Among luxury cruise lines, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has one of the most robust loyalty programs.
Despite being a relatively small brand, with just five ships, it offers an impressive seven tiers of loyalty status as part of what it calls the Seven Seas Society. Each of the tiers brings a number of perks, some quite valuable.
As you start to rise through the Seven Seas Society tiers, you’ll find yourself awarded with everything from onboard spending credits and free onboard Wi-Fi service to — at the highest levels — discounts of 5% to 10% on every cruise you book.
Those are benefits that work out to be real money in your pocket, as they will lower the cost of your cruise vacation.
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The robustness of Regent’s program is all the more impressive given that the line is one of the most all-inclusive in the world. Regent includes a lot of things in its fares — such as drinks and shore excursions — that other lines give away only as loyalty perks to their best customers.
That leaves Regent with fewer things to offer as perks in its loyalty program. Still, it has come up with some creative ways to offer its most loyal fans recognition for their loyalty, including several that will have a big impact on their wallet.
Ways to earn points
The points-earning system for the Seven Seas Society program is about as simple as can be: You will earn 1 point for every night you stay on a Regent ship.
That’s it. There are no bonus points for staying in a top suite, as there are at some lines. Nor will you get extra points for spending certain amounts of money with the line, as is sometimes the case.
The only exception to the above is for solo cruisers who pay a “single supplement” of 75% or more to stay in a cabin designed for two. They get 2 points for every night they stay on a ship.
For the most part, though, if you take a 10-night cruise with Regent, you will get 10 points (which the line calls “nights”). Take a 20-night cruise, and you will get 20 points.
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Note that in most cases, your points will accrue upon completion of the cruise on which they are earned. In the case of Regent’s longer Grand Voyages and World Cruises, you’ll see your points pop into your account at the end of each official segment of the trip. (You can access your account and more information about Regent’s loyalty program at the Regent website).
Either way, though, if the number of nights you are sailing during a cruise will elevate you to the next tier of rewards, you will enjoy instant recognition at the higher tier from the moment you board — a great feature of the program in our eyes.
One notable caveat to points earning in the program: You only will get credit for nights you actually are present on a Regent ship. If you have to leave a cruise early, you won’t earn points for the nights you are not on board. You also won’t earn points for any nights spent in hotels as part of Regent’s pre- and post-cruise hotel and land programs.
Seven Seas Society tiers and benefits
There are seven tiers in the Seven Seas Society program:
- Bronze (7-20 nights).
- Silver (21-74 nights).
- Gold (75-199 nights).
- Platinum (200-399 nights).
- Titanium (400-999 nights).
- Diamond (1,000-1,999 nights).
- Commodore (2,000-plus nights).
Regent only offers cruises of seven nights or longer, so you’ll be at the first tier of the program, Bronze, after a single sailing. If you book one of Regent’s longer sailings as your first cruise with the line, you might even catapult into the second or third tier of the program after just one sailing.
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As is typical for cruise line loyalty programs, the entry-level tier (Bronze) doesn’t bring all that much in terms of truly valuable rewards. The most alluring benefit at this level is the exclusive Seven Seas Society savings that are available on some departures.
In addition, Bronze members get:
- Access to an online personal profile.
- An invitation to an onboard Seven Seas Society cocktail reception.
- Double loyalty points when paying extra to sail solo.
The double loyalty points for sailing solo only apply when paying a “single supplement” of at least 75% of the regular cruise fare for a cabin designed for two people.
Upon reaching the second tier of the program, Silver, things start to get more interesting. In addition to the Bronze-level rewards, you’ll get priority access when making dinner reservations for the three main specialty restaurants on Regent ships: Prime 7, Chartreuse and Pacific Rim. This is a great perk as it’ll give you a better shot at getting the dinner times you want at these eateries.
The Silver level also will get you:
- Priority online shore excursion reservations.
- One hour of complimentary phone time every time you sail.
- A commemorative pin.
- A newsletter.
At the next level up (Gold), the perks include all of the above plus a $100 shipboard credit per suite every time you sail. We love that perk, as it amounts to real money in your pocket. Plus, you’ll get:
- Unlimited Wi-Fi for free with four logins, for up to four devices.
- Two more hours of free phone time (for three hours in total).
- Priority disembarkation at voyage completion in select ports.
- Choice of newspaper service from papers around the world.
- Exclusive activities on board or ashore on every voyage.
The Platinum level brings six more hours of phone time and complimentary luggage tags, two perks that don’t get us all that excited. The latter perk, in particular, is something that seems better in an entry-level tier.
