First Impression: Tivoli

Date toured: December 2006

So many times, people buy yachts just to let them sit at the dock. Or they build a fast racing boat only to use it for leisurely cruises. Or they take delivery on a family-size motoryacht only to leave half the cabins empty because they don’t like cruising with their kids.
     I’m the kind of person who loves to see a yacht doing what it was built to do, which is why I am so excited about the 90-foot motoryacht Tivoli.
    Tivoli is an expedition-style yacht, which means it looks commercial on the outside but elegant on the inside. (I wrote a full review of a sistership to Tivoli called Endurance, which you can read by clicking here. I also wrote a blog posting about Tivoli and expedition yachts in general, which you can read by clicking here.)
     The idea of an expedition-style yacht is that it’s built to weather much rougher seas than “pretty white boats” in the same size range. In other words, a yacht like Tivoli is meant to go on actual expeditions—and I’m thrilled to tell you that she’s got a big one in the works.
     Capt. Rick Sollows explained to me in late December 2006 that he was working with Tivoli’s owner on a Northern European cruise that would begin on May 1, 2007. The plan was to leave the Caribbean for Scandinavia, eventually finding the White Sea and following the Svir and Neva rivers to the storied city of St. Petersburg, Russia. From there, Tivoli intends to cruise to cities including Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Copenhagen, Denmark before returning to the Caribbean for the late 2007/early 2008 charter season.
     The owner is going to be onboard during much of the trip through Northern Europe, but the boat is also planning to make multiple weeks available for charter clients like you and me.
     What a fantastic adventure—one that should be made all the better by the crew that Sollows and his wife, Bonnie (the yacht’s chef; they’re both Americans), have hired to go along for the ride. Native Russians Dmitri Berzhnyk and Lana Iabagi, a married, English-speaking couple, joined Tivoli recently to learn about the charter operation in advance of the big trip. Dmitri is serving as mate, while Lana is learning how to be a stewardess. They both have experience in the cruise ship industry and are bringing their service standards up a notch under the watch of Nicholson Yachts, the boat’s management company.
     A boat like this in a rarely offered charter destination with a crew who speak the native tongue and know the area firsthand—well, to me, that’s a charter experience that just shouldn’t be missed. I’ve already put in my request for a “journalist’s bunk” onboard, and I’ll get all the juicy details and photos possible for our valued CharterWave readers.
    Tivoli’s weekly base rate for six guests with four crew is $29,500, or about $6,000 per person with typical 25-percent expenses included. Contact any reputable charter broker to confirm your reservation in for this exciting expedition.—Kim Kavin