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This is a reconstruction of one family's 70m Caribbean New Year charter week, December 28, 2024 to January 5, 2025. We have changed the family's name and the yacht's name. The numbers, the itinerary, the broker file, and the post-charter debrief are accurate. The all-in delivered cost was $1.18M for 11 guests over 8 nights from Gustavia to Anguilla and back, with the New Year fireworks anchored off the Gustavia roadstead. The family has chartered seven times in the past ten years and this was their second New Year on a 70m hull.
This case is published because the price gap between a 50m and a 70m Caribbean New Year charter is not what most charter clients assume. The 50m hull at the same week was quoted to a comparable family at $620K weekly fee. The 70m delivered four extra cabins, a meaningfully larger beach club, and a captain who had spent the prior six New Year weeks in St Barths roadstead specifically. The marginal cost of the 70m was justified by the marginal capability for this family. Whether it is justified for yours depends on what the family does on day six.
The family
Two parents in their mid-50s. Three adult children, two with spouses, one with a girlfriend. Two grandchildren, ages 4 and 7. Plus a paternal grandfather, 82. Total guest count: 11 across three generations. The family has done this format before, two years prior on a 60m hull.
The cabin allocation was: parents in master, eldest son and spouse in VIP, second son and spouse in a queen, daughter and partner in a second queen, the grandfather alone in the third VIP (specifically the smaller of the two VIP cabins, which has a fixed twin layout), and the two grandchildren in a fold-out twin cabin adjacent to the eldest son and spouse. The yacht had eight cabins and the family used seven.
The yacht
70m motor yacht, built. Eight cabins (one master, three VIPs, three doubles, one twin) sleeping 14 in the published spec. At-rest and underway stabilizers. Touch-and-go helipad on the foredeck. Tender garage with three tenders, a wakeboarding boat, two jet skis, and a SeaBob. Beach club with opening transom and a fold-down side platform. Captain with the yacht since 2018. 18 crew including a chef and a sous-chef. The family knew the captain personally from a prior 60m charter.
The family's broker quoted four yachts in the 65m to 75m range for the New Year week. The family chose this hull for three reasons: the captain's personal history with the family, the eight-cabin layout that accommodated the grandfather in a private VIP, and the dedicated children's twin cabin adjacent to the parents. Two of the other three yachts had cheaper New Year weekly rates ($720K and $760K). The family paid $870K weekly for the captain and the cabin layout.
The week
Day 0 (Friday, Dec 27): pre-boarding hold Family flew from JFK to Princess Juliana on St Maarten, helicopter to St Barths Gustavia. The yacht had been on charter the prior week, disembarking Saturday morning. The family overnighted at Le Toiny on St Barths for one night to allow turnaround.
Day 1 (Saturday, Dec 28): Gustavia embarkation, Colombier Boarded Saturday at 16:00. Captain pulled off the Gustavia outer roadstead at 17:30 (the inner harbour was already crowded with the holiday fleet). 4nm to Anse de Colombier for the first night. Dinner aboard. The chef's tasting menu was the strongest meal of the week per the family debrief, anchored on local fish and a lobster service for the adults. The children had a parallel menu the kids' chief stew served on the upper deck.
Day 2 (Sunday, Dec 29): Anguilla 22nm north to Anguilla. Clear in at Road Bay. Anchor in Meads Bay for the day. Lunch ashore at Blanchards Beach Shack. The grandchildren spent the afternoon on the SeaBob and the children's tenders. The eldest son's wife was a sailor and took out the yacht's small sailing tender solo. Dinner aboard. Overnight at Meads.
Day 3 (Monday, Dec 30): Anguilla east (Scilly Cay and Shoal Bay East) 10nm coast hop. Lunch ashore at Scilly Cay. Afternoon at Shoal Bay East. The eldest son had pre-booked a fishing charter for himself and his father from a local operator that was to come alongside the yacht; the operator showed up 40 minutes late and the fishing trip became 90 minutes instead of the planned 4 hours. The family's broker did not arrange this charter; the family had organized it directly. Lesson noted in the debrief.
Late afternoon return to Road Bay for clearance out and overnight at Meads. The grandfather had a quiet day; he prefers being aboard to being ashore and the family had explicitly built quiet days for him.
