Queen Miri

Most large charter yachts are licensed for twelve guests. Queen Miri takes thirty-six, in eighteen suites, which turns her into a different kind of proposition: a wedding party, a company retreat or three generations of one family can travel together on a single hull. Neorion delivered her from its Greek yard in 2004; Alpha Marine drew the profile, Studio Massari did the rooms, and Amico carried out the 2016 refit.

What people remember is the lowest deck aft. There, the garage where tenders drive in turns into a heated seawater pool twelve metres long, and the transom folds down so the sea terraces open beside it. A few steps away are the hot rooms, sauna and steam, plus a salon for hairdressing and manicures. On the upper deck, a full gym sits next to a padded play area, so parents can train while small children play close by.

Everything is planned with crowds in mind. Aft on the bridge deck, two long tables seat all thirty-six for dinner under the sky; the sky lounge forward of them has a bar for cards or watching sport, and the main lounge has a pool table. There is a cinema, a business centre, a helipad on the sun deck and two lifts that link the decks, which matters when grandparents are part of the group. At anchor, stabilisers designed to work at rest keep the hull from rolling.

From late autumn to spring her charters run in the Caribbean, and anyone resident in the United States is barred from chartering her inside American waters. She is the wrong choice for a small, quiet group: with up to thirty-six crew, her scale and rhythm feel closer to a private resort than to an intimate yacht, and costs grow with her, since at a 16-knot cruise she burns around 650 litres an hour. For a celebration that needs everyone under one roof, she solves a problem that very few yachts can.