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

Sailing must be amazing to put up with even half of this.

Same
I’ve done a few week long Turkish Gullet charters with friends and family and also cabin only charters where you Just rent the cabin and your with a mixture other guests who have done the same

the crew were always lovely and helpful

I'm glad you spoke to the hostess, their attitude and behaviour is atrocious. I would leave a review so scathing it would burn their eyeballs.

were you made to go barefoot?

We honestly have no issue going barefoot- it’s actually lovely and not at all slippery. It’s the constant shouting as though we’re walking in 6 inch heels that is making us feel like we’re being watched the whole time.

Oh the heads!
Childhood trauma.
We had friends in Malta who had a modest gin palace type boat and invited us all for the day. Boat was tied up in Valletta harbour when we joined. I (about age 10) needed the loo - I honestly thought I was going for a pee. But suddenly had a bout of diarrhoea. Obviously used lots of loo roll and then pumped away at the heads.
As the boat pulled away there was trail of loo roll in its wake! The owners were outraged. Mum was mortified. I was in disgrace and far too embarrassed to plead my case. 😂😂😂

I cannot fathom being on a holiday and tolerating this.
Even my ridiculously placid husband wouldn't tolerate this.
Being shouted at? By anyone??
They are behaving like this because OP/husband, unfortunately did not push back hard.

A first day "WTF?" would have reigned them in.

yes but they should not be requiring it

Sorry OP, this sounds awful! We did a 3 day charter in Croatia a couple of years ago and as said earlier, no shoes is absolutely normal on the boats. Apart from that, they are being incredibly unreasonable and rude.

You are paying for a service you are not receiving. I would email head office now and explain that you are being shouted at and watched over by the host. Explain how you have not received the offer of drone, sailing and that they have been pushing you to have time off the boat and booking unsuitable restaurants.

Then give them a solution ...explain dietary preferences and request them to book appropriately. Then either a refund or a transfer with a different boat.

You can buy boat safe sunscreen that doesn't damage the deck surface.

The owners ought to have provided it.

But the concept of sunscreen upsetting boat owners really isn't that out there.

Have you been on a teak deck @godmum56 ? It actually feels very natural under bare feet and gives a good grip as the boat yaws and pitches.
The surface is usually impeccable because - well, uptight boat owners, as we are seeing!

The hosts forced them to leave that review because they creased the bedsheets when they slept.

My DH was a charter skipper on a big catamaran for some years. I helped him in the Canaries over two winters. This sounds very extreme indeed - ridiculously so. The only thing we really bothered about (apart from essential safety, obviously) was not blocking up the sea toilets which DH had to then unblock and not having long showers when water had to be booked on some islands. I always had to give 'the talk' to the women! In the event, the only person to block the loos was a man, cleaning his camera lens with a big wodge of kitchen towel and stuffing it down the loo. However, we didn't own the boat and I have seen some very weird owners in my time. Your hosts shouldn't be chartering. We made friendships that have lasted over years.

Still, this is supposed to be a luxury holiday. I am sure bare feet are fine if the customers are happy with it....but surely within reason, the customer should not have stuff enforced on them?

I don't remember it being an issue. I grew up around boats and automatically either put on appropriate footwear or am barefoot as soon as I'm on as that's just good boat etiquette. But like I said, the crew could not have been lovelier or more accommodating. I don't remember them 'making' us do anything - although being barefoot on a boat is a very relaxing experience.

Bare feet is the norm on the most luxe of yachts

I do remember getting off the boat at the end and putting real shoes on and being very depressed about it. Being basically shoeless for a week is a very freeing experience.

That’s the problem definitely you’re in her ‘house’ and that’s not what you had booked at all x that’s an extortionate amount of money on dinner x I’d consider abandoning the boat and staying somewhere cheap and cheerful x we are in Croatia now too x

We owned a 40ft sailing boat. No shoes on deck or inside is absolutely normal, we did the same always.

Suncream gets all over the cushions and doesn't come out despite laundering, so I totally understand where they're coming from. In fairness very few people sit in the direct sun these days.

Dripping water over the teak decks is pretty awful. Would you walk into your home dripping wet onto your unvarnished wood floor?

The eating thing, it sounds as though you or your children are dropping food. Clearly you haven't experienced skippered charters before, but all this is very normal on a well maintained boat. I suspect there are aspects of your behaviour that make you poor guests.

No, you wouldn't walk into your home dripping wet, however this is a boat. On the sea. People swim.
If it's not suitable for holiday makers it shouldn't be sold as such.

They are nuts - I've chartered plenty of boats and have never had this. Shoes off is standard - they don't know if your boat shoes are only ever worn on boats or if you like to wear them to Tesco on a Sunday, so it's safer for all to ban them. You can grip better in bare feet, anyway.

As for the itinerary & restaurants - this should be entirely up to you. If places needed to be booked in advance, they should have given you options. This is YOUR holiday, you're paying, and you decide.

Spray sun creams are a menace, but they shouldn't object to normal cream ones (especially if they didn't provide them) and you should be able to sit about it swimwear on non-fabric seats. God forbid the wind should get up and a bit of sea should splash their precious seating!

I'd complain heartily and demand money back - it sounds very stressful.

Oh - and at the end, you can tell them that unfortunately you were forced to spend their tip in the stupidly expensive restaurant that you didn't ask to go to. Ah well.

b ut to require it on a holiday charter? What if the person is unable to go barefoot? I get having deck shoes specifically for wearing on the boat and barefeet being a choice but to REQUIRE it?

but that's your. boat your choices. Did you do charter work?

If you want to and are able to.