Celebrating Christmas aboard a superyacht

As each year comes to an end, billions of people around the world begin to prepare for their annual Christmas celebrations.

A festival to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, on 25th December each year many families, friends and communities come together to enjoy the festivities. Presents are exchanged, traditional dinners are shared and quality time is enjoyed. For many, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Although spending Christmas aboard a superyacht may not be the norm, many traditions do remain the same on board. In this article, we cover a variety of festive must-knows, from idyllic Christmas destinations and yachts available for charter over the festive season to Christmas dinners and those all-important Christmas decorations. Grab a hot chocolate and step into Christmas with Yachting Pages!

Yachting destinations around Christmas

Whether you’re longing for a picturesque white Christmas, some winter sun or perhaps something more traditional, the possibilities are endless when you have access to a superyacht, private jet or helicopter.

Christmas in London

Awash with Christmas markets, lights, shops and English tradition, London is a magical location around Christmas. One of the world’s most iconic capital cities, London shines brightest during winter; the city comes alive with Christmas lights and decorations. Go for a wander around Oxford Street, Regent Street and Covent Garden are take the time to view the city in a different light.

London also boasts the spectacular Winter Wonderland. Located in the heart of London, see Hyde Park transform into a Christmas paradise. This snowy spectacular is made up of numerous exciting attractions, including a giant wheel, ice-skating rink and multiple circus shows.

A trip to London, particularly during the festive period, would not be complete without a visit to one of the world’s most iconic department stores, Harrods. The beautifully structured and ever-popular shopping outlet dazzles as it’s decked out with lights from top to bottom. Not only is it a great thing to witness in person, but it’s the ideal place to pick up some last-minute Christmas presents for your loved ones.

Christmas in The Maldives

For an exotic Christmas getaway, the Maldives is an ideal location to celebrate. With the best time to visit the islands typically falling between November and March, the festive period is the perfect time to make the trip. Spend the season experiencing untraditional – but undeniably fun – Christmas activities such as snorkelling, diving and whale watching.

Average temperatures hover at approximately 27°C throughout December, with night-time temperatures generally never dropping below 25°C. For a Christmas of sun soaking and lounging around in swimwear, the Maldives is the ideal destination.

Christmas in Svalbard

A place of natural beauty, untouched wilderness and spectacular wildlife, including reindeers, polar bears and arctic foxes, Svalbard offers the Christmas you’ve been dreaming of for years. Cruise around giant icebergs and venture out into the night in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the northern lights. What more could you want?

If this sounds like your kind of thing, this Norwegian archipelago could be the perfect location to spend Christmas on board.

Temperatures rarely climb above -8°C, while there are spine-tingling lows of up to -16°C, so make sure you pack plenty of thick layers.

Read our destination guides to discover information on cruising popular yachting destinations around the world.

Superyachts for winter charter

There are many superyachts available for charter in December 2021. Here are just three you should consider.

Excellence

For Caribbean cruising this festive season, this 80-metre (263-foot) Abeking & Rasmussen could be the ideal superyacht. Characterised by its reverse bow and triple-height glass atrium, Excellence is a classy and chic option for Christmas cruising. Other features include a cinema, gym, spa and beach club. She’s available from $1.1 million (c. €953,000) per week via Burgess.

Lana

What about the classy 106-metre (351-foot) Benetti superyacht Lana. Launched in 2020, she provides a full-beam master and seven guest staterooms, along with a beach club with folding terraces, hammam, massage room with professional therapist and large pool on the sundeck. Prepared for Caribbean and Indian Ocean cruising, Lana is available from $2.1 million (c. €1.82 million) per week via Imperial Yachts.

Icon

If you fancy celebrating Christmas sailing the seas of the Indian Ocean, the 67.5-metre (221-foot) superyacht ICON, by Icon Yachts, can hold up to 12 guests for a starting price of €500,000 per week via Imperial Yachts.

