First Impression: Lauren L

Date toured: May 2008

It’s not every day that I get to step onboard a private charter yacht that began life as a cruise ship. That’s the case with the 295-foot Lauren L, which had just completed a refit specifically for charter when I got onboard in Genoa, Italy.
     The yacht launched asin Germany in 2002 and served as a cruise ship for a couple of years before a Russian man bought her in 2004 and converted her to a private yacht that he called Constellation. She was available for charter then, but still had a few cruise ship holdovers, including a deck full of smallish cabins. Liveras Yachts, the team that built the charter-ready 280-foot sisterships Alysia and Annaliesse, bought Constellation in early 2007 and did another refit that stretched the vessel by five feet and completed her conversion to private yacht. As of May 2008, Lauren L was entering her first charter season—and was already booked by a single client for the entire month of August at a weekly base rate of 700,000 euro.
     There were three main parts to the refit: moving the helideck from the stern to the bow, reconfiguring most of the guest cabins, and expanding the top deck to add a health and beauty spa. The helideck move gave the yacht a prettier profile, the guest cabin work turned remaining cruise ship rooms into proper suites, and the new spa area allows guests the chance to enjoy everything from manicures to saunas and steam baths. There’s even a relaxation room for when you need a post-workout rest.
     Perhaps the most noteworthy interior change was turning the old master cabin into the current VIP, and adding a brand-new master suite (see the photo at right) on deck five that includes a lounge/office and private terrace in addition to the large sleeping space, walk-in wardrobes, and white marble bathroom with hot tub.
    This new suite is by far more impressive than the cabins the rest of the 40 total charter guests will have, but I found each of the guest cabins to be comfortably sized. Aside from the handful of VIP suites, most of the cabins are about equal in square footage, though the newly refit ones have open floor plans and feel a little bigger than the cabins with walls between the sleeping and sitting areas.
    A key member of the Liveras Yachts team told me that their primary clientele these days is Middle Eastern, and that the company is therefore considering moving Lauren L into the Seychelles and Maldives this winter instead of sending her to the traditional Caribbean cruising grounds. Not only are the islands in the Indian Ocean beautiful, he said, but they’re in the same or similar time zones as most of his clients, and therefore easier to reach.
     And if you think Lauren L is as big as Liveras Yachts wants to go, think again. As I first reported on the CharterWave Editor’s Blog, that same representative told me work will begin this year on a pair of 354-foot sisterships that will be built specifically for charter, likely taking somewhere between 26 and 40 guests apiece.
    Big news, indeed. Contact any reputable charter broker to get the most up-to-date information about Lauren L or the new builds that are expected to come into charter no later than 2012.—Kim Kavin