Think hotel, not cruise: Shane Buksh on Four Seasons Yachts’ new luxury audience

There’s a new kind of luxury traveller heading out to sea – one who may have never imagined stepping aboard a cruise ship.

That’s the opportunity Four Seasons Yachts is tapping into as the Toronto-founded luxury hotel brand extends its signature hospitality from land to water, joining a fast-growing field of high-end hotel companies launching intimate, residential-style yachts.

And according to Shane Buksh, Vancouver-based director of global business development at Four Seasons Yachts, the concept is already attracting considerable attention from travel advisors.

“Four Seasons, as a global brand, is the most recognized name in the world when it comes to luxury hotels. But when I say ‘Four Seasons Yachts’ to advisors, it piques their interest even higher,” Buksh told PAX at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas earlier this month.

“The amount of curiosity that’s out there is amazing. Everybody wants to sell it. In recent years, I don’t think there has been many products in the ocean space that have piqued interest at this level.”

But there’s one thing Buksh wants advisors – and their clients – to understand: Four Seasons isn’t trying to become a cruise line.

Instead, the company is positioning its yachts as an extension of the Four Seasons world. Essentially, a luxury hotel experience that happens to move from port to port.

Hotels take to the high seas

Four Seasons enters a high-end maritime market that has evolved rapidly in recent years.

Ultra-luxury hotel brands have been expanding into cruising and yachting with smaller, residential-style vessels that emphasize high staff-to-guest ratios, expansive accommodations and access to ports that larger ships can’t reach.

The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, for example, launched in 2022, while Aman at Sea is set to debut in spring 2027.

The segment is growing, too. The luxury-branded cruise sector grew 10 per cent to reach $6 billion in 2025, according to data cited from Bain & Company.

For Four Seasons, however, Buksh says the move isn’t about becoming another cruise company.

READ MORE: Four Seasons Yachts unveils 2027-28 Caribbean season, adds Costa Rica

It’s about extending an established hotel experience into places where a Four Seasons hotel may not exist.

“The biggest thing I say to people is that it allows Four Seasons’ clients to travel to regions of the world where we don't have a Four Seasons hotel,” Buksh said. “The common misconception we get is that Four Seasons is getting to the cruise market, but that's not what we're trying to do.”

Instead, the company is offering a unique Four Seasons experience, on water, similar to the private jet experience it launched more than a decade ago, Buksh said.

“It's a way to travel under the Four Seasons umbrella, and have that same service level and quality of suite, while going to areas where we simply don't have a product,” he said.

That strategy also opens the door to a valuable demographic: luxury travellers who have historically rejected cruising.

“We have the hotel client that refuses to cruise, but now they're saying, ‘I would do this,’” Buksh said, referring to the rise of hotel brands at sea.

“I think this brings curiosity to the advisor who might say, ‘Hey, this is a new thing I can offer my client, especially the client who said, ‘I would never cruise.’”

A floating Four Seasons

Four Seasons Yachts began sailing in March of this year with the inaugural Mediterranean voyage of Four Seasons I, a milestone that carried added symbolism: it coincided with Four Seasons’ 65th anniversary and the opening of the company’s first hotel on the first day of spring in 1961.

Spanning 207 metres and 95 suites, Four Seasons I was conceived as a residential-inspired vessel where the sea remains the focal point.

READ MORE: Four Seasons I embarks on maiden voyage in Mediterranean

Floor-to-ceiling windows, expansive terraces and outdoor elements blur the boundaries between the yacht and its surroundings, while residential-style suites feature generous outdoor spaces and, in some categories, private plunge pools.

Four Seasons described the yacht as “reimagining modern yachting by pairing the exclusivity and freedom of a private yacht with Four Seasons personalized service and experiences alongside an exceptional culinary vision, integrative wellness offerings, and curated art and design within an intentionally intimate, refined maritime setting.”

Buksh puts it more simply: think hotel, not cruise ship.

“We are not trying to be ‘Four Seasons Cruises,’ he said. “We really want this to feel like you're in an actual hotel property.”