Christmas dinner at sea

Despite the wide array of exquisite meals you could request on a luxury superyacht, many charterers will opt for a traditional Christmas dinner on Christmas Day. To create a traditional Christmas dinner, there are a number of foods you simply cannot go without. These include:

Meats

Turkey

Most commonly consumed during the festive period, turkey is a Christmas favourite for meat eaters. Full of protein and low in fat and calories, the popular poultry dish is the base of every traditional Christmas dinner.

Pigs in blankets

Widely loved yet pretty unique to the Christmas period, ‘pigs in blankets’ (aka sausages wrapped in bacon) are most people’s Christmas dinner highlight...

Sides

Potatoes

With a variety of different types to choose between, from mashed and baked potatoes to potatoes that are either boiled or fried and turned into chips, roast potatoes are the height of tradition when it comes to Christmas dinners. Crunchy on the outside, fluffy inside. Perfect.

Stuffing

Stuffing is a side dish, often made up of breadcrumbs, onion, celery, salt, pepper and other spices and herbs. As well as being a staple side dish, stuffing can also be used to fill a hole in other food items, such as turkey, when cooking.

Vegetables

Love them or hate them, Brussels sprouts are a key Christmas tradition! The vegetables, that look somewhat like mini cabbages, are renowned for being an unpopular veg – but they’re a Christmas essential nonetheless.

Other vegetables that commonly appear in the traditional Christmas dinner include roast parsnips, red cabbage, carrots, broccoli and peas.

Sauces

To top-off the perfect Christmas dinner, traditionally the plate should be flooded with gravy. Typically created from the juices of meats and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch, the sauce compliments the traditional roast Christmas dinner beautifully.

As well as covering the dish in gravy, cranberry sauce is another popular addition to the Christmas roast. A food item that peaks in popularity around the festive season, the sweet cranberry-made jam, combined with roast turkey, is a real treat.

There are a great many provisioning companies situated in key yachting locations around the world. Search for a trusted provisioner near you.

Christmas decorations

When the festive period arrives, everything sparkly, shiny or illuminated goes. Traditionally at Christmas time, people will adorn their house with Christmas lights – and this tradition doesn’t need to stop aboard superyachts.

In fact, you can decorate a superyacht in much the same way as your home. You can hang up your favourite decorations and use the yacht’s entertainment and AV system to play festive music and films. It should be a home away from home!

When you think of Christmas, one of the first images that pops into most people’s heads is their childhood Christmas tree. With this in mind, it’s essential that the main decorative feature is a sparkling Christmas tree! Covered in baubles, guarded by an angel (or star) and often wrapped in tinsel, the tree is one of the most significant Christmas symbols and it’s also the ideal place to hide gifts.

Oh, and don’t forget the mistletoe! The leaved plant, which sprouts white berries throughout the last few months of the year, is traditionally held upwards, for two individuals to kiss beneath it. It’s said that the tradition originates from enemies who reconciled underneath the mistletoe.

Iconic Christmas events around the world

In San Diego, each year over 100,000 visitors come to watch the San Diego Bay Parade of Lights. This festive tradition sees up to 100 vessels, decorated from top-to-bottom in lights, sailing around the bay. The event is now 50 years old and is celebrated on two December dates each year – in 2021 the parade will take place on both 12th and 19th December.

Christmas presents for superyacht owners and charterers

Christmas isn’t just about presents… but for many it is one of the most exciting parts of the day – and not just for those who believe in Santa Claus!

For superyacht owners, price tags aren’t much of an obstacle. Presents usually come in the form of luxury items – jewellery, watches, gadgets and perfumes are popular choices. If you have these on your radar for a loved one, search for luxury goods on Yachting Pages.

Alcohol, chocolates and experiences are also commonly bought as gifts. I mean, you can’t go wrong with any of these can you?

Although life aboard a superyacht can be vastly different from typical home life, some traditions remain the same. Christmas time is a celebration and a chance to spend quality time with your loved ones.

Whether you and your loved ones celebrate Christmas by singing carols, going to parties or getting cosy under a blanket and binge-watching Netflix, the holiday period is one to be enjoyed. On board or on dry land, it’s a special time and one that should be full of colour, full of excitement and full of smiling faces.

Wherever you are intending to celebrate Christmas this year, Yachting Pages wishes you a happy holiday season.