A rooming list for 28 staff on a phinisi: 11 cabins, seniors, pairs and plus-ones

The first line of a rooming list is a sum, and the sum is not the one most HR teams expect. Zada Ulla has 11 cabins. Put two people in each and you seat 22. The boat takes up to 28 guests, so a party at the maximum has six more people than pairs can place.

Those six go into the cabins that sleep more than two. Seven of the eleven do: the Master, the Suite, the two Family cabins and the three Superior cabins. The bed set-up for each pair is confirmed with the rooming list, in writing, before you pay.

Everything below follows from that sum. At 22 or fewer, everyone has a pair. Each guest from the 23rd upward turns a pair into a trio somewhere.

All eleven have a private bathroom. The list below is the one to keep beside the manifest.

• Master (1, upper deck): a double bed, with up to two extra beds; 2 to 4 guests. Private balcony with a bathtub.
• Suite (1, upper deck): a double bed, with one extra bed; 2 to 3 guests. Private balcony with a bathtub.
• Deluxe (4): a double bed, ocean view, 2 guests.
• Family (2): fixed beds, ocean view, 2 to 4 guests.
• Superior (3): a double bed and a single bed, 2 to 3 guests, no ocean view.

On Zada Ulla the extra beds are in the Master and the Suite, so build the plan from those two cabins and the fixed beds; a plan that needs an extra bed in a Deluxe will not work.

I give rules rather than names, since rosters are personal. Three of them do most of the work.

Seniors take the Master and the Suite. They are the only cabins with a balcony and a bathtub, and both are on the upper deck. If your leadership group is larger than two, decide before the list goes out who takes the next best cabins. Those are the Deluxe ones, because they have an ocean view and the Superior cabins do not.

Pairs are named, not drawn. A rooming list that says Deluxe 1 to 4 and nothing else produces four conversations at the quay. Write each pair by name, and mark any pair that cannot share a double bed, since sharing a double is confirmed in writing and not assumed.

Families go in the Family cabins. A staff member who brings a partner and a child fits there, because the cabin takes two to four on fixed beds. A child under 3 travels free; from that age the full fare applies. Whether a child counts toward the group band is confirmed in writing before you pay.

Treat this as arithmetic rather than advice: the least crowded split I can build that reaches 28 within the cabin ranges. It shows how many people end up three to a cabin.

Read it as a warning. Reaching 28 puts three people in the Suite, in both Family cabins and in all three Superior cabins. Six cabins hold three, and each is a cabin where your team may not want a trio.

If that is too crowded, the answer is a smaller party on Ulla or a second boat, not a longer list. At 25 guests three cabins need a third person instead of six, and the cost per head on Ulla is at its lowest there: IDR 5,400,000 · about USD 331 against IDR 5,710,000 · about USD 350 at 28.

Plus-ones are where a list of 28 becomes a list of 31. A guest list above 28 does not squeeze onto Zada Ulla; the desk books a second boat with it. Several boats are separate private charters booked together: same dates, subject to every boat being free, quoted per boat. Sailing together, a shared anchorage and a joint programme are arranged on request; the captains set the order and the anchorages.

A party of 29 shows what that costs in structure. Zada Nara takes up to 14 guests, and its 3D2N rate for the 1 to 14 band is IDR 105,000,000 · about USD 6,442, flat inside the band. One option is 15 guests on Zada Ulla at IDR 110,000,000 · about USD 6,748 and 14 on Zada Nara at that rate, which is two charters and two sets of cabins. I leave the total to the quote, because it depends on the split and on the date.

The catch is plain. Two boats cost more per head than one full boat, and a plus-one list is the usual way a budget meets that fact. Decide who is invited before you choose the boat, and send the final number with the list.

A rooming list is signed once. One person at your end signs it, and the cut-off in your written quote closes it. Changes after the cut-off are treated as changes to the booking, subject to the boat and the terms.

Send the producer five things:

• The full name of every guest, exactly as on the ID, with a marker for Indonesian or foreign.
• The pairs, named, and any guest who needs a cabin alone.
• Who takes the Master and the Suite.
• Any guest travelling with a child, with the child's age.
• The dietary list, and the name of your PIC.

Replace a name before the cut-off, not after. The sailing permit and the park tickets are issued against names, and a substitution on the quay is a recount for everyone.

The cut-off dates come with the quote, since they depend on your sailing date. Send the rooming list to the desk, and we return it in writing for sign-off.