The Yacht Week, wow! The trip, well experience, of a lifetime! Unlike most adventures, The Yacht Week is not a single event that only happens once a year. Instead, it’s a week long epic boat party that is stretched out throughout several months in your choice of either Croatia, Greece, Montenegro or BVI Caribbean. It’s up to you to decide which week you’d like to go and in which country. Being that Croatia is the ORIGINAL route, I felt that it was only right to start what could be a series of adventures where it all started.
Pick A Route
The Yacht Week Croatia is here to make life harder on you by giving you not one, not two, but THREE different routes to choose from. Due to an increasingly large interest in sailing (and partying on) the Adriatic sea, one route is not enough. They now offer the black, the red and the Ultra route.
The black and red routes are identical, except they operate in different directions. The black route is not only the best route (based off of public opinion), but it’s the original route. There are typically 30-50 boats sailing this route, which currently makes it the most popular out of the three. My group decided to go on this route, and we did not regret it AT ALL.
The red route is the newest Croatian Route that sails from Dubrovnik to Trogir. Since it’s still new, it typically has about 20-25 boats sailing this route, making it the least popular amongst the three.
Croatia Ultra is the wildest route out of the three. If you’ve ever been to the world famous Ultra Music Festival and want to relive all the madness while sailing the seas in between sets, then this is the route for you. This wild route is similar in popularity as the black route and typically has about 30-50 boats sailing.
Cabin Vs. Yacht
Each yacht accommodates approximately between 6 to 12 people. The main difference between choosing a cabin or a yacht is whether or not you’re planning on filling the cabins on the yacht with your own crew or if you’d like TYW’s talent to place you (and your cabin crew mate) on a boat with strangers, who will end up becoming family. Each yacht has 3-5 cabins depending on the size, and if you decide to go with the entire yacht package, then it will be your responsibility to find crew members to fill those cabins.
One thing to note is that TYW prefers to keep an equal gender ratio on each yacht, so if it’s uneven then there may be an additional penalty charge.
My crew consisted of 4 mermaids, so we decided to go with the cabin option. We purchased 2 cabins on a standard yacht, which ended up being one of the smaller yachts, but we were okay with that. We were crewed up with 4 mermen from Australia and the funnest (not biased, I promise) skipper from South Africa.
To Hostess Or Not To Hostess
Having a hostess throughout the week is optional, and to be honest – a tough decision. It really all depends on whether or not you plan on eating full meals throughout the week.
What does a hostess do? A hostess is pretty much a live-in culinary genius. They will shop for you and prepare ALL breakfasts, lunches and TWO dinners throughout the week.
Considering the fact that we were living in our bathing suits for a week, our group opted out of paying the extra money for a host. We knew that we would want to have a light breakfast and lunch and then go out and have dinner in town every day. When we first arrived, we had to wait a few hours before being let on board, so our group got together and went grocery shopping as a whole. We bought daily lunch supplies, including hamburger patties, pasta, taco meat, etc., and split that cost amongst each other evenly. It turned out to be around $35 per person for 8 people. Not bad at all. We then each separately bought our own personal stash of snacks and alcohol, which also was not too expensive.
One thing we had to consider was to make sure our skipper was fed every meal throughout the entire week. Yes, that is YOUR responsibility. So although we split the cost evenly between 8 people, we made sure we had enough food to feed a group of 9 people for each meal. We also took turns making breakfast for our skipper every day, which mainly consisted of scrambled eggs – so that wasn’t too hard.
Overall, I’m glad we didn’t splurge on a hostess. Although, if you’re the type to rather be pampered, then spending a little extra money for one isn’t a bad idea.
Packing
Not exaggerating, but how you pack for the week will make you or break you.. or your toes. The cabins on each yacht are TINY and are a shared space between two people, so it’s important to pack smart and light. First rule of thumb when packing – NO HARD SUITCASES. Your luggage needs to stay in your assigned cabin, so be smart with the size and material used. The best type of luggage to use is a duffel bag that can easily be folded and placed under your mattress. I had a couple of tight layover flights before and after TYW that I didn’t want to risk missing any due to having to check in a bag, so I opted for this spacious Olympia 8-pocket carry-on duffel from Amazon.
Second rule of thumb – BE ORGANIZED and understand that a box of Ziploc Freezer bags is your best friend and will possibly be your savior.
Confused? Don’t worry – I’ll explain.
