Christmas Boat Party & Yacht Charter On Sydney Harbour.
The whole boat privately for your team or your family, with the catering, the drinks and the decorations aboard before anyone arrives, and the Harbour doing the rest.
Good Vibes Only
Christmas parties we run on the water
How a Christmas party on the water actually works.
Every price on this page is per hour for the whole boat, not per head and not per ticket. Read this once and the five cards below make sense.
Pre-Access And Styling
On the boats that list pre-access you board before your guests do. That is when the catering is laid out, the drinks go on ice and the garlands, the bon bons and the tree go up, so the boat is already dressed when the first person steps aboard.
Boarding And The Cruise
Your group arrives at one wharf at one time, the sound system goes on your phone, and you head out past the Opera House and under the Harbour Bridge. The route is planned around your hours and your guest list.
Lunch, Speeches And A Swim
Most December charters drop anchor in a sheltered bay for the middle of it. That is when lunch is served, the thank-you speech happens, the BBQ goes on and anyone who wants to swim does. It is summer, and that is the point.
The Twilight Run Home
Then the run back into the Harbour as the light drops, which in December means about eight in the evening. That is the part everybody photographs and the reason twilight charters get asked for by name.
You charter the whole boat, by the hour. The rate on each card below buys that vessel, its skipper and its crew for one hour. Your team or your family has the boat to itself. There is no shared cruise, no ticket, no seat allocation and nobody else's office party on the other deck.
Minimum charter length varies by vessel and by date. Some boats run a set cruise length, like the five-hour cruise on Passion. Others are booked to the hours you want. That is why every from-price on this page is a starting point and the exact figure is confirmed on your proposal.
The catering, the drinks and the decorations are yours to bring or ours to arrange. Pre-access is what makes that work. Most boats take a catering package, a drinks package, or your own BYO where the vessel allows it, and Mayfair is one of the boats that lists a BYO option.
We can get everyone to the wharf too. Urban Legends owns its coaches, so the same booking can include a private coach from the office, the hotel or the pre-drinks venue to the boarding point and home again afterwards. See Sydney bus charters.
What the hourly rate includes.
True for every boat on this page
- The whole boat, privately, for your Christmas group only.
- The skipper, and the crew that vessel runs with.
- That boat's own features, listed on its card below.
- Sydney Harbour itself, and the route planned around your day.
Added on request.
Quoted with your charter, never assumed
- Christmas catering and drinks packages, or your own BYO where the boat allows it.
- Pre-access and loading for the food, the decorations and the gifts.
- Water toys. The Lilypad is free on the boats that carry it; SUPs and kayaks are for hire.
- Coach transfer to and from the wharf, on our own fleet.
Every from-price on this page is per hour for the whole vessel, not per head. We do not publish a per-guest figure because it depends entirely on your group size and how many hours you book, and quoting one would mean inventing a number we have not agreed to honour. Minimum charter length varies by vessel and by date. Your exact figure, including your hours and any catering, is confirmed on your proposal. Charters are subject to availability.
Whose Christmas party is it?
Christmas on the water divides by who is on the guest list before it divides by how many. Find yours, then read that boat's card below.
Christmas With The People You Actually Like
A Christmas lunch on the water instead of in somebody's kitchen with the air conditioner losing. Mayfair is a 44ft power boat with a large saloon, an aft deck for eating and a forward sundeck.
It also lists a BYO option, so the bottle that has been saved all year can come from your own cellar rather than a drinks list.
See Mayfair, from $475 / hr →The Office Christmas Party That Is Not In The Office
The band most work Christmas parties land in. The catamaran is published for 43 guests plus 2 crew, with two toilets, a large undercover entertaining area and a BBQ with a kitchen behind it.
Major Tom is the other answer at this size: 46ft across three separate zones, so the people who want to talk and the people who want to dance are not in the same room.
See the catamaran, from $600 / hr →Every Department, One Boat
Ghost 2 is published for 110 guests, which makes it the only boat on this page built for a company Christmas party of 100 or more. A jacuzzi, a full bar and panoramic views from every deck.
The one businesses take when the entire staff list is invited and the venue quotes have started coming back at a number per head that nobody wants to sign off.
See Ghost 2, from $3,000 / hr →Group not in those three bands, or after a sailing yacht, a craft beer cruise or a team regatta for the end-of-year instead? The five boats on this page are the ones that genuinely suit a Christmas party. The full nine-vessel fleet, the whole group-size picker and every other occasion live on the Sydney Harbour yacht charter hub.
