Hermès Birkin bags and a £15,000 bottle of wine: my holiday on a cruise for the uber-rich

I’d waited five years for this reunion, fondly imagining it among the minarets and earthy romance of Casablanca, where the eponymous Oscar-winning movie still casts a nostalgic shadow.

Admittedly, this was never going to match the Hollywood classic’s emotionally-charged liaisons, and the reality, as we drove along choked highways winding past towering ultra-modern hotels in a battered excuse of a taxi, was less than evocative.

But as we pulled into the port there ahead of us was Evrima, gleaming like a precious pearl in this industrial wasteland, all sleek lines and smooth contours, contrasting starkly with the surrounding battalion of dusty cranes and tightly stacked shipping containers.

The last time I’d set eyes on this glamorous mega-yacht was in October 2018 when the bare metal hull slid down the slipway of the Galician shipyard, where it had been constructed, into the waters of the North Atlantic, ready to undergo its seaworthy tests.

It was a moment of celebration, cementing the arrival of upmarket hotel giant Ritz-Carlton into the world of ocean cruising with the first of three lavish superyachts managed under offshoot The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.

This glitzy newcomer promised to bring the gold-standard world of hotel hospitality to the oceans. Yet its inaugural trip was plagued by complications; shipyard problems, the Covid pandemic and resulting supply issues delayed Evrima’s launch eight times before the mega-yacht finally cast off on its maiden voyage from Barcelona in October 2022 – two-and-a-half years behind schedule.

As I walked up the gangway a year later in October 2023, I was keenly anticipating how this “new era of yacht-style cruising” – costing upwards of around £1,000 a night – would compare with more traditional high-end ocean-going experiences.

The differences were immediate and obvious. There was no grand atrium or reception, but instead the Living Room, a chilled lounge area flowing across the yacht’s breadth. This was the central hub where guests gathered, immersing themselves in books from the library or gathering for apéritifs and hors d’oeuvres to the lilting notes of live music.

Evrima’s cool and contemporary vibe is reminiscent of boutique hotel chic, with muted shades of fawn and chocolate, smoky dark woods and leather panels, enlivened with flashes of sienna, emerald green and tangerine. Modernist artworks adorned walls and filled spaces.

Such effortless class extended to our two-level loft suite, one of six different types on this all-suite ship, packing in wow factor with an upstairs living area plus balcony or “private terrace” and a downstairs bedroom (where my first instinct was to start playing with the electronic blinds and touch-pad lighting controls) and marble-cloaked en suite.

With just 298 guests, I found the ambience aboard Evrima more cliquey than on other exclusive ships. Maybe because, having joined this cruise part way through, everyone had already chummed up, but I missed the camaraderie that is normally such an intrinsic part of small-ship voyages.

But then Evrima doesn’t attract the usual cruise crowd. They’re a younger bunch, mainly Americans and largely in their 50s, with around half of them never having cruised before and 40 per cent dipping their immaculately manicured toes into Ritz-Carlton waters after sampling the chain’s hotels.

What bound them together was a wealthy aura radiating from their reassuringly expensive wardrobes and suspiciously smooth complexions.

This was a world of the understated and uber-rich, as demonstrated in Evrima’s designer boutique where I gawped at Cartier watches and Chanel bags retailing for a cool £5,580, though I was too late for the three Hermès Birkin bags costing almost £16,000 a piece which had already been snapped up.

As we sailed towards Tenerife we dined in style at the five restaurants – a decent tally for such a petite vessel, delighting in the curries and noodles of Asian speciality Talaat Nam, succulent surf and turf at the delightful open-air Mistral and exquisite melt-in-the-mouth beef carpaccio in the Evrima Room main restaurant.

Unlike traditional cruise ships, there was no buffet venue, but the Pool House casual dining spot did a good job of breakfast bites and lunchtime burgers and poke bowls.

The main gourmet draw – and only venue costing extra – was S.E.A., led by chef Sven Elverfeld from Aqua, Ritz-Carlton’s property in the German city of Wolfsburg which has three Michelin stars, where our seven-course “culinary journey” of unique flavours was beautifully presented, though I wasn’t convinced it justified the stomach-turning £318pp charge.

But I began to question if it was just me as prices didn’t seem to be an issue for this moneyed crowd with talk of a Brazilian family splashing around £2,000 on wines during a single meal – easily done when the wine list brims with vintages costing four figures, topped by a bottle of Montrachet Grand Cru 2006 for a wallet-busting £15,300.

Laying claim to one of the highest space-ratios at sea meant Evrima never felt crowded, with two infinity pools and hot tubs dotted on different sun decks, though inclement conditions meant the Marina Terrace and its water toys at the ship’s aft were disappointingly off limits.

To boost the yacht’s family appeal, there’s a Ritz Kids club; empty on our sailing, though it was the opposite story for the Ritz-Carlton spa whose five treatment rooms, all with al fresco terraces, enjoyed a steady throng of patrons.

Reminders of Ritz-Carlton heritage were all around, with its distinctive crest adorning ship stationery and our super-soft bathrobes. So how did Evrima live up to its hallowed lineage?

There’s no doubt this relative newcomer ticks the same opulent boxes. With a crew-to-guest ratio of nearly one-to-one, including our own personal concierges, service was assuredly attentive (as it is on other luxury cruise lines), though a little fine-tuning wouldn’t go amiss.

But as a swanky head-turner, this superyacht holds its own in the most stylish of ways, promising an enticing taste of the jet-set lifestyle that’ll make you feel like a million dollars – whatever your bank balance reads.

Essentials

Sara Macefield was a guest of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection (0800 048 8667; ritzcarltonyachtcollection.com). The 10-night sailing from Venice to Civitavecchia, including Dubrovnik, Kotor, Amalfi and Capri, costs from £10,528pp including gratuities, drinks and wifi. Departs July 28; flights extra