What is a $1.2 million weekly yacht charter like? — featuring The Yacht Chef

In this video: What A $1.2 Million A Week Charter On Project X Looks Like!

The Yacht Chef · 1 year ago

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Written by Justin ·

What does a head chef do on a luxury yacht?

The head chef manages all galley operations, oversees meal planning and execution for guests and crew, leads a kitchen team (sous chefs and crew chefs), and ensures food safety and presentation standards.

At a glance

Length
11 min
Channel
The Yacht Chef
Video from
Apr 2025
Rating
⭐⭐ Great video · 2/2
Best for
Aspiring yacht chefs, culinary professionals, and curious viewers interested in ultra-luxury hospitality operations.

What this video answers

  • What does a head chef do on a luxury yacht?
  • How much food preparation happens before guests arrive?
  • What makes a beach barbecue more complicated than it sounds?
  • Can the chef customize menus based on guest requests?
  • Is cleanliness and inspection a regular part of the job?
Reads the guide aloud in your browser — free, no account.

Inside Project X: A Week Aboard a $1.2 Million Charter

This video follows the chef's first week as head chef aboard Project X, a luxury yacht commanding $1.2 million per week. Rather than glossy footage of the vessel, the video captures the behind-the-scenes reality of managing the galley—the kitchens, prep work, and constant pressure of service at sea. It's a working documentary that shows what it actually takes to feed guests, crew, and nannies across a full charter cycle, from arrival to departure.

The charter takes place around the Caribbean, with stops at St. Martin, St. Barts, and anchoring points suitable for beach barbecues and water activities. This experience suits anyone curious about yacht life, culinary professionals considering yacht chef roles, aspiring maritime cooks, or viewers interested in ultra-luxury hospitality operations. If you've ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of a mega-yacht, this video pulls back the curtain honestly—celebrating wins but also showing the grind.

Key Moments

Key Moments From This Yacht Charter

  • Rapid galley prep just before guest arrival, with separate meal stations for kids, nannies, staff, and adults
  • Pizzas cooked on the top deck during the overnight steam from St. Martin to St. Barts
  • Complex beach barbecue setup featuring tomahawk steaks, grilled lobster, beef sliders, lemon herb chicken, and grilled halloumi
  • Interactive sushi night with a dedicated sushi bar, featuring nigiri, rolls, hamachi plates, and miso caramel tart
  • Recreation of a famous lobster pasta from a local St. Barts restaurant, sourced directly from the original chef
  • Friday galley inspection covering deep cleaning of hotline, stand-up fridges, and freezers
Featured image for the guide to What A $1.2 Million A Week Charter On Project X Looks Like! by The Yacht Chef

What to Know Before Chartering a Yacht Like Project X

  • Charter duration: This was a full week charter with day-to-day operations, breakfast, lunch, and dinner service each day
  • Crew coordination: Multiple chefs work together—the head chef leads while sous chefs and crew chefs handle specific stations and support tasks
  • Meal complexity: Menus span casual (beach barbecue) to fine dining (recreated restaurant dishes), requiring both flexibility and precision
  • Logistical challenges: Beach barbecues aren't simple—transporting galley equipment, proteins, and salads to shore requires careful planning and coordination with deckhands and tenders
  • Guest preferences matter: The chef sources original recipes and works with local restaurants to recreate guest favorites, turning requests into opportunities
  • Maintenance is constant: Cleaning fridges, freezers, and the hotline is done weekly under inspection by senior crew and is non-negotiable

Questions About Yacht Chef Work and Luxury Charter Operations

What does a head chef do on a luxury yacht?

The head chef manages all galley operations, oversees meal planning and execution for guests and crew, leads a kitchen team (sous chefs and crew chefs), and ensures food safety and presentation standards. On Project X, this means planning and executing multiple menus daily—from casual lunches to fine dining—while adapting to guest requests and supply constraints.

How much food preparation happens before guests arrive?

Significant prep happens just before guest arrival. The video shows separate stations for kids' meals, staff meals, adult entrées, and arrival canapés being prepared simultaneously. This pre-arrival phase is critical because once guests board, the kitchen enters immediate service mode.

