Why is the limit twelve guests?
It is not our rule and it does not bend. Here is where it comes from, and what to do if there are fifteen of you.
2 min read · 5. august 2026
Twelve passengers is the limit for a vessel not certified as a passenger ship. Above twelve an entirely different set of rules applies, with requirements for crewing, construction and approval that a yacht is not built to meet.
That is why no serious operator in Norway says yes to thirteen. Not out of pedantry, but because the insurance lapses and because it is illegal.
What happens above twelve
The vessel must be certified as a passenger ship. That means requirements on the number of exits, fire divisions, life saving equipment and crew holding specific certificates. Converting a yacht to meet it is not realistically an option.
So when we say twelve, we mean twelve. Including the couple, including the photographer if he stays for the whole trip, including the baby.
If there are fifteen of you
You have three options, and we will say honestly which we would pick.
Two boats running together. This works better than people expect. The boats raft up when you stop and the groups mix as the day goes on. More expensive, but everybody is on the same trip.
Split into two charters. Half the group in the morning, half in the afternoon. Cheapest, but then you have held two events rather than one.
Use the boat for part of the day. Twelve on board for the charter itself, everyone else meeting ashore afterwards. Works well for weddings where the ceremony is small and the party is large.
Crew do not count
The skipper and any chef are not counted in the twelve. It is twelve guests, not twelve people on board. That gives a little more room than people assume once they start counting.
Why we ask for the number immediately
Because it determines which boats are even possible, and because it is the one piece of information that can make a request impossible to say yes to no matter how much we want to.
Give us the real number from the start. Nine becomes twelve once it is discussed at work, and twelve becomes thirteen when somebody brings a partner. Better to plan for thirteen and end up eleven than the other way round.