RITZ-CARLTON is building three luxury cruise vessels

I once wrote, being new in the cruise market, you have to be outstanding, and these three new cruise vessels for RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL COMPANY, L.L.C. There is NO other chance for a newcomer in this megalodon driven industry, as to be totally contrary to what these mass market tourist ventures are offering - e.g. VIRGIN VOYAGES or now RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION.
by Earl of Cruise

RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION new luxury cruise ships - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL COMPANY, L.L.C., Chevy Chase, Maryland (USA), with over 90 hotels and resorts in over 40 countries, is a 100% subsidiary of MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR), has announced its entry into the yachting cruise industry. A branch in the mega trend industry which is catering the well-off people. The RITZ-CARLTON is the first luxury hotel brand to bring its award-winning service and timeless style of the hotels to the high seas. Its industry-first brand extension, the RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION, will set sail in 2019 - disrupting two industries in one fell swoop.
It is not the first hotel corporation that is going to the seas. As a first it was RADISSON whith their engagement with RADISSON SEVEN SEAS CRUISES. It was a step into the luxury cruise but they did not really push the door open and step through, so fealt through and had to sells its sea business, now REGENT SEVEN SEAS CRUISES and is after another change of owners a property of APOLLO MANAGEMENT.
RITZ-CARLTON’s investment in the yacht collection is undisclosed, and much of it is financed by OAKTREE CAPITAL, a global investment manager with experience in the hospitality and maritime sector. But there are indications - based on Spanish shipyard reports that match the first yacht’s description and name RITZ-CARLTON - that each vessel is costing €180 million ($200 million) to build. And that doesn’t include the cost of drawing top executives, such as SILVERSEA's ex-chief financial officer, Victor Cai, from competitors.
With occupancy on cruise ships averaging 86 percent to 90 percent industrywide, compared to 78 percent occupancy across RITZ-CARLTON hotels last year, Humler and Prothero are confident whatever the investment, especially as vessels can be repositioned to respond to changing regional demand.
RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION created by Douglas Prothero and Lars M. Calsen, Maritime and The RITZ-CARLTON, the hotel brand is implementing the project in collaboration with OAKTREE CAPITAL MANGEMENT, L.P. And has a long-term charter contract. The concept of The RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION is a unique part of a luxury hotel chain transferred into the cruise industry. The first of three luxurious yachts is expected to be launched in early 2019. Building site will be in Vigo, Spain, as I just learned. This makes MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL the only company in the luxury travel industry to offer exclusive travel experiences both on land and on water.

RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION new luxury cruise ships - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

If the megalodons of the cruise industry would invest in this kind of luxury market, they would negate their own so called luxury offers, which are only overpriced, by bargain sold, chi-chi´s, for those who think of themselves as the rich, to show off, or to be blunt the wanna-be´s.
The same is for the so called new "First Class" installements on the floating resorts, name them Cloud 9, Samsara, Yacht Club or what ever ... these are for those who have to show off.
Developing a real luxury vessels, means nothing else than a secluded area where like minded people will and want to meet and be not to be seen, no bothering paparazzying "normal cruisers" around and gawking, or more peculiar taking unwanted shots of privacy ...
Dear reader, you wish your own privacy, so the same for the rich. Don´t be too noisy for scandals, or so called ones.
“You have to diversify your business,” RITZ-CARLTON Chief Executive Hervé Humler told Bloomberg during an exclusive preview. After successful expansions into branded residences and six-star resorts (which Ritz-Carlton operates under its ultra-premium Reserve emblem), Humler says there were ample data to support a cruise venture. One key statistic, he says, is that the cruise sector has expanded by an average of 8.5 percent each year since 1981. For all that rise in demand, there have been few new ships on the ultra-premium spectrum.
"The RITZ-CARLTON yachts have a unique personality and will stand out from the crowd in the world's most glamorous ports," said Herve Humler, President and COO at The RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL COMPANY, L.L.C. "The combination of yachting and cruising will appeal to guests who want to travel in an informal, elegant atmosphere with the highest level of personal service," Herve Humler continued.

RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION new luxury cruise ships - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

You may ask how Humler will compete with the established other luxury players such as CRYSTAL CRUISES, SILVERSEA, HAPAG-LLOYD CRUISES, SEABOURN, and REGENT SEVEN SEAS - where I think of the last named as only the wann-be´s? By building this `anti-cruise´ ship, he answered: "With an emphasis on space, privacy, and flexibility", something he has worked to perfect over the course of 12 years.
Most small luxury ocean liners that are currently sailing and are comming - the SIVER MUSE, the REGENT EXPLORER, SEABOURN’s ENCORE, PONANT’s LE LYRIAL yacht, and its four comming expedition cruise vessels of similar size, for instance - are being built as expedition ships or reconfigured to meet the demand of a luxurious burgeoning adventure cruise sector. They’re largely heading to the polar regions of Antarctica and Greenland and the Scandinavian fjords.
So Ritz-Carlton saw an opening in the market - small-ship cruising along the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and New England. They are classic destinations that are popular with cruisers - yet they are almost exclusively serviced by mega-ships that overwhelm the regions’ biggest ports. E.g. Bar Harbor, which restricted the passenger acces to 3,000 max per day.

RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION owners suite - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

"I don’t want to stop in Marseilles - it’s a huge commercial port. Instead I can stop in St. Tropez," he said, pointing to the type of small berths that his ships will be able to slip into - and that larger cruise ships cannot. "Commercial boats cannot go to places like Mykonos, to Portofino, to St. Barths," he added. But his are small enough to manage it.
This, combined with company-supplied data claiming that 400,000 Ritz-Carlton guests are cruisers, means there’s both a built-in customer base and a solid marketing opportunity at play. "We only need 12,000 passengers to fill up a ship - each year, so if we don’t exceed capacity, we’ll be pretty close to it."
"We think it can go to five ships," said Prothero, who sees the product as appealing to a fast-growing demographic of young, high-net-worth cruise skeptics. And with the third ship sailing the Pacific Rim, the pair hopes to target Chinese and Japanese travelers - two other burgeoning groups with plenty of dispensable income.
Don’t expect yachts to be the last word in Ritz-Carlton’s brand evolution, either. "With the yachts, we wanted to think about where else we could take our customers,” said Humler. “In the next few months, I will work on taking our customer to air, too."

RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION obersavations lounge - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

The targetted clientele for the RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION is willing to pay for the real - top of the notch service and food and beverage (F&B), ambience and quality of materials, if you touch a golden surface, you want to feel gold and not, plastic, nor brass or any other substitute And then there is the factor space, and space ... did I mention space?
These yacht styled luxury cruise vessels will even offer more space than the one ot the other (most) luxury yacht or custom built.
Fredrik Johansson, owner and executive project director of TILLBERG DESIGN of Sweden, has designed quite a few ships e.g. for SVENSKA AMERKA LINIEN, and new, VIKING, NORWEGIAN, AZAMARA, COSTA, CUNARD … the list goes on. But the RITZ-CARLTON project represents the first time he’s designing a cruise line’s maiden ship and creating design standards from scratch, “a groundbreaking opportunity,” he says. “We’re designing these ships to turn heads.”
To that end, he drew inspiration from superyachts such as AZZAM, ECLIPSE, NAUTA - and as well as MASERATI - rather than from his competitors.

AZZAM - Source: Wikipedia

ECLIPSE - Source: Wikipedia 

“We wanted a look that was very slender, long, and elegant,” said Johansson. “Most ships in port look the same - but this won’t. I’m looking for the Maserati effect. I want people to see it and wonder how stunning it is on the inside.”
He thinks of the 190 meter (623 foot) vessels as hybrids between ultra-luxury small ships and yachts. If small cruisers of the same size carry about 500 to 650 passengers, on average, and a typical superyacht can hold a couple dozen, these are right in between, with 298 passengers in 149 suites, as I learned real suites - two rooms min., comparable only to PONANT’s 132 room ships for a max of 264 guests, with 140 meter length.
These new vessels will outclass HAPAG-LLOYD CRUISES RUROPA (199 meter, 408 guests) and EUROPA 2 (225 meter, 525 guests) and will be a fierce competition to CRYSTAL´s explorer yacht cruise vessels.

