The hidden costs of yacht delivery fees
The weekly rate assumes the yacht is already where you want to start. When it isn't, the trip to get it there lands on your bill.
What the sticker leaves out
When the yacht is based away from your embarkation point, the cost of moving it to meet you — and often back afterwards — is charged on top of the fee, typically as fuel plus crew time for those legs.
Starting and ending in different ports usually means the yacht ends up out of position, so a one-way route tends to carry a larger repositioning charge than a return to the same base.
The delivery is quoted as running cost, so it rises with distance, the yacht's fuel burn and current fuel prices — a long reposition can be a meaningful line of its own.
Crew are working during the delivery, and food, water and berthing for those legs are part of what you are covering.
Moving a yacht to a remote start point, or outside its usual cruising season, can add cost because the reposition is longer or less efficient.
Delivery costs may be drawn from or added to the Advance Provisioning Allowance depending on the contract, so confirm exactly how it is billed rather than assuming it is included.
Why the weekly rate misleads
A charter fee is quoted for the yacht in a given cruising area, but yachts move between seasons and bases, so the one you want may not start where you want. Repositioning it to meet you — and returning it — is real fuel and crew time that the advertised week never mentions. Two similar-looking charters can have very different true totals once one needs a long delivery and the other doesn't, which is exactly why the headline rate misleads.
How to work out your true total
Ask where the yacht is based versus where you want to embark and disembark, and get the delivery/redelivery quoted explicitly for those legs. Add it to the charter fee, VAT, gratuity and running costs, and treat a one-way route as likely dearer than a return to base. For a sourced, dated figure on a specific yacht and itinerary, run it through the calculator rather than a rule of thumb.
How we stay honest about this
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Rules of thumb only get you so far. Run a specific option through the calculator for a sourced, dated, confidence-graded figure.
Frequently asked
It is the cost of moving a charter yacht from its current base to your embarkation point (and often back), charged on top of the weekly fee — normally the fuel and crew time for those legs. It applies when the yacht isn't already where your trip starts.
Often, yes — choosing an itinerary that starts and ends where the yacht is already based avoids or minimises the delivery legs. Ask the broker which yachts are already in your chosen cruising area for the dates you want.
Usually not. It is quoted separately and may be billed directly or through the APA, so always confirm how repositioning is charged before you commit.
Related guides
See the big picture in the Hidden-Fee Index — how much the advertised price hides across every category — or browse all buyer guides.
This guide explains typical, well-known cost mechanisms for general education — actual fees vary by operator, destination and date. Confirm live prices, fees and your consumer rights with the retailer and official sources before you buy. TrueTotal provides guidance, not financial or legal advice.