Chartering a yacht with crew.

You should also be aware of the charter terms for any vessel you book. Oil, Fuel consumables etc are all able to be charged under some contracts

Actually it does nothave to be that expensive in the Med. There are good offers starting from 25k in the 70ft range. Of course selecting the right cruising ground for your ideas of what your holiday is supposed to offer is essential.

Sounds like one of those standard cruises they offer down there. Those do their standard tour with guests on a fixed intineary with the next clients allready waiting at the dock on arrival. Not much flexibility in that.

This should have read "winds can pick up in June" and don't stop until October. Greece is the windiest place I've ever cruised, in general. When the wind is light, it's one of the most stunning places on earth. When the wind is blowing, it's exhausting! I've been here cruising since June 1, and am really looking forward to a couple of nights on a dock and then heading west!

My family and I have chartered a handful of times and each experience is new and different, but there are some common themes (not in any particular order):

1. Everything is negotiable, so in regards to your points #5 & #6, that's something that is part of the itinerary and should be discussed and agreed to ahead of time. If they aren't willing to, go elsewhere. The exception here might be the weather, which absolutely can put the brakes on specific plans. That's not something you can control. As an example, we once chartered a boat in the southern Exumas and had plans to do some island hopping but the weather just didn't cooperate during that time of year and we ended up basically in the same location the entire week. Not what we wanted, but we had a fantastic crew who more than made up for it and had a great time anyway.
2. Everyone has their own idea about what constitutes a fun charter cruise. Some want to be in marinas every night, some what to be on the hook every night, some want a little of both. Some want 5* black tie dining, some want family style buffets, some want snorkeling, some want shopping...It really should be up to you and the Captain to determine your itinerary and what you are looking for. If your Captain/charter company is being rigid and not wanting to discuss those details, go elsewhere.
3. It can be a lot of fun, but there's a part of being on a charter/yacht cruise that's just "going with the flow" to a degree. First, you really have to like being on the water, but also know the weather can impact everything, or you might have thought one spot would be great for a couple nights and it ends up sucking so you have to pivot to another plan. It's all part of the experience. I would definitely get with a charter broker you feel like you can trust and have them be your advocate and help you through the process of putting a trip together. They have lots of knowledge and experience and know many of the boats, captains, crews and locations.

I get the charter thing, it's just you and your family, perhaps some friends. That said when we did Autobahn Adventures through Europe, this one to be exact https://autobahnadventures.com/driving-tours/monaco-grand-prix-tour-2022-1/, we discovered cruising for the first time aboard Azamara. We ended up for the Monaco Grand Prix, where I saw a boat in the harbor and thought that it must be a private yacht. It was in fact a Ponant boat, Le Jacques-Cartier that we saw in the harbor. During Autobahn adventures we met some wonderful people, there were twenty cars in our group, who in fact where chartering two yachts when they got home. One was owned and just sold by a good friend of all things, Sea Axis, a Heesen, and the other one was around the same size. If one will not do, charter two!

Anyway, since that time we have done Silversea, Viking, and two Ponant Cruises. I really like the small feel of Ponant. We did Malta to Nice, and just did all of New Zealand and Australia. Viking was on the Explorer class Octantis to see the Great Lakes, Milwalkee to Toronto, which was really cool to see how great the Great Lakes really are. We are scheduled to do Autobahn adventures again, seeing Monza, the Temple of Speed, and Italian Grand Prix in September, and then Venice to Athens on the new Silver Ray. https://autobahnadventures.com/driving-tours/4-country-adventure/

Anyway, I do like to charter, but I find that 120 to 160 on Ponant to be just fine. There is plenty of room on the boat and you never feel crowned. There are all levels of success here, and you live once, and at the end it will suck, I think we all know that. So by all means find that Charter and go. I should have been doing these things long ago.

Here are just a few pictures from our first Autobahn adventures. While everyone was doing their thing, my wife and I dove over 1,500 miles on the great passes and road. We also toped 175 on the autobahn, something I don't plan to do again. There are a few spots left for the trip we are on if anyone is interested. I just watched the movie Grand Prix from 1966, as it ends in Monza and I am a sucker for nostalgia. You can watch this on youtube of all things, for free with a premium account. I was surprised by just how well done this was, and we are looking forward to experiencing Monza, the oldest and fastest European GP. Watch it on your smart TV if interested.

Here is where we discovered Ponant, sitting in the Harbor with Azamara in the background. Who where was in the harbor on their yacht..someone I am sure!

One more thing I liked about Ponant, was access to the bridge. I was surprised they kept a hand written daily log, and used all of the paper charts, and other nautical hand skills for plotting etc in this day of redundant electronics. Was very interesting to see how all of this works. I'm not sure this is allowed, but the captain one night even allowed my wife to blow the horn lol.

This is our sister ship going the other way around, and one of sounds. Milford I think.