The boats we put Christmas parties on.
Not the whole fleet, just the five that genuinely suit a Christmas party: a family one, two work ones, a party one and a whole-company one. Every card carries that boat's own features and its own from-price, per hour, for the whole vessel.
Mayfair
44ft power boat The Christmas it suits: the family one. Christmas lunch on the water rather than in a kitchen in December heat, with everyone in one place and nobody stuck doing the dishes. It also lists a BYO option, so the bottle that has been saved all year can come from your own cellar.- Large, comfortable saloon with air-conditioned shade
- Spacious aft deck for a long lunch
- Forward sundeck with lounge
- Bluetooth surround sound and dance floor area
- Lilypad free, SUPs for hire
- Pre-access and loading before guests arrive
- BYO option available
The Catamaran
The Sunset Soiree · 43 guests plus 2 crew The Christmas it suits: the standard work Christmas party. A published capacity of 43 answers the guest-list question outright, the undercover area means a December storm does not end the afternoon, and two toilets is not a small detail once the drinks package has been running for four hours.- Published for 43 guests plus 2 crew
- Skipper and deckhand included
- Two toilets on board
- Large undercover entertaining area and forward nets
- Kitchen, large BBQ and two large eskies
- Fusion sound system
- Swim ladders, water access and the Lilypad
Major Tom
46ft · three separate zones The Christmas it suits: the work party with a mixed room. Three zones means the people who came to talk, the people who came to eat and the people who came to dance are not all standing in the same three metres. It is the quiet fix for the office party where half the team leaves at four.- 46ft across three separate entertaining zones
- Built around a seated gourmet menu
- Room to separate dining from music
- Skipper and crew included
- Catering and drinks packages built to the menu
- Pre-access and loading before guests arrive
Passion
Open-plan party yacht · 5-hour cruise The Christmas it suits: the one that is a party from the first hour. This is the boat behind the phrase Christmas boat party, and the five-hour cruise is long enough to run lunch, the swim and the dancing without any of them feeling rushed.- Dance floor area and Bluetooth sound system
- Swim platform and jumping platform
- Sun deck with nets
- BBQ with crew to cook
- Fully equipped kitchen, fridge, freezer and eskies
- Lilypad free, kayaks and SUPs for hire
Ghost 2
Superyacht · 110 guests The Christmas it suits: the whole-company one. When every department is invited and the guest list crossed a hundred in October, this is the only boat on this page that takes it. A full bar rather than an esky, and enough deck that a hundred people are not queueing for one staircase.- Published for 110 guests
- Jacuzzi on board
- Full bar
- Panoramic harbour views from every deck
- Gourmet catering and drinks packages built bespoke
- Skipper and crew included
These five are the Christmas shortlist, not the whole fleet. If your group falls outside them, or you want a sailing yacht, a craft beer cruise or a team regatta for the end-of-year instead, all nine vessels and the full group-size picker are on the Sydney Harbour yacht charter hub.
The prawns, the bon bons, and who carries them on.
The short answer on bringing your own is usually yes. The longer answer is that pre-access is the thing that makes every one of these work, because you are aboard and set up before a single guest arrives.
You bring
Aboard during pre-access, before guests arrive
- Decorations and styling. Garlands, a small tree, table runners and bon bons, all up while the boat is still at the berth.
- Secret Santa and gifts. Loaded and stowed with everything else, not carried on by twenty people at boarding.
- Your own playlist. Bluetooth on Mayfair and Passion, a Fusion system on the catamaran, straight off your phone.
- BYO drinks on the boats that list a BYO option. Mayfair is one of them.
- Speech notes, awards and the photo board, because most work parties have all three whether they admit it or not.
We arrange
Quoted with your charter, never assumed
- Christmas catering packages, from seafood platters and grazing to the gourmet end on Ghost 2 and Major Tom.
- Drinks packages, or the full bar on Ghost 2.
- The BBQ, with the crew cooking it on Passion and a large one with a kitchen on the catamaran.
- The Lilypad, free on the boats that carry it, plus SUPs and kayaks for hire.
- The coach to the wharf and home again, on our own fleet.
