What $25,000 a Night Buys on a Luxury Cruise --- Expansion of high-end cruising reflects the travel industry's growing efforts to attract wealthier customers, offering 'a very exclusive bubble'

 

 

“One of the newest Four Seasons suites includes a private outdoor gym, panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows and a gilded spiral staircase snaking between its four floors.

 

Unlike the hotel brand's other luxury accommodations, this one can travel at 17 knots. The penthouse -- bookable for $50,000 a night -- is part of Four Seasons Yachts, a new luxury cruise line from Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings.

 

Cruise operators have spent decades cultivating an atmosphere at sea with Broadway musicals, lively casinos and crowds of kids frolicking in pools. Now the fast-growing luxury cruise segment is targeting well-heeled travelers looking for a more-private and extravagant experience.

 

Most luxury cruises carry fewer than 1,000 guests, compared with the thousands who ride on cruises from Royal Caribbean Group or Carnival Cruise Line that cater to a range of guests. Instead of water parks and arcades there are private spas and secluded pools.

 

"There are more and more lines and brands getting into the ultraluxury cruise space than there ever has been," said Alex Loizou, director of sales and marketing for a luxury cruise travel agency.

 

The number of luxury market passengers skyrocketed from 310,000 to 1.1 million between 2021 and 2024, according to data from the Cruise Lines International Association. Many are baby boomers and older Americans, who are often retired and have deep pockets.

 

Cruise companies are racing to launch ships with more-sumptuous amenities and the largest and most-luxurious accommodations. Regent Seven Seas Cruises is launching a ship in December that offers a two-story suite with a private massage room, a bar facing the ocean and a butler to unpack suitcases or deliver caviar.

 

Regent prices the suite at upward of $25,000 a night and markets it as the largest all-inclusive, ultraluxury cruise ship suite in history. On the day it opened for reservations, it was booked for six of the first 13 voyages, according to a spokeswoman for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which owns Regent.

 

Ed Jeige, a 67-year-old retired advertising salesman from Canada, said he has taken 70 mainstream cruises and said he eventually tired of the waterslides, screaming children and "lounge hogs" parking themselves on coveted tanning chairs for hours on end.

 

Last year Jeige booked a discounted luxury cruise for himself and his wife on the 728-passenger Silver Ray, part of the Silversea Cruises brand owned by Royal Caribbean. Paying roughly $6,500 for an 11-night journey in the Caribbean, he relished spending hours at the spa and having crab legs delivered to his room every afternoon.

 

"I can't wait to book another one," he said. "I'm actively looking every day."

 

Wealthy individuals who vacation on private boats or at luxury resorts sometimes associate cruises with rowdy crowds, said Ernesto Fara, chief executive of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. To win them over, Ritz-Carlton markets its ships as fusions between elevated hotels and luxury yachts.

 

"When they come on board, they discover that this kind of environment, a very exclusive bubble, is actually something they really like," Fara said.

 

Luxury cruises are generally all-inclusive, with food, drinks and gratuities factored into the total price. They offer personalized service, in which white-coat butlers can help draw a scented bath, deliver hors d'oeuvres or arrange a private cocktail reception.

 

Entry-level suites often cost between a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars a trip. The most-sprawling suites, as much as six times as large as baseline accommodations, can cost upward of $20,000 a night.

 

"It started off with, 'It's a suite, you get more space.' And then it was, 'Now we have like a little sun deck for you.' And then it became, 'Now we have a complete enclave for you,'" said Rob Clabbers, a travel adviser.

 

The expansion of luxury cruising reflects the travel industry's growing efforts to attract wealthier customers. Last year, while low-income and middle-class Americans fretted about inflation and curbed their spending, high earners and older Americans saw their net worths surge.

 

Airlines such as United and Delta are marketing premium-cabin seats with a growing list of amenities. At many airports, banks and airlines have created exclusive lounges offering resortlike experiences for high spenders, including specialty cocktails and aromatherapy treatments.

 

One of Ritz-Carlton's newest ships, the Luminara, holds 452 guests and has five restaurants, seven bars and a wine vault. Travelers in select suites can enjoy private whirlpool spas and outdoor showers. They can sample fresh seafood and fine wines from a menu created by an award-winning Italian chef.

 

Wendy Brichon, a 55-year-old art curator from Vancouver, British Columbia, thought she was done with cruises after a miserable experience on a voyage in 2018. There were too many children running around, and the food didn't taste right.

 

"I wanted to just jump off the ship and swim to shore," she said.

 

Brichon later came across a deal from Regent Seven Seas Cruises advertising a journey to French Polynesia. She was delighted by how few people were on board. Over the past three years, she has spent more than 130 days on luxury cruises, including solo trips she treats as secluded work retreats.” [1]

 

1. What $25,000 a Night Buys on a Luxury Cruise --- Expansion of high-end cruising reflects the travel industry's growing efforts to attract wealthier customers, offering 'a very exclusive bubble'. Kuo, Christopher.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 26 Jan 2026: A12.