An intended future destination, Portofino - Source: Wikipedia

What is starting in the luxury cruise business is a competition for the crest ... a rivalry, only comparable to that on the North Atlantic when NORMANDIE and QUEEN MARY rivaled against each other.
The cruise routes connect the life of The RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL´s with the privilege of discovering a new, exciting destination every day. This is how the seven to ten-day journeys go to selected, intimate places. The first ship will sail a diverse range of ports in the Mediterranean, North Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, depending on the season. Thanks to its intimate size, the yacht cruise vessel will be able to navigate unique places that are inaccessible to large cruise ships, from Capri via Portofino and St. Barths or Marigot to the ancient city of Cartagena or Sète, for a visit at Carcassone e.g. And even Monaco or Cap Ferrat. The harbors are operated both during the day and at night, providing a tailor-made and stress-free experience at the destinations.

Portofino - own picture © Earl of Cruise

The first vessel will sail the Caribbean, New England, and Europe starting late 2019. In early 2021, a second ship will start sailing on similar routes. The third ship, which comes in early 2022, will break from that pattern and head toward the South Pacific.
Douglas Prothero, managing director of the RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION, said: "The pace of the itineraries is another differentiator: It’ll be slower, with less time at sea and more time to explore. We’ll do four ports in seven days, not seven ports in seven days." With each new destination, local chefs, artists, dignitaries, and guest lecturers will come aboard for a constantly rotating roster of talent and entertainment options.
Off-ship excursions will follow suit. Although the partnerships have yet to be cemented, onshore activities will likely be organized by the same high-end outfitters that luxury travelers
would call to organize a land vacation. (Pricing will be announced at a later date; itineraries will be "targeted at the 1 percent of global travelers.")
In many ways RITZ-CARLTON is building on existing trends rather than reinventing the wheel—a majority of luxury cruise companies, for instance, are trending toward extending hours in port and are bringing in guest lecturers from relevant destinations to entertain their crowds. But by enlisting unpaid consultants, such as Valerie Wilson, whose namesake company is among the 30 largest travel agencies in the U.S. and moves more than $300 million in travel inventory, they are ensuring that all the small details will add up to something truly unique. "Its suites will be larger than anything its competitors can offer," said Wilson, “and it’s almost mind-boggling that they’ll have five restaurants for less than 300 people."

The RITZ-CARLTON logo - courtesy RITZ-CARLTON

It was once, that this hotel chain in the early 20th century was running speciality restaurants on board the HAMBURG AMERIKA LINIE vessels, AMERIKA, KAISERIN AUGUSTE VICTORIA, IMPERATOR and VATERLAND

The specially designed ship has as mentioned room for 298 passengers in 149 suites, all of which have a private balcony. In addition, the yacht accommodates two spacious, 138 square meter duplex penthouse suites, which are equipped with modern craftsmanship and interior decoration. The suites have been developed in collaboration with TILLBERG DESIGN of Sweden, the leading design company for cruise ships. The Border Experience will reflect the comfort and unmatched level of personalized guest service that the RITZ-CARLTON brand is globally recognized for - a novelty in the cruise industry.
"Compared with Ponant, though, RITZ-CARLTON’s ships are about 200 feet longer, to accommodate enormous staterooms and an abundance of dining options, amenities, and public spaces - at least as many as what you’d expect to find on a much larger 600 passenger ship. The end product will offer more choices, more places to hide away (both public and private), and the utmost flexibility in your day-to-day schedule." Johansson is confident that these factors will put his ships in a class of their own. “We tried to design the ship to be everything that a traditional, large cruise ship is not," he said. "It’s a place where you go with no queues, no crowds, no disturbances - just a beautiful backdrop, a hideaway for beautiful people."
Due to fire and safety regulations, SOLAS, most cruise ships’ common spaces are subdivided and sectioned off, with walls dividing restaurants from bars and lounges and casinos. For the as-yet-unnamed Ritz-Carlton ships, Johansson is pioneering an open-concept floor plan that will be "fluid and transparent" and will "break down the traditional boundaries between dining and drinking areas. And no, there won’t be casinos."

