First Impression: Carpe Diem

Date toured: December 2006

I give a lot of credit to the hard-working crew onboard the 149-foot motoryacht Carpe Diem.
     I met them at the charter show held each year on Antigua, where reputable brokers flock from all over the world to assess what each charter yacht has to offer. Carpe Diem was one of the yachts trying to get to Antigua in the face of fierce offshore weather. Many motoryachts didn’t make it to the boat show at all, but Carpe Diem’s crew got to their marina berth, quickly cleaned the sticky salt off the yacht’s decks, and even had fresh cookies waiting to tempt the very first charter brokers who stepped onboard.
     By the time I made my way into the main saloon, just a few hours after the yacht pulled in, the entire interior looked as perfect as any other in the entire boat show. And the chef already had a fresh batch of cookies in the oven. The stewardesses were smiling, ready to show me around, even though they’d been green with seasickness just a few hours before.
     This yacht, based on what I saw, has a crew that can literally make people feel comfortable no matter how uncomfortable or challenging the situation is around them.
     That kind of crew ability is what impressed me most about Carpe Diem, aside from the fact that the yacht itself is quite beautiful. She’s a Trinity, several of which are available for charter nowadays and all of which have a similar layout for 10 guests with eight crew.
     What makes Carpe Diem a bit different is that she went through a year-long interior refit in 2002 that changed her original, darker interior décor (she used to be called Imagine) to one that’s lighter and more contemporary. A charter broker from the U.S. West Coast was touring the yacht with me, and she said she couldn't wait to show it to her clients back home, simply because the décor felt much better to her than its previous incarnation.
     Also worth noting is the layout of the VIP suite onboard, which has a bedroom with an adjoining sitting room and couches that convert into bunk-style beds (see the photo above). If one of the families in your charter party has small children, this cabin might be ideal.
     Carpe Diem is part of the fleet at Camper & Nicholsons International. Her weekly base rate is $175,000, or about $22,000 per person with 25-percent expenses included. Contact any reputable charter broker for information.—Kim Kavin