My Orient Express Cruise Experience: The Corinthian Takes Luxury To A New Level

It has been a fascinating time for the ultra luxury cruising industry, especially with the crossover of more established luxury brands getting into the space, either through direct management or licensing. Earlier this year, I sailed with Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, and was very pleasantly surprised, as someone who has otherwise not taken a cruise since my childhood. I was impressed by the service, inclusions, and overall vibe of the experience. Then over the summer, I sailed on Four Seasons Yachts. While the ship takes luxury to the next level, unfortunately I found Four Seasons still has some work to do with service and food quality, especially since Four Seasons Yachts doesn’t operate with an all-inclusive concept. Well, now I just had the chance to spend four nights experiencing Orient Express Sailing Yachts, which is the newest entrant into the market. Orient Express has historically been known for its amazing train journeys, though the brand has been expanding into hotels, and even cruising. The Corinthian launched over the summer, and is the world’s largest sailing yacht. I’d like to share some initial thoughts on the experience, and then I’ll have a full review soon (so I’m not intentionally leaving out any details here, but I’m trying to keep this closer to 2,000 words than 6,000 words). Let me just say that I was absolutely blown away by the experience. Obviously it’s insanely expensive, but my gosh, they deliver in virtually every way. Orient Express Sailing Yachts experience pricing & inclusionsThe Orient Express Corinthian is breathtakingOrient Express Sailing Yachts’ suites are gorgeousOrient Express Sailing Yachts’ food & drinks are phenomenalOrient Express Sailing Yachts’ service is flawlessBottom line Orient Express Sailing Yachts experience pricing & inclusions Full disclosure upfront — while we paid in full for our journeys on Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and Four Seasons Yachts, Orient Express Sailing Yachts invited Ford on this journey, and I tagged along. Ford was the only travel advisor on this journey, though they’ve invited some other high volume luxury travel advisors on other journeys as well. All opinions expressed are of course my own, and I think the pictures and experience will speak for themselves. For what it’s worth, Orient Express Sailing Yachts itineraries start at around €4,000 per night, but go up from there, depending on the sailing, with summer Europe itineraries often retailing for closer to €5,000 per night. That pricing is for standard suites (“Suite Panoramique”), though we were assigned an “Appartement Prestige,” which typically retails for around twice as much. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Suite Panoramique The suite categories only go up from there, with the “Agatha Christie” accommodation typically retailing for around €25,000 per night. One thing that might surprise some people is that the top suite categories seem to be among the first to sell out. Heck, people have chartered the full yacht on multiple occasions in the first several months alone. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Meltem Suite If you are going to book an Orient Express cruise, I recommend doing so through a travel advisor affiliated with Accor Preferred, as they can get you the best cost, and also add a shipboard credit (which can be used for things like spa treatments). Orient Express Sailing Yachts also operates under an ultra all-inclusive concept, unlike Four Seasons Yachts. We’re talking everything from airport transfers, to shore excursions, to butler service, to dry cleaning and laundry, to private training onboard, to an incredible selection of food & drinks. So while journeys are typically a little more expensive than with Four Seasons Yachts, I think the incremental cost is absolutely worth it. One disclaimer I’d like to add is that our sailing was really empty. We sailed in early October, before the transatlantic voyage, and of the 54 suites, only 19 were occupied. There were 38 guests onboard, with 170 staff. The whole thing was utterly surreal. I can only share my experience based on my voyage, so as you’d expect, service was incredible, there was never a wait for anything, etc. Of course I can’t say with certainty how much the experience differs if the ship is full (or nearly full — I believe 90% occupancy is the highest it has had to date). I’ve heard it still feels quite empty when close to capacity, but that’s not based on firsthand experience. Lastly, I’d like to acknowledge that while I’ve heard overall great feedback about Orient Express Sailing Yachts (Pierre, an OMAAT reader and client of Ford’s, kindly shared his experience on the blog recently), there has also been some mixed feedback, like Trek Trendy’s video review. I think his feedback was totally valid and there were some shortcomings, and several of those have been swiftly addressed. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian exterior The Orient Express Corinthian is breathtaking The Corinthian is Orient Express Sailing Yachts’ first ship. The ship has a total of 54 suites, so it can accommodate up to 110 guests at most. It’s a staggering 722 feet (220 meters) long, and four decks are dedicated to passengers. Just for context on how exclusive this is, Four Seasons Yachts has 95 suites, while Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection ships have 149-226 suites. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian floorplan Words can’t describe how gorgeous every corner of the ship is. In charge of the design was French architect and Orient Express Artistic Director Maxime d’Angeac, and rumor has it that he was basically given a blank check for the interior, and you really feel that. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian library Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian pool deck In terms of luxury, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is already beautiful, Four Seasons Yachts is decidedly more luxurious, and Orient Express Sailing Yachts is once again a big step up. Every single corner of the ship just feels so unnecessarily over-the-top, and will make you feel like you’re in a luxury hotel rather than on a ship. This is true from the gorgeous hallways, to the seafood bar, to the speakeasy (accessible through the back of a barber shop), to the train-inspired bar (intended to recreate the historic Orient Express train cars), to the fine dining restaurant, to the downright unnecessary number of amenities, ranging from a recording studio, to a cinema, to what must be the world’s most unusual lap pool. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian hallway Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian seafood bar Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian speakeasy Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian train-inspired bar Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian fine dining restaurant Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian spa Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian recording studio Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian cinema Orient Express Sailing Yachts yacht club room Orient Express Sailing Yachts game room Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian lap pool Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian pool I also love how this is a sailboat — when we’d start sailing, it was so fun to be on the flybridge (the top deck) and just watch the sails be hoisted. The scale of these sails is unlike anything else. