RSSC Announces 2009 Global Itineraries

The most diverse program in company history will offer luxurious and enlightening journeys to more than 300 ports on all seven continents

FORT LAUDERDALE – March 4, 2008 – Regent Seven Seas Cruises, voted the “#1 Small-Ship Cruise Line” in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2007 Readers’ Choice Awards poll, has launched its full schedule of 2009 voyages.  The 2009 program features an unprecedented two World Cruises, new itineraries across northern Europe and an enhanced version of the sold-out “Discovery Collection” series of voyages to Africa, the Middle East, India and South America.
        In the most diverse deployment in its history and living up to its brand promise of Luxury Goes Exploring®, Regent is offering a broad selection of sailings to Africa, Antarctica, Alaska, Asia, Australasia, Europe and the Mediterranean, India, the Caribbean and Mexico, the Panama Canal, South America, and Tahiti and the South Pacific in 2009. Aboard the 700-guest, all-suite, all-balcony ships Seven Seas Voyager® and Seven Seas Mariner®, the 490-guest, all-suite Seven Seas Navigator®, the 330-guest luxury vessel Paul Gauguin® and the 198-guest expedition ship Minerva, guests will experience natural and man-made wonders in some of the world’s most sought-after destinations, while they enjoy the luxurious and welcoming environment aboard Regent ships, which feature deluxe accommodations, gourmet cuisine, white-glove service and five-star amenities and facilities, including some of the highest space ratios at sea.
        “We are delighted to introduce the 2009 schedule of itineraries for Regent Seven Seas,” said company president Mark Conroy. “This is a truly inspiring collection of journeys that will provide our guests with The Regent Experience^SM - the ultimate in cruise travel. With carefully crafted itineraries spanning all seven continents, exclusive on-board entertainment and the sumptuous amenities of our luxury vessels, Regent Seven Seas Cruises is clearly at the forefront of luxury cruising.”
        Highlights of the 2009 itineraries for Regent Seven Seas include:

Four Grand Voyages
        Regent Seven Seas will make cruise history in 2009, becoming the first line in the luxury category to offer two 100-plus day World Cruise journeys in the same year. As extended cruise itineraries continue to grow in popularity, these exotic voyages feature fabled ports of call from the Far East to the Middle East and beyond to Asia, Europe, South America, Australia and the South Pacific. On January 12, Seven Seas Voyager will embark on a 116-night Grand Circumnavigation World Cruise to the South Pacific, Orient, Arabia, the Mediterranean and Bermuda, departing from Los Angeles. Seven Seas Mariner will embark on a 121-night Ring of Fire World Cruise on January 26, with visits to ports in South America, French Polynesia, Australia, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Russia and Alaska.
        Based on the popularity of a similar grand voyage offered in 2008, Regent Seven Seas will again offer a Discovery Collection of cruises to some of the world’s most compelling and seldom-visited destinations – Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and South America in 2009. This six-continent odyssey was offered in 2008 on Seven Seas Navigator but for 2009 will be replaced by the larger Seven Seas Voyager. Also in 2009, Seven Seas Mariner will embark on a fourth extended sailing, a 102-night Grand Asia Pacific voyage to Alaska, Japan, Russia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and French Polynesia. This journey will offer guests opportunities to explore some of the world’s oldest and richest cultures, and encounter stunning natural beauty and wonder, along with the eye-opening sights and sounds of contemporary society in these exotic regions.

New extended cruise to Northern Europe
        Regent Seven Seas has crafted an exciting new Northern Europe itinerary for 2009 that will transport guests from the exhilarating big cities of the Northeast to quaint New England villages and finally to sweeping landscapes across Iceland and the United Kingdom. Departing from Fort Lauderdale on May 8 aboard Seven Seas Voyager, this 23-day odyssey will journey along the historic Atlantic Seaboard, visiting New York City, Newport, R.I., Boston, Bar Harbor, ME and Halifax, Nova Scotia before embarking on a transatlantic journey to Iceland and the United Kingdom. The voyage is further highlighted by port calls in Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Islands before ending in Southampton, England on May 31.

The full-year 2009 deployment for Regent Seven Seas is as follows:

        Seven Seas Voyager will begin the year with a 116-night Circumnavigation World Cruise beginning in Los Angeles on January 12, 2009. Upon completion of the World Cruise in Ft. Lauderdale on May 8, 2009, the ship will sail to Europe via New York, Iceland and the British Isles, ending in Southampton for a summer season in the Baltic.  In September, Seven Seas Voyager will position to the Mediterranean, followed by the Discovery Collection of cruises in the fall.
        Seven Seas Mariner will start 2009 with a 121-night Ring of Fire World Cruise departing from Ft. Lauderdale on January 26 and ending in Vancouver on May 27.  Seven Seas Mariner will then offer a series of 7-day Gulf of Alaska sailings, after which the ship will head west to the Pacific for its Grand Asia Pacific voyage. The ship will return to Los Angeles in late December and offer a Panama Canal cruise during Christmas and New Year's.
        Seven Seas Navigator will spend the first four months of 2009 sailing from Fort Lauderdale on a series of Caribbean cruises. Next, Seven Seas Navigator will travel the Mediterranean from May through early November, offering several 10- and 11-night cruises as well as a complement of seven-night cruises featuring ample back-to-back sailing opportunities. The ship will return to Fort Lauderdale in late November and December for a series of Caribbean cruises.
        Paul Gauguin will continue to sail French Polynesia from Tahiti in 2009, offering seven-night cruises in the Society Islands and a handful of 10-, 11- and 14-night voyages in the region, plus rare opportunities to sail to and from Brisbane, Australia on two 16-night cruises in January.
        Minerva (formerly Explorer II), the world’s top-rated expedition ship, will offer two Antarctica voyages in 2009. Setting sail on January 14 to 25 and January 25 to February 8, each voyage begins with a visit to the quaint Falkland Islands village of Port Stanley. Minerva then sails to the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula, followed by a transit of the Drake Passage. Before returning to Ushuaia, Argentina, the ship will cruise along Cape Horn, at the confluence of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The 14-night, January 25 departure adds a call at South Georgia Island, which features large colonies of king penguins, fur and elephant seals.
        As with all Regent Seven Seas voyages, fares include all shipboard gratuities and complimentary beverages, including select wines and spirits served throughout the ship. Per-person rates and more information can be found at www.rssc.com

# # # 

About Regent Seven Seas Cruises – Regent Seven Seas operates a fleet of medium-sized luxury cruise ships that visit over 300 ports on all seven continents, including Antarctica. RSSC is consistently rated among the world’s top three cruise lines by readers of luxury travel magazines. Travel professionals worldwide voted RSSC the “World’s Best Luxury Cruise Line” for the fourth consecutive year as part of the 2007 Travel Weekly Awards and readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine voted RSSC “World’s Best Small-Ship Cruise Line” in 2007.
For further information, contact Regent Seven Seas Cruises, 1000 Corporate Drive, Suite 500, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33334. For brochures, call toll-free (866) 284-4079; for reservation information call toll-free (800) 285-1835; or visit: www.TheRegentExperience.com.