Regent Seven Seas returning refurbished ‘Navigator’ cruise ship to South Africa for 2018

Luxury cruise line Regent Seven Seas has announced plans for another epic, around-the-world cruise and will be returning Seven Seas Navigator to South Africa, reaffirming the country’s reputation as a global cruise destination.

The 137-night voyage on the newly refurbished Seven Seas Navigator will depart on January 8th, 2018, from Los Angeles and will include port calls in more than 60 cities across five continents.

Navigator’s westerly route around the globe will start with a voyage across the Pacific to the Hawaiian Islands, French Polynesia, American Samoa and Fiji.

From Fiji, Navigator will sail to New Zealand and Australia before heading north to Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

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Seven Seas Navigator will then head west once more, crossing the Bay of Bengal and visit Richard’s Bay, before arriving in South Africa’s primary port city of Durban. On her cruise along the South African ‘Wild Coast’ to Cape Town, she’ll visit East London.

Her South African cruise marks the end of one leg of the World Cruise, with Cape Town being used as an overnight stop and turnaround port, where some passengers will disembark and others will board. According to an official at Regent Seven Seas, who asked not to be named, at least 10% of the ship’s passengers on the Cape Town departure are expected to be South African.

Navigator will then cross the Atlantic, calling at Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil in South America before heading northward to the Caribbean. A trip through the Panama Canal will bring Navigator back to the Pacific for port calls in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

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The voyage ends where it began, in Los Angeles, on May 25, 2018.

This will be the first world cruise offered by Regent Seven Seas in more than six years. Navigator’s global cruise itinerary, with South Africa as a highlight, is one of two that will be offered in 2018.

As previously announced, Regent also will offer an around-the-world cruise in 2017, and this cruise will also include South African port calls, expanding on its South African cruise itineraries offered last year.

The new globe-circling voyages come as Regent is in the midst of an expansion. The line is adding a fourth vessel, the 750-passenger Seven Seas Explorer, in July.

Fares for the world cruise start at US $59,999 per person. The price includes first class airfare to and from Los Angeles, exclusive shore-side events and several other perks.