The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Opens Its Summer 2028 European Season

The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has published its Summer 2028 season: 52 voyages aboard Evrima and Ilma, running from late April through October 2028 across the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. Reservations for every sailing opened on 9 September, giving travellers who plan well ahead first choice of dates, routes and suites for a summer that is still some way off.

The season has two distinct halves. In the south, the programme returns to the classic Mediterranean coastlines and adds more time in the Greek Isles and the Adriatic aboard Ilma. In the north, Evrima takes on Norway’s UNESCO-listed fjords, the capitals of the Baltic and the volcanic landscapes of Iceland. The two regions ask different things of a traveller. One offers warm harbours and long lunches ashore, the other dramatic scenery and cooler, longer days. Between them, the season reaches from late spring into the autumn.

Two ports appear on the schedule for the first time: Gijón, on Spain’s northern coast, and Portovenere, on Italy’s Ligurian shore. New calls matter to anyone who has sailed these waters before. For a returning guest, they are a reason to book a familiar stretch of coastline again. For a first-time guest, they show that the collection is still refining its routes around smaller harbours as well as the well-known ones.

The season is flexible in its structure. Voyages run from four to nine nights, so a short sailing can sit neatly inside a longer European stay, while the longer options work as a holiday in their own right. Roundtrip departures from Rome, Monte Carlo, Athens, Venice and Reykjavík make the logistics simpler still: guests embark and disembark in the same city, which makes flights easier to book and leaves room for a few nights on land at either end. Rome, Venice and Athens are cities many travellers already want time in. Reykjavík gives the northern programme an equally convenient base.

Among the sailings the collection highlights is a seven-night voyage from Nice to Rome departing on 14 May 2028, a well-timed early-season route along the Riviera and down the Italian coast. Seven-night roundtrips from Athens and from Rome are also singled out. Each makes a tidy week at sea that begins and ends in one of Europe’s great capitals.

Much of the season’s appeal lies ashore. Shore excursions come in three tiers: Pre-Designed, Select Group and Custom Private. The examples published with the announcement show the range. There is a sailing from Portofino to San Fruttuoso, a helicopter and winery tour on Mallorca, a helicopter landing on a glacier in Iceland, and a caviar and Champagne tasting in Bordeaux. The Custom Private tier will interest travellers who prefer to shape their own days, and the Select Group options give a smaller-scale way to share the more ambitious outings.

For those weighing up the season, the practical advice is simple. The most sought-after sailings on small ships tend to be decided early, and opening a full season this far ahead rewards anyone who already knows when they want to travel. The Mediterranean sailings suit travellers who want to combine island and coastal time with a stay in Rome, Athens or Venice. The northern voyages aboard Evrima suit those drawn to fjords, Baltic cities and Iceland’s landscapes. Couples and families planning a milestone summer in 2028 now have the full calendar to plan around.

With 52 voyages, two ships, two new ports and five roundtrip cities, the Summer 2028 programme is one of the more complete ways to see Europe’s coastlines from the water. The detail is now public and the booking window is open, so a summer two years away can be settled today.

Source: Marriott