Page 9 - 2025 Luxury Market Report

Luxury Market

MSC has entered the market with its Explora brand.

he Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection may have unin- In between are the likes of Silversea, Seabourn and Regent,
tentionally added some fuel to the market when it while Viking has a series of sister ships at 930 guests each.
Tannounced its plan to start a cruise line. With two Its more recent newbuild and future orders have been mod-
ships in service, a third will debut this summer and the com- erately upsized to 998 guests at double occupancy, meaning
pany will mark its entry into Asia this coming winter ahead two guests in each stateroom.
of entering a competitive Alaska market for summer 2026. All of these ships, at different passenger capacities, all
Who’s next? Four Seasons in early 2026, Orient Express in deliver a superior space ratio and high crew-to-guest ratio
summer 2026 and Aman at Sea in 2027. when compared with mass market or premium cruise ships.
While all this is happening, there are two more major story- In Regent’s case, its next generation of ships grow to 850
lines: Viking filed its IPO and went public in 2024, making its guests from 750, but add exponential grow on a space-to-
strong financial data available to the public eye. And second, guest ratio. The new ships come in at 77,000 tons, compared
Explora Journeys, owned by MSC, entered the market in 2023 to 54,000 for the previous class. Newbuild pricing is on the
with ambitious growth plans: six ships with capacity for over rise too, as the new Seven Seas Prestige, debuts in 2026 with
900 guests each by 2028. an estimated price tag of $885 million compared to the last
Regent newbuild at $545 million. The ship’s payoff period
High Ticket Prices should be in the range of just over five years, according to
Luxury ships, to be considered in the market, are under industry sources.
1,000 guests and take in some of the highest ticket prices in Deployment in the luxury market is more specialized as
the industry on a per day basis, generally $500 and up. Those ships rarely repeat the same itineraries and are instead con-
numbers can multiply when it comes to bigger suites or peak stantly on the move, offering both longer itineraries, less
season sailings. repeating ports and the opportunity to travel to more exotic
For the 2025 Luxury Market Report, the small ships are in destinations, staying away from the big ships.
the 100-guest range, including Emerald’s new yachts and the A boom in interest for polar regions, mainly Antarctica, has
SeaDream duo, which launched service as the Sea Goddess also helped drive demand, with more luxury ships built to expe-
I and II in the mid 1980s. dition spec and operating in both the Arctic and Antarctica. 

Cruise Industry News: 2025 Luxury Market Report 13