In brief
Most Maldives charter yachts carry 8 to 12 guests, so groups of twenty or more are usually split across several boats. Ritrella, the 58-metre private yacht hotel represented internationally on an exclusive basis by Meliora Escapes, hosts up to 55 guests across 23 cabins on a single vessel, making it one of very few single-yacht options in the Indian Ocean for weddings, extended families, corporate retreats and brand events. Itineraries run from Malé through the surrounding atolls over three to seven nights.
Why large groups struggle to charter in the Maldives
International safety conventions and the economics of yacht building mean the global charter fleet clusters at 12 guests or fewer. In the Maldives that ceiling collides with how the Gulf actually travels: three generations together, a wedding of forty, a company of fifty. The standard answers, splitting across boats or booking out part of a resort, both break the thing a group trip is for, which is being together.
What Ritrella offers a group of 20 to 55
Ritrella is a 58-metre vessel configured as a yacht hotel: 23 cabins, dining that seats the whole party at once, deck space measured in hundreds of square metres, and a crew accustomed to hosting corporate retreats and multi-generational families. Because Meliora is the vessel's Exclusive International Sales Representative, so international enquiries and proposals are handled directly by Meliora rather than through a chain of intermediaries.
| Group type | Typical size | How it works aboard |
|---|---|---|
| Extended family holiday | 20 to 40 guests | Whole family at one table, cabins by generation, sandbank days |
| Wedding or celebration | 30 to 55 guests | Ceremony on deck, guests aboard for the whole stay |
| Corporate retreat | 20 to 55 guests | Sessions in the lounge, team days on the water; see corporate charters |
| Brand event or launch | Up to 55 guests | Full vessel takeover; see buyouts |
Sample itineraries: three, five and seven nights
Itineraries embark at Malé, four hours' flying from Dubai, and move through South Malé and Vaavu atolls: lagoon anchorages, snorkelling from the platform, private sandbank afternoons, and resort-island calls where the group wants an evening ashore. Three nights suits a corporate retreat; five is the wedding standard; seven gives a family holiday room to breathe.
Dining, privacy and cabin configurations
Provisioning is built around the group: halal galley provisioning as standard, alcohol served or not served according to your preference, and menus shaped to the party rather than a fixed rotation. The 23 cabins allow real configurations, couples on one deck, families adjoining, senior guests nearest the lift of the main stairs, and the vessel is exclusively yours for the duration of a buyout.
Send us your group size
Tell us the number of guests and your month. We reply with cabin configurations, an itinerary and a written proposal.
Get a Group Proposal →What a group charter costs
Two structures exist: a full buyout of the vessel, or per-cabin bookings on scheduled departures for smaller parties who still want the yacht-hotel experience. Rates move with season and duration, so we do not publish fixed prices; tell us your dates and group size and we send a written quotation, with the structure and inclusions set out clearly before you commit to anything.
Ready for a written proposal?
Month, group size and occasion. The operator replies within 24 hours with an itinerary and itemised proposal, honestly priced and with nothing invented.
Get the Written Proposal →Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, aboard Ritrella. The 58-metre vessel carries up to 55 guests in 23 cabins, which makes it one of very few single-vessel options in the Indian Ocean for groups that size. Standard charter yachts in the Maldives carry 8 to 12 guests.
Meliora Escapes is the Exclusive International Sales Representative for Ritrella. You deal directly with the operator, with a named consultant on WhatsApp from first enquiry through disembarkation.
Three to seven nights. Corporate retreats usually run three to four nights, weddings and celebrations around five, and family holidays a full week. Itineraries embark at Malé and cruise the surrounding atolls.
Halal galley provisioning is standard aboard Ritrella. Whether alcohol is served at all is simply a preference noted on your proposal, and menus are shaped around the group, including multi-generational and children's requirements.
No. Alongside full buyouts, Ritrella offers per-cabin bookings on scheduled departures, which suit couples and small parties who want the yacht-hotel experience without chartering the entire vessel.
For peak season, November to April, and for date-fixed events such as weddings, four to eight months ahead is realistic. Shorter lead times are often workable outside peak weeks; ask, and we will tell you honestly.
Why charter with Meliora Escapes
- Meliora Escapes is a Dubai based luxury travel consultancy serving guests across the Gulf, the UK and beyond.
- We are the Exclusive International Sales Representative for Ritrella, a 58-metre private yacht hotel in the Maldives, so we know the vessel intimately, not from a brochure.
- Wholesale access to 300,000+ properties worldwide means your pre-charter and post-charter hotels are curated in the same proposal.
- A named consultant handles your charter from enquiry to embarkation, reachable on WhatsApp in Arabic or English, in your time zone.