Day 4 (Tuesday, Dec 31): Anguilla back to Gustavia for the New Year 12nm south back to St Barths. Captain re-cleared into Gustavia. The yacht took the pre-booked outer roadstead anchorage approximately 250m off the Gustavia breakwater, where it had reserved a spot through the harbourmaster four months prior. The New Year roadstead in Gustavia is reserved by the harbourmaster on a first-come basis 4 to 6 months ahead, and the prime central positions are claimed 6 to 9 months ahead by the largest hulls. This 70m sat in approximately the 25th-best central position, which the family was happy with.
New Year dinner aboard. The chef ran a 7-course tasting menu with a champagne service the broker had pre-coordinated. Midnight fireworks from the upper deck. The yacht's tender was used for two short shore runs for the older adult children who wanted to go ashore briefly to the Bagatelle and Le Ti party scene; they came back at 03:00.
The grandfather, the parents, the youngest two adult children, and the grandchildren watched the fireworks from the upper deck. The grandfather went to bed at 00:45. The youngest grandchild, age 4, slept through the fireworks.
Day 5 (Wednesday, Jan 1): Gustavia roadstead, recovery day Quiet day at anchor. Lunch ashore at Eden Rock's beach club for the parents and grandfather. Adult children stayed aboard recovering. Dinner aboard.
Day 6 (Thursday, Jan 2): Anse de Cayes, Anse des Flamands 12nm coast loop on St Barths' north side. Lunch at Le Toiny's Le Beach Club. Afternoon swim at Flamands. Dinner aboard.
This was the day the family flagged as too quiet. With New Year done and the helicopter transfer for the day cancelled (the original plan was to fly half the family to St Kitts for a Brimstone Hill day and back; the operator went down due to maintenance issues), the day became a long aboard-day that compressed badly with 11 people in close company on a recovery hangover. The family noted that a second active beach day or a St Maarten provisioning ashore would have served better.
Day 7 (Friday, Jan 3): Tintamarre and Pinel (St Maarten) 14nm west. Clear into St Maarten French side at Marigot. Anchor off Tintamarre for the morning, then Pinel for lunch at Karibuni. Afternoon back to Gustavia. The grandfather chose to stay aboard for the day; one of the older adult children stayed back with him. Dinner aboard.
Day 8 (Saturday, Jan 4): Final Gustavia day Anchored in the outer roadstead. Lunch aboard. Afternoon ashore in Gustavia for shopping and a Bagatelle late lunch for the adult children. Final dinner ashore at Bonito for the adults; chef-cooked dinner aboard for the grandchildren and grandfather. Yacht overnighted in Gustavia.
Day 9 (Sunday, Jan 5): Disembark Gustavia Helicopter back to St Maarten at 10:00. Flights home.
This is the 80nm version. Two clearance procedures (Anguilla, St Maarten French side). The New Year roadstead anchorage at Gustavia is the structural event of the week.
The fully-loaded cost
| Line | $ (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Charter fee | $870,000 | 70m, 8 nights, peak New Year 2024-25 |
| APA deposit (30%) | $261,000 | |
| APA actual reconciled | $278,400 | $17,400 over deposit |
| Pre-charter helicopter transfers | $9,200 | JFK-SXM-SBH transfers for 11 guests |
| Cancelled helicopter (day 6) | $4,800 | non-refundable deposit on the cancelled day-trip |
| Le Toiny pre-night | $4,200 | family pre-charter hotel stay |
| Crew gratuity (12%) | $104,400 | paid in cash and wire to captain |
| Broker fee | $0 | central agent paid from charter fee |
| Total all-in delivered | $1,182,000 |
The headline rate was $870K weekly for a New Year week. The all-in cost was $1.18M. The gap of $312K is 36% of the headline rate, which is on the high end for a Caribbean week, driven by the New Year premium dockage and the helicopter transfers.
Lines inside the APA they did not anticipate
The reconciled APA was $17,400 over deposit. The three biggest line items in the overrun:
The Gustavia roadstead anchorage reservation fee for New Year, which the captain had paid through the harbourmaster four months prior. The deposit was non-refundable and was held in APA. Fee was approximately $.
The cancelled helicopter day-trip to St Kitts. The operator's St Maarten base went down for maintenance two days before the booking and the deposit was non-refundable. The family's broker tried to recover the deposit and could not. $4,800 lost.
