I suspect they prefer guests don’t use anything.

We’re walking on eggshells and just don’t feel welcome. Is this normal behaviour? I’d like to hear from those who had chartered before. Thank you

Sod that for a "holiday." No thanks.

What, even eating over plates and not applying sunscreen....?!

TBH I would leave the boat and go to a nice-ish hotel until the flight home. But then I absolutely loathe sailing after a childhood spent cruising in my parents' boat so it's not like I would be trying to make the best of a holiday that I wanted to go on, I would be constantly looking for an excuse to escape.

Teak decks are very grippy (and should in fact be washed down with sea water regularly to ensure the deck planks stay nice and tight, so I am baffled at them insisting on keeping them bone dry)...

But shoes you've worn on land will likely have little bits of grit and sand in them and that will scratch wood, so no shoes on deck, you'd have plenty of grip with bare feet.

Some people keep shoes just for on the boat, but potentially reminding people to change from one set of shoes to another is a pain and its harder to check if they are wearing 'land' shoes vs 'boat' shoes.

As you leave, say "we were going to leave you a tip, but unfortunately we had to use it to cover the cost of that outrageously expensive restaurant you booked us into".

This sounds horrible, and very expensive to be treated like tiny, naughty children the whole time.

No shoes, fine - but literally everything else is fucking awful.

I feel like either - this isn't actually their boat and the actual owner does not know they're doing this or, it IS their boat.. but they are only doing this under duress as they can't afford to keep the boat any other way.

Is it the decks they're insisting must stay dry - teak decks should be washed down with sea water daily, so that seems very weird. Anything that shouldn't get wet should be varnished or painted.

V good advice. You are the clients. They sound unbelievably rude. I wonder if it’s their first season doing this. It may well be their last if they carry on like that.

I’m not being insensitive to your situation OP. I hope now you have had a word things will improve

but where could I find a charter / holiday like this, I have no clue where to start

I have no sailing experience at all but a big birthday is in the horizon and told myself I’d do something different with my adult kids.

Thanks

And definitely no tip!

Just google sailing holidays Croatia

My experience of a private charter only comes from watching Below Deck and that all seems quite normal.

Maybe buy your own boat?

I do wish I had these type of problems - with respect!

It’s a private charter. It’s right fhefe in the op. There are no other guests.

this…

boats which have a grip surface you would wear shoes - usually boat shoes and that is normal in the leisure category eg a 40 foot sailing yacht, would be likely to be a plastic surface with grit embedded in it to give grip and shoes on and off is normal…

move into the luxury sector and you get teak decks - and it is the grit that is the issue, so if you come from ashore and bring on one bit of grit you can seriously damage a deck surface - walking from one end of a super yacht to the other with grit in your shoes can do £500k damage to the deck - the figures are mind-boggling…

the super yachts we have been on, you can wear shoes on board, but they must be brought on board brand new and then only used on board, you have other shoes for going ashore, and lockers by the gang plank to change…

the other things are nonsense, suncream would be provided in wicker baskets to make sure you are always putting it on, staff will bring you food to eat anywhere (and cake and drinks were always available), decks were hosed down regularly, no issue getting water anywhere, including on the carpets in the lounge (you try not to out of politeness but it happens) and with the number of watersports happening, water gets everywhere… most will have freshwater showers on deck near the garage to wash yourself off having been out on the jetski or other toys… so the concept of no water on board is totally ridiculous…

I have relatives in the Balkans. I've no experience of boats, but folk there don't wear their shoes indoors - slippers or socks.

Having said that, visitors (particularly foreign visitors) are often excused.

The rest of the stuff is nuts.

A local would probably have footwear reserved for the boat alone.

I love Below Deck and that's not normal at all - the guests are treated like kings, even when they're being so messy that they leave poo in the shower and fanny pads stuck to the walls!
When have you ever seen a charter when the guests are barked at, told how to eat their meals or that they can't apply sunblock?

It's not about shoes indoors.
The OP knows they have to take shoes off to go on the boat deck!
It's just the rude shouting about it that's the problem.

This does not sound far off the mark tbf! When we are allowed to step a toe on DD's boat she makes us sit on the floor lest we scuff the furnishings. When the owner, or charter guests are on, anything (really anything!) goes. I can just imagine how she would be if sub-letting. Tyrannical!

That's what I thought...especially if its paying guests. I was quite shocked to read about the insistence on bare feet and about others saying its normal?

We have been on a similar holiday this year with Sail Croatia. I was surprised that they did not have a no shoes rule - I think loads of boats do.

I have sailing experience and asked about helping out but was told I should just relax so that was a no go. We also only had one sail up once all week.

No rules about eating/sun cream or dripping. In fact they seemed very relaxed when we got out from our swim stops and didn’t really even say we should shower off when we got back onboard. We had snacks whenever we wanted and lots of the chocolate wafer things which we could eat wherever.

We had a couple of restaurant recommendations but definitely free choice about whether we wanted to go apart from one which came with the docking included and most nights we wandered off and found our own.

I think the relationship is a bit awkward when you are so living so closely together and they are working and you are on holiday but you have been pretty unlucky. It really doesn’t sound very relaxing. Our guys were professional and not overly friendly but we were able to chill out. No teak on our catamaran though!

Complain to the charter company in the strongest possible terms now because it will be far more difficult to get them to listen once you have come home.

How many more days have you got to go? For such an expensive holiday, I would be thoroughly pissed off.

And the next time she yells “shoes, shoes, shoes” I would be BELLLOWING back “I KNOW!!!”

They sound like terrible hosts.
We had big boats most of our marriage and hosted family usually. It's a boat it gets wet, you clean once everyone is off. We didn't allow shoes either, but deck shoes are a must. Water got on the teak, it's normal. Dh would fully refinish the teak every couple of years, it's part and parcel of boat ownership.
I remember someone saying boats are a hole in the water that you throw money in.
They cost a lot to buy and a lot to maintain.
Start complaining back and refuse to knuckle under, book where you want to eat, no kickback is a them problem.
Remind them you are paying a lot of money for this holiday, if they don't want anyone of their boat it shouldn't be available to rent.

I understand that most people who sail "nice" boats do this and my mate who charters boats for business hospitality says that its normal to expect deck shoes of some kind to be worn unless its just a day thing and the guests will just sit around under an awning and quaff champagne. Even then the deck where they sit will have a rug put down.

It's interesting what you say about the close-quarters awkward relationship, because I'd be really conscious of that, probably to the point where I'd find it hard to relax.
I think I'd possibly prefer a small cruise ship and other people, just from an anonymity point of view.

Don't be nasty. A)this is obviously nothing like below deck b) obviously a boat is out of the question for the OP
If you've nothing nice to say...

I think that may be where some of us are getting confused. My understanding is that the "owners" of the boat the OP is on require bare feet, but you and other boat folk are saying "no shoes" but then "deck shoes"