The sheer amount of space on Evrima is nothing short of incredible. Take The Living Room, which is located on deck four, also where you enter. There’s just a massive area called The Living Room, which has a bunch of seating. You’ll find everything from live music to trivia here, and in general, it’s just a nice place to hang out. I never saw more than a few people here at a time.
Adjacent to that is The Living Room Cafe, which is open from early in the morning until late at night. This is one of the only places on the ship that has barista coffee, along with a variety of snacks. Since most restaurants didn’t have barista coffee, I got more than my fair share of drinks here.
Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Evrima The Observation Lounge
The Observation Lounge is located on deck 10, which is the highest floor of the ship, so it boasts a great view in all directions. This is a nice place to lounge around during the day, and then in the evenings there tends to be more of a party vibe here, as there’s live music, a DJ, and/or some sort of themed party.
Off this space is the humidor, a space where guests can smoke. There’s also a nice selection of cigars available for purchase.
Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection inclusive alcoholic drinks
Above I’ve mentioned how I was really impressed by the drinks onboard Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, both in terms of the quality of alcohol, plus the preparation of drinks.
For example, below is the drink list at The Observation Lounge, which gives you a good sense of what spirits are included.
Dirty Ketel One martinis were made to perfection, which was appreciated. Honestly, all the drinks I had were excellent, and I would’ve gladly paid for them in a restaurant.
On top of that, there was an extensive list of included wines, which you can find below. The ship even had an excellent sommelier who would help guests choose wines, which strikes me as mighty impressive for an inclusive list. While there’s also a list of premium wines you can order from, I appreciated how he didn’t try to aggressively upsell guests, or anything.
Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Evrima service
One of the aspects of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection experience that most impressed me was the service. I guess cruise lines in general are known for having pretty friendly employees, given that making sure people have a fun time is sort of the most important job that cruise line staff have (well, aside from keeping people safe).
Across the board, I found staff to be excellent — they were friendly, professional, and genuinely interested in making sure guests had a great time. A special shoutout to the general manager, entertainment director, and sommelier, for being especially awesome, and constantly checking on guests.
When you come into the experience with a hotel mindset, it’s just kind of weird to be on a cruise ship. For example, you go to the included restaurant, have an amazing meal with food and drinks, and then 10 different people say “thank you so much for joining us.” Well, you’re welcome, I guess, but I’m the one who should be saying thank you!
Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Evrima guest profile
When I wrote a preview about my experience, several people asked me to comment on the guest profile, so let me dedicate a short section to that. I imagine the types of guests differs massively depending on the type of sailing, the time of year, etc.
On this sailing I can safely say that the crowd felt really… unremarkable, in a good way? It was just a really mixed crowd in every way, and I like that. There weren’t many families, but that might just be because such a short cruise is more appealing to adults than families, and I definitely got the sense the cruise line was kids friendly.
The crowd was honestly no different than I’d expect at any luxury hotel in the United States. I did get the sense that cruising is especially popular with extroverts, as people on the ship seem to be really chatty with strangers. Everyone was super pleasant and wasn’t pushy, but it’s definitely something I noticed as an introvert.
Bottom line
Our sailing on Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s Evrima exceeded my expectations, from the nicely appointed rooms, to the very impressive shared spaces, to the delicious food and drinks, to the service. As I mentioned earlier, I hadn’t been on a cruise in over 20 years, but this sure was a nice (re)introduction.
No, I’m not fully transitioning from staying in hotels to taking cruises. However, this definitely won’t be my last cruise, and even if you haven’t considered such a voyage in the past, I’d seriously recommend giving it a second thought. With how much luxury hotel costs have increased (while offering less and less), it’s lovely to have a truly inclusive experience, like this.
In particular, I think cruising is compelling if you really just want to relax, enjoy yourself, and can maybe find an interesting itinerary with some destinations you want to visit. On top of that, if traveling as traveling as a family, I think cruising is tough to beat.
I have a voyage booked on Four Seasons Yachts for later this year, and I’m curious to see how it compares. I’d also be interested to try Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s two other ships, given their different size, especially since they have some interesting itineraries.