Luxury Travel Advisor recently asked Steve Odell, chief sales officer for Regent Seven Seas Cruises, to chat about trends and developments he's seeing this summer in ultra-luxury cruising. Here are highlights of that discussion.
New to Brand, New to Cruise
To assist luxury travel advisors, we asked Odell what “intel” he could provide about the ultra-luxury line’s new-to-brand and new-to-cruise guests. Where are they coming from in terms of other travel segments?
In new-to-brand, “when we look at our first-timers, initially, they’re coming from the top end of the premium sector,” he says. “But then there’s another group of new customers that are completely new to cruise. And that’s a key target for us.”
Odell stresses that those new-to-cruise luxury travelers do all sorts of vacations, but often desire to see a lot of destinations. Many might have previously opted for 10-day, multi-city land vacations or even a European river cruise. In addition, Regent Seven Seas is also seeing a lot of new-to-cruise guests coming from more adventurous luxury vacations such as skiing trips or safaris.
But “I would say that our prime focus is to attract the people who do multi-destination land programs.” To do just that, earlier this year, the ultra-luxury line launched a new initiative—“Immersive Overnight” voyages.
"Immersive Overnights"
Those new “Immersive Overnight” voyages include, as the name might suggest, overnight stays in every port of call. “We have seven of these in the current season, and in the new season we’ve added another eight,” says Odell. "So, instead of guests visiting six ports during a 10-day cruise, the Regent Seven Seas ship might sail to only four ports of call with overnights at all. That provides guests with more time ashore for touring, shopping, dining, enjoying cultural events and so on.
For example, a nine-night “Scandinavian Cityscapes” Immersive Overnight voyage sails from Antwerp, Belgium, to Stockholm, Sweden, on July 19, 2026. Those sailing on the 496-passenger Seven Seas Navigator will experience overnight stays in Antwerp, Belgium; Oslo, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Stockholm, Sweden. So, it’s an immersive two-day and one-night visit to each of those cities.
On this sailing, instead of just opting to travel from Antwerp to “must see” Bruges for the day, guests can do that, return to the ship and enjoy pre-dinner cocktails with friends aboard. In the evening/late night, guests might go ashore for a dinner and show on their own, or (in certain cities on "Immersive Overnight" voyages) opt for a Regent Seven Seas’ culinary-focused evening excursion. Then, the next day, there’s more time to explore—perhaps taking an Antwerp shore excursion or making an independent visit to Antwerp’s Grand Market Place, MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp or the Rubens House.
In the Mediterranean, Regent Seven Seas is “seeing a lot of traction” for its "Immersive Overnight" voyages, says Odell. One reason? “People are used to going on a land tour to Europe and seeing a lot of destinations." But as the luxurious ship floats from destination to destination, “we make it so much easier for them," he adds.
In the line's testing of its first season of "Immersive Overnight" voyages, Odell says: "They’ve all done very well. They’re tracking to where we expected them to be.”
Asia Demand Is Soaring
One of the most popular "Immersive Overnight" voyages recently completed was an Asian itinerary, complete with two nights Tokyo, two nights Seoul, two nights Shanghai and two nights Osaka. “That was extremely popular,” Odell says. “They’re hard places to go between and there’s such a lot of content.”
Overall, many consumer surveys show that Asia is a hot demand market for all travel this year. Regent Seven Seas is seeing that for both its "Immersive Overnight" voyages and all other Asia cruises. "We’re almost in a sellout” in the two seasons coming up for Asia voyages—October-November and then again March to April, says Odell.
“We fill those cruises very easily, so we've upped our number" of cruises, he stressed, citing seven Japan cruises recently unveiled for that new 2026-27 season. Odell believes a big draw for an all-inclusive luxury cruise to Japan or other Asia destinations is the guest’s ability to tour via complimentary excursions. That helps overcome any language/cultural challenges that guests might typically encounter if traveling independently. With the excursions, "you’re taken care of," he says. Plus, "you go to some really unique places.”
Another trend for Japan? People are taking longer trips using Japan as the core attraction,” Odell points out. “They’ll combine going to Japan on a port-intensive cruise with maybe sailing back to North America across the Bering Sea or going further down into Asia—to Hong Kong and Singapore.”
Trends in Guest Make-Up
While the line’s core audience remains primarily couples and singles, “we are seeing growth in multi-generational travel, particularly at certain times of the year,” he says. “It’s exciting to see that shift because that brings a younger demographic in to experience our product.”
