On a sunny morning in late May, the Four Seasons I, carrying nearly 200 passengers, glided through the glistening waters of the Saronic Gulf with the ease of a private yacht before anchoring just off the Greek island of Spetses.
Free of airports, cruise terminals and cars, the lush, pine-scented island is a well-kept secret among discerning travelers.
Like many passengers, I marveled at the Venetian waterfront mansions reflected in the turquoise Aegean. As we hopped into a tender and were shuttled to shore, I realized we weren’t the only ones gaping. From the waterfront, visitors stared at our sleek ship, which could have been mistaken for a celebrity mega-yacht had the Four Seasons logo not been emblazoned so prominently.
A Luxurious Ecosystem
Following the lead of the Ritz-Carlton, which launched its first ship in 2022, luxury hotel brands like Four Seasons, Orient Express and Aman are setting sail, targeting ultrawealthy travelers by trading the traditional mass-market cruise for curated itineraries designed to emulate the superyacht experience.
While the global cruise industry is experiencing record demand, with 37.2 million passengers in 2025, these companies are initially targeting non-cruisers and counting on brand loyalty to coax hotel guests to sea, with suites that start at $31,000 and go up to over $200,000. The draw? A familiar, lavish ecosystem that guarantees the comfort of a luxury hotel, far from crowded hot spots on land.
The 679-foot Four Seasons I launched in March with 95 suites, 11 dining venues, four pools (two of them private), a wellness spa and a marina that allows guests to jump straight off the ship into the sea.
In June, Orient Express unveiled the Corinthian, a 721-foot, 110-passenger sailing yacht (starting at $19,500 for three nights) that can be fully wind-powered under the right conditions. Aman’s first luxury yacht, the Amangati, is scheduled to sail next May.
“Our guests receive the comfort, personalization and service of a Four Seasons Hotel while onboard,” said Vladimir Savic, the Four Seasons I’s general manager, as we toured the ship. “But the main difference is when they wake up each morning, they find themselves in a new and unique destination.”
Philippe Hetland Brault, the president of Orient Express Sailing Yachts, said the company entered the cruise business because travelers are increasingly seeking privacy and exceptional service.
“The deployment of our sailing yachts allows us to take guests to iconic places while discovering these exceptional destinations arriving slowly from the seas, removing the friction that often comes with travel,” he said.
Suites on a Grand Scale
Last month, I set out on the Four Seasons I for three nights of a seven-night cruise from Athens to Istanbul. (The Times does not accept free travel and it paid for the trip.) I had followed the ship’s construction closely, but no rendering had fully captured the grand scale of the entry-level Seaview Suite I had booked, which starts at $31,600 for the week, but varies in line with the yacht’s dynamic pricing model.
While typical cabins are prefabricated on land and slotted into ships like Lego bricks, Four Seasons built each suite directly on the vessel, allowing for custom craftsmanship.
In my suite, floor-to-ceiling glass doors spanned one wall and slid back to reveal an expansive terrace that carried the room’s open, breezy layout — complete with a king bed, dining area and plush sofa — to the water. A Bang & Olufsen television has a screen that is transparent when turned off, ensuring unobstructed ocean views.
There was a walk-in closet, a stocked wet bar and a glass vitrine filled with books and art curated by the luxury designer Prosper Assouline. The most striking feature was the bathroom, which was lined with emerald-green quartzite and had a double-vanity countertop, bathtub and a walk-in shower with heated floors. Some suites have expanded living spaces and interconnected rooms. Seven residential suites include multiple bedrooms, decks and splash pools. The most exclusive, the 9,974-square-foot Funnel Suite, which has sold for more than $300,000, spans four floors and includes a plunge pool, an outdoor gym and floor-to-ceiling wraparound glass.
Jannah Hodges and her family were upgraded to the two-story, three-bedroom, 7,952-square-foot Loft Suite, which starts at about $158,100 for the week. (She spent $119,000 for a smaller suite.) Multistory glass panes made the space — which included a pool, a sauna and a kitchen with its own chef’s entrance — feel like a waterfront villa.
