Hotel-branded superyachts
If the idea of a superyacht from your favourite luxury hotel brand floats your boat, then you’re in luck as Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Aman and others head to the high seas.
Cross the sleek craftsmanship, elevated cuisine and service ethic of a luxury hotel with a custom-designed superyacht and you may well have sparked a new trend. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is banking on it since the recent launch of its first seagoing venture, Evrima. The 298-passenger yacht is getting rave reviews from guests as it sails its first Caribbean season. What’s interesting is that most of these guests haven’t been lured from existing cruise lines but are first-timers, eager to try life afloat without the cost of private charter.
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“Many of our guests are existing Ritz-Carlton guests, which is exciting because it’s what we set out to create – an experience that did not exist,” says Douglas Prothero, the collection’s CEO. “We wanted everything from the design to the itineraries to reflect the yachting lifestyle, meaning elegant interiors, world-class service, and moving at a relaxed pace so guests have more time in port.”
The seafaring concept is a collaboration between The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company – part of Marriott International – Oaktree Capital Management, and The Yacht Portfolio, an investment group owned by Prothero. The transition into the superyacht realm made sense. Ritz-Carlton has an extensive database of high-spending customers, as well as those from other upscale brands in the Marriott portfolio, including St Regis, Edition and W. From the guest’s view, the possibility of accumulating and spending Marriott Bonvoy points, earned on Marriott International’s loyalty scheme, on the yacht, can only be a plus.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing. Evrima launched 30 months behind schedule, having been delayed eight times. Financial difficulties at the Spanish shipyard, Covid and supply-chain issues were all cited. But the formula seems to be working. Cruises on a second yacht, Ilma, due in 2024, have gone on sale. Ilma, under construction at Chantiers de l’Atlantique in France (which built Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, so knows a thing or two about ships) rather than the original Spanish yard, is larger, with 228 suites and more dining spaces. A third yacht, Luminara, will launch in 2025.
Meanwhile, rival hotel groups are eyeing their own nautical prospects. Four Seasons announced its move into the boutique ship market, placing an order with Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard for three yachts, worth $US1.2 billion. The first 190-passenger ship, inspired by Aristotle Onassis’s classic Christina O, will set sail in 2026, with no expense spared. The top suite will span four decks and the canoe-shaped aft deck will feature a pool that converts to a dance floor or an open-air cinema. The build cost is equal to $US4.2 million per cabin.
One of the executives at the helm is industry veteran Larry Pimentel, who has served with Azamara and SeaDream Yacht Club. “When we launch in 2026, there will be nothing else like it on the open seas,” he says. “We are bringing together the very best across industries to create the pinnacle yachting offering through world-class design, curated experiences, and exceptional service.” Sales are expected to open in the third quarter of this year.
Ultra-luxury hotel group Aman, in partnership with public investment fund-owned Cruise Saudi, is also taking to the water with the launch in 2025 of Project Sama, a megayacht with 50 suites, Aman Spa, two helipads, and a beach club platform at the stern. And German hotel group Seaside Collection, whose lodgings include Finolhu Baa Atoll in the Maldives, has acquired deluxe riverboat Crystal Mozart, one of the most lavish ships on the Danube, as well as all four smaller riverboats that were custom-built for Crystal Cruises, which folded in January 2022.
Most recently, French-owned Accor, whose hotels include Raffles, Fairmont and Banyan Tree, has announced that the Orient Express brand will be heading to sea in 2026, with the launch of Orient Express Silenseas. Billed as a “revolution in maritime history” that “pushes the limits of what is possible”, the 54-suite ship will be built in France, like the two Ritz-Carlton yachts, at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard. It will be powered by three SolidSail rigs, a 1500-square-metre unit wind propulsion system, and hybrid propulsion running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and, once it’s available, hydrogen. The interiors, in contrast, will hark back to the golden age of travel, taking inspiration from the heyday of the French Riviera, with two pools, two restaurants, cabaret lounge and speakeasy-style bar.
So is the hotel-branded yacht one to watch? It’s already clear from the Ritz-Carlton’s pricing that there’s a ready supply of millennial and gen-X professionals willing to pay at least as much, and probably more per night, than they would on an entry-level suite with a traditional cruise line. As Prothero says, these are not people who have already tried a cruise. Rather, they’re the types who might rent a villa in Tuscany or take the family on a luxurious safari. And they could be the new faces of luxury cruising.