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Ritz-Carlton Cruises?

micmacmissy
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EnjoyNow!

EnjoyNow!

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I have a Ritz cruise booked for July 2, 2022.  I spoke with the Ritz agent last night inquiring about pictures or videos of ship.  They have nothing but said yes its on schedule.

I am very suspicious of it being ready in May, with no pictures or videos of ship.  

I also do not like the thought of spending so much money on a new ship that hasn't worked out all of their kinks yet.  

I am thinking of canceling and or post phoning the cruise for another year.  Make sure it actually sails and lives up to its expectations.

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Gourmet Gal

Gourmet Gal

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I was booked on this ship for a mid 2020 cruise but cancelled when I found a better itinerary.  Of course that cruise ended up being postponed for 2 years because of Covid.  But the ship is now at least 2 years past the original completion date so I would proceed with caution.

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Sthrngary Holiday Sharing Rare

Sthrngary

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10 hours ago, EnjoyNow! said:

I have a Ritz cruise booked for July 2, 2022.  I spoke with the Ritz agent last night inquiring about pictures or videos of ship.  They have nothing but said yes its on schedule.

I am very suspicious of it being ready in May, with no pictures or videos of ship.  

I also do not like the thought of spending so much money on a new ship that hasn't worked out all of their kinks yet.  

I am thinking of canceling and or post phoning the cruise for another year.  Make sure it actually sails and lives up to its expectations.

There are great brands and iconic brands.  RC Cola is a great brand; Coke is an iconic brand.  I love my RC cola.  I don’t think there would be to much debate that Ritz-Carlton is an iconic brand.  I traveled the world over the last 40 years mostly on business.  Years ago when I stayed in a Ritz-Carlton it was best of the best.  The reason was culture from its long heritage. Most iconic brands have deep history that drive what they want their mission statement to be.  As the years went on, the Ritz could not hold onto its top position consistently.  That is what happens when competition happens that use your organization as model.

 

I personally love cruising.  I have cruised for the last 43 years.  I wanted to take the splurge and do a true luxury cruise for my 40th wedding anniversary.  I studied brands like Crystal Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Viking Cruises and many more brands.  One of the other brands was the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. I instinctively know if the Ritz was getting into cruising, they would do it right.  When I study something, I go all out. So, over two years ago, way before covid-19 was a thing, I did my deep dive into Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.  I have written about my findings quite often on CruiseCritic.com.

 

Your comment is thinking about not going and canceling your cruise.  Allow me to give my thoughts and please remember, no one is an authority on a ship or brand that has never sailed. The delay was less about covid and more about problems at the ship building yard.  If you look and read the most recent cruise industry websites, you will see the Collection has just hired some top tier cruise executives.  The CEO of the company is one of my favorite cruise executives.  I got to talk to him on the phone. They are doing the right things and know whom their audience is. 

 

If you cruise is not the first of second one, all indications are you will be quite happy because they really want the Ritz history of true personalized service to come through especially from day one.  I respect it is your money and your choice.  I personally choose not to cruise on Ritz-Carlton. My reasons are my wife and I tried luxury cruising.  So many positive points however we wanted some of the events and activities that happen on Mainstream Cruise lines.  We like larger ships vs. smaller ships.  It took a luxury cruise to figure out.  Glad we did it.

 

Again, just my thoughts.  You choose the cruise and the brand for a reason.  Trust your instinct.  If every there was an iconic brand that could pull it off, it is the Ritz.  Just my two cents.

 

Cruise well.

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Gourmet Gal

Gourmet Gal

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Ritz Carlton is not The Ritz and has been owned by Marriott since ‘98 and has been in business since ‘83 so longer under the Marriott umbrella.  Good to know they have the backing of a huge hotel corporation but at the same time their cruise ship concept seems to be floundering.  Time will tell and the ship looks beautiful conceptually but right now it just seems iffy.

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Sthrngary Holiday Sharing Rare

Sthrngary

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8 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Ritz Carlton is not The Ritz and has been owned by Marriott since ‘98 and has been in business since ‘83 so longer under the Marriott umbrella.  Good to know they have the backing of a huge hotel corporation but at the same time their cruise ship concept seems to be floundering.  Time will tell and the ship looks beautiful conceptually but right now it just seems iffy.

You are of course right about ownership.  On Floundering, it could go either way and to quote you time will tell.  The virus could have been a blessing for Ritz.  Giving them the time they needed to get the ship and concept right.  

Delay due to covid or building a new ship concept happens.  They have something to prove.  As I said above, those with the premium to choose make the decision.

 

Cruise well

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InsGuy3

InsGuy3

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On 2/5/2022 at 9:50 AM, Sthrngary said:

You are of course right about ownership.  On Floundering, it could go either way and to quote you time will tell.  The virus could have been a blessing for Ritz.  Giving them the time they needed to get the ship and concept right.  

Delay due to covid or building a new ship concept happens.  They have something to prove.  As I said above, those with the premium to choose make the decision.

 

Cruise well

https://www.ritzcarltonyachtcollection.com/experience

seems like they are ready now to start. The yacht and suites look beautiful!

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PrincessCatarina

PrincessCatarina

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Passengers booked this May-July have been told earlier today that all sailings until August 6 have been cancelled. This now marks the 4th or 5th cancellation of the maiden voyage! I could not find a press release yet, but the information has started to trickle in through reservations agents. 

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princeton123211

princeton123211

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Two new ships just announced-- nearly twice the size of Evrima at just shy of 500 passengers. They learned their lesson though-- these ships are going to be built by extremely experienced Chantiers de l'Atlantique and not the original yard that seems to have done a thoroughly poor job building Evrima. 

 

https://latteluxurynews.com/2022/03/18/ritz-carlton-yacht-upsizes-next-vessels/

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