Chartering with a Hostess or Stewardess | Your Ultimate Guide
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Considering a Hostess or Stewardess for Your Next Yacht Charter?
Unlock the secrets to a seamless and luxurious sailing vacation! Explore our ultimate guide to chartering with a hostess or stewardess on your next yacht adventure. Discover how professional crew can elevate your journey.
For more essential chartering insights, you can read about how yacht charter works (new window), understand what qualifications are needed to charter a yacht (new window), and delve into chartering with a skipper (new window). Let’s dive into the details!
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Your Guide to Chartering with a Hostess or Stewardess
One of the finest ways to elevate your private yacht charter experience is by adding a professional host or stewardess to assist with the yacht’s day-to-day operations. While traditionally a role often held by women, we recognize that highly skilled men also excel in this profession, and the industry is evolving to reflect this. For the purpose of clarity in this guide, we’ll primarily use the term “hostess” while acknowledging the growing presence of male hosts.
Chartering with a hostess or yacht stewardess is a straightforward process, but understanding the nuances ensures a truly seamless vacation. Drawing from our extensive experience in luxury yacht charters, we’ve compiled the top 10 essential things you need to know before you hire a hostess for your dream sailing holiday.
This detailed guide will cover everything from their responsibilities and cost to tipping etiquette and qualifications, ensuring you’re fully informed about hiring a yacht hostess or stewardess for your charter.
- 1. What is the role of a yacht hostess or stewardess?
- 2. How much does it cost to hire a yacht hostess?
- 3. Who typically employs the yacht hostess?
- 4. What will your yacht hostess NOT do?
- 5. What duties will your yacht hostess perform?
- 6. How many hostesses or stewardesses do you need?
- 7. What is a yacht hostess’s typical salary?
- 8. How much should you tip your yacht stewardess?
- 9. Are yacht hostesses or stewardesses qualified?
- 10. How do you become a professional yacht stewardess?
1. What is the Role of a Yacht Hostess or Stewardess?
The role of a yacht hostess (often referred to as a yacht stewardess) is multifaceted, blending hospitality with crucial on-board support. Unlike definitions for aircraft or nightclubs, a yacht hostess actively assists in the day-to-day operations and guest enjoyment. They work diligently to cater to your crew’s needs throughout your yacht charter.
Primarily, they are there to assist the skipper or captain. Your safety remains their paramount concern. In this respect, most hostesses possess fundamental sailing knowledge and skills to effectively aid the skipper with their duties, ensuring a safe and smooth voyage.
Secondly, your hostess is responsible for the food and beverage service. This seamlessly integrates into your day, typically including breakfast service, lunch service, and an afternoon tea or sundowner service. They can also assist with supper or evening meal service. While continuously available, they will also manage other duties and take necessary breaks between service periods.
In general, you should anticipate a dedicated hostess to work for no more than eight hours a day, ensuring they remain energetic and attentive for your entire trip.
2. How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Yacht Hostess?
The first and most common question for those considering a more comfortable sailing vacation is, “How much does it cost to add a hostess to my yacht charter?” The daily rate for a professional yacht hostess can vary by region and seasonality.
Typically, we observe hostesses earning around €180 per day in European waters and approximately $200 per day for yacht charters in the Caribbean. These rates are usually for dedicated individuals hired as an add-on to a bareboat or smaller crewed charter. Remember, this daily fee covers their service, and additional costs like provisions or APA (Advanced Provisioning Allowance) will be separate.
3. Who Typically Employs Your Yacht Hostess or Stewardess?
Understanding who is actually responsible for hiring your yacht hostess or stewardess is a surprisingly useful piece of information when planning your charter. It helps set expectations regarding their employment status and responsibilities.
For larger, permanently crewed yacht charters (like superyachts), the crew, including the stewardess, are typically salaried employees of the charter operator or yacht owner. They often form a cohesive team, sometimes a couple, sharing designated crew cabins to maximize guest space.
However, if you’re chartering a bareboat yacht and opting to hire crew separately (such as a skipper and a hostess), it’s important to note that these individuals are generally self-employed. In most countries, legal and logistical requirements dictate that each crew member will need their own separate cabin on board. While exceptions exist, it’s best not to assume shared accommodations for independent crew.
Charter operators, like SailChecker, work with a vetted network of professional, self-employed hostesses and skippers. While they strive to connect you with the best available talent to protect their reputation, the direct employment relationship often lies between the guest and the individual crew member in these scenarios.
