When do you talk to the captain before a yacht charter?

Most guests talk to the captain four to eight weeks before a yacht charter, on a call the broker sets up once the preference sheets are in and the itinerary is taking shape. That is by design. Crews are usually mid-season with other guests aboard, so the broker handles everything before then (contract, payments, questions about the yacht), and the captain steps in when there is a real plan to discuss: which anchorages fit the group, where the birthday dinner lands, whether the toys can come out at the first stop or the third. Anyone with a hard requirement (a restaurant already booked, a dive day, a guest who gets seasick) should raise it with the broker at booking so it reaches the crew months earlier. On embarkation day there is a full briefing aboard, and from then on the captain is a walk down the deck away. The full sequence sits in the booking process overview.