Thursday, 19 December 2024
Ritz-Carlton Yacht to elevate luxury cruising in Alaska
by Rose White
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection will bring a new level of luxury to Alaskan cruising when Luminara launches in the destination from late May 2026, SVP of Global Sales, Kristian Anderson said in Sydney last night. His comments to an assembled audience of Australia’s top travel executives thereby confirming Ritz-Carlton Yacht’s intention to add Alaska as a future destination to its expanding program.
Luminara will be the third yacht in The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s fleet and is on track to debut in six- months, from late June 2025.
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Luminara will arrive in this region in late 2025, and has been “dedicated to Asia Pacific,” Anderson said, noting that bookings for the 226-suite ship’s itineraries hubbing from Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo are tracking “incredibly well.”
As flagged first by LATTE in July, Luminara‘s inaugural Asia-Pacific program winds up with a voyage from Singapore to Seward, Alaska in late May 2026, signaling a deployment to the ‘Last Frontier’ in the northern summer is almost a certainty.
“[Luminara] will then also spend time in Alaska, so we’re introducing a new, elevated style of contemporary luxury to the Alaskan market — which is in sore need of if you ask me — because there’s such a mass presence there. Understandably so.”
“But we feel that we have a niche and that we’re going to be able to offer that, and we are super excited,” Anderson said of Alaska.
Full details on the Alaska program are expected to be announced in the first quarter of 2025.
“We’re a pioneer in the cruise industry from the hotel side that are launching their version of a cruise product,” Anderson said. The Texan was referring to the next wave of fellow ultra-luxury hotel brands that are taking to the oceans, including Four Seasons, Aman and Orient Express.
Anderson said The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has the first-mover advantage, with Evrima launching out of the pandemic in October 2022, and then Ilma just a few months ago, in August 2024.
“We’re offering something new and innovative in our industry,” he added.
“Over the last several years we’ve been incredibly laboriously working to optimise the experience and to bring something new to the industry.
“After a rocky start… trying to launch during the pandemic – which was far more challenging than what probably any of us anticipated – but we were successfully able to launch Evrima.”
Anderson – who has been on the road attending conferences and showcases around the globe for the past 6.5 weeks – has been in Sydney this week meeting with industry partners to cement relationships, alongside Seb Seward, Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. The duo are now in Melbourne where they will meet with key partners in the Victorian capital over coming days.
“We’re committed to the region, we’re committed to this market,” he said.
“There’s a real affinity with cruise in this country and this region, and that’s why we’re committing to having an office here for the entire Asia Pacific region, based here in Sydney.”
Anderson highlighted the importance of trade relationships to the brand. “We would not exist without trade partners and we are doing everything we can to foster and develop our trade relationships.”
“We do not work with everyone. We do not work with everyone by design. You have the best clients that we feel fit our brand,” he added.
Meanwhile, Anderson revealed to LATTE that Seward has pinpointed a potential prime CBD location for The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in Sydney. That address will be the future house of the luxury cruise line and its APAC office and call centre.
“I’m extremely excited to be setting up an office and a team here,” Seward said. “We’re still establishing our presence in market, so thank you very much for the support so far, next year and beyond,” he told the Australian VIP cruise travel professionals.
Lead image: Kristian Anderson, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection; Penny Spencer, Spencer Travel; Juliana Nasmith, Luxury Escapes; Seb Seward, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and Steve Brady, Helloworld.
The post Ritz-Carlton Yacht to elevate luxury cruising in Alaska appeared first on LATTE Luxury News.
