Amongst cruise traces that target high-priced luxurious journeys, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has one of many easiest-to-understand fleets.
The Miami-based luxurious model has simply 5 (quickly to be six) ships, all of which fall into certainly one of simply two teams: the Explorer Class ships and the Small Cruise Ship Class ships.
Constructed over the previous decade, the Explorer Class ships are the road’s latest, greatest and most elegant vessels. The Small Cruise Ship Class ships are a lot older vessels and, as the category title suggests, the smallest ships within the Regent fleet.
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For now, there are simply two ships within the Explorer Class, and each have debuted since 2016. However that quantity is scheduled to rise to 3 in December with the arrival of Regent’s new Seven Seas Grandeur.
The three ships within the Small Cruise Ship Class are all at the least 20 years outdated.
Every of the vessels within the Explorer Class has been constructed to the identical fundamental design. If you already know one member of the group, you already know all of them. The three ships within the Small Cruise Ship Class have extra variations, although they share most of the similar venues.
Right here, we clarify the distinctive options of Regent’s two ship lessons so you’ll be able to plan the luxurious cruise that is best for you.
An introduction to Regent ships
Regent is among the oldest of about half a dozen main cruise traces that compete out there for “ultra-luxury” cruises — voyages that promise a excessive stage of magnificence and pampering and have a excessive price ticket to match.
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Based in 1992 as the results of a merger between two one-ship traces (Radisson Cruises and Seven Seas Cruises), Regent has been within the luxurious cruise recreation longer than its greatest rival, Silversea Cruises (which dates to 1994), in addition to such newcomers within the house as The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Assortment and Scenic Luxurious Cruises. It started working only a few years after the founding of luxurious cruise opponents Crystal Cruises (now reborn as Crystal) and Seabourn.
Like all such manufacturers, Regent operates ships which are far smaller and extra intimate than the enormous floating megaresorts operated by Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Line. As a substitute of 1000’s of passengers, every Regent vessel is designed to carry only a few hundred folks.
Nonetheless, whereas the ships are smaller than what you may discover at a mass-market line, they are not cramped. Certainly, they’re among the many most spacious ships at sea when measured by their space-per-passenger ratio, which is about 50% increased than what you may discover on many mass-market ships.
In addition they function with roughly 1 crew member for each 1.4 passengers — one of many increased crew-to-passenger ratios within the cruise enterprise (although not as excessive as on Crystal’s just lately revamped ships, which now function at a shocking 1-to-1 crew-to-passenger ratio).
Each space-per-passenger ratios and staff-to-passenger ratios are measurements used as shorthand for the luxurious stage of a vessel.
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Amongst different luxurious touches, each cabin on each Regent ship is a set, and the variety of eating places, bars and lounges is spectacular for vessels of this dimension.
As well as, Regent ships are identified for being notably opulent when in comparison with different ultra-luxury vessels. The road’s new Explorer Class ships, particularly, are loaded with hovering areas lined with expensive marble, crystal chandeliers and high-end artwork.
Explorer Class
Ships at school: Seven Seas Grandeur (2023); Seven Seas Splendor (2020); Seven Seas Explorer (2016)
Regent’s two (quickly to be three) Explorer Class ships are the creme-de-la-creme of the Regent fleet — the vessels you may wish to choose in case you gravitate to essentially the most new and trendy vessels.
All three of the 750-passenger ships are among the many most opulent and upscale cruise vessels ever constructed, well-known for his or her hovering ceilings, inlaid marble flooring, crystal chandeliers (every of the vessels has greater than 500) and Picassos on the partitions, to call only a few high-end touches.
The vessels basically provide two sorts of lodging: fancy and actually, actually fancy.
As is usually the case within the luxurious cruise market, each cabin on these ships is a set with a balcony (one thing that can also be true for 2 of the road’s three older ships). Even the smallest of the lodging measures 307 sq. toes, which isn’t too shabby for a cruise ship.
Nonetheless, it is within the larger cabin complexes at the back and front of the Explorer Class ships the place issues get actually spectacular.