Pre-access and loading is available on the boats that list it, and we confirm it for your vessel and your date on your proposal. Catering, drinks and water toys are quoted with the charter rather than assumed, because availability varies by boat: each one carries its own equipment. The Lilypad is free on the boats that carry it; SUPs and kayaks are for hire. Anything that needs power, rigging or naked flame is worth raising when you enquire so it can be checked against your vessel.
The work Christmas party, on the Harbour.
A whole-boat charter is priced by the hour, which is the opposite of how a venue quotes you. A venue quotes a number per head and the number moves every time someone adds a plus-one or drops out. A charter quotes the vessel and the hours, so the cost is fixed the moment you book it and the guest list can keep changing underneath.
- Small teamUp to about 20. Mayfair for a long lunch on the water, or the catamaran if you would rather have the deck space than the saloon.
- Standard office20 to 43. The catamaran, published for 43 plus 2 crew. A Christmas party catamaran hire is the most specific thing people search for in this category, and this is the boat behind it.
- Mixed roomMajor Tom, for the party where a third of the room wants a seated meal and a third wants the music up. Three zones solves an argument that no single open deck can.
- Whole company43 to 110. Ghost 2, with a full bar and a jacuzzi. The company Christmas party on a yacht that people picture when they say it.
- Client eventA client Christmas thank-you runs shorter and earlier: three hours around the landmarks with catering and a drinks package, off the water before dinner.
- On the invoiceOne booking, one invoice, and the coach transfer can sit on it too. See corporate bus hire for the land half.
Christmas party boat hire, yacht charter, or a Christmas cruise?
The first two are the same booking. The third is a different product entirely. Whether you call it Christmas party boat hire, a Christmas yacht charter or a Christmas boat party, you are doing one thing: taking the whole vessel privately, by the hour, with the skipper and the crew already on board.
There is no version of this where you are handed the keys. Every boat on this page comes with its skipper, so "hire" here means the boat and the crew are yours for the hours you book, not that you drive it.
Where a Christmas cruise is different
A ticketed Christmas party cruise sells you seats. You buy places on a boat that other companies have also bought places on, you get a table and a set menu, and the departure time, the route and the music are all decided for you. It is a perfectly good product and it is not what this page is.
Everything here is private. Your team or your family has the boat to itself. No seat allocation, no shared deck, no other office singing at the next table, and the route and the hours are built around your day. That is the difference worth checking anywhere you are comparing, and it is the reason the price is quoted for the vessel rather than per person.
Which word you use does not change the price
Christmas party boat hire, Christmas yacht charter and Christmas boat party all land on the same five boats and the same per-hour rates, starting at $475 an hour for the whole of Mayfair. What changes the number is the boat, the hours and the catering, never the wording of the enquiry.
See The Five Boats| Private charter | Ticketed cruise | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is aboard | Your group only | Shared with other bookings |
| Priced by | The hour, whole vessel | The head, per ticket |
| Departure time | Yours | Fixed |
| Route | Planned around your day | Set |
| Food and drinks | Package, BYO or bespoke | Set menu |
| Music | Off your own phone | Chosen for you |
| Decorations | Yours, up during pre-access | The venue's |
Both are real products. This page only sells the left-hand column.
The bits that make it Christmas.
These sit outside the boat cards on purpose, so the five stay readable and the add-ons still get their own moment.
Pre-Access And Styling
Board before your guests do and dress the boat properly: garlands up, tables laid, drinks on ice, gifts stowed. Available on the boats that list pre-access.
Christmas Catering
Built around a December menu rather than a fixed one. Seafood platters and grazing on the smaller boats, and the gourmet end of it on Major Tom and Ghost 2, built bespoke.
Drinks Packages
From a straightforward beer and wine package through to the full bar on Ghost 2. Several boats carry a fridge, a freezer and eskies already, which matters in December.
BYO Option
Mayfair lists a BYO option, so your own drinks can come aboard. Useful for a family Christmas where the good bottle has been sitting in the cupboard since last December.
Sound And The Dance Floor
Bluetooth surround sound on Mayfair, a Bluetooth system and a dance floor area on Passion, and a Fusion system on the catamaran. Your playlist, your phone, and no arguments about the office one.
BBQ With Crew To Cook
Passion carries a BBQ and the crew cook it for you while you are still in the water. The catamaran runs a large BBQ with a kitchen and two large eskies behind it.
