A yacht is, from a child’s point of view, close to a perfect object: a swimming pool that moves, a slide into the sea, somewhere to sleep that is also somewhere to explore. It is also a hard-edged environment with an open perimeter. Almost everything that determines whether a family charter works is decided before embarkation, in the choice of boat and the shape of the itinerary.
The boat first
Three features matter more than any others. Guardrail netting along the entire deck perimeter — many yachts have it in a locker and will fit it before arrival if asked, but almost none fit it unasked. A swim platform at water level, which turns the sea into something a six-year-old can enter and leave unaided. And shade: a covered aft deck matters far more with children than with adults, because they will be outside at two in the afternoon whether or not that was the plan.
Cabin layout comes next. Children should be adjacent to their parents, ideally on the same level; a cabin two decks below is unusable with anyone under about ten. Bunk configurations exist on many yachts and are frequently the best solution for siblings.
- Netting — is it aboard, and will it be fitted before embarkation?
- Cabin adjacency — can the children be next to the parents, on the same deck?
- Life jackets — in the correct sizes, not the smallest adult ones.
- Crew experience with children — a stewardess who has done family charters is worth a great deal.
- Toys by age — a seabob is not for a seven-year-old; an inflatable platform is.
- Nanny cabin — available, and at what cost to the guest count?
The itinerary changes shape
With children on board, legs get shorter and anchorages get calmer. The Riviera happens to be ideal for this: the Îles de Lérins, Villefranche, the eastern side of the Cap d’Antibes and Golfe-Juan are all within ninety minutes of one another and all offer flat water. Plan to move in the morning while the sea is calm and the children are freshest, and to be anchored by lunch.
Resist the temptation to cover distance. A week that moves twice and swims for six days is a far better family charter than one that visits nine places. Our day cruise itineraries give the shorter routes that work well.
We charter for families every season and know which crews are good with children.
The preference sheet, for children
Fill it as carefully for them as for yourself. What they eat and, more usefully, what they will refuse. Whether they eat at six or with the adults at nine. Allergies, in writing, twice. Sleep times, so the crew know when the aft deck needs to be quiet. And any equipment you need aboard — cot, high chair, bottle steriliser, blackout for a cabin porthole — all of which most yachts will source if given two weeks’ notice.
Days one and two
Expect an adjustment. The first day is often slightly chaotic: new space, new rules, a crew who are strangers. By the second morning most children have found their pattern, usually involving the swim platform and one crew member they have decided upon. Good crews accelerate this deliberately — a tour of the bridge on the first afternoon does more for a nine-year-old’s week than any toy on board.
Set two rules on the first day and hold them: no going aft without an adult, and life jackets in the tender always, including the ninety-second trip to the beach.
Ashore
Break the week with land. Beach clubs with shallow water at Pampelonne, the walk on Sainte-Marguerite, a morning at the Marineland-style attractions near Antibes if the ages call for it. The point of anchoring near the coast is that the shore remains an option, and children benefit from a day off the boat more than adults do. Our guide to the beach clubs of the coast flags the ones that genuinely welcome families.
A word on nannies
A qualified nanny transforms a family charter, and the arithmetic is simple: she occupies a cabin, and on a yacht with a twelve-guest ceiling she may occupy a place. Raise it early. On larger yachts a crew berth is often available, which solves it. If a nanny is not practical, ask instead whether the yacht’s stewardess is comfortable with children — several are excellent, and it is the sort of thing a broker who knows the crews personally can tell you before you charter rather than after.