An inside look at why charters can be a great vacation option for families and couples alike
Ann Ruppenstein
Don’t let the show Below Deck fool you. Charter operations are quite different from the drama that unfolds on the binge-worthy reality TV series.
“The popular TV show Below Deck gives the wrong impression for some people of what this vacation is like — in the show they present high maintenance guests with extravagant demands. It does not project the reality of what to expect on a yacht charter,” Nim and Fabiola Hirschhorn tell Travel Courier. “We like to say that our charters are ‘An Adventure of a Lifetime.’ We have many guests who say that this has been their best vacation ever and it’s hard for them to top it, so some of them book with us again or refer us to their friends.”
The pair run a 45 foot 2019 charter catamaran based out of the USVI, offering six + night charters to couples, families and groups of up to six. As an added perk on Sail LUNA, the award winning chefs and mixologists serve up some memorable meals and cocktails for their guests as they set out to explore the Caribbean.
Travel Courier caught up with Nim and Fabiola to share details on how they work with agents, how bookings are booming despite of the pandemic, common misconceptions and much more!
First off, let’s get into how the season is going this year. Is pent up demand translating into bookings?
We, and other charter yachts around us in the USVI, had a very good season. We felt a high demand for this type of vacation, a private all-inclusive yacht charter. We are fully booked for this season and had to refer potential clients who contacted us to other yachts. Now it’s already the end of this season, but two months ago, we already felt that most of the yachts were booked, and it was very hard to find availability.
Before the pandemic, clients liked to plan and book a year, and sometimes more than a year, in advance. Even more so for premium or peak of the season weeks. Since the pandemic, we feel a big change in the client’s booking habits. It moved from planning a long time ahead to booking at the last minute. We have had many inquiries asking for last minute bookings — a few were two-four weeks out and we had a few inquiries for the next week. It seems that it is somewhat going back to normal. We have more and more bookings for next season — next summer.
We believe that with the increase of vaccinated people and the decrease of COVID-19 cases, more and more people are thinking of travelling and are starting to plan. I assume that there is less uncertainty than we had at the beginning of the pandemic. This helps potential clients be more relaxed and worry less, allowing them to have confidence that they can plan and keep their travel plans.
Is there anything surprising or notable about the comeback of travel?
Yes, as mentioned before, we see that more and more people tend to plan for future trips and the type of vacation that is all-inclusive and private, is exactly the type of vacation that is relevant and popular during these times. It allows you to be in a safe and controlled environment with your private group and have the flexibility of choosing to keep your social distance.
We are based in the USVI. Before the pandemic we used to have all-inclusive crewed charters that usually go between the USVI and the BVI. Since the pandemic started, the borders of the BVI have been closed to charter yachts entering from the USVI.
One of the biggest changes is that the USVI suddenly became the popular and most wanted destination for charter yachts. Even the big bareboat yacht charter companies moved many yachts from the BVI to the USVI and built new bases in the USVI. The USVI became an easy and popular yachting destination, since it is a US territory, the flights are domestic flights, there is no need for a passport or crossing borders. We believe the USVI will remain a popular yacht charter destination even after the borders of the BVI reopen.
The two most popular destinations in the past few months are the USVI and the Bahamas. We have had many inquiries for charters in the Bahamas and in the USVI. We believe that the main reason for this is that there are not many cases of COVID in these islands plus the relaxed and easy entry protocols.
As mentioned before, the USVI is a US territory and therefore it’s a domestic flight [for American travellers]. All you need to enter the territory is a negative COVID test that’s not older than five days. The entry protocol to the Bahamas is also easy and does not require quarantine, as required in many other destinations.
Many of our readers are travel agents and trade professionals. Can you share some information about how Sail LUNA works with them?
We (Sail LUNA) are used to working with yacht charter brokers and with travel agents. Any travel agent or yacht charter broker can contact us directly or to our preferred yacht charter broker (Sail Play Dine Yacht Charters). We will help the travel agent with the booking process. All travel agents will get their commissions when they choose to work directly with us or through our preferred yacht charter broker.
For many reasons, recently this type of vacation is becoming more popular than ever. In part it is due to the fact that more and more people get to experience this type of vacation and share it with their friends and families that in turn will consider it for themselves. The increase in social media use in our lives and the ease of sharing media helps a lot. We tend to see more guests sharing their experience and many of their friends contact us just because they follow them on social media and they “want the same”. The views and photos are amazing! The food is great! And it’s easy to like it or want to experience something similar.
Other reasons are that this vacation is a good (and probably much better) alternative to cruise ships as it is much more exclusive, private, and safe.
Some other changes we noticed are the last-minute bookings, USVI and Bahamas as two top destinations and demand for large groups (the larger the group, the average cost per person usually decreases).
The USVI is a US territory, therefore flights to the USVI are domestic flights and the federal laws and regulations apply. The territory was closed for tourists between mid-March, 2020 to June 1, 2020.
Since the territory reopened for tourists, we were able to book almost immediately all the available weeks we had in the calendar before we sailed down islands for hurricane season. This season 2020-2021 we have had a super successful and busy season mainly because we are based in the USVI. Easy access to Americans and one of the most popular yacht charter destinations in the world.
Yes – we have had a charter with kids, the girl was terrified of the water, she was really afraid to swim and snorkel. I’m a Divemaster, I took her with me and showed her that snorkeling and swimming is not scary and it’s actually easy and fun. It turned out the next few days she was jumping into the water and was the first at every stop to enter the water and go snorkeling. She really liked it and overcame her fears.
We have young guests and sometimes even adults tell us they are picky eaters and are not used to eating veggies or other good and fresh food that Fabiola is cooking. One of our best success stories is a kid who asked his mother at the end of the charter if Fabi could go with them back home since he likes her food so much. He loved her food and ate all that she served like an adult with no special “kids” food even though the mother told us beforehand that he was a very picky eater.
Yes, for the 2021-2022 season we have limited availability as many weeks are already booked. We also decided to listen to our guests and have a small/ mini season in the Bahamas. We will be chartering November 2021 – May 2022 in the Virgin Islands and have limited availability for charters in the Bahamas between the end of May – beginning of July 2022. We are looking into the option of offering small/mini seasons every year in a different destination to allow past and new guests to explore other top Caribbean destinations with us.