Lilypad, SUPs And Kayaks
The Lilypad is a large floating mat off the back of the boat and it is free on the boats that carry it. SUPs are for hire on Mayfair, and Passion carries kayaks and SUPs as well.
Coach To The Wharf
Our own 14 to 41-seat coaches, from the office, the hotel or the pre-drinks venue to the boarding point and home again. One booking, both halves of the Christmas party.
Add-ons are quoted with your charter and confirmed on your proposal, never assumed. Availability varies by boat, because each one carries its own equipment. The Lilypad is free on the boats that carry it; SUPs and kayaks are for hire. Every from-price on this page is per hour for the whole vessel.
4.8 stars, 221 Google reviews.
"I am a wedding planner and booked Urban for guest transfer. Jared was amazing to deal with, answering every question and creating a detailed runsheet. On the day the driver was excellent, turned up early and helped guests on and off the bus. Cannot recommend enough."
"Absolutely no regrets choosing Urban Legends. Jared is such a great and easygoing guy, and he was so flexible to work with on the day when some timings and pickups needed changing at the last minute. Thank you so much for a great experience."
"Very professional, quick and easy to work with. Would highly recommend this company and would rebook in a second if needed for a future event. Thank you."
"Celebrated my 60th birthday on the tour and it was the best day. Everything is taken care of, all you do is enjoy the day. Bus driver Sam was amazing, very helpful and friendly and made the day even better. Highly recommend for a stress free, fun day."
"Easy to deal with, on time, and amazing service. Working with Urban Legends Tour Co was a breeze, love your work."
"Easy communication, excellent service. Would book again."
Every review above is a verified Google review of Urban Legends Tour Co, quoted in full, across our charters and events. None of them is a Christmas charter, and we have not captioned any of them as one. The Wedding Grounds review leads the set because it is the only one that describes the thing a work Christmas party is actually judged on, which is the runsheet and the logistics. The rating shown, 4.8 out of 5 from 221 reviews, is our current Google rating for the business as a whole.
We own the coaches as well.
A boat leaves at a fixed time, and a work Christmas party does not. The vessel goes at two from one wharf, and forty people are coming from the office, two client meetings and whoever decided to drive. That gap is where Christmas parties go wrong, and it is the part most charter operators cannot help with.
Urban Legends owns a modern fleet of 14 to 41-seat coaches, so the same booking can pick your group up from the office, the hotel or the pre-drinks venue, deliver everyone to the boarding point together and take them home again afterwards. One enquiry, one runsheet, one invoice, both halves of the day.
It matters more in December than any other month, because the party finishes after dark, everyone has had a drinks package and nobody should be looking for a taxi on a Friday night in the CBD. See Sydney bus charters, or corporate bus hire if it is going on a company invoice.
The rest of the day.
This page covers Christmas. The hub covers the fleet, the sibling covers birthdays, and the coaches cover everything that happens on land.
Sydney Harbour Yacht Charter
All nine vessels, the full group-size picker and every other occasion, from sailing yachts and craft beer cruises to team building regattas. Start here if your group does not fit the five boats above.
See the whole fleet →The Work Christmas Yacht Party Guide
The long-form version of this page: how the day runs hour by hour, how catering is decided, and the questions worth asking before you sign anything off.
Read the guide →Sydney Work Christmas Party Ideas
Every option we run for a Sydney work Christmas party, on the water and off it, with a rough budget band against each one. The place to start if the boat is not decided yet.
Read the ideas →Birthday Yacht Charter Sydney
The same five-boat logic applied to a birthday instead: milestone bands from 30ths to 60ths, the cake aboard during pre-access, and the anchor stop.
See birthday charters →Corporate Bus Hire Sydney
For the Christmas party going on a company invoice, with the coach transfer to the wharf on the same booking as the charter.
See corporate transport →Christmas Party Venues Sydney
If you are still weighing a boat against a room. Written straight, including where a venue genuinely beats a charter and where it does not.
Compare venues →Christmas charter questions.
Tell us the date and the headcount. We will do the rest.
Send your date, roughly how many are coming and how many hours you want on the water, and we will come back with the boats that genuinely suit it and what each one costs. Good Vibes Only.
Most quotes back in under 30 minutes on weekdays. Every from-price on this page is per hour for the whole vessel, not per head. Minimum charter length varies by vessel and by date, and charters are subject to availability. Your exact figure is confirmed on your proposal.