Exclusivity, intimacy and personalised experiences are among the biggest benefits of sailing on a luxury cruise ship — the very top factors that are attracting Asia's uber-rich to sail with Regent Seven Sea Cruises in the wake of the pandemic.
“The benefit of going on a smaller luxury ship is you don’t have the mass of people. We have 700 people, a big ship, and a much more spacious environment where you can treat people much more individually — no queues, no lines for food, and buffets are served to you," said Steve Odell, managing director, Asia Pacific at Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
The travel bubble effect that Regent's cruise ships offer, backed by its vaccinated policy for both crew and passengers, extensive Sail Safe health protocols and initial sailings that operate at reduced capacity, will promote a “much safer and confident environment for customers to come back,” added Odell.
The FOMO (fear of missing out) effect is especially driving Asian luxury travellers to book bigger suites and splurge more on their upcoming cruise holidays.
The booking lead time for the Asia market, which typically ranged between six to 12 months pre pandemic, has increased as people look to lock in future travel. “The booking curve in Asia is pushed out, so it’s a much longer booking curve than we are used to seeing,” said Odell.
Northern Europe and Mediterranean sailings of 7-10 days currently dominate Asia bookings for Regent Seven Seas, with travellers planning ahead for trips in summer 2022 and onward for 2023.
Looking ahead, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan are expected to be the cruise line’s biggest markets coming out of Covid.
To attract even more advance bookings from Asia, Regent Seven Seas is currently an ‘Upgrade in Europe’ offer which includes a complimentary 2-category suite upgrade and 50% reduced deposits for bookings made before 30 June 2021.
The luxury cruise line will resume sailing with Seven Seas Splendor from the UK’s Southampton in September, while its entire fleet — including Seven Seas Explorer, Seven Seas Mariner, Seven Seas Navigator and Seven Seas Splendor — will be back in operations by February 2022.