I would want to have a list of references that have been clients. I typically will tell my customers I will be happy to write down names and phone numbers, but what you might want to do is call some of the businesses that actually work on the boat, like the caterers. They work very closely with me and my crew and they know the inner workings for the boat that the guests would not necessarily see. I think that's one of the best references. The caterers love working on a particular boat. They are happy, comfortable and safe but they are still at work.
I would maybe ask for a copy of their insurance.
I would want to know what they are going to provide me as far as the crew; not only the captain but how many maids. I would want to know what the costs are and what the add-on costs are. Some boats will come in with a low initial hourly rate of $1200 per hour and you find out that if you have 200 people, you have to rent 200 chairs and you are going to have to rent tables. You are going to have to rent table cloths, linens, napkins, forks, knives, spoons and cups and all of that just gets outrageously expensive. On other boats, you have a fixed fee with no departure fee, no corking fee, the company is going to make you buy all of the foods through them. I would ask if I can bring my own food or beverage. The big rip off really in the charter business is when they start doing these add-ons.
Imagine that the boat is at a homeport, but you don't want to pick up the boat at that homeport. You need to ask what kinds of fees are associated with that.
You want to know what their cancellation fee is and what the inclement weather policy is. What happens if it rains? For instance today is an overcast, gloomy looking day, but it is not raining. Do they reschedule? Do they give you options or do you have to go out in the rain? This past weekend we had nothing but heavy rains and I called my guests who were supposed to be out Saturday evening and just said "I would pick a better time; this is not going to be fun for you."
I would certainly want to let them know how many children are coming so they have the proper number of life jackets. If you are bringing infants on boats make sure that the charter company knows that ahead of time.
People always want to know if they can actually get on the boat beforehand to make sure the boat is the way they want it. We give an hour and a half free of charge so that they can come down and we have the boat fully set up so that whoever the host or hostesses is not going to be panicked. We want it to be a relaxing and fun experience for the guests as well as for us. So by giving them an hour and a half they are not anxious at all and that gives them plenty of time. At the same time, we don't have their friends or their guests board until 15 minutes prior to departure.
Those are things that are very important to know ahead of time so there are no surprises.
Actually you can go to my website and click on my "frequently asked questions" section. We do not do late night charters. I don't want people being on board my boat late at night; accidents happen that way.
