Skippered or crewed comes down to one question: do you want someone to sail the yacht, or someone to run the whole holiday? A skippered charter gives you a professional at the helm and leaves everything else to you. A crewed charter adds a team that cooks, cleans and looks after the guests as well as the boat.
In both cases nobody in your group needs a sailing licence, which is the main point of difference from bareboat. If that is still the open question, start with whether you need a licence to charter in Greece. The rest of this page is about what changes around the sailing.
| Skippered | Crewed | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sails | A professional skipper | A captain, with the crew on deck |
| Who cooks | You, or you eat ashore. A hostess or chef can be added. | The crew, with the meal plan set by the yacht |
| Cleaning | You keep the yacht tidy | Daily cleaning by the crew |
| Space | The skipper lives aboard and uses a berth | On larger yachts the crew have their own quarters |
| Best for | Groups who want to be involved and keep the budget in check | Groups who want a hotel level of service at sea |
Skippered
On a skippered charter you hire the yacht and a professional skipper who sails it for you. The skipper is responsible for the boat and its safety, and you are responsible for your own holiday.
In practice the skipper navigates, plans each day around the weather and sea, handles docking and mooring and keeps an eye on the forecast. A good skipper also knows where to anchor for the night, which beach is worth the detour and which taverna is still open in September. If you want to take the helm or learn to trim a sail, most skippers are happy to teach.
Everything that is not sailing stays with you: shopping, cooking, washing up and keeping the saloon livable. Many groups like it that way, because it keeps the week relaxed and informal and the cost lower. A skippered yacht charter in Greece comes with the yacht, a licensed skipper, safety equipment, bed linen and a dinghy, and you can add a provisioning service so the groceries are on board when you arrive.
It helps to be clear about what a skipper is not. The skipper is not a cook, a cleaner or a guide for every hour of the day, and a good one will make that plain in a friendly way on the first evening. Agreeing early on how meals, shopping and the daily plan will work keeps the week easy for everyone on board.
Crewed
A crewed charter puts a full team on board. The captain sails the yacht, and the rest of the crew look after you, so the week runs more like a small private hotel than a self-catering holiday.
Depending on the yacht, the crew can include a captain, a hostess or stewardess, a chef and a deckhand. They cook and serve, clean the cabins and the deck every day, drive the tender, set up the water toys and help with mooring. You decide where you want to go and when you want to eat, and they make it happen around the weather.
A crewed yacht charter in Greece is usually on a larger motor yacht, catamaran or sailing yacht, chosen for comfort as much as for sailing. For a sense of the rhythm, see a day on a crewed charter, hour by hour.
The size of the crew follows the size of the yacht. A crewed catamaran may sail with a captain and a hostess who also cooks, while a larger motor yacht can carry a separate chef, stewardess and deckhand. The more crew, the more the week can be shaped around your own timetable.
Who does the cooking
This is the difference most groups feel first. On a skippered charter, the galley is yours. On a crewed charter, it belongs to the crew.
With a skipper, most groups make breakfast and a simple lunch on board and eat dinner ashore. The skipper usually joins in at mealtimes or eats ashore on their own, and it is worth agreeing at the start how meals will work for them. If nobody wants to cook, a hostess or a private chef can be added to a skippered charter as an extra, which turns it into something close to a crewed week on a smaller yacht.
With a crew, meals are part of the service, but the meal plan varies from yacht to yacht. Many crewed charters include breakfast and lunch, others offer full board or a private chef. Ask what is included before you book, and send the crew your preferences and any allergies in advance.
Cabins and space
On a skippered charter the skipper lives on board for the week, so one berth goes to them. On a yacht that is already full, that can mean choosing a larger boat or one fewer guest.
On a crewed charter the yachts are usually larger, and on most of them the crew have their own quarters, so the guest cabins stay for guests. On smaller crewed yachts, ask where the crew sleep, because it affects how much of the boat feels yours.
Privacy is part of the same question. With a skipper there is one extra person on board who will step back when you want space. With a crew there are several, trained to be present when needed and invisible when not.
Cost difference
A crewed charter costs more than a skippered one, because you are paying for a team and a service, not just for the yacht and the person sailing it.
On a skippered charter the price is the yacht plus the skipper, and fuel, marina fees, provisioning and optional extras are usually charged on top. On a crewed charter the larger yacht and the crew are built into the price, and what is added on top depends on the yacht and the meal plan. On crewed charters a tip for the crew at the end of the week is also customary.
The size of the gap depends on the season, the yacht and the length of the trip, so the honest comparison is two quotations for the same dates. Our guide to what a yacht charter in Greece costs explains what moves the number.
Which suits your group
If you want to be part of the sailing and do not mind cooking, choose skippered. If you want the week handled for you, choose crewed.
A quick way to decide
- Choose skippered if your group wants to help sail, learn something and keep things informal, and is happy to shop and cook.
- Choose skippered if budget matters more than service, and dinner ashore every night sounds like part of the fun.
- Choose crewed if nobody wants to cook or clean, and the point of the week is rest.
- Choose crewed for a celebration, a group with several generations or a family with young children, where extra hands on board make a real difference.
Families with small children often find that a crew changes the week completely, because the adults can watch the swim ladder instead of the stove. Our guide to chartering with children covers that choice in more detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a crewed yacht charter?
A charter where the yacht comes with a professional captain and crew who sail it, cook, clean and look after the guests. Depending on the yacht, the crew can include a hostess, a chef and a deckhand. No licence or sailing experience is needed.
How much should you tip a yacht crew?
Tipping is customary on crewed charters and is at the guests’ discretion. It is usually handed to the captain at the end of the week to share with the crew. Ask us what is usual for the yacht you book.
Sources
- European Boating Association, Yacht chartering guide. https://eba.eu.com/wp-content/uploads/site-documents/regulatory-docs/EBA-Yacht-charter-guide-130411.pdf
- Royal Yachting Association, Holidays on the water. https://www.rya.org.uk/blog/holiday-on-water
- Wikipedia, Yacht charter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yacht_charter
- Dockwalk, Here’s the Lowdown on Yacht Crew Tipping. https://dockwalk.com/crewlife/yacht-crew-tipping-guidelines
Tell us your dates, your group and how much you want to do yourselves, and we will come back with skippered and crewed options side by side.
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