Regent Seven Seas Cruises has canceled the December 13 Barcelona-to-Miami maiden voyage of Seven Seas Prestige, and the 822-guest ship’s first sailing is now an 11-night Miami round trip from December 28, 2026, to January 8, 2027. The news surfaced not from Regent but from parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which cited “the delayed delivery of Seven Seas Prestige to late December” in its third-quarter results on October 29, 2026. Regent has not issued a press release on the change.
Guests booked on the maiden voyage were told in late September. Regent’s letter to them, reported by Travel Market Report, said a review of the construction schedule led it to “allow additional time for final work.” Publicly, Regent’s September and October announcements kept pointing to a December debut, and NCLH chief executive John Chidsey said Regent is preparing to welcome the ship this December.
Seven Seas Prestige: Key Facts
Here are the key details, updated for the delay.
- Operator: Regent Seven Seas Cruises (Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings)
- Built by: Fincantieri, Marghera, Italy
- Size: about 77,000 gross tons; 40% larger than Regent’s previous ships, with about 10% more guests
- Guests: 822
- Suites: 411, all with balconies, in 12 categories
- Crew: 630 (one crew member for every 1.31 guests)
- Class: first of three Prestige-class ships
- Delivery: late December 2026 (NCLH, October 29, 2026); exact date not announced
- Original maiden voyage: December 13, 2026, Barcelona to Miami, 14 nights (canceled)
- New first sailing: December 28, 2026 to January 8, 2027, Miami round trip, 11 nights
- Inaugural season: 13 voyages in the Caribbean and Europe
What Happened, and What We Still Don’t Know
The canceled voyage was a 14-night crossing from Barcelona to Miami via Málaga, Funchal and San Juan. Regent’s guest letter cited its review of the construction schedule. The ship is being built at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard, where her hull floated out in late 2025.
Some of those guests have posted online that Regent offered them a full refund plus compensation, and Travel Market Report quoted their posts. Regent itself has not made the terms public, so if you were booked on the maiden voyage, ask Regent to confirm your refund and compensation in writing.
Three things remain open. Regent has not announced a delivery date within December, there has been no official sea-trial announcement, and no naming ceremony or godmother has been revealed. Cruise Hive has noted that more sailings could be affected, though nothing beyond the maiden voyage has been confirmed.
The New First Sailing: Azure Elegance
The December 28 voyage, marketed as “Azure Elegance,” was always planned as the ship’s second sailing, according to Cruise Hive. It now becomes her debut, with New Year’s Eve at sea and New Year’s Day in Guatemala. Cruise retailers list these port calls:
| Date | Port |
|---|---|
| December 28, 2026 | Miami, Florida (embark) |
| December 30 | Progreso (for Mérida), Mexico |
| January 1, 2027 | Santo Tomás de Castilla, Guatemala |
| January 2 | Harvest Caye, Belize |
| January 3 | Roatán, Honduras |
| January 5 | Falmouth, Jamaica |
| January 6 | Grand Cayman |
| January 8 | Miami, Florida (disembark) |
Sea days fall on December 29, December 31 and January 4. With delivery set for late December, Regent has only days between handover and the first guests stepping aboard.
What the First Season Looks Like
Regent’s September 2 release described 13 inaugural-season voyages across the Caribbean and Europe, with up to 97 included shore excursions per voyage. Retailer listings show a 10-night Miami round trip from January 10, 2027, then a 15-night Panama Canal sailing from Miami to Los Angeles on January 20, before the ship moves to Europe later in 2027 from ports including Barcelona and Southampton.
I covered the suites and wellness spaces in my Seven Seas Prestige debut story. In short: 411 suites topped by the new Skyview Suites, the Serene Spa & Wellness on Deck 4 with 10 treatment rooms and Regent’s first salt room, a 6,006-square-foot Technogym fitness center, the largest in Regent’s history, and 11 dining venues, seven of them specialty restaurants.
Regent has added more since then. Its October 6 release introduced Galileo’s Bar, an aperitivo bar with a “Negroni Observatory,” a reworked Prime 7 and a signature Prestige cocktail of Patrón Silver and Italicus. They join the new Azure, serving Mediterranean and Middle Eastern mezze, and the open-air Solmar Terrace.
Why It Matters
A delay surfacing in an earnings release, with no public statement from the brand, is not how I’d want to learn my holiday had moved. Still, Regent told its booked guests more than two months before departure, and a ship finished properly beats a ship rushed to meet a date.
My position: if you held the canceled maiden voyage, take the refund and any compensation on offer rather than chase December 28. With delivery set for “late December,” the new debut has almost no margin, and I’d rather sail a new ship once her crew has had a few voyages to settle in. A spring 2027 sailing is the safer way to judge Seven Seas Prestige.
Who it’s not for: anyone with fixed New Year flights or holiday plans who can’t absorb another change. It does suit Regent loyalists who want to be first aboard, provided their plans can bend.
Prices and How to Book
I could not confirm a current fare for the December 28 sailing on Regent’s own site when I checked on November 2, 2026, so I am not quoting one. The from-price in my September story applied to the canceled maiden voyage and no longer stands.
According to Regent’s September 2 release, fares include shore excursions, specialty dining, drinks, Starlink Wi-Fi, valet laundry and pre-paid gratuities, and Concierge Suites and above add a pre-cruise hotel night. The ship is bookable through Regent Seven Seas Cruises and cruise specialists.
The Lens I’m Reading This Through
My benchmarks for small-ship luxury are Ponant’s. I gave Le Ponant 4/5 after a June week in the Greek islands in her Owner’s Suite, about 30 square meters, but check-in took more than an hour with no priority for Owner’s Suite guests (my Le Ponant review). Le Bougainville earned 4.5/5 over nine days from Venice to Malta via Croatia and Montenegro, yet I got a single hour of kayaking in those nine days (my Le Bougainville review).
Check-in queues and thin excursion programs are exactly the details that wobble on a first sailing. Regent promises up to 97 included excursions per voyage on an 822-guest ship, which is the claim I’d want to test once she has settled into her season.
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This preview is based on official announcements — I haven’t sailed aboard Seven Seas Prestige yet. Read more about how I review or visit my Work With Me page.