Every of the vessels is house to a ridiculously giant, forward-facing room advanced known as the Regent Suite that, at 4,443 sq. toes, is among the most elaborate and costly cruise ship suites ever constructed. (Every additionally has an equally gorgeous price ticket of $11,000 per night time.) Every of the ships additionally has a dozen extra suites that measure within the 1,000-square-foot to 2,000-square-foot vary, in addition to further lodging within the 500-square-foot to 1,000-square-foot vary.
Explorer Class vessels additionally provide a big selection of chic and high-end eating places, all included within the fare. They embody Compass Rose, the worldwide delicacies staple of all Regent ships; Regent’s signature steakhouse Prime 7; informal restaurant La Veranda; Asian eatery Pacific Rim; and French restaurant Chartreuse.
A number of bars and lounges on these vessels lately have embraced the development of ever-quirkier craft drinks. A brand new drinks menu has introduced designer gin drinks that incorporate new-for-Regent Fever-Tree premium tonics and all kinds of spices, herbs and fruits.
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For essentially the most half, the footprints of all three ships on this sequence are the identical, however eagle-eyed cruisers will discover that Regent made just a few tweaks to the design because the sequence developed.
In an effort to enhance passenger move, as an illustration, Regent turned across the grand staircase within the central atrium on Seven Seas Splendor as in comparison with the way it was laid out on Seven Seas Explorer. A serious point of interest of the vessel’s inside, the staircase now cascades down from the general public areas on Deck 5 towards the magnificent, marble-floored promenade on Deck 4. This promenade leads straight into Seven Seas Splendor’s principal restaurant, Compass Rose.
Amongst standout options, all Explorer Class vessels have an elaborate cooking classroom, which does not exist on older Regent ships. Dubbed the Culinary Arts Kitchen, every of those venues has 18 particular person cooking stations tricked out with top-of-the-line induction cooktops, chrome steel sinks and all kinds of cool cooking gear. They’re backed by floor-to-ceiling home windows looking over the ocean.
All three of the ships even have an elaborate Serene Spa & Wellness Middle with remedy rooms and a rest room. A hydrothermal suite features a multisensory aromatherapy steam room, chill room, infrared sauna and experiential showers, plus an out of doors lounge space with three whirlpools. The spa areas additionally provide hair and nail care in a magnificence salon.
Small Cruise Ship Class
Ships at school: Seven Seas Voyager (2003); Seven Seas Mariner (2001); Seven Seas Navigator (1991)
The three ships within the merely named Small Cruise Ship Class are significantly older than the road’s Explorer Class ships and are not fairly as large — or opulent — as their sisters.
In addition they have extra variation amongst them than the Explorer Class ships. The most recent of the ships, the 2003-built Seven Seas Voyager, measures 42,363 tons, which is about 12% smaller than the marginally older, 48,075-ton Seven Seas Mariner.
Seven Seas Navigator, which dates to 1991, is a good larger outlier because it measures simply 28,803 tons, which makes it about 40% smaller than Seven Seas Mariner.
Regent lumps all of those ships collectively in a single class, and we do, too, as a result of they share most of the similar options regardless of their dimension variation.
Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Mariner, particularly, are very related. Each are designed for about 700 passengers and have the identical fundamental array of venues, together with the identical lineup of 4 eating places: the worldwide cuisine-serving Compass Rose, steakhouse Prime 7, informal eatery La Veranda and French restaurant Chartreuse.
In contrast to on the larger Explorer Class ships, there is no such thing as a Asian eatery on both of the vessels.
The smaller Seven Seas Navigator, which holds simply 490 passengers, has all the similar eateries above, too, aside from Chartreuse. It is the one Regent ship with out this widespread French restaurant.
As is the case with Regent’s Explorer Class ships, all of the cabins on the Small Cruise Ship Class vessels are suites. Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Mariner are all-balcony ships, too. One large distinction, although, is that these three older ships haven’t got the really big suites discovered on the Explorer Class ships. The largest suites on all three of the vessels are within the 1,000-square-foot to 1,200-square-foot vary.
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