A family reunion on a Komodo boat: 24 guests, three generations, one table

Families who have not shared a room in years tend to plan the logistics well and the seating badly. They book three hotels, two minibuses and a restaurant that holds sixteen, and only then discover that the real event is the long afternoon in the middle, which none of those bookings quite contains.

A boat for a big table settles the seating by being the table. Vhale has an indoor dining room, with a wooden table and bench seating, and an outdoor one, with a long teak table and a U-shaped bench under the deck roof, so a meal can be taken in shade or in the breeze without anybody leaving the party. Vhale's crew of nine does the serving; nobody in the family has to play host.

A speaker and karaoke set is on board, which some families will greet with joy and others will want to confine, politely, to an hour of their own choosing. The outdoor chill area and its day bed give the quiet half of the family somewhere to be quiet, while two paddle boards and the snorkel gear look after the restless half. The list is short, but every item on it serves a party that wants to be together and apart in the same afternoon.

It is also, to put it bluntly, a fair way to share a bill. The whole-boat fare is one number, and one number divided by 24 adults is easier to discuss over dinner than 24 separate bookings.

What follows is a sketch, not a rule. The boat has 12 cabins on three levels.

• Upper deck, Atlantic ×2: a queen bed and an extra bed on request, a private balcony and an en-suite bathroom, 2 to 4 guests. We would give these to the two eldest couples.
• Upper deck, Azure ×2: a queen bed, an extra bed possible, 2 to 3 guests. We confirm the bathroom arrangement in writing before you pay.
• Main deck, Oceanic ×2 and Pacific ×2: queen beds and en-suite bathrooms. Oceanic takes 2 to 3 guests, Pacific 2.
• Lower deck, Coral ×4: a bunk room with one double bed and one single, 3 guests each. Cousins and children will love them; a couple wanting privacy, rather less.

The sum for 24: eight queen cabins at two apiece make 16, and the other 8 sleep two to a Coral cabin, leaving one single bunk free in each. At 28 the Coral rooms fill, three to a cabin.

On bathrooms, Atlantic, Oceanic and Pacific are en-suite. For Azure and Coral, ask us which arrangement your cabin has.

The day to picture is the second of the 3D2N, because its stops fall so neatly across the hours. The programme lists sunrise at Padar, breakfast, time on the beach at Pink Beach, lunch, and then snorkelling at Taka Makassar and at Manta Point. Weather and the captain set the final order, so take this as a shape rather than a timetable.

By two o'clock lunch is on the outdoor table. The younger end of the family is asking whether it may go back in the water; the elders reply, with perfect composure, that they intend to stay exactly where they are. Someone has claimed the day bed. Two cousins are disputing the paddle boards, of which there are precisely two, a fact worth knowing before you promise everyone a turn. The coffee comes round again without being asked for.

Nobody has reached for a wallet since the hotel pickup. That, in a sentence, is the case for the inclusive fare.

Children aged 0 to 2 travel free, and from age 3 the full fare applies, which matters at a reunion full of school-age cousins. A Coral cabin, double below and single above, suits a parent with a child.

Now the limits, in plain words. The boat has three decks with steps between them, so talk to us before you put a grandparent on the upper or lower deck; the main deck, with Oceanic and Pacific, is where we would begin. Life jackets are on board; give us the children's ages and we confirm the sizes in writing before you pay. And the dragon stop on the route is a walk on Rinca. If anyone would rather not make it, tell us in advance and we will settle the arrangement with the crew before the day, not at the jetty.

None of this is a reason to stay at home. It is a reason to ask early.

Four decisions come before a date, and every one of them is cheaper to make at the start.

• The head count that is real. Count paid deposits, not enthusiastic messages. A party under 20 pays the same whole-boat fare, so each share grows as people drop out.
• The trip length. The 3D2N and the 2D1N have set routes. The one-day trip and the 4D3N follow a sample route, with the final order set by the captain.
• The guide. On a private charter the guide and the photo and video documentation are not in the fare. Twenty-four people at one trailhead is a good argument for asking for both, quoted separately.
• The money. A deposit of 50 percent holds the date, and the balance is due 30 days before sailing. We collect passport details 7 days before.

Then send us the flight numbers, since families never arrive on one aeroplane, and read our note on why the day before is the civilised day to land.