4. What Your Yacht Hostess WILL NOT Do on a Yacht Charter
Setting clear expectations for your yacht hostess’s duties is crucial to avoid any misunderstandings during your charter. While their role significantly enhances your trip, there are certain tasks they typically won’t perform. This list highlights common boundaries, though it’s important to remember that exact responsibilities can vary between operators and individual hostesses.
Here are six key things you will generally find your yacht hostess won’t do:
- Gourmet Cooking: Many hostesses are excellent at preparing simple breakfasts, light lunches, and arranging food service. However, they are generally not qualified chefs and will not prepare elaborate multi-course meals or complex culinary creations. For dedicated gourmet cooking, you would need to hire a yacht chef.
- Full Turn-Down Service: Unlike luxury hotels or larger superyachts, cabins on most charter yachts are often smaller and used for personal storage. While your hostess will maintain general tidiness in common areas, they typically won’t provide daily in-cabin turn-down service or extensive cabin cleaning during the week.
- Late-Night Tender Runs: Accessing shore for land-based activities is usually done via the yacht’s tender, operated by the skipper or hostess during the day and early evening. However, they are off-duty after a certain hour (typically late evening) and will not remain awake to shuttle guests back to the yacht from late-night excursions.
- Detailed Provisioning Planning: Your hostess will assist with the execution of provisioning (going to the supermarket and purchasing items you’ve chosen). They will not, however, typically plan out your entire menu or autonomously decide on complex provisioning lists based on dietary preferences and meal plans. That specialized task falls within a chef’s remit or requires a detailed pre-charter consultation with your broker. Many marinas offer pre-ordering services that your hostess can help coordinate.
- Being On-Call 24/7: A professional yacht hostess requires time to rest, recharge, and perform other essential duties. Expecting them to be on call throughout the entire day and night will lead to diminished performance and satisfaction. They operate on a structured work schedule, usually up to eight hours daily.
- Extensive Pre-Charter Client Support: Charter operations are intensive for the crew once the charter begins. To ensure their full attention is on your current trip, most operators handle pre-charter questions and detailed planning (like itinerary discussions or complex dietary requirements) through their office staff or broker until closer to your departure date. This protects the crew’s focus and ensures a fresh start for your vacation.
5. What Duties Will Your Yacht Hostess ACTUALLY Perform?
Having understood what your yacht hostess won’t do, let’s now highlight the fantastic services you can genuinely expect from them. A good hostess works tirelessly to ensure your comfort and enjoyment throughout your sailing vacation, making your crewed yacht charter truly special.
Here are 12 key duties you can expect when chartering with a hostess:
- Drinks and Beverage Service: Expect attentive and professional service, typically across four periods daily on higher-end charters. Even on mid-range charters, your hostess will ensure your preferred drinks are readily available and served efficiently.
- Breakfast Service: They will expertly lay out a delightful buffet-style breakfast, often with simple preparations like fresh coffee, juices, and pastries, allowing you to start your day relaxed.
- Lunch Service: Similar to breakfast, they will arrange and serve a light, buffet-style lunch, with minimal preparation, perfect for a midday break on board.
- Sundowners & Cocktails: Many hostesses are highly skilled in mixology! Be ready with your favorite drink preferences and look forward to expertly crafted sundowners as you watch the sunset from your yacht.
- Meal Service Support: If you have a chef onboard, your hostess will work seamlessly alongside them to serve meals. If you choose to cook your own meals, they will provide full support with setting the table, serving, and clearing up.
- Washing Up & Dishes: Yes, that essential task! It is almost always within the hostess’s remit to handle all washing up and cleaning after each meal service, keeping the galley tidy.
- General Housekeeping: Your hostess will diligently maintain the cleanliness and order of the yacht’s common areas throughout your charter, ensuring a pleasant environment.
- Light Cleaning: Within reason, the hostess will always clear down after service and assist the skipper in keeping the boat generally tidy. While they won’t perform deep cleans, they will help maintain a comfortable living space. Diplomacy and goodwill often come into play for tidying up after a particularly lively evening!
- Daytime Tender Runs Ashore: While they won’t stay up late, your hostess will operate the tender to transport you ashore for daytime activities, sightseeing, or early evening dinners.
- Concierge Services: Your hostess will be invaluable in assisting you with booking local restaurants, recommending attractions, arranging tours, and generally helping you make the most of your time ashore.
- Local Tour Guide Insights: They are likely very familiar with the local area, culture, and language. Expect them to be a willing and able resource for local tips, hidden gems, and navigating your surroundings.
