The Floating Lunch, Costed: Chef, Provisions and the APA
Direct answer
On a crewed yacht with a chef aboard, lunch comes through the APA at cost — provisioning typically runs €60–120 per head for a generous spread, plus drinks. On a dayboat without a chef, lunch is a catering order or a beach-club tender run. Either way it's billed at cost, not marked up.
Skip ahead — the office handles the rest
The lunch at anchor — long, slow, eaten in a swimsuit with the swim platform down — is the part of a charter people describe afterwards. It is also the part with the murkiest pricing, because it does not sit in the charter fee. It sits in the APA, the advance allowance the crew spend on your behalf at cost. Here is what fills it.
What lunch costs, by setup
| Line | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Chef (where aboard) | Within the crewed charter fee |
| Provisioning — generous lunch | €60–120 per head |
| Wine & soft drinks | At cost, by consumption |
| Champagne (on request) | By bottle, at cost |
| Dayboat catering order | €40–90 per head, delivered |
| Beach-club lunch by tender | Club à la carte + tender run |
Three ways the lunch happens
- Chef aboard — the larger yachts. Breakfast, lunch and canapés are planned to your brief and cooked underway.
- Catering delivered — dayboats. A prepared spread loaded before you board; no galley required.
- Beach club by tender — anchor off, tender in to a table at Blue Marlin, Beso or Juan y Andrea, tender back.
Office note
The single most useful thing you can send the office is the dietary brief — allergies, what the children eat, the one person who only wants a tomato salad. Sent ahead, it disappears into the provisioning and you never think about it again.
People also ask
Frequently asked
- Is a chef included in a yacht charter?
- On crewed yachts large enough to carry one, the chef is part of the crew and included in the charter fee — you pay for the food they cook through the APA at cost. Smaller dayboats don't carry a chef; lunch is catered in or taken ashore by tender.
- What is the APA?
- The Advance Provisioning Allowance — a fund (typically 25–35% of the charter fee) you pay up front and the crew spend at cost on fuel, food, drinks and dockage. Anything unspent is returned at the end of the charter.
The Office
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