Construction begins on Seven Seas Explorer®: The Most Luxurious Ship in the World™

Greetings,

FYI

Construction began this morning on Seven Seas Explorer at the Fincantieri shipyard in Genoa, Italy. Check out the links below.

http://rsscblog.com/

http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/11332-fincantieri-starts-work-on-new-regent-ship.html

I was so excited to post this information, I forgot to highlight an important detail.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises will begin taking reservations for her maiden voyage and inaugural season in early 2015.

I wonder whether Regent will engage in a premium pricing strategy for this ship vs. the other older ones? Will the "most luxurious ship in the world" will come with a higher per diem?

You know, I am so very proud of Frank del Rio and his team. He has come on a long journey of "experience," and has obviously made some excellent decisions, plus he is a "passenger" friendly individual who appreciates the input of his crew and travelers.

We have been loyal Oceania passengers since its inception, and this December we will be on Regent Cape Town to Singapore for our first Regent experience, to which we are looking forward.

Congratulations. Keep up the wonderful planning and producing.

I hope to someday sail on the RSSC Explorer. We've sailed with Regent 4 times, including 2 world cruises. I hope by 2016 we aren't priced out of the market.

We are currently on the Voyager. A big celebration took place last night on all of the ships with cake-cutting and dancing. This is definitely a special time for Regent:)

We are not Regent Loyalists, but I am very, very hopeful that we will be able to get on the maiden voyage. I suspect that the cost will be extremely high. I heard that there will be 10 diningrooms. Personally I am very excited.

I wonder whether Regent will engage in a premium pricing strategy for this ship vs. the other older ones? Will the "most luxurious ship in the world" will come with a higher per diem?

I could be wrong about the future, but past experience is a good indication. When Marina was under construction, there were the same questions and speculation about fares on the new, larger and more beautiful Oceania ships in comparison to the older, smaller ships. It turned out that pricing was the same. We sailed on the maiden voyages of both Marina and Riviera, and there were no premium upcharges. I would expect Explorer to be the same. I hope to sail on her maiden voyage as well, although it looks like the announcement will come while we are on O's 1st world cruise.

Don -- hope to see you on the maiden voyage. You know that we would not miss it for the world. Enjoy your world cruise:D

Below is another article regarding the Explorer:

A bubbly beginning for Regent newbuild at Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente

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RSSC's Kunal Kamlani, center, heralds steel-cutting with, from left, Maison Krug master sommelier Michela Cimatoribus, Fincantieri's Gabriele Cocco and, at right, Sestri Ponente's Raffaele Davassi

The pop of a cork from a Krug Grande Cuvée magnum signaled the start of steel-cutting for Seven Seas Explorer at Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente on Tuesday. The Regent Seven Seas Cruises newbuild's keel-laying is planned for January, with float-out in the last quarter of 2015 and delivery scheduled in summer 2016.

‘This ship will set a new benchmark for luxury service on board any vessel at sea today,' asserted Kunal Kamlani, president of Regent Seven Seas, who attended the ceremony with Fincantieri’s Gabriele Cocco, svp merchant vessels, and Raffael Davassi, Sestri Ponente’s manager, among others.

The addition of Seven Seas Explorer will grow Regent's capacity almost 40%, from 1,890 berths to 2,640 berths.

‘With this 54,000gt ship able to carry around 750 guests, we will create a level of personalized service that the industry has never seen before,’ Kamlani told Seatrade Insider.

He referred to Fincantieri’s newbuild partnership with sister company Oceania Cruises in delivering Riviera and Marina, in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Regent has invested more than €100m to retrofit its fleet in the last couple of years ‘to further elevate the all-inclusive experience we are providing our guests,’ Kamlani said.

Seven Seas Voyager at the end of 2013, followed by Seven Seas Mariner a couple of months ago, have both undergone major makeovers and Seven Seas Navigator's is planned at the beginning of 2015.

‘When the new flagship is delivered in summer 2016, it will incorporate many new features which will be progressively rolled out across the rest of the fleet,’ Kamlani said.

Seven Seas Explorer’s itineraries will be unveiled toward the end of 2014, with bookings to open in January.

Kamlani said the interiors, by Tillberg Design of Sweden, RTKL Associates and I-Crave, are to be finalized. ‘We will start reviewing the unique design elements from the beginning of 2015, including luxury fabrics and materials that have never been used before in cruise shipbuilding,’ he added.

With one of the highest space ratios and crew-to-passenger ratios at sea, the 223.8-meter Seven Seas Explorer will feature 369 suites ranging from 300 square feet to over 2,000 square feet for the owner’s suite, six open-seating gourmet restaurants, a nine-deck atrium, two-story Explorer Theatre, three boutiques and an expansive Canyon Ranch SpaClub.

