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

Yes, I agree, and I mentioned in my middle sentence that they should really have provided it - especially if it said in the packing list it would be provided.

They are taking the piss. €650 for dinner for 4 is complete extortion.

They are also incredibly rude, how dare they tell you to eat over your plates - as if you were dogs!

Personally, I would contact the whoever you chartered it through and request to end the arrangement and a refund for whatever time you have left. Then find a nice hotel for the rest of the holiday.

Surely boats are designed to get wet because they are, well, boats...

I'd be tempted to leave a literal trail of breadcrumbs on leaving, leading then to a note telling them exactly why you've left early. Petty - absolutely, but by this point I wouldn't care.

We own an historically significant coastal house near a famous beach. It's been renovated and preserved to a very high standard, with expensive art, antique floors and costly furniture. We treat it carefully. You know what we don't do? Hire it out to holiday makers for money. If you own a boat so precious it can't get wet, just maybe not hiring it out is the smarter way to go?

Goodness me this is absolutely bonkers!! The positive is that you’re going to bond over it as a family and will have many family phrases and memories to laugh about after.

The poor hostess would have kittens looking at how we treat our boat. I let the children go INSIDE whilst damp to warm up, don’t give 2 shits about suncream (although it’s the UK so we don’t wear it really) and there’s only so much you can tell young kids not to drop crumbs. Deck shoes are also allowed on the deck, god forbid!

Exactly!!
If you want to be precious about something that's absolutely fine. But utterly daft to hire it out

I would be leaving so many crumbs everywhere. Telling lots of arm waving style stories with toast on my hands at breakfast and taking it back to the cabin eating along the way. They are just being lazy- they don't want to clean.

They are being horrifically rude and you deserve a refund for them spoiling the trip. I completely understand why you feel unable to say anything with them being in such close quarters but you do sound like absolute pushovers.

The can have rules, but they should have been mentioned before booking and them mentioned once on the initial meeting and not again. Shouting shoes at guests who've yet to break the shoes rule and pas ag mopping up drips is so obnoxious. You shouldn't know they're there unless you need them. They're your staff for the week not your nanny.

God I quite liked the sound of this holiday, so much so I googled the cost, but if this is normal - no sunscreen, stay in the shade, can swim but have to dry off before coming back, forced to eat at expensive restaurants and constantly told off - sounds miserable. I’ll give it a miss

The rules are all based around cleanliness and tidiness. Space is at a premium and it's important everything is kept clean and hygienic.

Sounds like the cleanest, tidiest, and most hygienic option would be to not rent it out for a lot of money to guests, then?

Haha I think you (rather topically) jumped the shark with this one 😀

If you really want to pi$s them off start brushing your long hair in the cabins or heads. Hair in the bilges is awful to deal with! (And dangerous)
sounds like you have chosen a charter with a livaboard couple - they’re probably short of cash and doing this out of necessity.
such a shame to have this experience. We did a charter out of Naples and the skipper was so lazy he never wanted to put the sails up. We didn’t give him much choice in the end and also insisted on nights on anchor much to his annoyance. I got some pretty nasty food poisoning as a result 🤮

Which is why you need to get in there first, and make a complaint NOW

I've only been on a chartered yacht once. My experience was very different. The skipper owned the boat and was strict but fair. He definitely gave out a few shouts at times but also sat around with us at night drinking, encouraged us to help out (whether we wanted to or not) and gave us a really great experience.

Tbh I can't see how your trip could get more uncomfortable and terse. So therefore, I'd complain. This is an expensive trip and you should be the one getting what you want.

Its clear the suggestions of day trips is to minimise your time on THEIR boat. This is wrong on so many levels and I cannot for the life of me understand why you felt obliged to go to an expensive restaurant a SECOND time.

Act like an assertive adult or this trip is simply not going to improve.

OMG I would hate this and yet you've paid for the privilege!

I would say yes we know (to shoes) yes we know to spillage, yes we know to dripping etc. Just keep saying yes we know every time. They may reply we're reminding you, to which I'd say I'm being clear, I am on holiday, I paid for this trip and am walking on eggshells because of your unnecessary reminders, so I repeat we know the rules stop making out we are disrespectful, we're not. And BTW where's the sun screen, you can't expect us to be out on the water with no sunscreen. This is included in the price.

I would also complain profusely. They should be able to manage any issue spillage etc on the boat...

This is appalling op! I really feel for you.

Friends of ours, experienced sailors with their own boat, have moved it from Croatia, as their coast seems to be a machine purely for pumping money out of holidaymakers and sucking out the joy. Even simple meals were outrageously expensive, as were charges for stopping anywhere. It sounds like you paid for a service, only to be treated like an inconvenience. YANBU. I expect the charter company were getting massive backhanders from your restaurant bookings.

What a lousy way to spend your holiday. ☹️

A seriously honest review is in order. You may spare another family from a similarly miserable experience.

Yes to this.

Also, take photos of every square inch of the boat the day you leave, just to avoid any false claims of damage or counterclaims that you were messy nightmares.

Maybe that's why they've only got one review! 😱

OP how have you not lost your tempers already with all the other stress you’ve had in your life?!

Complain NOW - I would be inclined to not pay for the full trip given the terrible service and as a result ruined holiday and experience. Stand your ground. Speak up.

Do you care about them liking you or how they might react if you speak up when they already clearly don’t give af?!

Complain and zero tip plus bad review. Appalling.

I don't want to be rude but this just shows your ignorance around the use of a Catamaran and I suspect have not been on one, which is fine. The rules are there for safety and to ensure the boat isn't needing to be taken out of action as a result of careless behaviour. Others have already mentioned slipping on water, so what about dropped suncream? Pretty slippery isn't it? Ever dropped and left suncream on a fabric, probably not but it stains if left. On a Catamaran the people whose boat it is will not be waiting around to clean up at all times, they will be working sailing, navigating, managing the sails, they may be anchoring, they may be sorting out freshwater, cleaning cabins, organising and planning the day. It is a very busy role they can not be monitoring guests all day so rules and following them are important.Food hygiene is vital as rats on board are a real issue and again will take the Catamaran out of action to resolve. These things are chartered for the whole season normally, if they are taken out of action to resolve sloppy unnecessary behavior then it affects the next booking. These vessels are not hotels.

For all we know the repeating of instructions may be down to someone in the group not following them.

In this instance, you are hired to provide an expensive holiday experience to paying customers. You are not running a day camp for toddlers. If it's a no frills, we don't have enough staff to do what needs to be done and still provide our paying customers with a luxurious experience, we expect them to stay out of the way and fall into line, it should be billed and priced as such.

If you own or sail catamarans you are free to abide by whatever rules you choose. If you are taking paying customers on holiday, if you can't provide the promised experience that they've paid for, you don't deserve to stay in business or keep your reputation intact.

This sounds so unrelaxing and intrusive.
I would disembark when possible with my family and belongings and book into a nice hotel.
and make a full strongly worded complaint

I am absolutely horrified about a once daily application of suncream! At sea! Outrageous.

Oh dear. Assumptions abound. I’ve been on a catamaran (specifically!) many times. The issue here isn’t the rules, but the heavy handed way they’re being foisted on the people that are already following them.

You don’t sound rude, but you do sound extremely patronising to the point I feel a little embarrassed for you.