The Seven Seas Splendor is one of the world's most luxurious cruise ships.
Shayne Currie meets the captain of one of the world’s most luxurious cruise ships, the Seven Seas Splendor.
The general manager leads me through a “staff-only” door and down a long corridor, past the private quarters of ship officers and a wall of plaques commemorating many of the hundreds of ports and countries the Seven Seas Splendor has visited in just five short years.
A highly secured door is bolted shut at the end of the corridor on the 10th deck. The general manager taps on a small keypad, as a CCTV camera above us captures every movement.
A few seconds later, we are welcomed into the most important room on one of the most luxurious cruise ships in the world. This is a sacred, nautical nerve centre: the bridge.
“It is like church,” smiles Captain Ubaldo Armellino, reaching for a handshake.
The bridge is generally off limits to guests, but with special permission, the NZ Herald has infiltrated.
Armellino is in his element, responsible for the safe passage today of some 1259 people - 711 passengers and 548 crew - gliding across the Mediterranean’s Ionian Sea, south of Italy, the captain’s home country.
He’s responsible, too, for a ship that is more akin to a floating art gallery (with $US6 million [NZ$9.97m] of art, including two Picassos) or a six-star luxury hotel and restaurant (with 15 categories of suites, five high-end eateries and highly personalised service).
Armellino, 60, has been on the ocean since he was 18, following in the wake of his father, who was a chief engineer, including time on the Achille Lauro cruise ship.
He loves the sea, but didn’t like the sheer heat of the engine room that his father endured - “room” being a loose term. In those days, engineers worked at a desk beside the machines they pampered. Armellino knew he’d enjoy a cooler deck role.
“I respect the sea,” says Armellino.
“I speak with the ship. The officers here all know me, but when a new officer comes on board, they see me talking with the bow, looking at the bow of the ship. They say, ‘The captain is crazy’.
“But I have a very good feeling because I speak with the ship. I have to treat it well because it’s my home - this is our home.”
Armellino has been with Regent Seven Seas Cruises - and its predecessor company, Radisson - for 26 years, starting as a second officer and has a particular focus on the safety and security of all on board.
Today, the Splendor is slicing through a flat springtime ocean. There were no issues at all in the five nights we were on board as we moved between Italy, Turkey and Greece.
Armellino has a special respect for the Tasman Sea - he’s brought several of the Regent ships to New Zealand in the past quarter century.
Everything on board is safely bolted in place - including high security for the aforementioned art, including the Picassos, one of which sits above reception in the Prime 7 restaurant.
Armellino loves the personalised service of a cruise ship. Generally, he’ll try to spend two to three hours each morning walking the decks, speaking with passengers one-on-one.
“I’ve met thousands and thousands and thousands of people,” he says, although he becomes a little evasive when asked about any famous names.
“Our guests are very, very happy, always happy. I think about what we offer - and of course, what they pay - but what we offer.”
He says meeting his guests is the most interesting part of his role.
“I’m not tired because I start from the point that life is a continuous learning process.
“I say to my officers when I have a meeting with them, ‘Guys, don’t think that you have reached something. I’m a captain. I’m still learning’.
“My goal is to learn [about] human beings, how they think. My wife sometimes makes a joke with me and says, ‘You were supposed to be a psychologist’.”
He has me thinking about the people I’ve met over the course of the five days, generally poolside and often with a cocktail or a drink in hand.
Thirty-year-old Dakota, originally from Florida, now lives in Texas (Austin, to be precise). She’s with her parents from Seattle – they’ve shouted her a luxury cruise to celebrate her milestone birthday.
Another woman and her husband, also poolside, are seasoned cruise-ship travellers. We chat about New Zealand, their love of equestrian in the UK, and a shocking tragedy: their daughter was killed in the UK some years ago.
Whether it’s a case of celebrating, bringing families and friends together, or remembering loved ones, a cruise has a unique ability to take the stress out of travel. Unpack once and ease back – someone else is driving, someone else is pouring the drink. Get off the boat if you want at myriad stops - don’t worry if you don’t want to.
Armellino says he’s seen the world for free, and now he tries to view it through a different lens and always stays curious. He used to go ashore all the time when he was a younger officer, but for a couple of years, as he got older, he started to stay on board more.
“And then my wife suggested to me that you do it in a different way. You buy a good camera.
“So now I go around, I take a picture. That can be another way of how to visit. I love it. I go out even if I’ve been, let’s say, to Barcelona 100 times. I try to discover places where I’ve never been.
“But I’ve reached the point that I have more than 20,000 pictures and no one wants to see my pictures.”
Before I can blurt out the obvious question, Armellino takes command.
“I’m sure that you would like to know which country is the most beautiful?
“I love French Polynesia because there I feel free again. There is this freedom over there. Everything is still wild. Tahiti and Bora Bora. Bora Bora is one of my preferred places.”
He spends 10 weeks on the ship, and then 10 weeks at home. He’s not permanently attached to the Seven Seas Splendor - he can be rostered onto any one of Regent’s six ships (the other five are the Seven Seas Explorer, Seven Seas Grandeur, Seven Seas Mariner, Seven Seas Navigator, and Seven Seas Voyager).
His wife encouraged him to be a cruise ship officer from the start.
“She said that when you work on the cargo ship, you become like a bear. Working on a cruise ship, you would be more human. She was right many years ago.”
Home for the couple and their four children is Castel Gandolfo, located in the Castelli Romani region, about 20 minutes from Rome.
“There’s a switch. At home, you focus on your family. On the ship, it’s the safety and security of the crew and guests, and being as professional as possible.
“On the ship, I am a captain. At home - this is what I said to my wife - I am the second in command.”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie was a guest of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, sailing on Seven Seas Splendor from Salerno, Italy, to Athens Greece.
For more information on Revent Seven Seas Cruises, visit rssc.com.
FACT BOX
Name: Seven Seas Splendor
Launched: February 2020
Guest capacity: 746
Crew: 548
Suites: 373, all with balconies
Dinner restaurants: 5
Artwork value: $US6 million (NZ$9.97m)
Length: 224m
Athens to Istanbul
Ship: Seven Seas Splendor
Departs: May 15, 2026, from Athens (Piraeus)
7 nights
Up to 42 shore excursions included
Visits: Athens, Santorini, Heraklion Mykonos in Greece. Plus Istanbul, Turkey. Deluxe Veranda Suite G2 from $NZ10,610.00 per person
Lower prices, fewer crowds, less heat – and the locals are happier, too.