Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Appoints Ernesto Fara as CEO
Ernesto Fara steps in as CEO just as the young fleet moves from launch mode to long-term momentum.
Photo: Courtesy of Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has named Ernesto Fara its new president and CEO. Fara succeeds Jim Murren, who remains executive chairman after steering the company from a single-ship experiment into a three-yacht operation with global reach.
The leadership change lands as the line settles into a rhythm following two major ship launches in less than a year. Under Murren, the collection gained credibility after early delays, secured financing for expansion, and brought Ilma and Luminara into service—two vessels that broadened the brand’s scale and helped push itineraries into new regions. His departure from the day-to-day role signals a handoff rather than a reset: the architecture is in place; now comes the long game.
Fara has already had his hands on much of that architecture. He joined the company in 2020 as CFO and board member, overseeing strategy, financial operations, and the buildout of the new yachts. When he became president in 2023, his remit expanded to guest experience, operations, finance, sales and marketing, and technology. In other words, he’s already been running much of the engine room.
His promotion suggests continuity, but it also hints at refining a guest experience that’s still relatively new to the market, expanding further into long-haul regions, and pacing growth to keep the hotel-yacht model differentiated. With the ultra-luxury cruise category now more crowded than it was when Evrima debuted in 2022, clarity of brand identity matters—and Ritz-Carlton Yacht has leaned hard into its hotel DNA, positioning its ships closer to floating resorts than traditional vessels.
With itineraries now stretching from the Mediterranean and Northern Europe to Asia-Pacific, the Caribbean, and Alaska, the company is moving beyond the introductory years of a single-ship startup. Luminara’s July 2025 launch added further capacity and enabled more varied routing, including to more remote harbors that align well with the brand’s small-ship profile.
Fara’s background—with hands on both financing and product development—suggests the company is preparing for a measured but confident expansion phase. The question now isn’t whether Ritz-Carlton Yacht can operate its fleet. It’s how far the brand plans to take the model it spent the last five years building.
