Regent Seven Seas Cruises has shelved the planned 2021/22 Asia Pacific deployment of its ultra-luxury vessel, Seven Seas Explorer. The program included the vessel’s highly-anticipated inaugural visit down under.
The Miami-based cruise line revealed the decision in the process of announcing its plan to relaunch its complete fleet of five ships back into service by early 2022.
A few weeks ago, Regent Seven Seas outlined the planned resumption of sailings for Seven Seas Splendor, commencing in the UK on 11 September 2021, picking up on its previously scheduled program.
It has now been confirmed that Regent’s four remaining ships will begin their long-awaited return to the ocean from October 2021.
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Seven Seas Explorer will welcome back guests on 16 October, 2021 sailing from Venice, Italy. She will complete two published Mediterranean voyages before crossing the Atlantic to Miami, Florida and, from 15 November, 2021, sail a further two published sailings in the Caribbean. The ship then begins a newly created winter Caribbean season featuring eight new sailings, starting 20 December, 2021.
Explorer will then return to Europe in early April, 2022, sailing three more newly created Mediterranean itineraries before embarking on her published 2022 European summer season on 14 May.
Seven Seas Explorer takes over three of Seven Seas Mariner’s published cruises. Mariner herself will instead go into a technical dry-dock, before resuming operation on 18 December, 2021, from Miami. Similarly, Seven Seas Navigator will recommence operation on 6 January.
Seven Seas Voyager will return on 15 February, 2022 from Barcelona, Spain, meaning her upcoming Africa and South America departures have also been pulled.
As part of the return to sail plan, 17 new sailings in Europe and the Caribbean have been created for Seven Seas Explorer and Seven Seas Voyager, and are scheduled to go on sale in early June 2021.
Asia/Oceania program dropped
Seven Seas Explorer‘s amended schedule results in 14 voyages being axed from October 2021 – 9 in Asia, 4 in Australia and New Zealand and 1 in the Mediterranean.
Steve Odell, SVP & MD Asia Pacific for Regent Seven Seas Cruises shared his disappointment regarding the cancellations, citing the slower vaccination rate in the regions meant Seven Seas Explorer needed to be assigned elsewhere.
“We are truly sorry and share in the disappointment of those who have had that much-anticipated, much-deserved experiences cancelled. We hope however that with the newly created itineraries we are launching as part of our return to sail plan, guests whose bookings impacted by these changes, will find a new reason to travel with us again very soon,” Montague said.
Odell told LATTE, “Fortunately, Seven Seas Mariner arrives in Australia in February 2022, and South-East Asia in March 2022 as part of her World Cruise. This provides significantly more time for local populations to be vaccinated in the respective regions.
“On the upside we are excited that all five of our Regent ships will be back on the ocean by early 2022, the year of our 30th anniversary. We are also excited to welcome Seven Seas Explorer to the Asia Pacific region at the end of 2022,” he noted.
Guests impacted by the cancellations who had active bookings will receive a 100% refund for amounts paid for voyages cancelled with the 6 April suspensions. Refunds will be processed within 60 days.
Those guests that chose to cancel their voyage prior to this week’s announcement of suspensions are subject to the terms communicated at the time of cancellation and are not eligible for refunds.