2023-10-20 07:16:11
Vacation on a luxury yacht instead of in a luxury hotel: Four Seasons, Aman, Accor and, in addition to Ritz-Carlton, other luxury brands from the Marriott Group will soon be sending their own ships into the race. These hotel companies’ superyachts are unlikely to be a competition for the established cruise lines. The target group are their existing customers: well-off people who want luxury on vacation and should now also enjoy cruising.
The crucial aspect is the opposite perspective: They do not offer their ships as a luxury version of the cruise, but as a sea travel version of the luxury hotel experience. The usual hotel surroundings, style, ambience and service are transferred to the ships.
Ritz-Carlton: The pioneer when it comes to cruises
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has been the first and so far only luxury hotel chain to operate a ship since October 2022: The “Evrima” is impressively large with eight passenger decks and 190 meters long for just 298 passengers and 246 crew members. In April 2024 and autumn 2025, respectively, Ritz-Carlton plans to launch two more yachts, the “Ilma” and the “Luminara”, both of which will be significantly larger with 456 passengers each.
The “Evrima” has eight decks available to its less than 300 passengers
Quelle: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The parent company Marriott International also has big plans beyond that: there will be a total of eight to ten superyachts in the coming years, including for other luxury brands in the hotel empire, which includes St. Regis, JW Marriott and W Hotels. The company also plans to go public with its cruise yacht division. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is currently owned by a group of investors, but the growth and success plans are based on the brand and sales know-how of Marriott International.
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Its loyalty program Bonvoy has 177 million members – a customer database that is larger than the customer base of the entire cruise industry combined, said Jim Murren, CEO of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, in a recent interview. 25 million of these are luxury customers who are potential passengers for the cruise yachts. In fact, 75 percent of “Evrima” passengers are Bonvoy members so far, half of whom have never booked a cruise before.
Additional Information: ritzcarltonyachtcollection.com
Four Seasons: Two yachts by 2026
The luxury hotel brand Four Seasons draws on a lot of cruise experience in its plans: CEO of the co-owner and ship operator Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings is Larry Pimentel, formerly CEO of the sea tour operators Seabourn, Cunard, Seadream and most recently Azamra.
Four Seasons wants to launch a 190-passenger yacht (207 meters, 14 decks) worth 400 million euros at the end of 2025. The second ship is to follow just a year later.
The “Funnel Suite” with a glass front on the Four Seasons yachts extends over four floors in the chimney
Quelle: Four Seasons
What is particularly striking about the planned four-season yachts is the “Funnel Suite”, an almost 460 square meter suite on four levels that is built into the chimney. The suite also has a terrace of another 440 square meters. The suite’s innovative and spectacular curved glass front with 280-degree panoramic views consists of a single piece of glass and costs $4.5 million alone.
Additional Information: fourseasonsyachts.com
Accor: Environmentally friendly sailing ship planned
The Accor Group is taking a different path, particularly from a technical point of view, with its sailing yacht “Orient Express Silenseas”, planned for 2026. Designed for just 108 passengers, it will be even more luxurious than the competition from Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons – but also significantly more expensive.
The yacht “Orient Express Silenseas” will have tilting and rotating fixed sails as well as a drive that can process LNG and hydrogen
Those: Photo: Martin Darzacq
If the “Funnel Suite” from Four Seasons is already impressive, the presidential suite on the “Orient Express Silenseas” literally puts it in the shade: The suite is supposed to cover 1,415 square meters with a 530 square meter terrace.
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The drive technology on the Orient Express ship is very innovative: tilting and rotating fixed sails and a drive that can process both LNG and hydrogen. A ship like this is also being planned in the classic cruise market: The French shipping company Ponant wants to put its first climate-neutral sailing cruise ship into service in 2030, for around twice as many passengers as the “Orient Express Silenseas”.
Additional Information: group.accor.com
Aman: „Project Sama“ mit Cruise Saudi
The company Aman, which specializes in luxury resorts, wants to enter the cruise superyacht business in 2026: with a 183-meter-long ship with 50 suites. Two helicopter landing pads offer passengers maximum travel comfort. To achieve this, the company is working with Saudi Arabia’s state tourism promotion agency, Cruise Saudi.
A Japanese garden in the spa is planned for the yacht planned by Aman
Quelle: SINOT Yacht Architecture & Design
Too many details are not yet known about the plans. But the project name “Sama” already indicates the direction: Sama is Sanskrit and means rest. A first architectural draft for an interior of the Aman yacht shows a Japanese garden for the spa on board.
Additional Information: aman.com/aman-at-sea
Luxury hotel ambience on the river or canal
In addition to ocean-going cruise ships, luxury hotel companies are also showing their first ambitions in river cruises. Namely at Belmond and the Seaside Hotels based in Hamburg.
In the “Napoleon” from Belmond you can book a cabin just like on a cruise ship
Quelle: Belmond
On French canals, Belmond operates a number of very small, former barges that have been converted into luxury passenger ships. Belmond predominantly charters these ships. But the “Napoleon” can also be booked by cabin like a cruise ship. A gourmet trip offered on the “Napoleon”, for example, takes you to Burgundy, with a different Michelin star restaurant in the excursion program every day.
The “Riverside Ravel” is traveling on the Rhône
Quelle: © Riverside Luxury Cruises
The former river cruise ships of the ultra-luxury shipping company Crystal Cruises were snapped up by the Hamburg luxury hotel company Seaside Hotels after their bankruptcy. Under the new brand Riverside Luxury Cruises, the “Riverside Mozart” – once the legendary flagship of Deilmann’s river ship fleet – has been back in service on the Danube since April 2023.
You can dine in style on the “Riverside Mozart”.
Quelle: Glyn Ridgers © Riverside Luxury Cruises
The “Riverside Ravel” on the Rhône followed in August. “Riverside Debussy” and “Riverside Bach” will follow in spring 2024.
Additional Information: belmond.com/boats/europe/france/les-bateaux-belmond/; riverside-cruises.com
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