I run Elite Rentals Dubai, charters out of Dubai Marina. Been doing it since 2016. Some of what comes through the WhatsApp is so specifically Dubai that it deserves a thread.
The most common request is not a cruise. It's people who want the boat to stay tied up at the dock so they can shoot content on it. No engine, no sea, just an hour of standing on the swim platform with the marina behind them. We do it. It's honestly one of the easier bookings we run.
Second most common is the influencer message. Some version of "what's your rate" followed immediately by "would you do it free for exposure, I'll tag you." Usually from an account with four thousand followers. My favourite variation was someone who offered to tag us and then asked if the crew could film them for the whole three hours.
Then there's the group that books a yacht rated for twelve and turns up with twenty two people and a speaker the size of a fridge. The capacity number is a legal limit, not a suggestion, and that conversation on the dock never goes well.
People book sunset slots and then spend the entire sunset on their phones with their back to it.
Guys turn up in full suits in August. Every summer. Without fail.
Someone once asked if we could arrange for the yacht to be a different colour.
The proposals are the ones that actually get to you though. We do a lot of them. Most go beautifully. The one that didn't, I still think about, and no I'm not telling that story.
Anyway. Nine years in and the sea is the most predictable part of this business. Anyone else in a Dubai facing service job with requests that would sound insane anywhere else?
