Glitter ahoy! Luxury hotels are storming the cruise market with superyachts offering exclusive five-star luxury – perfect if you’re willing to pay £88,000 for a week on the high seas

Cruising is the fastest growing sector of the travel industry, so perhaps it’s no wonder some of the world’s most exclusive hotel groups are gunning for a piece of the action. For decades, they have had to watch their wealthy clientele disappear over the horizon on board five-star boutique ships.

But with big money behind them, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Orient Express and Aman are quickly entering the ultra-luxury cruise market, launching a fleet of superyachts loaded with champions, caviar and the promise of adventures for some of the most remote areas of the world.

Until recently, luxury cruise lines such as Crystal, Silversea, Seabourn, Ponant and Regent Seven Seas had this lucrative market almost to themselves, with wealthy guests sailing in an all-inclusive cocoon of opulence, enjoying butler service, fine dining and private access to excursions – all for around £500 – £1,000 per person per night.

But the upmarket hotel groups are already demanding much higher rates, with offers such as sophisticated suites that reflect their brands’ signature style and exclusive invitation-only sailings.

Edwina Lonsdale, director of luxury cruise agency Mundy Cruising, said: ‘This will create more competition to attract high-spending customers and introduce a large number of new guests to the market. But will the hotel’s superyachts create the same atmosphere and club atmosphere?’

RITZ-CARLTON

The sleek 298-guest superyacht Evrima was launched last summer and will be joined in July by Ilma and Luminara in autumn 2025.

Five restaurants, a spa, two infinity pools, a watersports marina, a personal concierge, impressive art on the walls and a shop selling Cartier watches and Hermes Birkin handbags all add to the exclusivity.

The suites are generously sized and have a refined boutique hotel style.

Although Evrima is all-inclusive, there is one restaurant where guests have to pay, which costs more than £300 per person at three-star chef Sven Elverfeld’s specialty restaurant, SEA.

To date, 75 percent of Evrima’s passengers are Ritz-Carlton loyalty card members and about half are new to cruising. The first guests – by invitation only and mainly in their early 50s (bringing the average age in the traditional cruise market to 57) – used their loyalty points, but earned back by sailing to trendy ports including Mykonos, Saint-Tropez and St. Barts.

In addition to the convenience of booking pre- and post-cruise stays at Ritz-Carlton hotels, guests can also spend a day ashore at the group’s beach resorts when their superyachts pull into ports like St. Kitts in the Caribbean.

Book It: Eight-day return flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, departing March 16 with stops in the Caribbean, including St. Barts and Jost Van Dyke, from £5,660pp (ritzcarltonyachtcollection.com).

FOUR SEASONS

To create Four Seasons’ first yacht, designers were tasked with combining the style of the elegant yacht Christina O – once owned by Jackie Kennedy’s second husband, billionaire Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis – with the technology of a James Bond movie.

The ship, which is still under construction and as yet unnamed, will have 95 suites and 11 bars and restaurants, plus a full spa.

The four-story, 9,000-square-foot Funnel Suite will even have its own spa and wading pool, plus 280-degree panoramic views through the largest single pane of glass ever seen at sea.

The yacht will sail to no fewer than 130 destinations in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Announcing the 190-passenger vessel’s entry into the cruise market at the Monaco Yacht Show, Four Seasons offered invitation-only bookings with an £8,000pp deposit for sailings due to commence in autumn 2025.

According to a Four Seasons spokesperson, this sales model is “a way to navigate demand when you have an exclusive product with a limited supply.”

Book It: Register your interest on the Four Seasons website and expect rates to start at around £2,000 – £2,750 pp per night (fourseasonsyachts.com).

ACCOR

Hospitality giant Accor has announced two superyachts for its historic brand, Orient Express, due to launch in 2026 and 2027.

A spokesperson – aggressively highlighting the competition for guests at this ultra-luxury level while proving money is no object – claims that “the ships will be more exclusive than Ritz-Carlton’s Evrima and will charge double the rates.”

The first, 220-metre Orient Express Silenseas, will be the largest sail-powered ship ever built, with three rigid sails and tilting masts, although it can use liquefied natural gas (LNG) if necessary.

Architect Maxime d’Angeac’s interior reflects the Golden Age of Travel – an era when princesses and movie stars graced the French Riviera – and features a private recording studio with sound engineer and two swimming pools, including a lap pool.

Book It: Reservations will open later this year (accorhotels.com).

A MAN

With some of the most exclusive hotels in the world – mostly intimate retreats with fewer than 30 rooms – Aman Resorts already offers sailings on the two-masted yacht Amandira, where 14 crew members care for up to ten guests.

And now Aman has entered into a joint venture with Cruise Saudi, owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, to add a 180-metre motor yacht to its fleet in 2027.

The 47-suite full-balcony ship has yet to be named but will feature two helipads, a spa with Japanese garden and a marina platform for access to water sports.

No itineraries have been released yet, although guests can expect sailings to locations away from the crowds.

Amandira already explores the islands in Indonesia’s Flores Sea, including the UNESCO-listed Komodo National Park, with a dive master leading expeditions to coral reefs around Raja Ampat, an archipelago made up of 1,500 small islands and crystal clear waters.

Book It: Seven-day charters on Amandira cost from £88,000, (aman.com) or sign up for the new yacht at aman.com/yachts.