Regent Seven Seas Cruises has unveiled details of its 2025/26 Voyage Collection, four months earlier than ever before. Lisa Pile, Vice President Sales & General Manager, Asia Pacific says the demand from consumers and travel advisors warrants an early release.
The 2025/26 program will comprise 164 itineraries, 29 new port calls, over 120 port overnights, with voyages ranging from 7-nights to the 154-night World Cruise, released a few months now. Among the portfolio are nine new cruises in Africa and Arabia, including the first departure for Regent from Doha, Qatar.
Pile told LATTE the new season launch in Australia and New Zealand was out much further in advance, around the world. Pre-registrations will open this Thursday (8 June 2023), with bookings available from 22 June 2023.
Subscribe to LATTE Cruise’s free eNewsletter to keep up to date with everything in the luxury cruise space.
According to Pile, business with the luxury cruise line hasn’t slowed at all. The biggest challenge that still faces consumers is long-haul airfare pricing, but she is confident pre-COVID pricing will return once Chinese carriers restore flight frequencies to 2019 levels.
“Guests are telling us they’ve locked in 2023, are already looking at 2024 and now they’re saying when can we start thinking about ’25/’26?”
Pile also said the one positive thing that COVID has taught travellers is “not to wait.”
“People want to have amazing holiday experiences on their agenda to have something to look forward to.”
Pile also noted to LATTE that pre-pandemic, the average luxury holiday taken by Australian travellers was four or five weeks, whereas now it’s between six to 10 weeks.
“People are realising, if we’re paying this much for an airfare to Europe, let’s make the most of it.”
Before the pandemic, combination cruises were about 20% of Regent’s business from this market. Now, it’s just under 40%, the regional cruise boss said.
“People are choosing a back-to-back or a triple sailing, or they might come and do an ocean cruise followed by a river cruise, visit family and friends, come back and do an ocean cruise, so there is that real combination of a holiday,” Pile said.
She pinpointed a “big uplift” from the Jewish market from Australia over the past 12 months. Regent’s new program is offering sailings from Doha to Athens and Doha to Singapore, accompanied by cruises from Cape Town to Dubai.
There are new port call in Africa, stops in St Louis (Mauritius), five port calls in Madagascar, a full season in Alaska with Seven Seas Explorer, including new 14-night sailings from Vancouver targeting the Australian market. There are also longer cruises in Japan, up to 14-days.
The launch of Seven Seas Grandeur in late 2023 will also be a game changer for the luxury cruise line, Pile says, opening up more new sailings and enabling new diverse itineraries. Among those in 2025 that Pile believes will be a winner with the local market is a 14-night sailing from Barcelona to Istanbul that includes calls in Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt, as well as Jerusalem in Israel, Limmasol in Cyprus and Ephesus in Turkey.
Another favourite is a 20-night London to Antwerp sailing on Seven Seas Voyager, that goes heavy on Norway with four new port calls for the brand, unlocking the coastal passage, including the Arctic Circle up to North Cape.
In the Asia Pacific region, Regent will have two ships with Seven Seas Explorer and Seven Seas Navigator in Australia. LATTE notes that both vessels will overnight in Melbourne on 25 January 2026, meaning a grand spectacle could be on the cards for Australia Day the following day.
“In my eight years with Regent, I do have to say I think this is our best-ever program,” Pile enthused.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises is also hosting events around the country to showcase its 2025/26 Voyage Collection, kicking off with two exclusive previews for travel advisors on 8 June, in the morning from 8-9am on the Gold Coast and later that day in Brisbane from 6-8pm.
A trade preview webinar for the APAC trade will also be conducted on 8 June, hosted by Pile, alongside her US counterparts, Christine Manjencic, VP Destination Services at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, and Shanel Knight, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Register here to attend.
Events are scheduled for Noosa (13 June), Sunshine Coast (14 June), Brisbane (20 June), Gold Coast x 2 (27 June), Sydney (29 June), Melbourne x 2 (19 July) and Mornington Peninsula (20 July).
For full details and to register for the events, click here.