Regent Seven Sea Cruises to Base New Ship in Sydney?

Thanks for sharing Louise's newsworthy article Laura.

Okay I'm confused.

Granted, I don't keep up with the cruise industry that much but this is the first time I've heard the name 'Expedition' used in conjunction with the new ship. But I didn't think their new build was scheduled to go into service until 2020 and that article has 'Expedition' there in 2018? Are they buying a smaller ship in the interim? Or did the delivery date of their new Explorer class ship get moved up?

And am I the only one that sees a trend toward naming new ships after Ford SUVs? If their next small ship is named 'Escape', I'm gonna start to worry...

Agree - very confusing. Regent hasn't even begun the building of the next Explorer class ship so it obviously could not be sailing in Australia so soon. Perhaps they are going to purchase a ship and refurbish it?

I do like the idea of a ship based in Australia - there are so many interesting places that can be visited from there. Also, with the decrease in interest in Europe, this would be a good alternative.

So, the Navigator is getting a new name. I guess in between World Cruises it will be kept in Australia; I like this.

Marc

So, the Navigator is getting a new name. I guess in between World Cruises it will be kept in Australia; I like this.

 

Marc

Okay - do you know this for real or are you playing with us?

Fantastic news for us Sydneysiders :)

Playing!

I had a quick look at the Sydney port schedule for all the listings. I also checked the Melbourne port schedule - the only other one to show bookings projected that far in the future - and I can find no mention of the Expedition there, so whatever the ship is it will be solely Sydney based. By its name I think it can be inferred it might be doing um... expedition cruises. The cruises cannot be circumnavigations - they're not long enough - between 7 and 14 days. Nor visiting Antarctica for the same reason. In 14 days you'd get to New Zealand and Fiji or similar and back and there would be an awful lot of sea days in some oceans not noted for their friendliness. Or circumnavigating Tasmania. Or in depth Great Barrier Reef. Given the cost of flights to this part of the world, it would be rather difficult to make this cost effective for Regent for North American passengers with included airfares as standard.

The schedules indicate being in Australia in spring and autumn/fall. So summer and winter would be elsewhere: the Caribbean and/or Alaska?

For the local market, many people cut their cruising teeth on the NZ and South Pacific destinations and I'm not sure there would be much of a market for an ongoing luxury ship offering such itineraries.

Luxury cruising from Australia for locals is a double edged sword. On one hand it would be great to board locally. On the other hand, it take a few days to clear Australian waters. By that stage you've spent $$$$ and valuable time getting to ports you've been to before that hold limited attraction.

I guess we'll find out soon enough, but I doubt it will be a very big ship.

Won't belIeve it until it announced by Regent. The words used in the article are "wishy washy".

The article may be wishy washy, though the port schedule is not:

Seven Seas Expedition 23-Oct-2018 06:00 (Tue) 23-Oct-2018 19:00 (Tue) Overseas Passenger Terminal OPT WSS Norwegian Cruise Lines

Seven Seas Expedition 22-Sep-2019 06:30 (Sun) 22-Sep-2019 18:30 (Sun) Overseas Passenger Terminal OPT WSS Norwegian Cruise Lines

Seven Seas Expedition 25-Sep-2019 06:30 (Wed) 25-Sep-2019 18:45 (Wed) Overseas Passenger Terminal OPT WSS Norwegian Cruise Lines

Seven Seas Expedition 05-Oct-2019 06:30 (Sat) 05-Oct-2019 18:30 (Sat) Overseas Passenger Terminal OPT WSS Norwegian Cruise Lines

etc. etc.

http://www.sydneyports.com.au/port_operations/cruise_schedule

There are several ships that a leased by other lines for expedition cruises. or maybe they are buying a used one. A lot of Aussies cruise on P&O and I am sure there might be some other cruise lines based in Australia

Yep, if you look at the port schedule link you'll see there are zillions of ships - some based in Australia, some seasonal and some visiting, but unless the "Expedition" moniker is for multiple ships, there's nowhere to go where a mass market line doesn't in the time they've allotted for each cruise. Time will tell. I thought they might be taking over an existing ship like the National Geographic Orion that used to sail in Australian waters. Incidentally, the Navigator is listed as coming into Sydney on the 2019 World Cruise after the first trip of the "Expedition", which may put paid to the rebadging of the Navigator speculation.

Might this be the RSSC Expedition?? http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/vard-inks-letter-of-intent-for-luxury-expedition-newbuild.html?utm_content=Vard%20inks%20letter%20of%20intent%20for%20luxury%20expedition%20newbuild&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Seatrade%20Cruise%20News&utm_contact=19900553&utm_term=Newsletter_Seatrade%20Cruise%20Weekly%20News&utm_campaign=113403

Hi Dave! You may have "nailed it"! :p

Yes, good catch Dave.

