The charter broker has put "onboard massage therapist" in the brochure. Nobody has told you what it costs, who pays, or when you are supposed to do it — and the primary charter guest has just booked four treatments for tomorrow, one of which lands squarely in the middle of lunch service. This is a scheduling and pricing problem, and it must be solved before the guests board.
Reading the guest day
Treatments fit into the gaps, and the gaps are predictable:
- Mid-morning, after breakfast is struck and before the toys go in the water.
- Post-beach club, early afternoon — the strongest slot, guests are already relaxed and undressed.
- Pre-dinner, 1700–1900 — popular, but it collides with your service prep.
- Passage days at anchor or in a marina — the calmest sea state, so book the deeper work then.
Never book a treatment across a service block without the chief stew agreeing cover. Always check the passage plan: a 90-minute deep tissue in a beam sea is a bad treatment and a seasick guest.
Pricing and costing in the yacht context
| Model | How it works | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Included in charter | No guest charge; owner or charter fee absorbs it | Most common on private and many charters |
| Charged to APA | Treatment billed to the guest advance provisioning allowance | Larger yachts with a formal spa menu |
| External therapist | Shore therapist brought aboard, billed to APA | Peak demand, or treatments you are not insured for |
| Crew gratuity uplift | No line charge; recognised in the tip | Common, informal, and unreliable |
If treatments are charged, the price is set by the captain or management, not by you. Benchmark against local shore spas, then add for privacy and convenience. Cost the consumables — oils, linens, laundry, replacement stock — and get them onto the interior budget, not your own bank account. If you are expected to deliver treatments as a routine part of the role, that belongs in your salary negotiation at contract stage, not as a favour.
Building the offering
- Offer a short menu you can actually deliver — three or four treatments, clearly timed (30 / 60 / 90 minutes).
- Publish a realistic daily capacity. Two treatments in a full service day is honest; four is how you injure yourself.
- Give the chief stew and the purser a booking sheet so treatments appear on the interior plan, not in your head.
- Build in decline conditions: sea state, guest health, service load. Agree them with the chief stew before the charter, so a refusal is policy and not personal.
Onboard Notes
- Treatments go on the interior plan or they do not happen.
- Check the passage plan before you take a booking.
- Pricing is the captain's call; consumables go on the boat's budget.
- Cap your daily treatments in advance — you are the finite resource.
- Preparatory study only. Nothing here qualifies you to treat. Massage requires an accredited vocational qualification (for example ITEC, CIBTAC or VTCT) and professional insurance.