The 224-room, 790-foot Ilma, the second ship in the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, made its inaugural sailing at the end of this summer. The superyacht from the luxury hotel group aims to deliver just that, a true yachting experience, ensuring guests never have to suffer through the mass-tourism doldrums synonymous with that dirty word, “cruise.” But it begs the question, when is a yacht really a cruise ship; and a cruise ship, a yacht? As Ilma departed Barcelona at the beginning of a three-night sailing to Monte Carlo, it crept past Costa Toscana, a 2,663-room mega-vessel listed as the ninth largest cruise ship in the world by gross tonnage, in port. Its passengers lined the decks and balconies waving at Ilma. Nobody on Ilma, enjoying a DJ-fueled sail away party, waved back. The sentiment was clear: To quote Kendrick Lamar, “They not like us.” Trips on Ilma are not cruises; the..
