Four Seasons Yachts vs Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection

Two famous hotel brands have taken to the sea, and they have gone about it differently. Four Seasons runs a single intimate yacht aimed at the very top of the market. Ritz-Carlton runs a small fleet with wider reach and a slightly broader price range. Which suits you depends on whether you want one ultra-exclusive ship or a fleet with more dates and itineraries.

Why Hotel Brands Entered Cruising

Two of the world's best-known luxury hotel brands came to cruising within a few years of each other, each betting that the service, design, and trust of a great hotel could transfer to a yacht at sea. Both have pulled it off, in very different ways.

What they share is decades of trust with high-net-worth travelers whose loyalty was built on the land brand. A guest boarding either yacht carries the memory of every stay with that name, and the ship has to live up to it.

Four Seasons Yachts: The Intimate One

Four Seasons runs a single yacht, and exclusivity is the whole idea. It carries about 200 guests across 95 suites, with a near one-to-one ratio of staff to guests. The suites are large and beautifully finished, with private terraces. The service holds the Four Seasons standard of the hotels. Fares sit at the very top of the market.

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection: The Fleet

Ritz-Carlton built a small fleet instead. Its yachts carry more guests, from the intimate Evrima to the larger Ilma and Luminara, which gives the line more ships, more dates, and far more itineraries across the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and beyond. The service carries the familiar Ritz-Carlton polish.

The Money

Both lines sit firmly in ultra-luxury, but the entry points differ. Ritz-Carlton generally starts lower, with a broader spread of fares across its fleet, so it is the more accessible way into a hotel-brand yacht. Four Seasons prices its single ship at the top of the market.

The Head-to-Head Scorecard

Who Should Book Which

Choose Four Seasons if exclusivity matters most, if you want the most intimate ship and the finest suites, and if the top-of-market price is no obstacle. Choose Ritz-Carlton if you want more choice of dates and destinations, a slightly gentler entry price, and the polish of a familiar hotel name across a real fleet.

Recommended Voyages

Each fare is a starting per-person price, and live dates sit on the itinerary page.

• Four Seasons, the Bahamas: the Bahamas featuring Exuma Sound on Four Seasons Yachts, from around $17,300.
• Ritz-Carlton, the Caribbean: a round-trip Miami voyage on the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, from around $4,100.
• Ritz-Carlton, the islands: a San Juan round-trip, from around $4,100.

Booking with Us

We book both lines and can match you to the right one and tell you which fits your trip and budget.

Booking through us, you can also join the Small Ship Travel Loyalty Program, a four-tier program that pays members 2 to 5 percent back per booking. The credit builds across every cruise line we book.

Related Reading

• Four Seasons Yacht I: What We Learned in Its First Season: a full look at the Four Seasons yacht.
• Is a Luxury Small Ship Cruise Worth It?: judging value at the very top.
• Seabourn vs Silversea: the established ultra-luxury rivals.
• How We Vet Small Ship Operators: the standards behind our reviews.

Sources

This comparison draws on our own bookings, inspections, and the lines' published material.

• The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.