The ship will be diesel-electric-powered with a maximum speed of 20 knots.

During Tuesday's ceremony, Kamlani and Cocco began a countdown that culminated with Maison Krug Italy’s master sommelier, Michela Cimatoribus, releasing the cork from a magnum of Krug Grande Cuvée. As the cork popped and the Champagne flowed, confetti cascaded and a laser cut the first piece of steel for the ship.

In a statement, Fincantieri ceo Giuseppe Bono expressed the shipbuilder's delight in having Regent Seven Seas as a new client, and a newbuild that he said will become 'the definition of excellence.'

Rather than being excited about sailing on the new ship, I am more interested in how the increase in capacity will change the roles of the three older ships. We have sailed on all three and, while I know many people disagree, we found Navigator not up to our experience on the other two. One reason we have not been on Regent in recent years is Mariner and Voyager are off doing Europe, Asia or round-the-world cruises while Navigator is pretty much the only ship serving North America which is where we are looking to cruise. I'm hoping having the new ship will result in one of the other two larger ships being redeployed to the North American Market for at least part of the year.

The video shows the steel being cut by ESAB equipment. Having worked for ESAB for many years, and a platinum seven seas society member, I can assure everyone that there will be no leaks in the ship!!

I would book this new ship in a hot second if it were not for the included excursion policy. This is a deal breaker for me. Furthermore, although I am certain this will be a gorgeous ship, calling it the "most luxurious ship in the world" is the same hyperbole Regent uses when they called themselves a "six star cruise line." Neither statement means anything real. jmo.

wripro, you are correct, the proof is in the pudding about the ship. I for one, have no doubt she will be spectacular, having seen the refurbishments of the Mariner and Voyager in recent months. Let's just wait for the computerized images like they have for the Voyager's launch.

I was not crazy about the included excursion policy either, but it sure did work for Regent at the depths of the recession, and has brought them great success since. People just seem to want a total cost from the beginning with not surprises, maybe?

As you already know, you have a lot of other choices. I explore them as well.

Marina and Riviera have received many awards for "most beautiful ship" and continue to be praised from every direction for beauty and luxury. Explorer will be more so. There's an excellent probability the prediction of most luxurious ship will come true, based on prior experience.

Of course, I tend towards the "glass half full" rather than the glass half empty...

As for the included excursions, I note that Viking Ocean will also take that path.

Don, I have no doubt it will,be beautiful! We all have personal preferences. I for one didn't like all that white leather they have put on chairs in the lounges on both voyager and Mariner.

Marina and Riviera have received many awards for "most beautiful ship" and continue to be praised from every direction for beauty and luxury. Explorer will be more so. There's an excellent probability the prediction of most luxurious ship will come true, based on prior experience.

 

Of course, I tend towards the "glass half full" rather than the glass half empty...

 

As for the included excursions, I note that Viking Ocean will also take that path.

Don, from what I have read, Viking Ocean seems to be targeting Oceania as their competition. They have big shoes to fill. Azamara has tried to compete but is definitely not as successful as Oceania.

In terms of beauty, I am probably prejudiced but, anything that FDR has anything to do with ends up being as close to perfection as possible. I completely believe that the Explorer will be the most luxurious ship at sea. However, Crystal is also building a new ship and I have heard that their ships are lovely as well.

Don, I have no doubt it will,be beautiful! We all have personal preferences. I for one didn't like all that white leather they have put on chairs in the lounges on both voyager and Mariner.

Ah, but it's luxurious -- just think of the cost of upkeep! ;)

And Seabourn is building a new ship for 2016 being designed by Adam Tihany. I am sure they will all be beautiful.

We are not Regent Loyalists, but I am very, very hopeful that we will be able to get on the maiden voyage. I suspect that the cost will be extremely high. I heard that there will be 10 diningrooms. Personally I am very excited.

I am looking forward to seeing a new ship in the water that is not a mass market ship.

Is there a rendering of Explorer available?

Is there a rendering of Explorer available?

Not yet that I can find. I am sure it is a work in progress and the details are still being worked out.

First - Ken and I are on our TA's list for the inaugural cruise. Can't wait! (and hope we get to go on it!)

Second - anyone have any idea when deck plans might be available? Presumably before the summer season 2016 goes on sale??

We were on the Maiden voyage of the Marina, and it was fabulous. It was great to be able to evaluate the various aspects of the ship, but we found everything to be excellent.

We had to cancel our Maiden on Riveria, and we were so sad to have done so.

We hope that we will be able to get a booking on the new Explorer. We will certainly try. It will be a wonderful experience to find what FDR and staff have planned for this ship.

So is there a date for this maiden voyage?

There is no date that I am aware of except "summer of 2016". Bookings will reportedly open in January, 2015. It seems that we need to be patient a bit longer.