![\"Chrissie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4594c820ddb2fe23805a5c387f1466ab8e62777acdbab4f1250669973eddf570.png\")
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September 10, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n This article is part of Traveller\u2019s guide to luxury cruising. See all stories.<\/a>Club Med 2The cruise Nice to Nice (4 days)Commissioned 1992Passengers 373Crew 200Decks 6, with 164 cabinsLength 187 metresThe ship With Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection<\/a>, Four Seasons, Aman and Orient Express trailblazing a new category of cruising \u2013 the hotel superyacht \u2013 there is a hospitality brand that pioneered the small-ship, resort-at-sea experience more than 35 years ago: Club Med. Today the 187-metre-long vessel is part of the French all-inclusive champion\u2019s Exclusive Collection, its top-tier selection of resorts, chalets and experiences. With five masts and 2500-square-metre sails launched at the push of a button, Club Med 2 was, for a long time, also the largest sailing yacht in the world \u2013 a crown it bid au revoir to when Orient Express Corinthian made its first splash in the water in May.<\/p>\n Boarding<\/p>\n Sign up for the Traveller newsletter<\/p>\n The latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s all very relaxed. I\u2019m travelling with my eight-year-old daughter and there are only a handful of people in front of us checking in. Once our turn comes, our names are crossed through with a yellow highlighter from a printed-out passenger list at a makeshift desk on the quay in Nice\u2019s small, picturesque port. Onboard, we waste little time having our photos taken and passenger cards printed out, and soon I\u2019m sipping a welcome flute of champagne in the Yacht Club Lounge as a crew member gives us a quick rundown of the ship.<\/p>\n The design The ship feels as breezy as the Mediterranean coastal resorts we are calling at on this short, three-night sailing: Santa Margherita Ligure, on the Italian Riviera (for Portofino), and Saint-Tropez back on the Cote d\u2019Azur. It celebrated a big birthday (its 30th) in 2022 with a \u20ac9 million ($14.5 million) interior refit. The design brief was clearly to channel beachy Riviera vibes, with a palette of blues, greens and yellows common across the lounge and dining rooms. Rope trimmings and plenty of brass and stainless-steel fittings are a reminder that this is a boat with serious sailing stripes.<\/p>\n The spaces\u200b The lower three decks are cabins only, with public areas concentrated on the top three. Nothing\u2019s cramped, and there\u2019s a natural flow from the vast outdoor areas into the interior Yacht Club Lounge (which feels big enough to fit all 373 passengers), and duo of bar areas named for some of the resort towns the ship is most at home in: Cannes and Portofino. The top deck is where the mass of Burmese teak used in the build \u2013 2700 square metres \u2013 comes into its own, with ample sunbathing space and no threat of the sunlounger wars common on mega-ships.<\/p>\n The stateroom What\u2019s better than a double sink in your cabin? Two separate bathrooms. Our 36-square-metre suite was clearly, until the 2022 refit, two distinct cabins now merged into one, with certain original features \u2013 such as the individual bathrooms \u2013 maintained. It\u2019s the most spacious cabin I\u2019ve slept in at sea, with twice the usual cupboard space, handy for hanging the floaty dresses I\u2019ve packed for the themed nights (red and white\/elegant\/all white), and with a separate lounge area to the king-size bed. The cabins continue the nautical theme and display a definite penchant for polished wood surfaces, although not a single one has a balcony. Instead, we watch as a moody Mediterranean Sea is whipped up into a frenzy in Saint-Tropez from the quartet of portholes in our suite.<\/p>\n The crew<\/p>\n As with its resorts on land, Club Med\u2019s GOs (\u201cGentil Organiseurs\u201d or \u201cGentle Organisers\u201d), are a key ingredient in the onboard experience, and the reason the ship has such a high return rate of passengers. One minute you\u2019ll be eating dinner with a group of them in the Saint-Tropez dining room; the next moment you\u2019ll be watching those same people on stage in the Yacht Club Lounge performing a dance show before you\u2019re swept up in their conga line snaking out towards the aft deck for the first of the night\u2019s legendary Crazy Signs group dances.