| IMO | 9703150 |
|---|---|
| Gross tonnage | 55,254 GT |
| Length | 223.6 m |
| Beam | 31 m |
| Passenger capacity (double) | 732 |
| Passenger capacity (max) | 829 |
| Crew | 552 |
| Service speed | 19.4 knots |
| Builder | Fincantieri |
| Yard | Sestri Ponente |
| Hull number | 6250 |
| Launched | 2015 |
| Maiden voyage | 2016 |
| Operator | Regent Seven Seas Cruises |
| Status | Active |
Overview
Seven Seas Explorer is the ship Regent Seven Seas Cruises billed, without much modesty and with some justification, as "the most luxurious ship ever built." Delivered by Fincantieri in 2016, she was Regent's first new-build in more than a decade, a 55,254 GT all-suite ship for just 750 guests, ordered at a reported US$450 million — over US$600,000 per berth, the highest per-berth cost in cruising at the time. She increased Regent's capacity by up to 40 per cent at a stroke and set the template for the line's subsequent Explorer-class ships. A decade on, she remains the reference point for the space-ratio end of the luxury market.
Key specifications
The dataset and the Fincantieri datasheet behind her reference article agree closely: 55,254 GT (the dataset build notes record a 55,254 figure, corrected from a 54,000 GT design-stage estimate that still circulates); 223.6 m long, 31 m in beam, with a draught of 7.02 m; 750 guests maximum and 552 crew; service speed 19.4 knots and a maximum of 20.5 knots. She has 377 passenger cabins, every one a suite with a veranda, across 13 decks (10 of them passenger decks). Propulsion is diesel-electric: four MaK 8M43C generators totalling 32,000 kW drive two Wärtsilä propulsion motors of 9,000 kW each.
Design and construction
Regent announced the contract with Fincantieri on 10 July 2013. The design brief was explicit: about 12 per cent larger than the line's previous biggest ships but with only about 5 per cent more guests — 738 in the original design — so that every gain went into space per guest. Steel was cut at Sestri Ponente on 15 July 2014. At the keel-laying on 21 January 2015, three coins were welded into the keel: a 1921 Peace dollar, a 1959 Italian lira and a commemorative coin struck for the ceremony. She floated out on 30 October 2015, finished her outfitting afloat, and was completed and delivered on 30 June 2016.
Naming, launch and maiden voyage
Seven Seas Explorer was launched on 30 October 2015 (the dataset's launch year) and christened at Monte Carlo on 13 July 2016 by her godmother, Charlene, Princess of Monaco. Her maiden voyage was a 14-night sailing from Monte Carlo to Venice departing 20 July 2016 — the dataset records the maiden voyage by year, 2016. Her inaugural season was spent in the Mediterranean before she repositioned to Miami for the Caribbean, the standard debut pattern for a ship of her market.
Career by operator
Seven Seas Explorer has had a single name and operator throughout.
| Period | Name | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| 2016–present | Seven Seas Explorer | Regent Seven Seas Cruises |
Her service since 2016 has been the worldwide deployment typical of the Regent fleet. The one structural interruption was the COVID-19 pandemic: planned debuts in Asia and a first Alaska season were overtaken by the industry-wide suspension of cruising, with Regent's voyages suspended through September 2021 per the line's own notices. This guide does not track her itineraries beyond those career landmarks.
Onboard character
Explorer's character is space deployed as luxury: all-suite accommodation with verandas throughout, suite categories that climb to some of the largest at sea, and a public-room programme — steakhouse, main dining room, a convertible buffet-restaurant, a two-level theatre, observation and music lounges — sized for 750 guests in a hull that a mainstream line would fill with twice as many. She was also a media ship from the start, the subject of the Channel 5 series The World's Most Expensive Cruise Ship and of a NOVA documentary on her construction, both of which fixed her public identity as the per-berth-cost record holder of her generation.
Major refits and incidents
No major refit of Seven Seas Explorer is recorded in the sources used for this guide; routine dry-dock maintenance is not covered by this directory. No significant incident involving the ship had been reported in those sources at the time of writing. Her COVID-era lay-up in 2020–21 was an industry-wide suspension, not a ship-specific event, and is recorded under her career above.
Sister ships and class
Explorer is the lead ship of Regent's Explorer class of Fincantieri-built luxury ships. Seven Seas Splendor followed in 2020, built at Ancona, and Seven Seas Grandeur in 2023; the three share the all-suite, high-space-ratio concept Explorer established, at slightly varying tonnages. Her reference article classifies her as Explorer-class, though the dataset's class field is blank.
Fate and where she is now
Seven Seas Explorer is in active service with Regent Seven Seas Cruises (status as recorded in the dataset), the senior ship of the line's current new-build generation.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Seas_Explorer; Fincantieri ship datasheet for Seven Seas Explorer; Regent Seven Seas Cruises press releases on the order (2013), keel laying (2015) and christening (2016).