Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Struggling Financially: Will Things Improve?

Perhaps time to re-adjust pricing.

Targeting families cuts both ways. The likely demographic for a long cruise are older people (recently retired). Not sure they want to be cruising with a bunch of rugrats.

Am I surprised? No.. just like all those boutique airlines that tried.. there's just not sufficient market for these type of offerings, those that are able to afford this will already have their own luxurious yacht or friends/family with one, why would they want to be seen with the other 99% of wannabe's who can't afford the real deal yet tries?

Your review of RC Cruises was great, but one thing i'd ask, in a no-shade kind of way, is whether you feel you have a fair assessment of where it sits in the market having only done one cruise? In the same way that people who fly business class for the first time are impressed by often quite mediocre products 😉

I'm in the same boat (done one cruise, enjoyed it, not rushing to book another), and am wondering the same thing!

It's very unclear to me who the market is for this product. The price point is so high that the cost to actually just charter a yacht (especially for a family or friend group) is pretty similar. And I have to assume most actually rich people would much prefer to charter a yacht. It certainly has more cachet than going on a cruise, which has much more down-market connotations. The "yacht" branding is obviously trying to counteract this, even though at core it is in fact a cruise line, not a private yacht charter.

It’s interesting to me that they chose the Ritz-Carlton brand given how much it has been diluted in recent years. I haven’t seriously considered one of these cruises, but if I do in the future, I’d almost certainly go with Four Seasons Yachts or Aman at Sea over Ritz-Carlton, since I just associate those former brands with a higher level of quality and customer service.

I’ve been on a few times and the product does not justify the price. What are they doing so much better than Crystal, Silversea, Regent etc to justify the price? Hard product is very nice, but service and food are on par with the others. No free shore excursions like Regent.

It’s a very nice experience but at the end of the day does not represent good value.

They have been giving free cruises to mid level gay influencers and it doesn’t seem to be turning into bookings. The cruises look empty. They are all over social media.

They need to charge more! /s

FYI Ben looks like Qantas is not showing as an Amex transfer partner at the moment. Not sure if glitch or another big transfer partner change from Amex

It's an interesting segment of the market but in addition to what others have said...there's a new paradigm shift and financial shift. Do enough of the right people have
1. The disposable cash to feel comfortable
2. The desire for this kind of vacation
The expedition market is probably where it's at. Billionaire are building their own expedition capable yachts.
I think to myself, right well I've got $10-15k for a vacation. Why wouldn't I get to Antarctica versus a bigger room better drinks than a cruise for half that price I could take to Caribbean? There's a few islands these ships go to that the others don't but is it really worth 5k more to see bequia, st barts, barbuda? No, buy a plane ticket if you want to go so bad to those.
Btw I know im in wrong crowd but what is the obsession with the Tropex mykonos ibiza places in 2026? I remember ibiza from listening to techno in the 90s lmaol. I read that and I'm like.."is that still a thing? Ppl still go there?"

One strong segment of the luxury demographic are older people with time , money and the freedom to enjoy it. With heavy competition entering the market, filling those suites becomes more difficult. Quite a different animal than luxury hotels where guests have more control over their itinerary regarding length stay.

My aunt and uncle took a ritz Carlton cruise in Jan/feb from Singapore to Hong Kong. They said it was roughly half full. They enjoyed it and had a good time, but they were miffed that there was some influencer on the boat who was somehow given permission to occupy spaces for long periods of time during the day, restricting their and other guests' use of certain spaces so the influencer could get the perfect shot.

I read your review of the RC Yacht with tons of interest because this market totally perplexes me. Who wants to spend that amount of money to go on a CRUISE? I realize it's much nicer than a standard cruise, even an upscale brand, but it's still a cruise... Especially when you compare it to something like HX or other expedition companies where it's still pretty luxurious but you're getting an incredible experience in exotic nature destinations. I really don't understand the demographic who is supposed to want to shell out the cash needed for a RC Yacht and also wants to take a cruise that isn't an expedition.

Lucky said when writing his review that the Ritz-Carlton cruise he took was the first one he took in over 20 years and made it pretty clear that was the case

@Steve - there's the mistake as you clearly point out. They need the top tier gay influencers. Get the rich daddies onboard.

No, it won't survive. Nor will most, if not all, of the hotel branded cruise ships. The big cruise corporations have spent decades learning how to make a profit in a high risk, costly and low margin business. These hotel brand ships are little more than expanded charter operations without the resources to "weather stormy times." As others have pointed out, the cruising money is rapidly moving to expedition cruising, which appeals not only to traditional cruisers but opens up a new, additional market of younger, adventure seeking travelers.

