It is 09:40 and the guests have gone ashore for two hours. The chief stew hands you a cabin sheet and says: "Full service on the VIP, quick refresh on the twins, and if you have time, get the shower screens descaled." You now need to know exactly what those three words mean, and how they differ.
The three cycles
Yacht housekeeping runs on three overlapping cycles. Confusing them wastes time or leaves a cabin below standard.
| Cycle | When | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Daily service (morning service) | While guests are at breakfast, ashore or on deck | Bed made or changed, bathroom cleaned and re-set, surfaces dusted, floors done, bin emptied, amenities replenished |
| Turndown (evening service) | While guests are at dinner | Bed prepared for sleep, bathroom re-freshed, towels replaced, lighting and music set, curtains closed, water and treat placed |
| Deep clean | Between charters, on yard periods, or on a rolling schedule during quiet weeks | Behind and under furniture, wardrobes, air-conditioning grilles, mattress rotation, descaling, upholstery and carpet treatment |
Daily service in outline
- Announce and enter: knock, announce, wait, enter with a door wedge or hold.
- Air and assess: open blinds, check for guest belongings, damage, dampness, anything to report.
- Strip and set the bed (change linen per the boat's schedule — commonly every second or third day, always on guest change).
- Bathroom: full clean, polish glass and metal, restock.
- Surfaces: top down, dust and detail, fingerprints off lacquer and mirrors.
- Floors: vacuum or damp mop last, working out of the cabin.
- Final check from the doorway: stand where the guest will stand.
Turndown in outline
- Remove decorative cushions and bed runner; stow in the same place every night.
- Fold back the top sheet/duvet on the guest's sleeping side (both sides in a double when two guests).
- Replace used towels; refresh the bathroom; wipe the basin and glass.
- Reset amenities, place bottled water, slippers, weather card or itinerary if the boat does this.
- Set lighting low, close curtains, remove daytime clutter.
Deep clean: the rolling schedule
Deep cleaning is planned, not improvised. A typical rotation assigns zones to days so that every part of the interior is deep-cleaned within a set period. Typical deep-clean tasks:
- Wardrobe interiors, drawer runners, behind headboards (mould and dust traps).
- A/C grilles and returns — a major source of dust and smell.
- Descaling shower screens, taps and shower heads with a surface-appropriate product.
- Mattress rotation and protector wash; pillow airing.
- Skirting, door tracks, hinges, light switches, remote controls.
Onboard Notes
- Guest change day (turnaround) is a deep clean compressed into hours — all linen out, everything sanitised, amenities reset, wardrobes cleared and wiped.
- Log what you do. If mattress rotation or a descale was done today, it goes on the sheet; the next person must not guess.
- Never start a noisy task (vacuum, extractor, steamer) without knowing where every guest is.
- If time is short, the visible finish plus the bathroom always win. A missed deep-clean task is recoverable; a dirty bathroom is not.