Sign of the times? New $10,000-a-night cruise suite is in hot demand
GENOA, Italy -- Is there no limit to the amount the wealthy will pay for a cruise cabin?
An unprecedented suite planned for luxury line Regent Seven Seas' next ship already is nearly sold out through late 2016, despite a price tag around $10,000 a night, a top executive at the line tells USA TODAY.
Billed as the most luxurious cruise suite ever, the Regent Suite on the 750-passenger Seven Seas Explorer will be 50% larger than the average house in the USA at 3,875 square feet and feature two bedrooms, a sprawling living room and its own private spa retreat with personal sauna, steam room and treatment area -- a first for a cruise ship (click through the carousel above for a sneak peek at the suite and the ship).
"Of the first 15 sailings we have (for sale), there is only one where the suite still is available," Prestige Cruise Holdings president and COO Jason Montague tells USA TODAY. Prestige is the parent company for Regent Seven Seas and Oceania Cruises.
Scheduled to debut in July 2016, the 56,000-ton Seven Seas Explorer is being billed as the most luxurious cruise ship ever. Like Regent's Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Mariner, it will be an all-suite vessel, and at $450 million, the most expensive luxury ship ever built, the company says.
Watch the video below to see inside the most luxurious suites already on the seas.
Speaking during a media event Tuesday at the shipyard in Genoa, Italy where Seven Seas Explorer is under construction, Montague said demand for the ship in general has been very strong. Its inaugural sailing sold out the first day it was on sale.
"The entire ship has sold exceptionally well," he said.
Regent began taking bookings for Seven Seas Explorer's first cruises in January. Montague said the only sailing where the Regent Suite remains available is a 16-night, trans-Atlantic voyage from Rome to Miami that kicks off on Nov. 16, 2016. The fare is $49,999 per person, based on double occupancy.
For a deck-by-deck look at the luxury of a Regent ship, don't miss our new Cruise Ship Tour of the line's revamped Seven Seas Mariner in the carousel below.
