According to Steve Odell, senior vice president and chief sales officer, Regent Seven Seas Cruises launched a new brand identity at the beginning of the year as part of a plan to expand the company with two new ships and a focus on drawing in Generation X tourists. Odell referred to the upcoming ships, which will arrive in 2026 and 2029, as a multibillion-dollar investment. Jason Montague, the former CEO of Regent, has returned to his role as chief luxury officer, where he will be in charge of the new developments for Regent and its sister company, Oceania Cruises.
“Gen Xers are coming, but the baby boomers still make up a sizable portion of the business,” he stated. “We put a lot of effort into the value proposition, examining the new branding’s more contemporary feel and appearance. The company changed its pricing strategy last summer, offering guests two prices: the all-inclusive cruise fare and the all-inclusive cruise plus air. If you go back to before COVID, it made sense to include business class air in the fares. It remained steady. Since then, things are more erratic in the air industry and it was becoming more challenging to continue with that pricing strategy,” Odell said.
He added, “The feedback we received from the trade is that it puts us on more level footing with our peer group.” According to Odell, the company’s deployment strategy, which extends until 2027, is predicated on strengthening its well-established and prosperous program. Taking our Seven Seas Splendor on a global cruise is one of the major decisions. We are upping the ante by deploying an Explorer-class ship on a world cruise for the first time. We have more upscale inventory to sell because that ship is among our newest. In addition, after a trial with a handful of new immersive itineraries, that program grows to 15 cruises in the future, featuring fewer ports but more overnights.
“Instead of a 10-night cruise going to eight ports, it’s a 10-night cruise going to four ports but in each port, you may stay a few days,” Odell said. Future itineraries are anticipated to be more immersive. More seven-day cruises are also available, aimed at first-time Regent customers. Cruises on the Regent Seven Seas Prestige are anticipated to go on sale in May of 2025, marking the ship’s entry into revenue service. With 850 guests and 77,000 tons, the ship will be larger than previous Regent new builds, but the space-to-guest ratio will increase dramatically.
“With just 13% more guests, it will be 40% bigger,” Odell stated. “This is a tenet of our strategy since we have observed that luxury travelers have a significant need for additional space.” Odell went on, “We need to bring in new clients to the top of the funnel.” “That is the key strategy. We must ensure that we are always coming up with new ideas, even when it comes to our itineraries. We can easily meet that demand and are optimistic about the market’s future growth.