But the Platinum level also adds the use of free custom air service once per sailing, which can come in handy. It lets you call a Regent concierge who will help customize your included-in-the-fare flights, so they work best for your schedule. Otherwise, you’re stuck with the flights that Regent picks for you or have to pay an extra charge to change them.
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The Platinum level also brings a 10% discount on Regent Choice shore excursions (the line’s collection of niche or intimate extra-fee tours), hotel and land programs. This one perk alone could end up saving you hundreds of dollars.
As noted above, you’ll be at the Bronze tier after just one sailing with Regent. Reaching the Silver tier could take as many as three cruises, if you stick to seven-night sailings. But you also could reach it in just one longer cruise.
The number of cruises it’ll take you to reach the Gold and Platinum tiers will depend on whether you do short or long sailings. If you stick to seven-night sailings, you’d have to take a whopping 29 cruises to reach the Platinum tier. But there are superlong Regent cruises, such as a 168-night world cruise planned for 2025, that will get you almost all the way to Platinum level with a single voyage.
The elite level that makes a difference
We like quite a few of the perks available at the Bronze through Platinum levels of the Seven Seas Society program. But it is at the Titanium level that things really start to impress us.
Specifically, the Titanium level comes with four really nice perks:
- Free private transfers between your home or the airport and the ship, within a 100-mile radius, on embarkation and disembarkation day.
- Free unlimited dry cleaning.
- An additional 15% discount on Regent Choice shore excursions, hotels and land programs (for 25% total savings).
- Access to your suite at 1 p.m. on embarkation day.
The private-transfer perk lets you start and end your trips in style. There’s nothing like having a private car pick you up at home at the start of the trip or a chauffeur waiting for you upon arrival at the airport. We also love the free unlimited dry cleaning perk. The discounts on shore excursions, hotels and land programs at this level can save you big money — more than $1,000 when booking some add-on land programs.
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Getting to the Titanium level in the Seven Seas Society takes a whole lot of cruising. At a minimum, you’d need to spend the equivalent of more than a year at sea to hit the 400-night threshold for the tier. You could do that by sailing 58 seven-night cruises, 29 two-week cruises or three world cruises (the latter typically lasting around 150 to 170 days).
Best Seven Seas Society elite perk
Regent’s Seven Seas Society program doesn’t include a truly over-the-top perk, like the free cruises that rival Silversea Cruises gives out to members who hit certain milestones. But we do appreciate the 5% and 10% discounts on cruise fares that the line offers to members who reach the Diamond and Commodore tiers, respectively. That can be worth thousands of dollars when booking some sailings. Note that these discounts are available on any sailing you book, not just select Seven Seas Society sailings (for which, as noted above, you can get discounts upon reaching the Bronze tier of the program).
Diamond-level members also get one free Regent Choice shore excursion per voyage segment, up to $250 in value, as well as an invitation to new ship christenings (something that doesn’t happen all that often, alas).
The Commodore level adds two more perks that, while not worth a huge amount monetarily, are about as cool as it gets in the world of loyalty programs:
- A commemorative Commodore officers jacket.
- A commemorative plaque in your name put on all ships in the Regent fleet.
The cutoffs for the Diamond and Commodore tiers are 1,000 nights and 2,000 nights at sea, respectively — levels that only the most dedicated cruisers can reach. But with years of heavy sailings, the feat is doable.
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Note that, as is often the case with cruise line loyalty programs, Regent customers do not have to requalify for status each year. Seven Seas Society members keep their points at the end of each year and continue to accrue points indefinitely. That means that someone who hits Commodore status (and gets that cool jacket) will remain at that top-tier level forever (or until Regent makes a change to the program).
Such “forever status” is one of the great allures of cruise line loyalty programs. Most airline frequent flyer programs, by contrast, require members to requalify for status each year.
Bottom line
Regent Seven Seas Cruises has a robust frequent cruiser program with some great perks at its higher tiers. While it doesn’t have a single perk that is truly knock-your-socks-off, such as the free cruises that a few lines offer customers who reach high levels of status, it brings significant discounts and value-added perks that begin at mid-tier levels.
This is all the more impressive given that Regent is one of the most all-inclusive lines in cruising. Regent includes so many things in its fares — such as drinks, unlimited Wi-Fi and shore excursions — that it leaves very little available to offer to loyal customers as an upgrade other than straight-out discounts on trips. But the line has found a way to add value with other things — from free concierge service when arranging flights to a commemorative Commodore jacket.
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