I’ve spent the better part of an hour playing with a great new feature on Camper & Nicholsons’ Web site: virtual-reality tours. Now you no longer have to settle for just a handful of photos and a downloadable PDF fact sheet when you click on a charter yacht to learn more about her. You can in effect walk around her decks, everywhere from her swim platform to her sundeck and everywhere in between.
Take Java, for example, the first megayacht I checked out. The photos of the 121-footer gave me the sense that she’s comfortably arranged, between the subdued decor and the placement of furniture. But when I launched the virtual-reality tour by clicking the icon with an arrow and “360,” I realized I’d love to spend time in the sunny saloon, made extra-bright because of a floor-to-ceiling window aft and to port, right by the bar. The traditional still photos focused on the forward portion of the saloon, so I didn’t even know that window was there. And since the virtual tour (created in conjunction with MotionVR) allowed me to look and walk left, right, and back where I came from, I also noticed blinds ran both the length of that window and the one aft to starboard, directly above the stairs leading down below, another fact the traditional still photos couldn’t capture.
Whether you select Java or another yacht from CNI’s fleet, you have the option of viewing the tour in a pop-up window or full screen. You also have the option of taking yourself on the tour or playing tour guide. Say you and another couple want to charter together, but you’re doing the research. Click the Advanced Tools button, click the Remote Control icon, then select Be the Guide, and you’ll see a numeric code you can give your friends. (CNI provides you with an adjacent space to enter the couple’s e-mail, though I confess I couldn’t test that out in time for this post. But being an instant-gratification kind of person, I’d probably call my friends with the info anyway.) When you’re all logged onto the yacht’s page, have your friends select Advanced Tools, click the Remote Control icon, select Be Guided, and type in that code. Voila, you can now show them the saloon, spin around the guest staterooms, or walk them up the steps to the raised pilothouse and then up to the sundeck to check out the Jacuzzi.
Of course, if you’re serious about chartering Java or any megayacht, you should contact a reputable broker. But as a way to get a better feel for the deck spaces, decor, and related items, the virtual-reality tour is an indispensable tool.
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