Charter bookings

A charter booking ties together the customer who is paying, the vessel they will sail on, the crew lead responsible on board, and the start and end dates. The Charter Coordinator records the request as soon as a customer asks, before anything is promised. The booking then follows a fixed path: Requested, Confirmed, Underway, Completed. A booking can be Cancelled instead, and a cancelled booking stays closed. If the customer comes back, the coordinator opens a new request so the history shows both.

The coordinator’s main decision is confirmation. Before marking a booking Confirmed, check the vessel’s passenger capacity against the party size, the crew lead’s other charters on the same dates, and the vessel’s inspection due date against the end of the charter. Once confirmed, the dates and the vessel are a commitment to the customer and to the crew.

• Request first. Record every enquiry as Requested with the customer, vessel and dates. The pipeline then shows real demand, including requests that never confirm.
• Confirm against the fleet. Confirmation checks capacity, crew lead availability and inspection timing on the vessel record. A change of vessel after confirmation gets the same checks again.
• Close the voyage. The coordinator marks the booking Underway when the vessel leaves and Completed when the guests are ashore, using the crew lead’s report. A cancelled charter keeps its dates and vessel for the record.

Agree what your team needs before a booking is confirmed: a signed charter agreement, a deposit, or both. Keep that evidence where your finance team holds it, and confirm only when it is in place. Agree whether a date change after confirmation is edited on the booking or handled by cancelling and rebooking. Decide which crew members may act as crew lead and make sure each has a person record. Load open requests and confirmed future charters from your current calendar first, and bring in completed past charters later.

A family asks for a three-day charter on a 12-guest catamaran, August 8 to 10, for ten guests. The Charter Coordinator records the request with the family as customer and an experienced skipper as crew lead. Two days later a corporate group asks for the same catamaran on August 9. The Charter Schedule already shows the family’s request on those dates, so the coordinator offers the group a different vessel instead of promising the catamaran twice.

The family signs and pays the deposit, and the coordinator moves the booking to Confirmed. On August 8 the skipper reports departure and the booking moves to Underway. On August 10 it moves to Completed. Had the family withdrawn on August 1, the booking would be Cancelled and closed for good, and the catamaran would be free for the corporate group.

The same family needs a transfer from the airport to the marina. The Dispatch Operator books that trip for the same customer, so the charter and the transfer can be read together.

• Booking Pipeline — Open charters grouped by Requested, Confirmed and Underway, with vessel, customer and crew lead on each card.
• Charter Schedule — Open bookings laid out by start and end date, used to spot an overlap on a vessel before confirming.

• Charter request to completion: Take a charter from request through confirmation, departure and completion on the right vessel.
• Transfer request to departure: Approve and schedule the guest transfers that go with a charter.

Check permissions before inviting the sales team.