The ladies and gentlemen of Marriott International’s The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company will be getting their sea legs in 2019 with the launch of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. The three small ships will be positioned in the luxury yacht cruise segment alongside the likes of Seadream Yacht Club, Windstar Cruises (Star Pride, Star Breeze and Star Legend), Silversea Cruises (Silver Cloud and Silver Wind), Crystal’s Esprit and France’s Ponant. They will set sail on seven to 10-day itineraries. Reservations will open next May with 298 guests on each voyage and amenities such as a marina deck and visits to smaller ports large cruise ships can’t access. The first vessel will feature a restaurant by 3-star Michelin chef Sven Elverfeld of Aqua at The Ritz-Carlton, Wolfsburg, a Ritz-Carlton Spa, and a wine bar.
In advance of the official announcement this morning, we talked to The Ritz-Carlton’s President and Chief Operating Officer Herve Humler. Condensed answers to our questions follow:
Your press release states, “This represents the first foray into the cruise industry for a luxury hotel operator.” Genting, which owns Resorts World and Crystal Cruises might quibble with the idea that Marriott is the first, and the same could be argued with Regent, with both hotels and a cruise line?
“The launch of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is fairly different as the two different Regent operations are owned and operated by separate companies. This venture is a new brand extension and will function as such within the brand umbrella. Our business model, the size of the ship and the connection to our Ritz-Carlton and Ritz-Carlton Reserve estates on land, truly caters to the high-end of the luxury market. We see this as a completely different offering in the existing luxury cruise market.”
Why now?
“As a brand, (we’ve) wanted to enter the luxury cruise market for more than 10 years. In the past year, 405,000 Ritz-Carlton guests have cruised, so we know this experience will strongly resonate with our existing guests. We also have a successful track record of brand extensions in the luxury hospitality sector including Ritz-Carlton Reserve, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, and The Ritz-Carlton Destination Clubs. And since there are only four small luxury ships in operation and those ships are each 20+ years old, we felt that now was a better time than ever to enter the luxury cruise market. We really wanted to bridge the gap between a yacht and cruise ship experience and we feel like we are uniquely positioned to stand out in the ultra-luxury cruise space with top of the line service, intimate and modern ship design, and yacht-style itineraries.”
Is the arrangement pure management or do you have any equity in the deal?
“(We do) not have equity in this venture. We have created an entirely new team specifically for this brand extension, which is called “The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection”. This team will be based out of Miami and we are excited to have recruited some of the best in the cruising business who truly understand this industry. The Ritz-Carlton will run the hospitality experience on board the yachts. Our finance partner in this is Oaktree Capital.”
How long is the management contract?
“(We have) a long-term management agreement in place for this new venture.”
Have you set pricing yet?
“We are focused on developing the finest cruise yacht imaginable, which will offer truly luxurious accommodations, unprecedented dining options, and branded spa and retail offerings that are unparalleled in a ship this size. It will be well priced for the truly unique, curated experience we will offer.”
Aside from Ritz-Carlton service and expertise, are there any notable innovations?
“We will be working with Jean-Michel Cousteau and his Ocean Futures Society to develop programming for the yachts. We also plan to offer curated destination journeys through collaborations with local chefs, musicians and artists, allowing guests to experience the locations in unique and experiential ways, both onboard and ashore. We’re hoping to eventually include pre-and post-voyage opportunities to link the sea with shoreside properties and offer guests a new, and complete, brand experience.”
What about the yachts?
“Since we will be one of the smallest, ultra-luxury cruise ships (at 21,000 gross tons) in the market, we will have a ‘marina-style’ platform that will offer direct access to the water, similar to those found on superyachts. Each yacht will feature 149 suites, and the yachts have been designed with an innovative wall system in place so that room layouts can be modified to suit the purpose of each voyage. And the size of our yachts will be ideal for docking or anchoring at and exploring smaller ports, which are not accessible to larger cruise ships.”
What will be the different cabin categories?
“Aside from the penthouse suites, we have four different categories and sizes including our Signature Suite (14 in total on the yacht at 550 sq. ft. and the balcony at 161 sq. ft.), Veranda duplex suite (12 in total at 602 sq. ft. with the balcony at 64 sq. ft.), Superior Suite (32 in total at 344 sq. ft. with the balcony at 118 sq. ft) and Veranda Suite (88 in total at 301 sq. ft. with the balcony at 64 sq. ft.).”
Where will the ships sail?
“The first yacht will cruise in a wide variety of locations including the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the United States, the New England area. The size of our yachts will give us the ability to access and explore smaller ports that larger cruise ships can’t access, such as Portofino, Nice, the Lipari Islands, and St. Barts. We expect the second vessel to focus on similar destinations, but our hope is to be able to deploy some additional summer voyages to the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes area as the fleet grows. We plan for the third vessel to be focused more on destinations in Asia Pacific.”
Will all three ships be the same?
“The design and layout of the first two yachts will be the same. The third vessel will follow the same design, but with some planned modifications to reflect additional cruising grounds in the Pacific Rim.”
Where are they being built?
“We will be following up with a maritime trade announcement from the shipyard on June 27th.”
Will there be any fractional ownership/residence club type offerings?
“Not at this time, but the ships will be available for complete buyouts or charter service. Given that the size of the yachts will make them an ideal setting for groups and meetings, we expect this to be a popular option.”