Who cooks, and what is the food like?

On a bareboat, you cook. On a crewed charter, the crew do, and the standard ranges from competent home cooking to genuinely good restaurant food depending on who you hire.

The galley is smaller than your kitchen and you are cooking at anchor, so the food that works is simple. That is not a limitation most people mind.

Cooking for yourselves

Expect a two or three burner gas stove, sometimes an oven, a fridge and maybe a small freezer. Plan meals that use one pot and few fresh ingredients by day four. Barbecues on the stern rail are common and make dinner easy. Buy the meat frozen and let it thaw as the week goes.

Provisioning covers quantities, what keeps and how to order a pack through the operator instead of shopping. Check the fridge and freezer volumes before you plan anything ambitious.

Hiring a cook

Some operators put a cook aboard as a separate crew member, some send a skipper who also cooks, and on larger crewed boats there is a dedicated chef. The cost is a daily rate plus their berth and food, which also reduces your sleeping capacity by one. See how many can sleep aboard.

Ask for sample menus rather than adjectives. A good operator will send them.

Dietary requirements

Tell the operator at booking, not at handover. Provisioning happens days ahead and a serious allergy changes what can safely be aboard in a small galley. Vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free are routine. Anything requiring strict separation needs a real conversation.

Eating ashore

Depends entirely on the cruising ground. Around Sydney Harbour you can eat ashore most nights. In the Whitsundays there are resort restaurants at a few points and nothing at most anchorages, so plan to cook aboard for most of the week and treat a meal ashore as a bonus.

For what is included when food is part of the deal, see skippered and crewed and are prices all-inclusive.