Seasonal holidays such as Easter and Christmas obviously attract more family groups. Grandparents bring multiple generations and often pay for the trips, as well. Beyond the holiday periods, “the whole family is traditionally seen in Alaska on the seven-day cruises…but we’re seeing it a bit more in Europe these days, as well,” he adds.
In group travel, one 2024 trend is the rise of luxury cruises being used a lot more for celebrations—families and friends maybe celebrating an anniversary or milestone birthday. “We’ve focused on it," Odell stresses, "and we’ve seen a lot of growth,” noting that those celebrating are often paying for their friends to come, too.
"Grand Voyage" Demand
One of the hottest ultra-luxury cruise trends in 2024 that Odell sees is the strong appeal and growing demand for "Grand Voyages." These cruises are typically shorter than a 100-plus-night World Cruise, but lengthier than a 14-day or 21-day journey. Most are in the 50- to 90-night range.
“'Grand Voyages' are very important” in satisfying luxury travelers, Odell tells us. “After our 'World Voyage,' they’re our second most popular” type of cruise. Regent has unveiled four of them in the new 2026-27 program.
One is the 81-night “Grand Arctic” voyage from New York to Barcelona in June 2026. Others include a 60-night “Grand Asia” voyage from Tokyo to Sydney, Australia, in October 2026, and an 82-night “Grand Continental Sojourn” sailing between Barcelona and Sydney in November 2026. Finally, a 61-night "Grand Voyage" from Cape Town, South Africa, to Barcelona, in February 2027, will take luxury guests to many Indian Ocean ports.
Loyal past Regent Seven Seas’ guests look forward to Grand Voyages every year, Odell notes, citing this example: Earlier this summer, about 120 loyal past guests attending one "Arctic Grand Voyage" gala represented some 49,000 past room nights for Regent Seven Seas.
More Port Overnights
Not all itineraries are "Immersive Voyages" with overnights in every port. That said, to draw land travelers or luxury hotel guests to ultra-luxury cruising, overnights in port in certain destinations have proven important. “We now have 144 overnights, all around the globe, from Hong Kong to Mumbai to Bora Bora,” he stresses.
So, guests could, if they so choose, do three different tours a day—morning, afternoon and evening, which are included in their cruise fare. That said, “rarely do guests do all three,” Odell tells us. “So, going ashore can be more relaxed.” In addition, “in the evening, we have more relaxed tours. People can take a drive-by tour to see the city at night or choose a culinary tour. It adds a different dimension.”
New Home Ports
One top way to draw more new-to-brand, new-to-cruise guests is to expand the embarkation ports from which they’re able to sail. As announced last week, "we’re going to test some new ports out of North America, specifically out of the U.S.” he explains, citing Galveston, TX, and Tampa, FL. He gives a bit more insight into why those specific ports were selected.
“Texas is a big core market for us,” he notes. So, the line hopes to draw more Texans not wanting to travel so far (such as to Florida) to reach a domestic embarkation point. For all lines, as well, Galveston has proven successful at attracting many domestic air travelers from the southwestern U.S. and West Coast. As a result, "we’ll have four cruises operating from Galveston," Odell says.
Three other cruises will operate from Tampa to the Caribbean, as Odell explains that "the west coast of Florida is another very big core market for us.” The drive to Tampa is also shorter in time and distance than to South Florida ports; that could draw other new guests from northwestern Florida and some other southern states. Plus, Tampa has good air lift to/from many U.S. markets.
In addition, typically, Regent Seven Seas sails from Vancouver, British Columbia, up to Seward, AK, "but we decided that we’d try Seattle,” he says, citing the success that sister brands Oceania Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line have had there. The line will still offer Vancouver voyages to Alaska, but Odell believes the Seattle embarkation option should appeal to the line's core customers from the Pacific Northwest, attract more drive-market guests and also appeal to those who prefer to fly domestically to reach their cruise port.
With all three new embarkation ports, “we have a lot of ‘close-to-home’” options, emphasizes Odell. While the Mediterranean and Northern Europe regions are the most appealing overall to Regent’s loyal past guests, “there is this desire, on a second or third trip, to do something closer to home,” he says.
In addition, for new-to-cruise and new-to-brand guests sailing for the first time, “we do a lot of work to bring them back,” Odell notes. “Past guests are generally repeaters within a year," and the new embarkation points are likely to help draw them back aboard on a trip closer to home.
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