In recent years, the line between ocean cruising and luxury hospitality has blurred as hotel brands launch their own yacht lines.
Those lines, including Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and Four Season Yachts, have primarily focused on warm climates and the equivalent of five-star accommodations.
But COMO Hotels and Resorts, a Singapore-based luxury hospitality brand, is taking a different route as it experiments with expedition cruising.
Last year, for the first time, it hosted two sailings through the Arctic on a 12-guest expedition ship. The trips proved popular enough that COMO had two different parties competing for a ship buyout, and it decided to continue the program for a second year, with two more sailings in 2026.
Like other hospitality brands with devoted followings, COMO is finding that it can seamlessly transition its loyalists to an ocean cruise experience.
And the brand's loyalists are guests who are described as "second summit seekers," according to Doris Goh, executive vice president of commercial for COMO.
"[They're] people who have been there, done that," she said. "They've traveled and really want to slow down and really look around and see things deeper."
So while other brands are betting on the luxury traveler's desire for ultimate comfort, COMO is betting on their desire for ultimate adventure.
"The luxury is really in the fact that we are able to create this experience that [has] the pioneering spirit," Goh said. "We hark back to the days when people first discovered the North Pole."
The Polarfront ship, where Como hosts just 12 guests per sailing. Photo Credit: Anais Afrika
'An expedition, not a cruise'
COMO Hotels and Resorts has 17 properties around the world, primarily in Europe and Asia, in a mix of urban and more remote destinations. It is opening two more this spring.
It had already ventured into hosting exclusive trips and experiences catered to that "second summit seeker" guest profile before it launched its Arctic sailing program. Examples included a sports retreat with Olympic skiers and a tennis workshop with top-ranked pro Carlos Alcaraz. Goh described the decision to try a cruise as an extension of that prior event curation, which she said "people are looking for more and more."
To make it happen, COMO partnered with Will Bolsover, founder of adventure tour company Natural World Safaris, and selected a Norwegian weather ship that has been refurbished for cruises, the MS Polarfront, for the sailings.
It sought to instill the COMO brand ethos in the experience. One method was through the staffing: Como had its best chef and its best bodywork therapist onboard, Goh said.
It also crafted a brief precruise experience for the guests, which included one night in the nicest accommodations it could find in Longyearbyen, Norway, and a dinner with a wine pairing at one of the best restaurants in town.
But Goh said COMO didn't bill the cruise as a luxury experience. While its best chef was there, he was working within the confines of a small ship in the Arctic, not serving Michelin-level cuisine, she said.
"I told everyone, 'It's an expedition, it's not a cruise,'" Goh said. "It is rough and tumble. Don't expect it to be white-glove service and stuff. No, you will be like one of the crew. You will be the adventurer.'"
COMO first shared information about the opportunity to loyalty program members, which resulted in the first inquiry about buying out a sailing, Goh said.
Soon, a second party was interested in buying out the same one.
A passenger climbs a rope ladder onto the Polarfront during an Arctic sailing. Photo Credit: Andy Mann
Another pleasant surprise was the makeup of the clientele, she said, which included multiple guests famous enough to request a nondisclosure agreement regarding their participation.
The sailings were designed with a flexible itinerary for wildlife spotting and many Zodiac landings. They traversed Svalbard in Norway, and the guests were satisfied by multiple polar bear sightings, Goh said.
The chef, Daniel Moran, COMO's vice president of culinary, took on the challenges presented by sailing on a small ship in a remote region.
"He was telling me, 'Oh my God, Doris, here am I being so worried. I've got two watermelons, and I'm trying to make it last,'" Goh recalled. "And people were telling me it was absolutely wonderful, to be out there and then to be served this watermelon."
Some guests enjoyed the bodywork therapist so much that they later traveled to COMO's property in Italy's Dolomites, where he is based, to see him again.
While last year's cruises were in June and July, this year's will bookend the summer season, with one in May and the other in September. The trips, called COMO Journey: Into the Arctic are 10 and 11 nights, and the 10-night May expedition starts at about $42,000 for two passengers.
As for 2027, COMO doesn't have any sailings planned yet, and Goh pointed out that in the world of cruising, that means it's likely too late to the game to get something scheduled. There are limitations with chartering a ship, including its availability, due to other uses and interested parties.
Goh said that 2028 and beyond is certainly on COMO's radar, though.
"Yes, indeed, and hopefully with some variations to the itinerary, but a lot depends on availability of ship charters," she said.
The experience of hosting two consecutive years of specialty sailings has given her the urge to design more adventurous trips in partnership with Natural World Safaris. She lists a land-based tour of Mongolia as a possibility.
From Goh's perspective, there is a clear distinction between the goals of luxury hospitality brands developing five-star hotel experiences on yachts and COMO's goal, which is to give guests the luxury of a raw adventure in nature.
"At the end of the day, guests are increasingly seeking transformation journeys, right?" she said. "Immersive, educational and emotionally impactful."