The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has confirmed its intention to integrate Marriott STARS amenities offered via select travel advisors around the globe when booking clients on the ultra-luxury yacht.
Specific details of the guest benefits along with a launch date are yet to be formally announced however the start-up cruise line has advised Marriott STAR’s benefits will be fused, while also reiterating its intention to capitalise on the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program.
Currently, Marriott STARS is purely a land-based program associated with Marriott International’s elite echelon of luxury hotel brands, including Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, St. Regis, EDITION, Bulgari and Luxury Collection.
Those travel advisors affiliated with Marriott STARS are able to offer their VIP clients additional perks for their hotel stays, such as complimentary breakfast, room upgrades (subject to availability), personalised welcome amenity, free WiFi and hotel credit valued up to US$100 per stay.
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The meshing of Marriott STARS and Marriott Bonvoy were confirmed in a trade webinar conducted by Tomas Baca-Cruz, Inside Sales Specialist at The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.
Concluding an online presentation, Baca-Cruz said: “Those agencies that are part of or affiliated with the STARS program we are looking forward to rolling out [the] STARS program amenities in the next couple of months”.
“This is something we’ve been working on for a while now and I can’t wait to be able to share what that news looks like,” he added.
Sydney-based luxury travel agency Mary Rossi Travel has been a participating member of the Marriott STARS program since 2017. Managing Director Claudia Rossi Hudson, told LATTE that the amenities offered for hotel guests are “very attractive”.
“Ritz-Carlton are one of the first luxury hotel brands to expand into the cruise space and it makes perfect sense to leverage the brand by granting STARS privileges to their cruise passengers.”
“We look forward to passing the details of the amenities onto our clients,” Rossi Hudson added.
Marriott Bonvoy integration
Commenting on the upcoming incorporation of the Marriott Bonvoy rewards program with The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Baca-Cruz said the arrangement will “really round out the overall offerings that the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection brings.”
“As we are part of the greater Marriott umbrella, we are going to roll into the Marriott Bonvoy program here in the next couple of months,” Baca-Cruz confirmed from Miami.
“That’s really going to expand the reach of who we are targeting.
“We know that the Marriott Bonvoy program is the largest hospitality rewards program anywhere in the world so to be able to tap into the loyal Bonvoy members I think is going to be critical for us as we continue to move forward.”
A slide from the video presentation (pictured above) states that guests with cruise reservations on The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection will receive instructions on “applicable program benefits such as point redemption and earning”, in addition to “elite status benefits” that will be applicable.
View Baca-Cruz’s wide-ranging 40-minute webinar on Evrima here.