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

I'd want to know if it was their first time hosting. It really doesn't sound like something they want to do.
I couldn't be around people this uptight without wanting to rile them up in a lighthearted way.
Are you getting to relax at all?

What? No 3 is normal?
So it's normal to watch someone drying their hands in the their cabin, and straight away wipe up the drips of water? Seriously?

No. You assert yourself. You say "Please don't wag your finger at me" "Please don't talk to us like this" "Please stop policing every drop of water".
Instead of just rolling over.
Maybe the hosts will ignore, or maybe they'll think "hang on, these people actually don't take crap" and they'll lighten up.
Just being passive and accepting such treatment isn't good.

Hi @Itsgettinghotinere thought you might be interested in the following as I have a very close relative who captains cat charters (not in the same part of the world where you currently are, I hasten to add).

No shoes - absolutely, one of their strictest rules. Repeated reminders, totally unnecessary.

Dripping - this isn't about damage to the boat, it's a safety issue (easy to slip). It's easily addressed post-swim by wrapping a towel around you for 10 minutes. Drips on.tables etc shouldn't be an issue at all, you simply wipe them.up when you've finished eating/drinking like you would at.home. Standing over you, watching you is ridiculous.

Suncream - it is a problem but again easily resolved by asking you to use an allocated area for it. Not allowing it anywhere on the boat is completely unreasonable. Ignore that.

Also said relative always allows guests with a bit of knowledge (which you clearly have) to take the helm for a while or to help with the sails. He stops to allow for swimming/snorkelling/diving, the only qualifier being if the cat is in an area where this would be dangerous - in which case he would politely explain this and say he will.stop.as soon as he can. Why would you want to go to a water park for heaven's sake, you're at sea!

As.for the restaurants, completely unacceptable to put pressure on you like that. I think you would be perfectly entitled to reply that you couldn't really give a monkey's if it makes things 'awkward' for the crew, you will eat where you want to eat and refuse to pay inflated prices.

HTH

He was sat at the table with a plate, but he apparently needed to be literally over the top of it.

I have now spoken to the hostess - thank you for giving me a kick and making me see I’m not being unreasonable. I’ve said that they are making the holiday very tense and we cannot relax. I’ve said they do not need to repeat themselves and need to give us space to relax. I’ve also said if there are any issues then are to come and speak to me quietly and not to shout out every indiscretion they believe we are making.

We’ve been told we can now apply suncream on the boat as it’s so hot so let’s hope it worked.

It really does, thank you. Stupidly, we have all brought sailing gloves with us but there is absolutely no chance of us being allowed near a rope and that’s one I will raise with the charter company when I am home.

This is widly OTT. The whole point of a boat is to swim and use the boat to chill. Now rinsing off seawater as you come aboard would be usual, but not being completely dry. That's utter ridiculousness. As is the eating over a plate and entering your cabin to wipe the floor.

I would be leaving a scathing review to warn others. Talk about ruining a holiday.

Not his first time skippering at all but I think maybe hers hosting. They have one British family booked on, and the rest are all American.

The 1 and only review actually speaks volumes.

Glad to hear you’ve spoken to her , anything that affects safety on the boat obviously needs to be abided by , the rest of it sounds like they are very anal about their boat and totally unsuited to taking passengers

Thank you. Bread crumbs seem to be a big annoyance. It’s a shame because her cooking is fabulous.

My son said “Is it a good idea for us all to be in the water, what if they drive off?!” One man on the deck at all times now 🤣

oh go on...show us!

You're not wrong, Cathandkin, but then neither was SuePer is suggesting such people could make a very ugly scene on hearing anything they'd rather not, no matter how well phrased

Unless this is the latest in a series of complaints - in which case why is the boat still being advertised - I'm not sure what complaining to the charter company will do either. The owner/skipper will just tell a tale of nightmare guests accompanied by feral teenagers and hope he's believed

Possibly the only real thing to do is leave a very truthful review afterwards, and hope they don't have some method of getting it removed

No absolutely not normal - none of their behaviour is normal. You wouldn’t order a glass of wine at a restaurant and expect them to say “Careful not to spill it as I don’t want to be cleaning it up for hours” would you?!

Shoes off on a Cat is standard, the rest seems obsessive and unnecessary

I mean there is only 1 review (a positive one) so the lack of reviews given how busy they are speaks volumes.

I would be looking at a refund for how awful it has been.
But you need to email the charter now to get it in motion.
Having to ask them to stop shouting instructions at you repeatedly is unbelievable.

Will they be expecting a tip at the end like they always do on Below Deck?!!

Speak up now, you’ve spent a fortune on this holiday. They should be hosting you. Complain to them and the company. Do it calmly but you aren’t getting what you paid for.

I've been on a very lovely superyacht (as a guest-no way I could afford it.) My v young DD dropped a spoon that had spaghetti bolognese on it, on the very fluffy pale cream carpet.....the staff were amazing-they had a spray of something that froze the sauce so it could be cleaned up leaving no mess. No shoes is standard but the staff should be looking after you not berating you! A boat floating on the sea is obviously going to come into contact with water-thats what yacht varnish is for-to protect the wood....hope things improve for you

Well done. That's a result. You were assertive and got your points across 👍.
Let's hope the holiday improves.

That's not a holiday. That's like being at my mother's house.

She's spoken up. That's the right thing to do, even for he own self esteem. There has actually been a concession, so who knows!

Well done for speaking up. Hopefully things will improve somewhat going forward but I realise the damage is done at this point in terms of being able to relax and enjoy your holiday.

As everybody has stated, no this level of unnecessary rules is not normal on a boat charter. As you are fully aware, some are valid but they need to be presented in an acceptable manner.

We had a 20% tip ready but we have decided not to give it.