The steel-cutting ceremony has taken place for Seven Seas Splendor at the Fincantieri shipyard in Ancona, Italy. Splendor is the second ship Fincantieri is building for Regent Seven Seas Cruises, a Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings brand.

Delivery is scheduled for early 2020.

Regent Seven Seas President and CEO Jason Montague attended the ceremony, as did Franco Semeraro, senior vice president of hotel operations. Robin Lindsay, executive vice president of vessel operations for NCLH was there, as well.

“This is truly an exciting moment for us and we are delighted to work with the skillful engineers of Fincantieri shipyard to build our new ship that will again raise the standards of luxury for the industry,” Montague said.

“Regent has been committed to delivering the most beautiful destinations with impeccable personalized service aboard elegant and intimately spacious ships for more than 25 years. With the first steel cut for Seven Seas Splendor in Ancona, we are now underway to realizing our plans for the new ship that will perfect luxury.”

The 55,500-gross-ton Splendor will accommodate 754 passengers in 375 suites. It is a sister to the Seven Seas Explorer, which was delivered by Fincantieri in Sestri Ponente (Genoa) in June 2017.

The inaugural season for the all-suite, all-balcony Seven Seas Splendor goes on sale this spring. In addition to Seven Seas Explorer, the fleet presently includes Seven Seas Voyager, Seven Seas Mariner and Seven Seas Navigator.