Twelve guests is the number the charter industry is built around. Yachts carrying more than twelve passengers overnight fall under Passenger Yacht Code rules, which impose considerably heavier requirements on construction, escape routes and crewing, so the overwhelming majority of the world charter fleet is certified for exactly twelve and no more.
That single regulatory line shapes what you find. Twelve guest yachts run from around twenty five metres to well past a hundred, and the same headline number can mean five cabins on a compact thirty metre hull or six generous suites on a sixty metre tri-deck with room to spare. Layout is therefore the question to ask, not capacity. Five cabins for twelve implies doubling up somewhere, usually with a pullman or a convertible twin, while six equal cabins means six couples travel comfortably.
Rates across this part of the fleet run from roughly fifty thousand euros a week at the smaller end to well beyond a million for the largest, plus an advance provisioning allowance near thirty percent. Crew numbers scale from five to more than twenty five, and the guest to crew ratio is often a better predictor of the week than the length of the yacht.
If your group is genuinely twelve, you have the widest choice in the market. If it is thirteen or more, the conversation changes and we will point you toward the small number of Passenger Yacht Code vessels that can carry you legally.