I agree.
Decades ago I was given tickets to a boat show, and concluded that for a given amount of money one could buy a yacht with large ongoing expenses, or holiday house, larger and more comfortable, with lower ongoing expenses and more obvious resale potential.
Being at sea rather than on land is just inherently more complex logistically and so more expensive - for what?
The appeal of the yacht is presumably that one can be completely insulated from the rest of the world for a time, but as you say that doesn't apply for a cruise.

I agree.
Decades ago I was given tickets to a boat show, and concluded that for a given amount of money one could buy a yacht with large ongoing expenses, or holiday house, larger and more comfortable, with lower ongoing expenses and more obvious resale potential.
Being at sea rather than on land is just inherently more complex logistically and so more expensive - for what?
The appeal of the yacht is presumably that one can be completely insulated from the rest of the world for a time, but as you say that doesn't apply for a cruise.

Will any executives at those three future entrants be bold enough to realise that the concept is flawed and cut their losses now?

They aren’t targeting families as their cabins are only for 2 passengers unless you get a huge suite, so even the “typical” luxury hotel guest family would be priced out of these. I think MSC Explora is too tough of a competitor because the market for luxury cruising that isn’t the old school stuffy adult lines (with loyal customer bases) is pretty small and MSC has a major advantage with essentially unlimited funding and backend support from a massively successful shipping and cruising company whereas these hotel branded cruises are investor owned, stacked with debt, and all operated by third parties.

Fully agree. I’ve sailed on Silversea at a fraction of the daily cost Ritz Carlton is asking, and can’t imagine how RC could be that much better. On Silversea we had unlimited caviar, champagne, premium wines & liquors, a spacious suite with dressing room, separate tub & walk in shower, butler service, wide choice of restaurants, etc. etc. I have to believe the only people who would choose RC are those who don’t cruise much, are impressed with the brand, and don’t shop around. And there can’t be many of them!

Who is a typical RC customer? I get WA, I get FS, I get StRegis, I get MO. But RC? For hotels I get it, but not for cruises.
80-85% occupancy I cannot believe will manifest any time.

Interesting. Seems like they made the mistake of thinking that the higher hotel points-inflated prices RC charges would translate to cruises, when the majority of people know it's not worth it.

im sorry but rich people don't like cruises. im going to just say it. if they have enough money, they're chartering their own boat. but also most staying at nice hotels along the coast.

I wouldn't be caught dead on a cruise. I can hop between locations on my own and have complete control of my own schedule.

I don't see how RC gets to the occupancy they need, and to me this is an even more pessimistic outlook for the FS, OE, and Aman yachts. Ritz is having issues filling boats at their price point, and then basically double it for Four Seasons.

Yes, there are certainly travelers who aren't into RC or who want something more luxurious that will do FS. But are there enough to drive high occupancy? It seems like the math there is even more challenging in terms of the comparison between doing the cruise or a really luxurious hotel. Most luxury travelers would prefer the latter imo.

The only niche where we would consider doing RC or FS yachts is for an Alaska cruise or a similar hard to reach place with limited or no nice hotel accommodations. Cruises serve a clear purpose for those vacations. But for the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Pacific, etc? I'd rather just stay in luxury hotels.

Doesn’t FS have that concept where they’ll fly you on a chartered jet to various FS resorts on a set itinerary? How does the cost for that compare with a cruise on a per day level? I’d imagine that’s a more compelling type of trip than a cruise.

Agree with @Kendall and others. For the price per day, why on earth do this versus chartering a catamaran with a captain for the week and actually having exclusivity and privacy.

Yes, but the pricing is an entirely different demographic - $200k+ per person. https://onemileatatime.com/reviews/four-seasons-private-jet-airbus-a321lr/

They need more interesting destinations that are not saturated.

Will things improve ? No .

I think this model makes a lot of sense.

Howard marks can’t be happy - but I bet oak tree can find a way to make this work.

Even if they do end up getting liquidated - someone will buy the assets. Getting the pricing down to $1k per person per day makes this pretty compelling. You can’t reach that price point along with the quality of food and drinks in a charter at that price.

I looked at a one-week Mediterranean cruise for August and compared it against Silversea. In my case, Ritz-Carlton was roughly double the price, yet the suite was significantly smaller.

