Page 9 - 2026 CIN Luxury Market Report

Luxury Market

 Ritz-Carlton marked its debut
in Asia this past winter;
pictured here is the company’s
inaugural call into Hong Kong.

The buzz this year is around a trio of new brands set to Driving Factors
enter the industry this year and next: Four Seasons, Orient Cruise lines have traditionally been in a never-ending arms
Express and Aman at Sea. All three have slightly different race. New ships have consistently raised the bar, offering better
approaches but are luxury lifestyle brands coming into the accommodations and more restaurant options, for example.
industry with very small ships (they call them yachts) and With one cruise line ordering new ships, their competitors
with ticket prices in the thousands of dollars per day. often followed. At the same time, this meant increased atten-
The existing companies are not considering them com- tion to older ships, which have to be kept up to par.
petition, yet, and are instead bullish on their entries as more In addition were two key market entrants early this de-
marketing to new-to-cruise should help drive growth. They cade.
also represent just a small portion of added capacity, adding The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection may have inadvertently
just under 700 berths by the end of 2027, which is still less stoked competitive fires when it launched its cruise line in 2021.
than one Viking or Regent newbuild. It has grown to three ships, and has just finished a debut 

Cruise Industry News: 2026 Luxury Market Report 13