Ritz-Carlton’s first cruise to depart from Fort Lauderdale

Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has pushed back its debut until Feb. 1, 2020, when the ship will depart on a four-day cruise from Fort Lauderdale. 

Previously, Ritz-Carlton said it would begin cruising in November 2019. The line still plans to take delivery of its first ship in the fourth quarter of 2019, marketing director Sara Duncan confirmed, but set the new date to coincide with Super Bowl LIV at Dolphins Stadium near Miami.

“We plan to use the post-delivery time from the shipyard in Vigo, Spain, for training our staff onboard, soft launch cruises, Atlantic repositioning and preparations for a Miami christening,” Duncan said. 

The debut cruise, which will visit Bimini and Key West, kicks off
a Caribbean program that will extend through March 28, when Ritz-Carlton has scheduled
a 12-day transatlantic crossing from Barbados to Lisbon.

Ritz-Carlton’s first Mediterranean cruise will be an eight-day trip from
Lisbon that will visit Gibraltar, Malaga, Valencia, Ibiza and Palma de
Mallorca. The as-yet-unnamed 298-passenger ship will then spend
time in the Med through the end of June. On July 5 it is scheduled for a nine-day
voyage departing Bordeaux and visiting the French ports of Belle Ile, St. Malo,
and Honfleur; St. Peter Port in the Channel Islands; and finishing in London.

From there, the ship will cruise northern Europe before
transiting from Iceland to Halifax, Nova Scotia, starting Sept. 12.

It will sail a handful of Canada/New England itineraries,
starting with a seven-day trip from Halifax that will visit Lunenburg, Nova Scotia;
St. Andrews, New Brunswick; Bar Harbor, Rockland and Portland in Maine; and
Salem, Massachusetts, before arriving in Boston.

On Oct. 27, the ship will reposition to the Caribbean again
with a nine-day cruise from Boston to Nassau.

Ritz-Carlton’s brochure describing the itineraries is now
available. Bookings open in June.

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This report was updated with information that Ritz-Carlton is pushing back the maiden cruise to February 2020.