Fuelled by a nearly US $600,000 single suite booking on the Seven Seas Explorer, Regent Seven Seas Cruises achieved the largest booking day in its 29-year history last week with the launch of its 2023-24 Voyage Collection.

The Aug. 18 milestone surpassed Regent’s previous largest booking day, which was set on Oct. 21, 2020, by 15 percent.

Travel trends identified from the booking day include a desire for longer, more exclusive experiences in bucket-list destinations, as illustrated by a significant rise in bookings of the US$11,000-a-night Regent Suite, and more unfamiliar and exotic regions being reserved.

The latest record-breaking launch day is the line’s fourth in just under a year, having broken their world cruise launch day twice, and now also their largest ever booking day twice. The achievements – surprisingly achieved during the pandemic – began with the launch day for its 2023 World Cruise in September 2020, closely followed with the launch day for its 2022-23 Voyage Collection in October 2020. Most recently, in July 2021, the cruise line celebrated selling out its 2024 World Cruise in under three hours.

The sales records come as RSSC prepares to welcome its first ship back to the ocean next month with the inaugural season of Seven Seas Splendor.

The metrics simply reinforce that “luxury travellers continue to have a burning passion to explore the world…” says cruise line president and CEO Jason Montague, adding, “It also shows how our loyal guests have throughout this challenging period…”

The largest price tag on a single suite booking during the record day was close to US$600,000. The booking was for the palatial, 412-sq.-m Regent Suite, which comes with an in-suite spa with unlimited spa treatments, original Picassos, a private car and chauffeur in every port, and dedicated butler service among a host of other amenities. Overall, demand for the one-of-a-kind luxury experience –found on board Seven Seas Explorer, Seven Seas Splendor and the soon to be launched Seven Seas Grandeur – continues to grow, with bookings for the Regent Suite up by 64% compared to the 2022-23 Voyage Collection launch day.

While all Regent itineraries proved popular, notable destinations were Africa and Asia, with three of the top six itineraries booked focusing on the regions. In addition, Northern Europe, particularly the Baltics, attracted high levels of interest.

The voyage that attracted the most bookings was a 21-night Istanbul Turkey to Dubai sailing on board Seven Seas Navigator, suggesting that luxury travellers are not only keen to explore exotic lands once again, but that they also want to make up for lost time with longer excursions at sea, says Regent.