Might this be the RSSC Expedition?? http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/vard-inks-letter-of-intent-for-luxury-expedition-newbuild.html?utm_content=Vard%20inks%20letter%20of%20intent%20for%20luxury%20expedition%20newbuild&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Seatrade%20Cruise%20News&utm_contact=19900553&utm_term=Newsletter_Seatrade%20Cruise%20Weekly%20News&utm_campaign=113403

Probably not for Regent. That listed ship is far to small and far to inexpensive. ( About 145 meters long and 20 meters wide and only $117 million dollars)

j

This is just berth slot holding. Probably Regent does not want to announce which ship they will be using so they choose a made up name. First any new build would not be finished in time for these voyages and, second they would not put a new build in Australia.

I would speculate they might use the NAV for these slots.

j

This is just berth slot holding. Probably Regent does not want to announce which ship they will be using so they choose a made up name. First any new build would not be finished in time for these voyages and, second they would not put a new build in Australia.

 

I would speculate they might use the NAV for these slots.

 

j

Agree with you but am enjoying all of the speculation.

The Navigator is a logical choice. My only concern is that she doesn't manage rough seas as well as the other ships. From what I've heard, the crossing from Sydney to New Zealand can be extremely rough.

Another thought is the Mariner. Although she could continue to do Alaska season since it's winter "down under", I wonder how popular the South America cruises are? I read somewhere that Regent will not be doing the Amazon in 2018 which leaves 25 nights where she may be available to Australia.

Just more speculation ...... I do think that a ship in that part of the world would be a good thing - especially since Mediterranean and Middle East cruises seem to be a hard sell at the moment.

I guess we'll all learn more about the itineraries for the second half of 2018 in 7 days (although we don't know if that will include December...... it seems that sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't!)

Might this be the RSSC Expedition?? http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/vard-inks-letter-of-intent-for-luxury-expedition-newbuild.html?utm_content=Vard%20inks%20letter%20of%20intent%20for%20luxury%20expedition%20newbuild&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Seatrade%20Cruise%20News&utm_contact=19900553&utm_term=Newsletter_Seatrade%20Cruise%20Weekly%20News&utm_campaign=113403

I hope this is it. They built the 4 Ponant expedition ships (Le Boreal, Le Austral, etc.) which are the most luxurious expedition ships currently sailing. Not that the luxury bar for expedition ships is that high, but the "Le" ships are all-balcony (pretty much unheard of for expeditions) and have multiple (OK, two) dining venues.

In my opinion, the Navigator isn't/can't be a true expedition ship since 1) its too large to go to the Antarctic which limits ships to 200 pax if they are doing landings (and perhaps other places which limit size), 2) it has no provision for Zodiac storage nor the cranes necessary to launch them (which I suppose could be added on the pool or top deck to their detriment), and 3) no good set-up for loading said Zodiacs (rear swim platform is typical) since more space is needed than for tender loading. On expeditions, there is often a lot of gearing up which requires a staging area convenient to the loading area (rear lounge on the "Le" ships with direct access to the loading platform).

Note that my definition of expedition is based on going somewhere not equipped to receive cruise ships both based on size and facilities. The Crystal Serenity traversing the Northwest Passage doesn't make it an expedition ship (nor would Navigator's cancelled transit). Again, my opinion.

So, if Regent is having something built along the lines of the "Le" ships (but, we might hope pumped up a bit), that'd be great in my opinion. Price is also believable since you should expect smaller accommodations and public areas to keep the ship to a size which can get into more challenging areas. The "Le" ships are 11,000 tons or thereabouts. Just so someone doesn't feel obliged to correct me on this, the "Le" ships are actually configured for 264 pax, but on expeditions (they are used by Tauck, Abercrombie & Kent as well as Ponant itself), they take 200 pax and use the extra space for the expedition team.

We'd love to go back to the Antarctic on a Regent (new-build) expedition ship.

It would be nice. I'd like to go off the beaten paths with regent in a more port time and more overnights. Something small would make that possible.

Much as I would love Regent to have a true expedition ship, this all sounds very weird to me. When regent launches something new, they are the first to publicize it, and in a big way.

This maybe a little off topic, BUT just found a new ship and looks interesting to us. https://www.scenic.com.au/our-5-star-ships/scenic-eclipse

This maybe a little off topic, BUT just found a new ship and looks interesting to us. https://www.scenic.com.au/our-5-star-ships/scenic-eclipse

Yes - she is definitely interesting but is booked well into 2018. Maybe you'll book a cruise and let us know what you think!

Actually I'm working on it right now. She is going to Cuba October 5 on the charter I'll let you guys know when I find out.