“They’ve really thought of everything; you don’t have to leave the room,” said Ms. Hodges, 57, the president of an executive recruiting firm in Dallas.
The best part of her upgrade was the private butler service. “He took care of absolutely everything,” Ms. Hodges said. “All the scheduling, rescheduling, dinner, spa, excursions — he just made it happen and said, ‘Don’t think about tomorrow.’”
What surprised me was that at a price point of more than $4,000 per night, only breakfast was included, and only if you ate at the restaurant.
Most cruise lines, including luxury companies like Silversea and Explora Journeys, are all-inclusive, with only specialty dining and premium beverages costing extra. Ritz-Carlton and Orient Express are also following that model.
All-inclusive vacations are increasingly popular among high-end travelers who value seamless convenience and prefer to pay tens of thousands of dollars upfront to avoid feeling nickel-and-dimed.
“Luxury cruisers generally, historically, expect gratuities, wines and spirits, specialty dining, Wi-Fi and even the shore excursions to be included,” said Larry Pimentel, a cruise executive and the former president of Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings, the joint operator of Four Seasons Yachts.
While the hotel-style “all apart” model may appeal to the loyal guests that Four Seasons is initially pursuing, Mr. Pimentel said, it could turn off frequent cruisers who might compare it with other lines on a “value basis.”
With a ship designed to spend more time in ports, Ben Trodd, now the chief executive of Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings, said it built its pricing model around “flexibility and choice,” allowing, for example, passengers to try restaurants at port stops instead of dining exclusively on the ship.
Many of the passengers, particularly Four Seasons regulars who had never cruised before, did not seem bothered by the lack of all-inclusive pricing, although some said meals at the specialty restaurants did not always justify the cost.
While I found relatively reasonable options like the al fresco Terrasse restaurant and the meze at the Horizon Lounge (I paid $45 for a salad and ceviche lunch at Terrasse), Jeremy Finkle, a dermatologist from Boston, said he had paid over $400 at Miuna, the ship’s Japanese restaurant, for an omakase seating with his wife.
“There were 13 courses, and only three of them had really good fish,” Mr. Finkle said. He also tried out Sedna, which blends modern French cuisine with regional influences. He described the dining there as “nice, but I wouldn’t rank it as one of the best meals I’ve had in my life.”
Ms. Hodges said she hadn’t looked at the details of her booking and hadn’t realized the fare wasn’t all-inclusive, and found out only when her friend on board the Ritz-Carlton called her to compare notes.
“At the price point of these exclusive suites, I would expect the basic food and drink to be included,” she said.
Exploring a Greek Island
I did one excursion: a $220 walking tour of Spetses, led by a lively guide who took us through the cobbled streets in the old port and various mansions. However, he forgot the lunch advertised on the itinerary, and I was left longing for a local dining experience.
Ms. Hodges said her culinary outing on Crete, at $750 per person, was a “money-can’t-buy” experience. “The meat, the cheese, the olive oil, the vegetables — everything was grown on the farm,” she said.
Managing excursions is just part of the learning curve for hotel companies venturing into the cruise business. Mr. Pimentel said the biggest challenge for these brands, which have designed beautiful ships and have loyal hotel guests, was mastering the complexity of a maritime product.
“Hotels don’t normally manage port operations, gangways, tendering, customs, multiple destinations and maritime safety,” he said. “It’s a different business, and it will take time to figure out.”
My favorite experience was when we docked at a secluded bay off the Greek island of Folegandros and the crew opened the dual-sided decks, revealing water bikes, electric hydrofoils and kayaks.
Venturing out on a paddle board, I looked back at the yacht and realized what distinguished it. At a time when overtourism is a problem in many destinations and cruise lines are competing for port slots, this vessel — with its over-the-top amenities and impeccable service — can anchor almost anywhere, offering guests unfettered access to the ocean.
It was a “money-can’t-buy” experience, which, of course, came with a hefty price tag.
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