Entertainment Cruises, which bills itself as the nation’s largest dining and sightseeing cruise company, has made its first move into Florida with the recent purchase of Windridge Yacht Charters. Terms were not disclosed.
Fort Lauderdale-based Windridge has the 149’x331/2’x8’ Lady Windridge, built in 1989 and able to carry 432 passengers, and the 97’x22’x7’ Windridge K, built in 1977 with a 149-passenger capacity. The vessels dock at various locations from Palm Beach, Fla., to Miami.
Headquartered in Chicago, Entertainment Cruises operates in the Windy City and along the East Coast with 30 vessels the company says carry more than 1.5 million people annually. Its history dates to 1978 with the founding of Spirit Cruises in Norfolk, Va.
In 2006, ICV Partners, a New York-based private investment firm, combined Spirit Cruises and Premier Yachts to form Entertainment Cruises.
In 2012, ICV sold the firm to the Pritzker Group, a Chicago-based private investment firm. At the time that deal was announced, Entertainment Cruises CEO Michel Higgins said the company looked forward “to the growth opportunities for Entertainment Cruises that this investment brings.”
South Florida’s luxury charter market is getting even more competitive this week as SeaFair, ExpoShips floating arts and entertainment vessel, starts year-round cruises and charters from Miami’s Bayfront Park.