- Purser (Managing APA): Your hostess (and sometimes the skipper) will manage the Advanced Provisioning Allowance (APA). This is a sum of money provided by you to cover incidental expenditures like mooring fees, fuel, and specific provisions, streamlining the process without daily requests for payment. You will always receive a full, transparent breakdown, and any unspent APA funds are returned. Learn more about what is an APA in our comprehensive guide.
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6. How Many Hostesses or Stewardesses Do You Need?
A common question when planning your luxury getaway is: “How many yacht hostesses or stewardesses will adequately serve my group?” On larger superyacht charters, the crew complement is pre-arranged and extensive, with specific staff-to-guest ratios typically provided.
For more mid-range yacht charters, where you might be adding crew services to a bareboat, it’s customary to hire just one dedicated hostess. However, based on our experience, once your group size exceeds 8 guests, we strongly recommend considering a second pair of helping hands. This ensures the highest level of service and comfort, providing the best possible experience for everyone onboard without overburdening your crew.
7. What is a Yacht Hostess's or Stewardess's Typical Salary?
Understanding the compensation for a yacht hostess or stewardess provides insight into the value of their professional service. Generally, independently hired hostesses will retain the majority or all of the fees you pay for their services.
This structure differs slightly from permanently salaried crew members on larger yachts, who receive a consistent income whether on charter or not, and typically benefit from larger tips. Some operators may retain a small percentage (around 15-20%) from independently hired hostesses for their administrative compensation, but this varies.
On a superyacht, a full-time yacht stewardess can expect to earn a monthly salary ranging from approximately $3,500 to $4,000, in addition to significant tips from appreciative guests, which are generally more substantial than on mid-range charters. These figures reflect the demanding nature and high level of service expected in the yachting industry.
8. How Much Should You Tip Your Yacht Stewardess or Hostess?
Determining the appropriate tip for your yacht stewardess (or hostess) on a yacht charter can depend on several factors, including the charter’s overall price, the cruising location, and the number of crew members. It’s worth noting that tipping percentages are generally higher in the Caribbean and North America, influenced by the strong tipping culture in those regions.
The Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association (MYBA) provides widely accepted tipping guidelines. Their general recommendation is to tip between 10% and 15% of your weekly charter fee, excluding any running expenses and taxes. We find this range to be a fair and customary gesture of appreciation for excellent service, though many satisfied clients choose to give more for exceptional experiences.
9. Are Yacht Hostesses or Stewardesses Qualified?
When considering chartering with a hostess, a common query is regarding their professional qualifications. The answer can vary: some hostesses are highly certified, while others may gain experience on the job.
At SailChecker, we prioritize professionalism. Our head charter hostess, Bethan, for example, has completed her STCW Basic Safety Training (STCW95), which is a fundamental requirement for anyone working on commercial yachts. If your hostess is part of a larger, permanently crewed yacht (like a superyacht), it is highly probable that they will have completed this and often other relevant qualifications.
However, if you are hiring a hostess separately for a smaller charter (e.g., a bareboat with added crew), it is less common for them to hold formal certifications like STCW. While experience is valuable, always inquire about their relevant training and certifications for your peace of mind.
10. How Do You Become a Professional Yacht Stewardess or Hostess?
Perhaps your interest in this guide stems from a desire to know: “How do you become a professional yacht stewardess or hostess?” It’s a rewarding career in the exciting world of luxury yachting. We’ve compiled an actionable eight-point plan to help aspiring professionals:
- Complete STCW Basic Safety Training: This is the fundamental, internationally recognized qualification required for all crew working on commercial vessels.
- Obtain Your ENG 1 Medical Certificate: A mandatory medical fitness certificate for seafarers.
- Ensure Travel Documents are Current: Keep your passport, relevant visas, and vaccinations meticulously up to date for international travel.
- Enroll in a Hospitality or Service Course: While a flower arranging course is mentioned, any formal training in high-end hospitality, fine dining service, or bartending will significantly enhance your resume.
- Secure Food Hygiene Training: Essential for handling food safely on board and a standard requirement.
- Register with Reputable Crewing Agencies: Connect with specialized yachting recruitment agencies that can help you find suitable positions.
- Gain a Sailing or Boating Qualification: While not always mandatory for hostesses, basic sailing knowledge (e.g., RYA Competent Crew) demonstrates your commitment to the maritime environment and is highly beneficial for assisting the skipper.
- Thorough Industry Research: Continuously research yachting destinations, types of charters, crew etiquette, and industry trends to stay informed and competitive. Network within the yachting community.
Any Further Questions on Chartering with a Hostess or Stewardess?
Have you had an experience chartering with a hostess or a professional yacht stewardess? We’d love to hear your thoughts and insights in the comments below.
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