A flurry of luxury hospitality firms entering the cruise arena is introducing a new demographic to the joy of cruising which is good news for the industry, according to Regent Seven Seas CruisesVP Sales and GM Asia Pacific Lisa Pile.
Newcomers such as Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons are entering the ultra-luxury cruise space, but rather than seeing it as competition for Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Pile sees it as a great opportunity.
“I love it because they’re bringing new clients with them,” she told media aboard Seven Seas Explorer on Friday. “Everyone has a very different offering.”
While she said Regent Seven Seas Cruises has carved out its own place in the market thanks to its all-inclusive ultra-luxury product, the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has also established its own niche as a yacht-style product.
“These hotel companies that are going into cruising are really embracing their own environment, their own habitat,” she said, also highlighting the size of their databases – particularly that of Marriott-owned Ritz-Carlton.
Four Seasons Yachts’ new offering is also on a smaller scale but promises good things for the industry as a whole, in Pile’s view. “They’re really looking after their own guests and trying to integrate,” she said. “But for us, it introduces more and more people to cruising and a different type of client. And once they try one, then they want to go and try something else. So I think it’s very, very positive.”
Meanwhile, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has exciting plans of its own with newest vessel Seven Seas Prestige set to launch in 2026, taking its fleet to seven. Construction began in October last year.
Subscribe to LATTE Cruise’s free eNewsletter to keep up to date with everything in the luxury cruise space.The newcomer will be significantly larger than those in the cruise line’s latest class of ships, with a gross tonnage of 77,000 tons and a length of 257m as compared with Grandeur‘s 55,000 tons and 224m length. It will accommodate approximately 850 passengers, as compared with Grandeur’s 746, in 434 spacious suites, offering one of the highest guest-to-space ratios in the industry.
“So, we have a slightly bigger number of passengers, but more passenger-space ratio,” Pile said.
Bookings for 20 of the new ship’s itineraries will open later this year, she shared. More details of the new ship will be revealed in the coming months, with Pile promising some exciting features are on the cards.
“Regent is a company of firsts – we were the first ever cruise line company to introduce an all-suite ship, Mariner, and when we had her built in 2001 there had been nothing like her ever before,” she said. “Then we were the first ever cruise line to offer all inclusive shore excursions. Then we were the first ever cruise line to offer all-inclusive.”
The 2023 launch of Seven Seas Grandeur with its resident Fabergé egg represents another such milestone, she continued, with the cruise line’s art collection another major drawcard. Indeed, aboard Seven Seas Explorer there are more than 2000 pieces of art worth AU$9 million, with several Picassos and a Chagall among the artworks.
Food and drink is another important focus, with eight food offerings on board including three speciality restaurants. Pile revealed that during a 20-day sailing aboard Seven Seas Explorer, guests are expected to consume around 3,000 bottles of champagne and about 1,000 kilos of lobster.
