Hey, big Splendor
Dave Monk finds next-level luxury on a new cruise ship
How do you follow launching “the most luxurious ship ever built”? Simple –you lavish even more opulence on her younger sister. It’s been five years since Seven Seas Explorer first dazzled cruisers with her original Picassos, Versace plates and £390,000 two-ton Tibetan prayer wheel used purely as decoration at a restaurant entrance.
So new arrival Seven Seas Splendor has a lot to live up to. But, as I discovered on a preview cruise from Rome to Barcelona last year, she is
– as the advertising tagline claims – “luxury perfected”.
Of course, a little thing called Covid interrupted her sailings after that, so Splendor’s first outing in
2021 – a British Isles cruise leaving Southampton on September 11 – will be, in many ways, a maiden voyage.
The 750 lucky travellers embarking that day will find that the £350million ship shimmers all the way from its acre of marble flooring to its 500 crystal chandeliers.
Its top Regent Suite, costing £8,500 a night, not only has a grand piano, bar, £150,000 bed and a spare room for guests, but its own spa area and an enormous terrace with hot tub. Oh, and a Picasso on the wall, naturally.
If you can bear to leave the suite, it also has a private dining room downstairs. A butler is constantly on hand and a chauffeur is waiting at every port to drive wherever you want to go.
But no one on board Splendor is exactly slumming it. Every one of the 375 “cabins” is a suite. Mine had a bath, separate shower, walk-in wardrobe, sofa, lots of storage – I counted 15 drawers in the bedroom/ living area – and a spacious balcony with a couple of sun loungers.
Overall, the interior of the 735ft-long ship resembles a grand modern hotel. Descending a sweeping staircase from the atrium and walking towards the main Compass Rose restaurant, you encounter some of the £4million worth of artwork on board.
As well as a feast for the eyes, there’s plenty for the stomach. One day the venue hosted a huge buffet with towers of pastries, piles of prawns, huge ribs of beef and stacks of desserts.
Upstairs, the Pacific Rim restaurant – guarded at its entrance by a ceiling-high sculpture of a curling dragon – serves tantalising pan-Asian food. Another night I ate succulent beef at the Prime 7 steakhouse. There’s also French dining at Chartreuse, buffet food in La Veranda, Italian in Sette Mari, and Coffee Connection for caffeine and cakes. The
Observation, Meridian and Splendor lounges are exquisite bars and music venues, while main shows are staged in the two-storey theatre.
Should you tire of being endlessly served top-class food, you can polish your cooking skills in the Culinary Arts Kitchen that has 18 workstations for hands-on gourmet demonstrations by leading chefs.
For the environmentally conscious, the ship only burns marine gas oil, which produces fewer emissions. Regent has pioneered replacing plastic water bottles with metal ones which can be refilled around the decks, and in port the ship can plug into the local electricity supply so it can turn off the
engines.
As well as grid power, there’s girl power too – when Splendor launched last year, Serena Melani became the first woman to captain a brand-new cruise ship. And the “godmother” at the naming ceremony in Miami was supermodel and actress Christie Brinkley, who knows an Uptown Girl when she sees one.
Regent has something I’ve not experienced before – a “block party” where, on the first night, a bell rings and everyone flows into the corridors to meet their new neighbours over a glass of wine provided by the staff. One way to break the ice.
After Explorer and Splendor, there is a third, as yet unnamed, sister ship to come in 2023 so if it turns out Regent hasn’t quite perfected luxury yet they can have another crack at it.
Of course, all this comes at a price. A week’s stay on Seven Seas Splendor costs around £5,000 per person, but all food, drink and tips are included, as well as unlimited wi-fi and shore excursions.
But you know what impressed me most about the whole ship? A pair of glasses.
On our first evening in the Pacific Rim restaurant, my wife realised she had left her reading spectacles in our room.
No problem said the waitress, disappearing for a moment to return with a presentation case which she opened to reveal glasses of various styles and focus which guests could borrow to study the menu.
A ship can have all the glitz and grandeur in the world. But that level of service is priceless.
It shimmers all the way from its marble floor to its 500 chandeliers