Because of the yacht’s size, itineraries can incorporate smaller ports, with late-night and overnight stays offered wherever possible.

“It’s a hotel that just happens to be floating,” Buksh said.

The yacht’s culinary program encompasses 11 dining options, ranging from refined Mediterranean seafood to an intimate omakase experience.

Wellness is anchored by L’Oceana Spa, while dedicated Marina Days turn the yacht’s transverse marina – which opens across both sides of the vessel – into a private retreat with direct sea access, water sports and curated recreational programming.

During its inaugural Mediterranean season, itineraries pair headline ports with less-frequented coastal destinations, from Saint-Tropez and Bodrum to Hydra and Montenegro, alongside voyages through the Greek Isles and along the Croatian coast.

It’s a reflection of what Four Seasons customers want, said Buksh.

“They want to go to little Greek islands, Croatia, and smaller Caribbean islands where we can't always build a hotel property,” Buksh said. “Clients want Four Seasons. They trust the brand name. They know what to expect.”

The “never cruised” guest

That trust appears to be attracting an audience that cruise lines have long sought.

According to Buksh, roughly 70 per cent of Four Seasons Yachts guests have never cruised before.

And, a similar proportion of advisors booking the product don’t typically sell cruises, he said.

The guest profile is also younger than what Buksh sees in traditional luxury cruising, with an average age between 47 and 60, while families represent another important market.

“These are clients who say, ‘I would never go on a cruise ship.’ They see ships that have 6,000, 7,000 people, and it turns them off for cruising. Period,” Buksh said.

Four Seasons’ longstanding family positioning carries over to the yacht.

Its “Kids for All Seasons” kids club is available on board, while connecting-suite configurations allow groups and multi-generational families to create larger living spaces.

“It's a luxury brand, but it's not pretentious,” Buksh said. “We get families, business people, celebrations. I think most people have been to a Four Seasons. Or have ate dinner or had drinks there. There's a warmth.”

Not all-inclusive – by design

One of the biggest adjustments for Canadian travel advisors, Buksh said, is the yacht’s pricing model.

Breakfast is included, but other meals and beverages are charged à la carte – mirroring a luxury hotel rather than an all-inclusive cruise.

“This is where the Canadian market has a struggled a bit because we are so ingrained on all-inclusive and the value of all-inclusive,” Buksh explained.

The approach, he explained, gives guests freedom to dine ashore during the yacht’s frequent port calls and extended stays instead of feeling compelled to return to the vessel because meals have already been prepaid.

READ MORE: Four Seasons II to debut in 2028 with Yacht Residential Suites

“If we're in Mykonos, and we're staying until midnight, we want our clients go and enjoy dinner on shore. We don't want them to feel like they’ve already paid for it and feel pressured to eat on the ship,” he said.

(The prices on board, however, are “reasonable,” he said, noting a USD$25 burger)

He compares the onboard experience to the customer who walks into a Hermès store to buy a handbag.

“They know the cost of the handbag and they're buying the brand,” he said. “They're buying the feeling of what it represents. That's exactly who are client is.”

What’s next?

Four Seasons I will remain in the Mediterranean before crossing to the Caribbean in November, where it will sail through March.

This week, the brand announced "The Lanserhof Reset," a personalized longevity and wellness residency aboard Four Seasons I during its inaugural transatlantic crossing.

Expansion is also on the horizon.

Four Seasons II, with 79 suites, is scheduled to debut in 2028 and will introduce “Yacht Residential Suites,” offering residential-scale accommodations at sea with open-concept living, private terraces and bespoke service.

The two- to four-bedroom residences will be positioned across the yacht’s upper decks and geared toward extended stays, groups and multi-generational journeys.

A third vessel, Four Seasons III, is expected in 2031.

For Buksh, a well-known Canadian travel industry pro who joined Four Seasons Yachts in 2024, being part of the brand’s push into a new category has been a career highlight.

“I've now been to like 30 Four Seasons properties around the world since I started,” he said. “Honestly, I wake up, and I pinch myself. I can't believe this is the gig that I have.”

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