It’s that time of year again for Christmas trees, twinkling lights, presents, holiday songs… If you’re working on a Superyacht, there are so many ways to spread the festive cheer onboard for your guests and fellow crew. In this article, we cover some ideas to help make your Superyacht Christmas one to remember for your guests and everyone involved, ranging from cocktails to music, from tablescapes to snacks. Naturally, plans all depend on your charter guests preferences, yacht aesthetics, and budget, so pick and choose which parts of this article you’d like to try. Read on to find out more about how to transform your Superyacht into a winter wonderland on water.

Superyacht Christmas - presents

Decorations

As crew, you’ll want your Superyacht smelling, looking, and feeling beautifully seasonal for your guests. Your vessel might already have a holiday decor scheme in place, but it might not. Regardless, even if you’re somewhere hot and sunny with limited supplies, you can spruce up the place one way or another. The small touch goes a long way.

Scent

Think about adding some seasonal scents to your Superyacht, such as:

  • Pine
  • Orange
  • Star Anise
  • Rosemary & Thyme
  • Cinammon
  • Ginger

These scents can add some extra ambiance to the vessel. Use anything from candles, essential oils, reed diffusers – and you can even pop all your favourite festive scents in a pan of simmering water and allow the smell to fill the area. Find an aroma that works best for your vessel.

Wreaths & Banister Decor

It might seem like a hassle, but it’s pretty simple to handcraft a wreath! After that, you can hang them up or use them as part of your tablescape. If you’d like some more specific ideas (and guides) for wreaths, Gathered.how has a couple of articles by editor Zoe Williams:

  1. How to make a Christmas wreath
  2. How to make a bauble wreath in 5 easy steps

Wind some pine tree garlands, ribbon, and fairy lights (or a combination of them all) around your banisters, too.

Candles

Putting up fairy lights is simple and effective. It’s also a good idea to fill glass vases with candles for that cosy winter glow.

Superyacht Christmas - lights

Food & Drink

Below, we have many different drinks to serve, but don’t forget the quintessential drinks of the season – mulled wine and eggnog! If you want to try something different, there is always Glögg (pronounced “glu-guh”). In a nutshell, it’s Sweden’s less-sweet answer to mulled wine. And for an alternative to eggnog, Coquito is a creamy Puerto Rican rum drink made with a trio of milks including coconut milk.

As for food, aside from the obvious Christmas dinner, we have a selection of miniature bites your guests are sure to love!

Snacks

Adding candy canes, cherries, red currants, cinnamon, gingerbread and rosemary sprigs to your usual offerings is a great way to shake it up.

Below are some ideas for festive snacks:

As for sweet treats, you can bake some cookies or gingerbread and decorate them in any way you wish – as reindeer, snowmen, gingerbread men, or Father Christmas!

Cocktails

1. Cranberry-Aperol SpritzSuperyacht Christmas - Cranberry-Aperol Spritz

Ingredients (Click cocktail name link for instructions)

  • 12 oz. Aperol
  • 12 oz. cranberry juice cocktail
  • Juice of 1/2 orange
  • 20 oz. Prosecco
  • Ice
  • Fresh cranberries, orange slices, and rosemary sprigs (for serving)

2. Christmas Godfather

Superyacht Christmas - Christmas Godfather

Ingredients (Click cocktail name link for instructions)

  • 100ml scotch whisky
  • 50ml amaretto
  • 100ml double cream
  • a couple of pinches ground nutmeg

3. Peppermint White Russian

Superyacht Christmas - Peppermint White Russian

Ingredients (Click cocktail name link for instructions)

  • Ice
  • 2 oz. vodka
  • 1 1/2 oz. Kahlúa
  • 1/2 oz. peppermint schnapps
  • 1 oz. heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk
  • Pinch of kosher salt

Hot chocolate

Make it boozy with some Bailey’s (or any liqueurs like spiced rum, whiskey, tequila, or amaretto)! Alternatively, you can also top it with whipped cream, marshmallows, and candy canes. Serving your hot chocolate with cookies or gingerbread is a nice touch – and if you’re somewhere hot, you can always serve iced hot chocolate.

Superyacht Christmas - hot chocolate

Seasonal coffee

Everyone’s favourite coffee shops are doing them. So your Superyacht guests are bound to love a helping of seasonal coffee.

Use syrups such as:

  • Gingerbread
  • Toffee nut
  • Cinnamon
  • Peppermint

If you’d like to add a subtle hint of festive aroma to your coffee grounds, add some cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, or orange zest before you brew.


Tablescapes

There’s no need to overcrowd the table. You can make use of many decorations including:

  • Candles
  • Greenery
  • Baubles
  • Dried oranges or cranberries
  • Red bows

Try out your Christmas-themed napkin folding as well!

For something potentially new you might not have tried, you can upcycle bottles and use them as candle holders! Just make sure you remove the labels and clean the bottles thoroughly first. After that, place evergreens into the bottles and fill with water. Add a few fresh cranberries for a burst of colour and rub sticky candle wax to the bottom of a taper candle. Then, place it in the bottle opening. Replace the water every few days to keep everything fresh and presentable.

Superyacht Christmas - upcycle bottles
Image sourced from: Good Housekeeping

Entertainment

Music

There’s a Christmas playlist out there for everyone. You can use the Spotify playlists below or use them for inspiration:

Clothing

Chuck on a Father Christmas hat and don those festive colours!


Don’t Forget Yourselves!

Secret Santa

As crew, it’s important that you enjoy the festivities too! Make your Superyacht Christmas one to remember.

Of course, check with everyone what budget they’re all happy with – but Secret Santa is a great way for everyone to have a few laughs and has at least one present to unwrap on the big day.

Stockings can also be a nice touch for crew members.


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