New Ship 60,000 Tonnes

[Ozziecruiser]

Came across this article and thought some may be interested. Thats if it has not already been posted? The smallest suite will be 450 square feet!

 

Great news!

 

http://blogs.usatoday.com/cruiselog/2008/01/regent-close-to.html

 

Industry newsletter Cruise Week this morning reports that luxury leader Regent Seven Seas is just months away from ordering a new ship.

 

"By mid-year we should be in position to order," Regent president Mark Conroy tells the subscription-only weekly, adding that the vessel could be ready to sail by 2011.

 

The news comes less than a month after private equity firm Apollo Management bought the award-winning line from travel giant Carlson and is a sign the new owner plans to move fast to grow the business. Regent hasn't launched a new ship since the 700-passenger Seven Seas Voyager debuted in 2003.

 

"They're expecting a lot in return . . . but they provide a platform for growth," Conroy tells Cruise Week. "A challenge in this business is if you're not growing, you risk disappearing."

 

Conroy tells Cruise Week the new ship will hold 700 to 800 people, not much more than the biggest of its four existing vessels (the highly-rated Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Mariner each hold 700 passengers). But don't expect a repeat of anything that's already out there.

 

For starters, expect to be wowed by the size of even the most basic cabins. This will be one ship where you'll be able to spread out. "The standard suites will be larger . . . somewhere around 450 square feet," Conroy told the newsletter, noting that would put them on par with the penthouses on Mariner.

 

More room to spread out, in fact, may be the big selling point with what Regent is planning. While the passenger count of the new ship won't be much higher than Regent's existing ships, the overall size of the ship will be, allowing for more space per passenger. Conroy tells Cruise Week the next Regent vessel will be around 60,000 tons, up from 50,000 for Mariner.

 

More specifics will depend on which shipyard the line picks to build the ship, Conroy says.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

450 sqft would include the balcony:

 

Mariner Penthouse Suite

449 sq. ft.

Suite: 376 sq. ft.

Balcony: 73 sq. ft.

 

The Penthouse cabin was, overall, the perfect size. However, I would suggest they devote a little more of the square footage to the bathroom and closet than the Mariner penthouse does. A seperate shower, as on Voyager, and a true walk-in closet (as opposed to the current "reach-in" closet) would make the Mariner penthouse ideal for a standard cabin (since there is actually a fair amount of "wasted" space in the main part of the penthoue cabin):

 

[Hambagahle]

We are on Mariner right now, in the Chilean fjords. there is a lot of buzz on the ship (Captain "me from the bridge" - Alfredo Romeo on down - about the new ship. Apparently there are also senior crew members looking at structural things etc.

My hope (based on the PH B suite we have at present) is that the bathrooms will be like on Voyager as well as the closets. Also that the computer facilities will be more like Voyager than Mariner where sometimes (often in fact) you have to wait for a terminal.

Also a Sushi bar would be super - but not a necesity!

[RMS Olympic]

Standard cabins like on the Voyager.

A piano bar with adequate sitting.....not a multi purpose room.

And a retro design which only HAL embraces....a stern pool in addition to a mid ship pool. I prefer not being enclosed by glass which blocks sea views. To be able to sit and watch the ocean and wake of the ship takes me back to Sitmar.....for those that remember that line. Oh, and if we are dreaming...a hot dog stand with great hotdogs like those sold by street vendors in NYC........you can keep the pizza.....give me a dog with kraut and yellow mustard.....................YUM

Now if they could only design a fold down platform on the side of the hull for kyack use similar to the PG.....great...boarding tenders would be much easier as well.

Now to book a 2009 cruise on the Navigator.......:cool:

[bigdougw3999]

Yes will be on Marinere March 14th for the discussions with Mark on the new ship. So would love to have everyones Ideas so can try to bring them up with them.

[petlover]

Love the idea of the cabins being like the Penthouses on the Mariner (I call those "double wides"). I also love the new coffee corner on the Mariner.

 

Also, since there is no more smoking in cabins or balconies I'd suggest having 2 connoisseur rooms....one forward, one aft. One should definitely be accessible from Compass Rose (like on the Voyager and unlike the Mariner where it's not even on the same deck). These rooms should be only for smoking and NOT closed for private functions.