The New Year provisioning. The chef bought a higher grade of caviar and a higher grade of champagne for the New Year service than the pre-charter provisioning brief indicated. The family had pre-approved the chef's selections informally on day one, the chef interpreted the approval broadly, and the New Year service final bill was approximately $11,000 higher than the broker's pre-charter estimate. The family considered this acceptable and did not push back.
What the family would change
Three things, in priority order.
First, build day 6 differently. The post-New-Year recovery day plus a second quiet day created a slump in the middle of the week. A St Maarten provisioning ashore day, a fishing charter that actually departs on time, or a longer Anguilla second leg would have served better.
Second, organize the side activities through the broker, not directly. The fishing charter the family booked directly arrived late and shortened. The broker would have routed through a vetted operator and held the operator accountable.
Third, lock the chef's provisioning brief tighter pre-charter. The New Year-night service overrun would not have happened with a written cap or a pre-approved menu.
What the family was right about
Three things they did right.
First, paying for the captain. The captain's personal history with the family on the prior 60m charter delivered on the New Year roadstead positioning (which he had pre-booked the prior June without prompting), on the Anguilla clearance speed (which he ran in 45 minutes instead of the typical 90), and on the children's water-toy choreography (which the bosun ran without parental supervision required).
Second, choosing the eight-cabin yacht. The grandfather's private VIP cabin was the structural reason the trip worked. He could retreat from the volume of 11-person family time without sharing. The two grandchildren in a dedicated twin adjacent to the parents kept the parents close.
Third, booking the New Year week 14 months ahead. The 70m hulls running St Barths for New Year are 15 to 25 boats in any given year and the top 10 book 18 to 30 months out. The family secured this hull on the back end of the 14-month window with two backup options. Inside 12 months the New Year inventory on hulls of this quality is gone.
Passed on at the inquiry stage
The family was offered four yachts in the 65m to 75m range. They passed on:
A 72m hull built 2019 with the lower headline rate ($720K weekly). The captain was new (10 months on the yacht as of the inquiry date). The family knew the broker's note flagged that two prior charters had reported tender-operations friction. The family read the note and passed.
A 75m sailing yacht. The family is not a sailing family and the youngest grandchild's tolerance for heel was unknown. They kept it motor.
A 65m motor yacht with seven cabins. One cabin short for the grandfather's private VIP requirement. Passed.
The broker's role and the central-agent split
The family's broker is a London-based retail broker who works with a Monaco-based central agent on yachts of this size. The retail broker's commission and the central agent's commission together come out of the charter fee paid by the family; the family does not pay the brokers directly. The split between retail and central is generally 50-50 of a 15 to 20% commission, but the family does not need to know the split. The relevant point is that the family pays the charter fee, the APA, and the gratuity, and nothing else.
The broker's three contributions to this charter, in priority order: locking the New Year week 14 months ahead with the right hull, pre-coordinating the chef's brief and the helicopter transfers, and managing the post-charter APA reconciliation, which closed in 11 days.
FAQ
How much does a 70m Caribbean New Year charter actually cost? A 70m motor yacht in peak Christmas to New Year Caribbean week runs $750K to $1.1M weekly charter fee plus 30 to 35% APA. The all-in delivered cost for this family in 2024-25 was $1.18M for 11 guests over 8 nights with the New Year fireworks anchored off Gustavia.
Is the New Year week in St Barths worth the premium? For the right family, yes. The yacht-on-yacht anchorage off Gustavia for the New Year fireworks is a defined event the rest of the year does not replicate. The premium over a comparable February week is 35 to 55%. Families who do not value that anchorage scene should book February or April.
Did this family use the helicopter aboard? The yacht had a touch-and-go helipad, not a certified one. The family did not embark a helicopter for the week. They had pre-planned a transfer on day three that was cancelled when the helicopter operator's St Maarten base went down. The APA was charged for the unused booking deposit.
How does the 70m charter cost compare to a 50m Caribbean week? A 50m Caribbean New Year week in 2024-25 ran $400K to $620K weekly charter fee on equivalent-quality hulls. The all-in was $560K to $850K. The 70m premium over the 50m is roughly 50 to 75% on the all-in, in exchange for four extra cabins, a meaningfully larger beach club, more crew, and a yacht that is more comfortable at anchor for an 11-person multi-generational party.
Would this family rebook for New Year again? Yes. They are on the broker's list for the 2026-27 New Year week on the same hull. The 2025-26 New Year week was already booked when they tried to rebook in February 2025.