Day 8, TYW smartphone app, releases a daily itinerary of where you’ll be on each day and what type of events are lined up for that day. So based off of that you can pretty much figure out which outfits you’ll need for each day. There’s no need to over pack because it’s likely that you’ll be in your bathing suits all day, every day and sometimes even throughout the night.
Ziploc bags are going to make your getting ready process a lot easier. They are like packing cubes except better because you can suction the air out of them to make more room in your duffel. Each one of my freezer bags was labeled in permanent marker by day and held 3 outfits: a bathing suit, a daytime outfit for possible land expeditions and a night-time party outfit. I separated my toiletries by putting my face, body and shower materials into smaller freezer bags. I ended up packing the toiletries bags in my duffel pockets to keep them separate from my clothes. Once I got to my cabin, I was able to unpack my duffel and place each Ziploc bag in order by day on our shelf, which made it easier for me to get dressed every day.
Side note: You most likely will not be able to use any hair dryers or irons on board, so I’d recommend saving room in your luggage by not packing any. Instead, bring hair creams and other hair essentials that’ll keep the daily natural look looking fresh to death.
Budget
Budgeting in real life is hard, but budgeting for TYW is even harder. To be honest, it’s hard to figure out exactly how much money you’ll need throughout the week, but if you play it smart then you won’t need much.
Aside from spending money for the week, you’ll need Yacht deposit money and Kitty Pool money – both are due in cash upon arrival.
Yacht Deposit – This amount differs depending on the size of your yacht. If you rented a Catamaran yacht for the week, it could be thousands of dollars per person. Our yacht was the standard basic option, so our deposit was only €375 per person. Since TYW is originally a European company, the deposit had to be paid in EURO’s and it was given to our skipper on the first day. Keep in mind that if you don’t break anything on the yacht, you’ll get your deposit back at the end of the trip.
The currency used for everything else is Croatian Kuna (HRK). Since my national currency is USD, I was required to exchange my cash into Euro and then from Euro to Kuna. To avoid additional exchange rate fees, try to go to your local bank before your trip and exchange your currency directly into Kuna’s.
Kitty Fund – This fund covers most additional costs for the week, which include fuel, water, docking fees, and some water taxis. We gave our skipper a total of 1220 HRK (roughly about 184 USD) each and he paid these fees for us. If there is any money left over at the end of the week, then the skipper will distribute the money evenly between all crew members. We used a lot of water, (showers, washing dishes, etc) so we didn’t have any money from the kitty fund left over.
Since both the deposit and kitty fund differ depending on route and boat size, you can expect an email from TYW a week or two before your trip with exact details on how much both expected totals are. My group received our email 10 days before our trip, so don’t expect too much of a heads up.
Grocery Shopping – Each yacht is only stocked up with a few essentials. With possibly 9 other roommates, it’s easy to run out of daily necessities. So other than food and snacks for the week, make sure to add toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, garbage bags, dish washing soap, a sponge and plenty of water bottle cases to the group shopping list for your arrival day.
Other than the deposit, kitty fund and some cash for your grocery shopping – you’ll need some spending money. Since we went grocery shopping on day 1 for breakfast and lunch supplies, we did not have to spend that much money on food. Grocery stores also sell alcohol for pretty cheap, so we each stocked up on a couple bottles of the drink of our choice and some mixers. So not only did we have enough alcohol to day party every day, but we were able to pregame before every outing. We went out for dinner almost every night, but it did not break the bank. Depending on how much you plan on eating out or drinking, I’d say about $75-$100 a day budget is pretty reasonable. Just don’t forget to include your skipper and your hostess if you have one in your budget plans since you are responsible for paying for their meals.
What To Bring Vs. What To Buy There
The marinas you’ll dock at throughout the week will have small bodega-like grocery stores that have almost everything you’ll need, so save room in your luggage and don’t pack too much.
What to bring with you:
- Plastic flip flops or sandals that you can wear on the boat or in the shower.
- Reusable insulated stainless steel tumbler. Not only does this keep your drink cold in the summer heat, but it keeps plastic out of the sea.
- Skincare products. Don’t expect to find your daily high-end facial moisturizer on the shelves, so if your skincare regime includes specifics – bring them.
- Electronics. You’re going to be in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, so if you plan on blasting music while still having a full phone battery life bring a car charger, a battery pack, and an auxiliary cord.
- Handheld battery operated fan to cool off throughout the day.
- FLAGS! Not only will they be used to rep your country, but they can also help you identify which boat is yours during that late night walk home when all the boats start to look the same.
What to buy there:
- Sunscreen and suntan lotion.
