On board ‘the world’s most beautiful cruise ship’
We’re sailing across the South China Sea and brunch is being served in Compass Rose restaurant. Chefs carve honey-roasted ham. Tables are loaded with upmarket goodies: grilled mahi-mahi in beurre blanc, salads topped with seared tuna, scallop mousses and shrimp cocktails, Black Angus prime rib. A towering croquembouche cascades toffee, and tarts are piled with ziggurats of caramelised pineapple.
I must confess to being distracted, however. My eyes wander from the loaded buffet tables upwards to the restaurant’s ceiling, embedded with golden globes that radiate glass spikes, recalling exotic sea anemones, or stylish satellites.
Inside the Seven Seas Cruises Explorer.
Down the middle of the restaurant, blue glass columns hang off the ceiling like stalactites, creating a rippling upside-down coral reef. It’s like something you might imagine in a science-fiction spacecraft, not a sedate cruise ship.
And yes, the food is outstanding, but so are the floors. Patterned tiles unfold in giant circles like the rose windows in medieval cathedrals. Inlay is everywhere and at ever-changing angles, just so you know it must have cost a fortune to install. Tiles slither up pillars, which have a snakeskin shimmer that reflects opalesque colours.
Compass Rose isn’t the most beautiful space on Seven Seas Explorer, however. It isn’t even the most beautiful restaurant. For me, that title goes to Asian venue Pacific Rim, whose decor avoids cliches – no hint of red lamps, lacquer or golden dragons – for a sophisticated and contemporary look in shades of black and green, softened with mood lighting.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises Explorer has Pacific Rim, devoted to Asian cuisines.
Walls are wonderfully textured, window frames hint at Mughal palaces, and lovely lampshades depict the sorts of scenes you see in Chinese scroll paintings.
It’s a difficult pick, but the mere entrance lobby that leads to Compass Rose might actually be the most beautiful few square metres at sea. It whispers opulent elegance: swirling patterned carpet, inlaid patterned marble, white leather armchairs, blown glass objects like something you’d see in a Guggenheim museum.
It says a lot about this Regent Seven Seas Cruises ship that so much effort is made for a space that guests merely transit through. But passing public areas everywhere on this vessel are quite the eye candy.
A curved double staircase rises in a swirl to a reception area whose counter is lined with glowing, onyx-like panels. Alcoves are arranged with plush blue sofas scattered with Rubenesque cushions; vibrant artworks draw attention to the walls. Even the pool deck has expensive tiled walls that glimmer like mother-of-pearl in shades of turquoise and pink.
The food is outstanding, but so are the interiors.
As for ceilings, they’re everywhere gobsmacking thanks to inventive light fixtures. Even corridors are draped in chandeliers – although on this ship, chandeliers have nothing to do with stuffy baroque-palace pretension.
Seven Seas Explorer’s chandeliers are contemporary art installations, and no two seem the same. Some resemble giant jellyfish, others falling snowflakes. I’ve never paid any attention to ceilings on cruise ships before, but now I have a crick in my neck.
It’s hard to pinpoint this ship’s style. Italian palazzo, perhaps, but more restrained and without the bums and bosoms. Seven Seas Explorer has boudoir elegance but no hint of naughtiness. The decor edges towards dark and brooding, and many of the artworks are tempestuously Romantic.
Then again, the use of geometrical motifs and materials such as metals and glass echo art deco in their stylish glamour. Nods to the great era of cruise liners include potted palms, vast flower bouquets and officers who dine in dress uniform. Yet the ship doesn’t feel retro but very up-to-date.
The ship’s observation lounge.
You can tell a lot of money has been spent on this floating hotel. Public space is wildly generous – half Pacific Rim restaurant alone is taken up by a dramatic entranceway that serves little purpose but theatre. If you wonder at the cruise fare, you only need look around at the fittings, never mind the fabulous food.
Everything is fabulously finished and presented. Stair railings with graceful curves end in metal acorns. Lovely casual tables are loaded with displays of gorgeous glassware. Lamps create a sumptuous glow. Giant potted orchids bend as gracefully as ballerinas towards lacquered tabletops. The swimming pool deck has a gorgeous green glow at night; lighting on this ship is seldom short of marvellous.
Luxury isn’t just about decor, of course. Staff are attentive and efficient, wafting around like latter-day Jeeves. The all-inclusive food is outrageous: champagne for breakfast, expensive seeds you can scatter on your cereal as carelessly as a billionaire, foie gras on practically anything, lobsters galore, fruit properly ripe and dark chocolate used wantonly in cakes.
My suite is adorned with fresh flowers, an Illy coffee machine, a walk-in wardrobe bigger than Narnia. Too large, really, for a ship that has abandoned formal dress codes: this is a luxe experience without the stuffiness.
The bathroom has double sinks, a shower, and full-sized bath, and is wrapped in swathes of grey and white stone. My bed linen is so soft it must be woven from strands of clouds. Even the block-out curtains in my suite have a dark blue sheen like the plumage of a tropical bird.
Are there disappointments? Not really. Okay, the decor of the Meridian Lounge is perhaps a little low-key, but then again it has to compete with adjacent Compass Rose. The library is lovely but has a disappointingly low-brow selection of books. But to complain about anything on this ship is to lose all sense of comparison.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises claims “the world’s most luxurious fleet”, which sets up expectations long before guests walk up the gangway. It isn’t the only cruise line to claim luxury, but it certainly delivers. Not that this necessarily makes it the world’s most beautiful cruise ship, since luxury and beauty don’t always go together.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises Explorer is billed as the most luxurious ship at sea.
But the designers at Regent Seven Seas Cruises seem to know that. You won’t find much flash or bling, bar the occasional pastries topped with snippets of gold leaf. You won’t find luxury without aesthetic or comfort.
Seven Seas Explorer has beauty like a star of Hollywood’s Golden Era, before smoke, mirrors and airbrushing were invented. You get what you see, and what you see is wonderful. Is it the world’s most beautiful cruise ship? I’d say yes.
I sail for two weeks between Bangkok and Tokyo and never tire of looking at this ship’s interiors. I’ve always maintained you should cruise for the destination rather than the ship, and I still do. But if you want to see the world’s beautiful places, maybe you should add Seven Seas Explorer to your list.
THE DETAILS
Cruise
Regent Seven Seas ships sail worldwide, with Explorer focusing on itineraries in Alaska, Asia and New Zealand over the next year. Among them are cruises to Sydney from Bangkok, Bali or Auckland, and cruises from Sydney to Auckland, Singapore or Tokyo.
Among itineraries in Asia is a 14-night Singapore-to-Hong Kong cruise departing February 7, 2024, and several dedicated Japan itineraries. A 12-night round-trip journey from Tokyo departing March 6, 2024 costs from $16,200 a person including shore excursions, beverages, speciality restaurants, gratuities, Wi-Fi, laundry and pre- or post-cruise land program. See rssc.com
The writer was a guest of Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
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