I understand the appeal of Ritz. The ships are smaller, more intimate, and have a boutique hotel atmosphere. But at some point the premium has to make sense.

For me, I couldn't justify paying 100% more for a smaller room when both cruises visited similar destinations and offered luxury accommodations, high-end dining, included beverages, and excellent service.

If Ritz had been 15-25% more, I probably would have seriously considered it. At double the price? The value proposition disappeared.

The yacht concept is attractive. But when the fare is dramatically higher than the competition, many travelers will decide the extra exclusivity isn't worth the premium.

Rich people like to cruise, but they're going on the already established players like Silversea, Seabourne, Regent Seven Seas, Crystal, Hapag-Lloyd, and Ponant. The market is already pretty well served by these lines and a few other smaller players. So lines likes Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, and Aman feel like they're fighting an uphill battle for relevance in an already pretty niche market segment of the bigger cruise industry.

A warning to the hotel and airline operators who claim they have clients with no price elasticity (cough, Ed Bastian, cough, 'ultra' luxury hotel chains).

There's always an alternative, especially when the client has money. When you're not delivering value for the price it catches up.

Luxury travel has, in large part, become private touring with your own driver and guide. Why would someone give that up to be on a ship full of other people, on their schedule, taking a pre-planned route? A ship full of people is still a ship partially full of assholes, no matter how much it costs.

To: All you goobers with too much money.
What: I will float you on a small raft on a small lake. I will give you beer and chicken. It will last 4 hours.
Price: Minimum 8 people at $999.00 each.
Problems: Raft will sink but I will rent 8 life jackets for $1000.00 each.
Guarantee: You will have wonderful story to tell grandkids.
Alternative: Pay $2,000 per day to eat a steak with others on fancy dancy boat as they complain about their hip replacement.

Choppier sailing. Less amenities. Worse food. Worse rooms. Need more?

Why would you say they are not providing value for the price?

They could lease it out to MBS as a new prison!!!! Money problem solved!

Honestly I don't really understand who wants this. When I just checked upcoming sailings, it seems like 2 people for 7 nights is approximately 20k Euros.

For that price, you can charter a decent crewed yacht. And if you want to go with friends, for around 25-30k, you can actually get really nice crewed yachts with 3-4 decently sized cabins.

While I have enjoyed taking some cruises, for me, it is because they represent value for money. If I was planning on dropping 20k for a trip, it certainly wouldn't be a cruise that goes to Barcelona and Mallorca or Miami and Nassau. I wanted to I would much rather charter a yacht and just enjoy some quiet coves.

People with money will go on established luxury cruises or have their own boat.
These are for wannabes who can say its RC branded, and clearly the market is not there

@Sel D
It's well within the price range for a crewed 50ft catamaran to also book a chef. You can also order your own groceries, so if the food quality is bad that's kinda on you.

It seems like less of a developing and lucrative market than more of a rush to ensure that nobody actually gets to a monopoly or a position of market dominance. Ironically by Four Seasons, Orient Express and Aman being so much more expensive it actually might result in Ritz Carlton succeeding here. RC seem to have identified a gap between the high end cruises and low end yachts which they are trying to fill. Their competitors are trying to outdo RC on luxury which pushes them up to the territory of yacht charter prices, just without the privacy, exclusivity and flexibility that are the greatest benefits of chartering a yacht. It will be interesting to see in 5 years if they can all succeed

" I don’t think many people are willing to replace their annual “see and be seen” pilgrimage to Saint-Tropez, Mykonos, Ibiza, etc., with a cruise" - saw one of these ships. I was literally on the ferry from St Tropez.

Converting days into years, I've spent five years between Silversea and Seabourn and sail neither as they dropped from luxury level years ago. 100 days with Hapag-Lloyd pre covid. Today it's Crystal and Explora. While I'll probably never consider Explora luxury, it offers fair value so far.

I'd like to do a crossing with RC just to try it. A healthy part of the fare paid with Marriott points. But the stipulations listed make it a bit risky. No matter how great the cruise might be, it's one and done. There is nothing of interest to me in how they operate and cannot not see the RC name attached to the three ships beyond two years.

I would never pretend to know why or how people do what they do regarding any kind of boating endeavor. Charter....no way (for me) because I've listened to too many stories from customers and crew. There are real advantages to high level cruising on ships holding 250 to 900 passengers. Before Explora, I'd say 250 to 500 passengers. But I'm in the camp that believes it will be tough sailing for all hotel associated cruise companies. Especially RC.