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The Ritz-Carlton to Offer Yacht Cruises

The Ritz-Carlton announced the entry to a new area for the famous hotelier – it will provide travelers with luxury yachting and cruise services. The hotel company plans to build and use three cruise ships that will work under the new brand, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. The company has been working on this plan for four and a half years already, but first cruises are expected to start in Q4 2019.

The first office of the yachting service has already started working. It is located in Coconut Grove in Florida. When the company starts providing cruises, the office will be mostly responsible for long-term management services. The Ritz-Carlton also teams up with Lars Clasen and Douglas Prothero, maritime experts, and Oaktree Capital Management that funds the new initiative. That said, the initiative is indeed a costly one as building three luxury yachts is not cheap. The first ship is already built, and the second and third are expected to set sail in 2021 and 2022 respectively. The hotelier wants to have five ships in total, but that will be possible only after the three ships will start cruising. After that, the president of the Ritz-Carlton dreams to take the brand to the air, but that is yet a concept.

The Ritz-Carlton will use its network and management system to make reservations, control revenues, and help the cruise business running. All hospitality related questions will also be handled by the hotelier. According to the hotel company, they need to attract nearly 12,000 guests a year to make the cruise ship run with 90% occupancy. For such a luxury hotel brand, offering upscale cruises is a natural extension of the business.

The yachts by the Ritz-Carlton are specially designed small capacity vessels that can provide space for up to 298 passengers. The 190-meter long ship has 149 suites, each of which comes with a private balcony, and one posh duplex penthouse. The 138 square-meter large penthouse was developed by the hotelier and Tillberg Design, Sweden, that specializes in cruise ship design. The president of the Ritz-Carlton promises that their cruise ships will offer the largest cabins in the industry, as well as luxury services like Michelin-starred restaurants. The price of tickets will also be the highest in the cruise industry.

A typical voyage will range from 7 to 10 days. The Ritz-Carlton plans to offer cruises in different destinations that will vary depending on the season. The cruises will cover Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, Latin America, and the Caribbean. As the yacht is smaller than usual cruise ships, it can reach destinations that cannot be accessed by large ships, such as St. Barth’s, Portofino and Capri. Reservations for cruises on the first yacht are due to open in May 2018.

16.07.2017

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