Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection & Marriott Bonvoy Partnership

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is the luxury cruise line associated with Marriott. One of the cool things about Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is how the cruise line belongs to Marriott Bonvoy, so in this post I wanted to go over the details of how that works in practice.

What is Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection?

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is a small luxury cruise line that set sail in late 2022. As you’d expect, this has become pretty popular, given its association with the well-known hotel group.

Currently, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has a single ship, named Evrima. The ship is 624 feet long, with 149 suites that can accommodate 298 guests. Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s second ship will be setting sail soon, and it will be named Ilma. The ship will be considerably larger, as it will be 790 feet long, with 224 suites that can accommodate 448 guests.

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection primarily sails in Europe and the Caribbean, and in many cases can sail to smaller ports than the larger cruise lines. The cruise line has an all-inclusive concept, with cruises including meals, drinks, and much more (this is different than the new Four Seasons Yachts concept).

Note that while Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has the Ritz-Carlton name, it has very little to do with Marriott — this seems to just be a licensing agreement, and the cruise line isn’t owned by Marriott. Fortunately part of that agreement includes loyalty perks.

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Marriott Bonvoy partnership

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and Marriott Bonvoy have a partnership, which can be quite lucrative. With this, it’s possible to earn points and elite nights, redeem points, and receive elite perks, for Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection cruises. Let’s cover all the details.

Before we do, let me just mention that you can take advantage of the Bonvoy perks regardless of whether you book direct or through a travel advisor. If you’d like to book through a travel advisor, Ford and his team are happy to help, and can be reached at [email protected]. They can even add extra perks that you won’t get when booking direct, and won’t charge you anything extra.

Earn Marriott Bonvoy points with Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection

Marriott Bonvoy members can earn both points and elite nights for Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection cruises:

• Earn 5x Bonvoy points per dollar spent on cruise fare only
• Earn one elite night credit for every night spent onboard
• Cruise fare spending will apply count toward the spending requirement for Ambassador status, which sure makes it much easier to reach the $23,000 spending requirement
• Earn bonus points when using a Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit card at the same rate you would when staying at a Marriott property; on most cards, like the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (review), you can earn 6x Bonvoy points per dollar spent

As you can see, you earn points at half the rate you would at Marriott properties (you usually earn 10x Bonvoy points per dollar spent). So the points earning rates aren’t quite as good, and on top of that you don’t receive bonus points based on elite status.

As far as the logistics of earning points goes:

• In order to earn Marriott Bonvoy points on your sailing, you need to add your Bonvoy number to your reservation at the time of booking, or if you do it after booking, it needs to be at least 30 days before departure
• You can earn points for up to three rooms, assuming you’re paying and are staying in one of the rooms (and all that spending counts toward the Ambassador status requirement); however, you only earn elite nights for up to one room
• Points and elite night credits will post to an eligible Bonvoy account within 14 days of completing a journey

Redeem Marriott Bonvoy points with Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection

Marriott Bonvoy members can redeem points for Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection cruises:

• Redeem 180,000 Bonvoy points to save $1,000 on a cruise fare
• You can redeem beyond that (with no limits) in increments of 90,000 Bonvoy points to save an additional $500

In other words, Marriott Bonvoy is valuing points at ~0.56 cents each toward the cost of a cruise when redeeming. That’s not great — it’s less than my valuation of 0.7 cents per point — but it’s also not terrible.

Marriott Bonvoy elite perks with Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection

Marriott Bonvoy elite members can get some useful perks when taking Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection cruises. Specifically, members can expect the following elite perks:

• All Marriott Bonvoy elite members receive an invitation to an onboard elite reception
• Marriott Bonvoy Gold members and above receive the choice of an in-suite welcome gift, which varies by tier
• Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members and above receive a complimentary first evening laundry pressing
• Marriott Bonvoy Titanium members and above receive priority boarding and departure
• Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador members receive early access to S.E.A. reservations, plus complimentary laundry throughout the cruise

Those are some pretty decent perks when you consider how much is already included with cruises, so typical hotel elite perks like breakfast wouldn’t be worth anything. In particular, Ambassador members getting complimentary laundry is pretty cool.

Bottom line

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has a partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, allowing members to earn and redeem points, and take advantage of elite perks. I’d say this is a pretty solid partnership for those who are into loyalty programs, in terms of the ability to earn points and take advantage of elite perks.

What do you make of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection & Marriott Bonvoy partnership?