What makes a beach barbecue more complicated than it sounds?

Beach barbecues require moving the entire operation off the yacht—transporting raw proteins (lobster, steaks, chicken), prepared salads, grilling equipment, and serving tools to shore via tender. The team must coordinate timing so food is grilled fresh on the beach while maintaining food safety and managing multiple stations under pressure.

Can the chef customize menus based on guest requests?

Yes, and enthusiastically. When guests requested a specific lobster pasta from a St. Barts restaurant, the head chef researched the menu, contacted the restaurant directly, obtained the recipe, and recreated it with personal refinements. Guests praised the final dish as better than the original, showing how requests drive creativity.

Is cleanliness and inspection a regular part of the job?

Absolutely. The video shows Friday galley inspections where the head chef and team deep-clean the hotline, all stand-up fridges, and freezers under inspection by the chief officer and chief steward. This weekly routine keeps standards high and catches any issues before they escalate.

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Key Terms

Galley
The kitchen area on a yacht where all food preparation, cooking, and storage take place.
Charter
A temporary rental of a vessel, typically a yacht, for a set period with crew and services included.
Head chef
The senior chef responsible for managing the galley, kitchen team, menus, and all food operations on a yacht.
Tender
A small boat used to transport passengers and supplies between the yacht and shore or other locations.
Hotline
The main cooking stations in a galley where hot dishes are prepared during service.
Sous chef
A senior kitchen staff member who assists the head chef and oversees specific cooking stations or tasks.

Sources: Galley · Charter · Head chef · Tender · Hotline · Sous chef — definitions cross-referenced with Wikipedia

Justin’s Take

This video is invaluable for anyone considering a career in yacht hospitality or simply curious about how ultra-luxury operations function. It avoids the Instagram glamour and shows real challenges—the pressure of simultaneous meal services, the logistics of complex events like beach barbecues, the never-ending cleaning cycles, and the teamwork required to keep guests satisfied while maintaining standards.

What stands out most is the honesty: the chef celebrates wins (guests praising the lobster pasta) but also shows the unfiltered struggle of managing multiple menus and high expectations simultaneously. Whether you're a culinary student, an aspiring yacht chef, or simply fascinated by behind-the-scenes hospitality, this is essential viewing that will genuinely help you decide if this world is for you. Highly recommended.

⭐⭐ Great video · 2 out of 2

Justin
Justin

Years on the front lines of helicopter tour coordination — not as a travel blogger, but as the person responsible for making every guest experience go right. Managed 2,000+ cruise guests weekly as Shore Excursions staff aboard the Pride of America in Hawaii Personally coordinated with helicopter tour operators to confirm age, weight, and safety requirements.

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Description

This was my first charter as head chef onboard Project X. In this video, I’m giving you an inside look at what it’s really like stepping into that role — the day-to-day reality of managing the galley at sea.
From adjusting to new systems to handling the pressure of service, it’s a nonstop experience. I’m sharing the behind-the-scenes of what it takes to manage it all, from the prep to the service, and everything that comes with being in charge of the food onboard!



Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theyachtchef/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/becomeayachtchef/ ⁠

Want to become a yacht chef? Start with my FREE Module 1: https://www.becomeayachtchef.com/gotwhatittakes
It covers the certificates you need, what the job is really like, and how to build a yacht CV that gets you hired. Follow @becomeayachtchef on Instagram.

Video transcript for “What A $1.2 Million A Week Charter On Project X Looks Like!” Accessibility

A full written transcript of this video, provided for accessibility. Select any timestamp to jump the video to that moment.

Heat. Heat. [Music]

So, we're just moments away from picking up the guests and we've been prepping pretty hard today. We got the uh the lunch in about half an hour or so. We got the kids food. We got nanny's food. We got Stew and Max over here prepping prepping away. We got the kids over here. Um the adult stuff and then some

fruit and canopes for the arrival. But I'll try to film as much as I can over this uh course of a week charter and kind of show you what it's like and see you on the other side. [Music]

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] So, it is uh day two of the charter. Picked up yesterday. Uh last night we

steamed from St. Martin to St. Barts. Made some beautiful pizzas on the top deck there for the guests, which was amazing. Had such a great time. And I've just walked outside and saw that the St. Barts regata was on. So, I'm going to get the drone up and let's check it out. Maybe not. Try number two.

