Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
December 2022

I’ve been waiting years for the opportunity to sail on the new Ritz-Carlton yacht, Evrima. As soon as the yacht was open for reservations, I put down my deposit. Construction delays and Covid caused me to wait two more years, but the wait was well worth it and all of my expectations were exceeded. I can’t wait to go again.

When I first looked into booking the yacht, I dove down into each destination to decide where I wanted to explore. After being onboard, I now realize that the destination and ports are secondary to being on the yacht. What I will look for on my next Ritz-Carlton yacht vacation is how many days they will put the Marina down (offering sun loungers and water toys), and how many smaller ports we visit.

Some of my favorite ports were the smallest. Ports where I could step off and enjoy a seaside lunch without crowds or over tourism. We could take a hike right from the port, or just walk through the town and enjoy the local flavor.

We missed a few of the scheduled stops due to weather, so we went to a few larger ports. The shore excursion team did a great job of arranging some wonderful shore excursions overnight to make the most of our day. But for those who chose to stay on board, the yacht experience, even in port was fantastic.

One thing I was surprised about were the amount of first-time cruisers onboard. I had expected that most of the guests would have been experienced cruisers. What I found out was most guests were first time cruisers who did not want the typical cruise experience, which is why they picked The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. There are no buffets, no long lines, no shows, and no casino – but a true yacht feel and experience, which everyone loved.

Let’s talk food. I had some of the best sushi I’ve ever enjoyed. But there is more to life than sushi, right? Every meal we had, we very much enjoyed. There were some items I would continue to order throughout the cruise, they were that good. While I would have liked a few more options on the menus, there was enough to enjoy and not feel as if you had to order the same thing each time.

One thing I really enjoyed was the variety of different activities they did on board. One day at 5:00 we had Champagne and spa on deck 9. We all got a glass of Champagne (well we got that all the time anyway, whenever we wanted, all included) and were given a spa “mask” to put on. Throughout the week there were different areas activated around the yacht with other fun things to do and experience.

Overall, we had a great time. Are there a few things to fix? Of course, it’s a brand new product and experience, and even the best resorts have a few early fixes. What I can tell you is nothing that needed a “fix” took away from our experience at all, and by now I would imagine that almost all fixes have been made. The next yacht, Ilma, is now available for reservations and begins sailing in 2024, and you can know I’ll be first in line to go again.