Regent Seven Seas has unveiled what it is calling ‘the most exclusive address at sea’, a two-floor, two-bedroom, three-bathroom suite on its newest ship, Prestige.
At a roomy 9,000 square feet, of which more than a third is an outdoor terrace, the Regent Skyview is the largest all-inclusive suite at sea, says Regent.
It went on general sale yesterday, along with all other staterooms on Prestige, with a price tag of, typically, £20,000 a night.
It sleeps up to six, making it suitable for a family or small group, and it includes exclusive access to a private dining room for 12. Of course, it also comes with extras such as a private concierge, private tenders and exclusive excursions, but it still begs the question, which clients can afford a suite like this – and are they likely to walk through your door or give you a call?
“You’d be surprised,” said Regent Vice President International Steve Odell. “They are not the most obvious people. They come from all over the world, not predominantly from the US, we get a lot of Swiss, Germans, Brits, Australians.
“These are people who must have the best, they’ll come to London and take the top suite at the Dorchester or Claridge’s. “I think at this point how much it costs doesn’t really matter, they just want the best.
“We are very confident at that price point that we will be successful.”
Paul Beale, Vice President for UK & Ireland Sales for both Regent and sister line Oceania said: “We sold recently the Regent suite (the top ship on Explorer, Splendor and Grandeur) on the World Cruise of 133 nights for £1.4m, and we could have sold that several times over. The demand for it is incredible.”
Still, who are the clients who spend the cost of a family car on one night on a cruise?
Typically, they are people who run their own businesses, said Cruise Product and Commercial Manager Simon Leeming of Unforgettable Travel Company, adding that agents often find they have such clients in their database or social networks.
“They might be the sort of people who wouldn’t typically spend £140,000 on a holiday, but they will book this suite for a special anniversary or celebration, they might want to blow the budget for a wedding anniversary,” he said.
“It’s not just for a couple, it sleeps six, so it might be for a family holiday, but this isn’t the sort of booking that’s going to fall into your lap.
“Agents get bookings like this after talking to clients about the sorts of holidays they’ve booked in the past and when clients say the want to do something special ,such as a safari in Namibia or three-week long-haul trip, you say if that is the ballpark spend would you be interested in this cruise?”
Simon also suggested agents talk about the extras included in the price, such as the private concierge, having a private chauffeur-driven car waiting in ports, priority water shuttles, the ‘red carpet treatment’ and private tours.
“These little things really make it, strange enough, a good value product,” he added. “It’s the type of trip we would book for clients who book private jets. It’s for someone who really wants to go for it.”
Paul advised agents not to ‘think with your own money’ when selling ultra-luxury cruises. “We’ll see bookings worth £20,000, £30,000, £50,000 going through on an hourly basis. We do have the lead-ins, but is that the norm that we sell in the UK? Absolutely not. Customers will be moving up and above.”
Steve pointed out that Regent cruises start at around £5,000 for 10-nights in the eastern Caribbean, but the typical UK customers books for 17 days.
“And they book early,” he added. They are booking now for 2028 and this year we’ve sold more exotic destinations, more Asia, more Africa. Already 2025 is pretty much sold, apart from a few gaps.”
He said Regent cruises compared favourably to the cost of a five-star hotel ‘because you get all your dining, your drinks, your tipping, your shore excursions’.
“If you add up all of those things and compare to a five-star hotel, it is second-to-none value,” he added.
Steve admitted that the number of agents with the knowledge and ability to sell ultra-luxury cruises is small, but he added: “We are trying to increase that pool.”
Some 80% of Regent’s business in the UK is via travel agents. “We couldn’t do without our agents partners, they introduce new people to us all the time,” he added.
“The dynamic agencies are the ones making the difference, we’re seeing huge growth coming from different partners within the UK because they are specialising in the ultra-luxury cruise product. The dynamic is changing in the UK, for sure.”
