Regent's guests travel in style and extreme comfort. Its brand of luxury is casually elegant and subtle, its cuisine among the best in the industry. That goes for the Seven Seas Navigator, which is sailing in Alaska this year for a second season. The line assumes for the most part that passengers want to entertain themselves onboard, so organized activities are limited, but they do include lectures by local experts, well-known authors, and the like, plus facilities for card and board games, blackjack and Ping-Pong tournaments, bingo, big-screen movies with popcorn, and instruction in the fine arts of pompon making, juggling, and such. Bridge instructors are onboard on select sailings. The line has a no-tipping policy and offers creative shore excursions. Room service is about the best you'll find on any ship, and the cuisine is excellent. Regent recently switched to a fleetwide liquor-inclusive policy on all departures. This year, Seven Seas Navigator will sail primarily a 7-night Gulf of Alaska itinerary between late May and August, with two interesting 12-day itineraries between San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C., at the beginning and end of the season.
Passenger Profile -- Regent tends to attract passengers in their 40s to 60s who have a household income of more than $200,000 and don't like to flaunt their wealth. The typical passenger is well educated, well traveled, and inquisitive.
Ships -- Cabins on the 490-passenger Seven Seas Navigator are all ocean-view suites, all but a handful of which have private verandas. The standard suite is a roomy 301 square feet; some suites can interconnect if you want to book two for additional space. The Seven Seas Lounge is a comfortable, two-tiered showroom in which, despite the space limitations imposed by the ship's small size, succeeds in presenting a high level of cabaret, Broadway revue, classical music, and comedian/magic shows. Elsewhere on the ship, Star's Lounge offers dancing to the music of a DJ, from which the less hectic piano bar, Galileo's, is a welcome alternative. The Connoisseur Club is a cushy venue for predinner drinks and after-dinner fine brandy and cigars, and a smallish casino allows guests to indulge their taste for blackjack, roulette, stud poker, craps, and slot machines. The ship's Carita Paris spa, while not as extensive as those of its larger Alaska rivals, is nevertheless well equipped to provide a variety of services using a variety of herbal and water-based therapies. Sample nightly rates per person: Per diems for the lowest-priced suites start at $614 for the 7-night cruise.