[Applause] Okay, success. Check it out.

[Music] [Music]

So we are just preparing for a beach barbecue. Beach barbecues seem very simple from the outside, but it's actually quite complicated. Taking the galley, the boat, all the toys, everything to the beach. So, I'm just down here grabbing all the prep, the proteins, uh the salads. We got hot we got hot dogs, we

got tomahawk steaks, we got beef sliders, we got fresh grilled lobster, which which are actually about to be delivered. We have lemon herb chicken. We've got some salads. We've got grilled halumi. We've got a bunch of stuff. Uh so I'm going to show you a little bit of that as much as I can without showing

the guests hopefully. And uh see you on the other side. [Music]

[Music] So, we have just finished the beach barbecue. I couldn't film a hell of a lot because we were in a bit of a hurry, but we did really well. Had all the three chefs here. Uh had some decki,

some stews to help us out. It went really well and uh I think the guests loved it. So, the crew are here about to do a pack down. We just had a little bit of food. The tender's just about to pick us up and we're going to head back. We have a big sushi night. I've got a super cool idea to create.

Ah, just went into my foot. Okay. Oh my god, look at this thing. What the hell is this? Anyway, we're just about to pack up and head back to the boat to do this sushi. Uh, so hopefully I can capture a little bit of that.

[Music] So, we have a super cool setup for the guests. Uh, sushi night here. We have the big screen here. We also have what we what was a bar for the girls tend to a sushi bar which is super

cool. Me and Stu are going to kill it and uh put out some wicked sushi. We've got lots of stuff on the menu. We've got rolls. We've got nigiri. We've got uh hamachi plates. We've got a beautiful uh miso caramel tart which is incredible which Stu made. Uh so this should be good. Good little uh dinner for the guests

here. [Music] So, we have actually just finished up the last day of the charter. Full day. Tomorrow, we drop off the guests. We've got a breakfast and a lunch, but we just did what I think was a pretty incredible

dinner. Uh the guests actually requested a particular lobster pasta from Shalona in St. Barts. So, my job was to look at the menu, look at the pictures, and try to recreate that. And I think I did pretty well. He actually contacted a guy from Shalona Beach, uh, a butler or a guy that works there. He sent me this

recipe, which was incredible. So, I followed that and gave a little bit more love, little bit of ex love, and he actually yelled out at the table that it was better than Shalona's lobster pasta. So, I think we did a great job this trip. Super proud of the GI team, Stu, Max, and obviously the rest of the

Project X team. So, the show must go on. Last day tomorrow. We got a breakfast, lunch, and then we are done. [Music]

[Music] had their own yacht and they said that they here they had the most fantastic amazing time. [Applause]

We actually have a camera crew on board from Cample Nicholson and they are doing a little charter shoot. They're actually trying a little bit something different which is uh something a little bit more creative than just the usual charter shoots. So, I'm going to show you behind the scenes and then hopefully show you

the finished product. [Music]

big thing on Fridays is we do a big galley clean because it gets inspected by the chief officers and the chief stew. Um, you know, we've cleaned all of this, all of the hotline, we do all of the fridges. So, we've got stand up fridges here, freezers, uh more fridges and freezers over here.

So, we basically just go through all of that stuff, you know, check everything and uh just make sure everything's clean. Just keeps us on top of everything. And yeah, it's just a good good time to do it Friday before the weekend while we're doing the weekend food and stuff. So, I know I talk about

cleaning a lot, but that's like half of our job. Um, so yeah, we're going to crack into that and get this galley nice and clean. [Music]

and That's it for episode two. Hope you enjoyed it. I'm really enjoying making these videos for you guys. So, if you could in the comments, tell me what you want to see for next episode or the next few episodes. I do have a galley tour coming up. I know you guys have been asking for it and I'm going to introduce

the sue chef and the crew chef and they're going to tell you a little bit about themselves and what their role is on board. So, stay tuned for episode 3 next Sunday. See you there.

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