- Float. You can either buy these at the local bodega or even possibly get free recycled floats from the crews leaving the week before. Just make sure you get it on Day 1 during your first market run because you’ll be floating around almost every day.
- Shampoo, conditioner and body wash.
- Bug repellent.
- A Captain’s hat for obvious reasons.
- Beach towel – The markets have plenty of towels and your skipper and/or host will give you one large and one medium sized bath towel for showers.
- A pump. Believe me when I say that blowing up multiple floats is hard work. I almost fainted a few times before finding out that each boat has an emergency pump under one of the seats. Look for it and use it before manually pumping. You’ll thank me for this.
Planning Ahead For Emergencies
If you ask any skipper at TYW, they will tell you that at least one person breaks their toe during each week because heavy objects in a tight space while on wavy water and being drunk do not mix that well. So, in other words hope for the best, but plan for the worst.
A few things to keep your emergency worries at ease:
Travel Insurance. Just buy it. Travel insurance covers unexpected medical expenses, trip cancellations, lost luggage and some other losses incurred during the trip. On either the fourth or fifth night of our trip, two of my crew members decided to drunkenly jump over steel bollard on their way back to our yacht after a night out. It ended with one of the guys being rushed to the hospital by our skipper to get stitches. Another girl randomly slipped on her yacht and sprained her ankle. You just never know.
Tweezers. Unless you’re a bushy-browed babe like me, you don’t really think of packing tweezers for emergencies. Croatia is full of tiny spiny sea urchins and it’s very easy to get stung by them. In fact, I accidentally stepped on one while hanging out at the local beach and ended up having 10, yes that’s right – 10, splinter-like spikes in my foot. Although it ruined my day, having tweezers nearby helped me pick each spike out one by one.
Nausea and sleeping aids. You’re going to be living on a rocking boat for a week, so expect a little nausea. I don’t typically get sea sick, but I woke up on the second day, took a bite out of a banana and immediately got sick. Needless to say, I didn’t eat anymore bananas that trip. Dramamine is a great motion sickness prevention medicine that can be bought over-the-counter. It also comes in non-drowsy so it shouldn’t stop you from having all that daytime fun. I’d recommend stocking up in both non-drowsy and regular Dramamine, or something similar, because the motion of the boat was the worst at night. The high winds would make our boat dramatically rock side to side when it was docked. It was so bad that I woke up every day with a new unexplained bruise, which probably came from unknowingly bumping into my cabin mate throughout the night.
Emergency first-aid kit. This is a no-brainer, so it doesn’t even really need an explanation. Every yacht should have a first aid kit on deck, but it never hurts to have extra band aids handy. You, or one of your crew members, will probably get cut at some point of the trip, so I’d recommend bringing a travel-sized first-aid kit with you for those small emergencies.
Emergen-C. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’re going to get sick, whether you end up swapping spit with someone else or not. Almost everyone went home without a voice or with some sort of bronchitis. Apparently, the hacking cough that you most likely will end the trip with is a well-known cold amongst yacht weekers called the skippers cough. That’s what happens when you have a mix of boys, girls, alcohol and lots of bad decisions in a confined area for a week. Pack some Emergen-C and drink it on the daily.
Don’t Forget To Tip
I cannot stress this enough, treat treat TREAT your skipper and hostess well and make sure you tip both of them at the end of the trip.
You’d be surprised with how many people “forget” to tip their skippers and hosts. Hosts wake up early to cook for your crew EVERY. DAY., and skippers literally have the navigation of your week in their hands.
Tipping Etiquette:
Pay them in either USD or Euro’s. Most skippers and hosts don’t live in Croatia, so they don’t typically like being paid in Croatian Kuna’s.
Pay them separately. If you have both a skipper and a host, don’t give one lump sum. Hand both of them their tip separately.
Depending on how well they did, tip about $80-$100 each. So in total, that’s $160-$200 per person for tip. Unless your crew went crazy and broke a bunch of stuff on the yacht, you should get your deposit back at the end of the trip. Since that was originally paid in Euro’s, we each ended up taking 100 euros from that and handing it to our skipper before heading to the airport.
Let Loose And Have Fun
Leave your worries at home and just have fun. TYW is not the time to think about work and it’s definitely not the time to think about morals. (hehe, jk mom)
You’ll most likely see a lot of random hookups, nudity and most definitely some crude behavior. So leave your judgemental behavior at home, relax and float your way into the happy yacht week abyss.
But most importantly – JUST HAVE FUN!
Chasing Sole 