The all-suite ship will feature graciously sized rooms with tall ceilings - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

The sprawling owner's suite will have wraparound panoramic windows and a private plunge pool  - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

Verandahs in every room, including this Duplex Suite, mean you'll be able to see the world's prettiest ports from your own private balcony One of 149 onboard suites - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

Other shared spaces will include a yacht-like marina platform, where glass doors open to a sweeping staircase that leads to a pool deck on the ship’s stern. "It’ll be a place to have drinks and snacks or launch water toys such as kayaks and paddleboards. There’ll also be a massive, open-air penthouse space with a retractable roof and 270-degree panoramic views of the sea: It’ll be an al fresco lounge by day and a nightclub after sundown."

A rendering of the ship's aft marina, where guests can lie in the sun, order drinks, or launch water toys - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

Accommodations will be called suites, not staterooms, and all of them will have verandahs and above-average ceiling heights! Certain hallmarks will be straight out the RITZ-CARLTON design playbook. "It specifies all sorts of details, from how big the writing desks should be and how many cushions should be on the beds," said Johansson. Not all of them lend themselves to a cruise ship, though. Double sinks? They’re a RITZ-CARLTON bathroom mandate - but they’d never been installed in a standard cruise stateroom before now. Except for real 5star vessel EUROPA of 1981, now SAGA SAPPHIRE.

The living room, one of many lounges and sitting areas that should lend the ships an intimate, high-design feel  - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

Dining and drinking venues will be small and intimate, perhaps seating only a couple of dozen passengers at a time, and all will be open around the clock, without the assigned seats or prescribed dining times - or buffets - so common in the cruise industry.
"Everything will be like a yacht experience in that respect," said Johansson in a call today. "The service will appear from nowhere, seamlessly, as opposed to traditional show cooking that’s loud and noisy."

The Marina Bar, a feature that will appear throughout the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, is the type of space you'd be hard pressed to find on other cruise ships  - rendering courtesy RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION

"The RITZ-CARLTON is renowned for its legendary service and high standards," said Douglas Prothero, Managing Director of The RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL COMPANY, L.L.C.
"We are delighted to be working with The RITZ-CARLTON to offer this exclusive cruise experience, a project that will give curative luxury travel a new dimension," said Lars M. Clasen, Managing Director of The RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION in my telephone call today. The F&B concept on board the RITZ-CARLTON Yachts is European oriented. Therefore they have a Sven Elverfeld restaurant, who has been awarded with three Michelin stars at Restaurant Aqua at the RITZ-CARLTON, Wolfsburg. The luxurious yachts also include a signature RITZ-CARLTON Spa, a panoramic lounge and a wine bar, offering a variety of on-board entertainment. Furthermore, partnerships with local chefs, musicians and artists are planned, which enable guests to get to know the places of interest in an authentic way.
From an industry perspective, though, this will be the first time guests can combine cruise and land vacations with a single operator, by booking pre- and post-hotel stays with Ritz-Carltons in port cities. And more than likely, Marriott Rewards will be a perk of sailing with the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.
Currently the official messaging from Marriott indicates that the yacht collection will have its own unique loyalty program, the details of which are still being finalized. (RITZ-CARLTON's hotels have their own loyalty program, too, but guests’ points are linked with their Marriott Rewards or Starwood Preferred Guest status.)
According to Humler, though, "It would be key to the success of the cruise line to extend the loyalty program.” Doing so, he said, would help the brand “understand what guests like and what they want and cater an experience."
Reservations will be possible from May 2018. Communication will be in real time #RCMemories as well at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at members.marriott.com with Marriott Rewards® und Starwood Preferred Guest® The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®
The ships of The RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION are also available for private charter. Further information can be found at www.ritzcarlton.com/en/yachts.
Want to cash in your SPG and Marriott points for a yacht cruise? That may soon be possible, as RITZ-CARLTON, Marriott International Inc.'s flagship luxury brand, announced a seafaring expansion Thursday.

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