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian sails Orient Express Sailing Yachts’ suites are gorgeous The suites on Orient Express Sailing Yachts aren’t just nice compared to other ships, but they rival the top luxury hotels anywhere. They’re designed in such a tasteful and elegant way, that they feel more like what you’d expect at a “Palace” hotel in France, rather than on a ship. The ship is heavily skewed toward larger suites, and I just can’t even imagine how much money was spent on the interiors. In particular, the bathrooms were just truly next level. As another example, while other cruise lines cut corners on outdoor furniture, on the Corinthian it’s from Loro Piana. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian suite living room Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian suite bedroom Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian suite bathroom Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian suite terrace Orient Express Sailing Yachts’ food & drinks are phenomenal The quality and variety of food and drinks on Orient Express Sailing Yachts is stellar, and I found execution to be very good. The entire culinary vision onboard is from Yannick Alléno, whose restaurants have a combined 17 Michelin stars. One of my issues on Four Seasons Yachts was that they charge for food, and the quality was really a mixed bag. On Orient Express Sailing Yachts, the quality was exceptional across the board, and everything was oh-so-indulgent. On the drink front, Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame is the house champagne, and it’s just poured out of magnums no matter where you are. It’s so readily available that it might as well just flow out of the shower heads. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian champagne There’s also a great wine list, plus an excellent cocktail selection. Fancy a caviar martini, anyone? Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian caviar martini Speaking of caviar, you’ll find that sprinkled just about everywhere, from the smoked salmon dish at breakfast, to the caviar spaghetti (okay, I’d call that more than just a “sprinkling”). Mind you, these are the included restaurants, with no sort of supplement. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian breakfast dish Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian dinner dish Lunch options were excellent, whether you want to go to the seafood bar for an omakase experience, or dine on the beautiful terrace. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian lunch And at dinner, the casual restaurant had white tablecloths, and was as good as the fine dining restaurant on some other ships. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian main restaurant Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian dinner Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian dinner Meanwhile I loved the Italian restaurant, where you could have everything from lobster, to caviar spaghetti, to the most delicious pistachio ice cream “volcano” dessert. Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian Italian restaurant Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian dinner Orient Express Sailing Yachts Corinthian dinner They absolutely nailed the food quality. I’m not afraid to speak my mind when it comes to food quality, and literally the only negative food feedback we had across our four days is that Ford’s lettuce on a salad one day could’ve been a bit crisper. That’s quite a contrast to Four Seasons Yachts, where I sent back my (paid) lunch pizza… twice (I’ve never sent back a pizza in my life). Orient Express Sailing Yachts’ service is flawless Orient Express Sailing Yachts has 170 staff for 110 guests, so absolute worst case scenario, you have a roughly 1.55:1 staff to guest ratio. On our sailing, it was more than a 4:1 staff to guest ratio. Yeah, obviously service was incredibly attentive. I’ve never taken an Orient Express train journey (now I really want to!), though I was really impressed by the range of experience the crew had. Some had a cruising background, some had a hotel background, and some had backgrounds in other luxury areas, like fashion. It really felt like every staff member knew every detail about every guest. Again, I imagine the light occupancy contributed to that, but still, the attention to detail impressed me. I also liked how the service felt a bit more formal than on Four Seasons Yachts — not in a stuffy way, and not in a way that made guests feel like they had to be formal — but it just felt like really high end, and very much had a “good old days” vibe. Like, the uniforms were gorgeous, the housekeepers had different uniforms in the evenings, some of the service staff wore white gloves, etc. It just all felt a lot more like what you’d expect from a luxury hotel than a cruise. Our butler, Reuben, was also awesome. Hilariously (but not coincidentally), he was German, so we all communicated exclusively in German, which was super fun. It always gave me a chuckle to call up the butler desk, and have Reuben answer in answer. The one feedback I’d have for the butler service is that I wish they could also be reached via WhatsApp or some messaging platform, rather than just by phone. I’d also say that while all the luxury cruise lines lately try to position themselves as “yachts” rather than “cruises,” this is the closest to actually feeling that way. For example, there’s no front desk or reception, since it’s supposed to feel more like a private yacht. That’s not to say that people aren’t around — they absolutely are — but everything seems designed to take the experience to the next level. Orient Express Sailing Yachts offers an amazing experience Bottom line Orient Express Sailing Yachts has really taken “cruising” to the next level. I have to be honest — I love traveling, but I’m also always happy to go home, given how much I travel, so rarely am I sad about leaving. This is one experience that I simply didn’t want to end. I can confidently say that Orient Express Sailing Yachts’ Corinthian offers an unforgettable experience. Yes, the base fares are moderately more expensive than Four Seasons Yachts, but in terms of quality and inclusions, it’s just on a different level. I hate to say it, because I love the Four Seasons brand, but based on my experience, it’s true. I don’t want to suggest that everyone should sell a kidney to experience Orient Express’ cruising venture. However, there’s no denying that the ultra-luxury travel industry is hot like never before, and you have some hotels in Europe now charging $5K per night for a basic room in summer, with nothing included. If money is no object (or you’re willing to splurge) but you’ve been hesitant to try cruising, Orient Express Sailing Yachts is definitely the most likely to delight. And while it’s expensive, they absolutely don’t skimp with inclusions, all while offering exceptional quality, and that’s something I really appreciate. What’s your take on Orient Express Sailing Yachts?