<\/p>\n The food Mirroring its resorts, Club Med 2 is all-inclusive, so there\u2019s nothing extra to pay for food and drink onboard. Breakfast and lunch is a buffet-style affair in Saint-Tropez, the casual top-deck dining room. For dinner, we can choose between a la carte in Monte-Carlo, the formal dining room with a focus on regional and French classics, the likes of provencal pissaladiere (an onion focaccia) and gigot d\u2019agneau (slow-cooked lamb leg) or an encore in Saint-Tropez. It becomes clear on the first night that, somewhat surprisingly, most people\u2019s preference is the buffet, with its live cooking stations, rotating menu of freshly cooked dishes and gigantic cheese station.<\/p>\n Wellness Sport and wellness are central to the Club Med experience, and it\u2019s no different onboard Club Med 2. There\u2019s a gym, a daily yoga school, two plunge pools and a spa (the only service you\u2019ll have to pay extra for). What sets it apart from any other Club Med offering is its aft-deck marina platform that is lowered when the ship is at anchor, becoming a launching pad for watersports. We take a kayak out for a spin in choppy Portofino waters while others try to remain upright as they water ski and paddleboard.<\/p>\n Entertainment<\/p>\n While this isn\u2019t a mega-ship with an all-day program of shows and other entertainment, I haven\u2019t experienced anything at sea before quite like the theatre of the crew being presented to the passengers on the back deck as we pull out of Nice port to the soundtrack of Vangelis\u2019 Conquest of Paradise. It sets the tone for a roster of GO-led post-dinner shows that don\u2019t take themselves too seriously: my favourite is the can-can performance set to a carousel on the large screen of Paris\u2019 greatest landmarks. The late-night DJ keeps guests dancing until the wee hours of the morning; that\u2019s what I hear, at least, as I\u2019m tucked up in bed at a respectable hour with my daughter, the only passenger under 18 onboard our sailing.<\/p>\n The verdict Club Med 2 is not only an engineering marvel, but also a delightfully fun ship that carries the relaxed, informal spirit of Club Med across to the water. There\u2019s no denying that the whole experience is overwhelmingly French in terms of crew, guests and language spoken onboard (although the crew can all converse in English), but if you\u2019re looking to broaden your cruise horizons, I can\u2019t imagine a better way than this sailing a la francaise.<\/p>\n The detailsRelated Article The Club Med 2\u2019s three-night \u201cPortofino and St-Tropez<\/a>\u201d return cruise from Nice departs September 21, 2026, and visits Portofino and Saint-Tropez. From $651 per adult a night, including premium accommodation, all-day dining, open bar, water sports, wellness activities and entertainment. See clubmed.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n The rating out of five<\/p>\n \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n Swell<\/p>\n In typical French style, a gouter \u2013 or afternoon tea of cakes and sandwiches \u2013 is served between 4pm and 5.30pm daily, and it merges into a pre-dinner setup in the aft deck bar, when the sweeter treats are replaced by savoury snacks such as garlic prawns.<\/p>\n Not so swell<\/p>\n High winds keep us confined to the vessel for the entire day in Saint-Tropez, and also cause the anchor to get itself into such a twist that we\u2019re unable to cruise back to Nice for our planned disembarkation the following morning. Fortunately, there\u2019s a general sentiment that the unexpected is part and parcel of cruising, and everyone takes the change of plans in good humour.<\/p>\n The writer was a guest of Club Med.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Hotel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/dcc3d3b333861ee43980e58ae1cfe596e5a84fb1.jpeg\")
Hotel superyacht Club Med 2.<\/p>\n![\"Poolside](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2bf664bf0cc93ef618864d62ad200c6e15401426.jpeg\")
Poolside on Club Med 2.![\"Riviera](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/48c6e16e0d57cdf0c291e110134a75763ad29086.jpeg\")
Riviera vibes throughout the lounge area.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/e98db9f75efc0a6177417b4890b6cbdd34c9415f.jpeg\")
The open-air Moby Dick bar.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ab1c7e59fbe201068d01347052f1f9ae4d4ef4ac.jpeg\")
A suite cabin \u2026 no balcony, but it\u2019s the most spacious cabin I\u2019ve slept in at sea.<\/p>\n![\"Al](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/135cbd952997e565aa1aa0abfd0e0bc8345b39d8.jpeg\")
Al fresco dining area at Saint-Tropez.<\/p>\n![\"Morning](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4223b2a0d990e0ddbc0e3ebdef332d22eb5ae170.jpeg\")
Morning yoga on the deck.<\/p>\n![\"Monte-Carlo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/c941e720c2464c9f1e35998432bdd343922c070e.jpeg\")
Monte-Carlo restaurant.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/19959593bf83ac1dadf75e97d34b496071723ad6.jpeg\")
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