What are the luxury cruise lines?

[wripro]

In what way does the Europa not meet the qualifications of a flawless combination of ship, facilities, food and service?

[Keith1010]

I had the same question. The Europa gets the highest marks of any luxury cruise ship.

 

Keith

[Travelcat2]

In what way does the Europa not meet the qualifications of a flawless combination of ship, facilities, food and service?

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Keith said that "The definition applies to the entire cruise line not one specific ship". For that reason, since Hapag-Lloyd has other ships that are not the same level of luxury, under Keith's definition, it would not qualify. Then I reread the definition and found that it was referencing luxury cruising rather than cruise lines. Probably should have rewritten my post rather than adding a P.S. The Europa, the Marina and probably other ships do meet the definition "of a flawless combination of ship, facilities, food and service" (although I must admit that I have not been on either cruise line and base this on reviews).

[martinsfo]

I think luxury is a state of mind, whether on land or sea. Having worked in many luxury properties on land, I will sum it up using the Waldorf Astoria's 100 year old mission statement-The difficult immediately, the impossible will take a few minutes longer. The training I recieved upon joining their staff as a lowly commis in the kitchen has stuck with me for almost 20 years. It is an attitude where the guest absolutely comes first. They highlight this attitude while giving all their new employees their first tour of the building as they show the Presidential and Royal suites, their top of the line accommodations, and then tell the story of how the Royal Suite was created. In 1960 Nikita Khruschev was in the Presidential suite for a session of the UN and then decided to stay an extra week. This created a problem as Queen Elizabeth had the suite the following week and you can't kick the premier of the USSR (Russia for those 25 years old or younger) out on to the street. So over the weekend, the building staff of the hotel created a Royal Suite, every bit as luxurious and well appointed as the Presidential Suite for Her Majesty.

 

This story made a huge impression on my fellow trainees. It is this attitude that defines luxury for me. In this case, the impossible took a weekend.

 

I have only sailed on Crystal, and I find this attitude in abundance as they never say no, to any request, with no caveats about it having to be reasonable. I understand that this attitude is present on the other luxury lines as well.

[wripro]

Works for me!

[Travelcat2]

Me too:)

[Keith1010]

Thanks Marty. And to get consensus is also quite an achievement.

 

Keith

[Ravenscroft]

 

* Silversea has one restaurant that has a substantial charge to dine at.

 

.

 

Just to clarify on this one.

 

The charge to dine in Le Champagne is $30. If you choose to drink just water with your meal, that's all it costs per person. If you want to drink wine with your meal, you may select a bottle of wine from the Connoiseur's List, the prices vary from approx $50 to $$$$. The complimentary wines are not available in Le Champagne.

 

The 'substantial' charge comes when you take the Le Champagne dégustation menu which is $200 per head. This includes 6 or 7 courses plus wine tastings matched to each course.

[martinsfo]

By charging so much for their restaurant defies luxury to me. Then again, Crystal charges over $200 for the Vintage Room. However, the $210 probably jsut covers the wines that are served there. We had wines that were in excess of $500 on their list, and we had significant pours, and as many as we desired. A meal like that on land would have been close to $1000 per person.

[Keith1010]

By charging so much for their restaurant defies luxury to me. Then again, Crystal charges over $200 for the Vintage Room. However, the $210 probably jsut covers the wines that are served there. We had wines that were in excess of $500 on their list, and we had significant pours, and as many as we desired. A meal like that on land would have been close to $1000 per person.

 

Marty, like the Vintage room Le Champagne is a unique experience. It's not practical to offer either one as part of the cruise fare because it would substantially increase the cruise fare and it would not be possible to accommodate all passengers. Just like going to the spa on a luxury line it is out there for those who want the experience. No one is forced to go there.

 

With that said one can go to Le Champagne and purchase a bottle of wine or not have any wine with the option w/o wine costing $30.00 per person.

 

Again, it's nice that the choice is available rather than not offering either one.

 

Keith

[wripro]

Much as I dislike extra charges for dining on luxury lines I can understand the charge at Le Champagne. Where Silversea loses me is the extra charge for Seishin on the Spirit.

[Keith1010]

Henry, I agree. I wonder what the concept is behind charging for guests to dine at Seishin.

 

Keith

[wripro]

Keith,

 

I think the concept is making more money. There's absolutely no reason SS should charge for Seishin when Crystal includes Nobu, Seabourn inclides Restaurant 2 and even Oceania includes all its specialty restaurants. There's a reason many experienced Silversea cruisers do not like the Spirit and prefer the older, smaller ships.

[Keith1010]

Thanks, Henry. They really should waive that charge and if necessary just adjust the cruise fare.

 

Keith

[fairbourne]

Actually my $30 worth and my husband's $200 worth! We had the absolute joy of sailing on Silver Whisper last year transatlantic and felt totally spoilt all the time we were on board this beautiful ship, so that to us is pure luxury. It was our first cruise and totally encompassed all what I would want as luxury, but of course, as other posters have already said luxury to one, is not luxury to another, and we don't have anything yet to compare it with! But soon, we will be heading off on the Seabourn Quest on her maiden transatlantic and we are looking forward to that with much anticipation, spotting and meeting all the wonderful characters on CC who will be on board:D!

 

Back to "Le Champagne" - what an experience - I don't drink very much so decided not to go for the total degustation wine package but my husband did and thoroughly enjoyed each and every sipful and the wonderful attention and detail paid to us by the Maitre D' and the sommelier, who was extremely knowledgeable of all the wines. I couldn't eat some of the things offered on the menu for the evening we had chosen, but the Champagne Chef was more than happy to discuss a menu just for me and I left him knowing what I enjoyed to eat, and that evening he came up trumps with some absolute delights. I can still taste some of the wonderful dishes. It was a leisurely, romantic dinner in a wonderfully quiet atmosphere. We only did this option once as I often think if you repeat something which has been so special, sometimes leads to disappointment the second time around, but there was one couple who chose to dine there every night, choosing a special bottle of wine each evening, so of course, they just paid $30 each for the meal and then their chosen wine. So our recommendation is go and talk to the Champagne team, and most definitely they will have a presentation about it early on in the cruise, and don't get hung up on the extra cost - just enjoy! Life's way too short to worry about a few extra $$$ - and in my book if you can afford to cruise luxury, then why on earth would you worry about paying extra for a special dinner???;) And before anyone comes back to have a pop at me on that, no we are not rich, nothing like, but I would imagine like a lot of people save up so we can enjoy some of the finer things in life occasionally and are happy to pay for them!

 

The choice is always yours - from choosing a spa treatment, or excursion or "Le Champagne" - and if you choose not to try any of these, it will in no way detract from a wonderful luxury experience on Silversea, which after all links back to the the original question on this thread - what are the luxury cruiselines? We are looking forward to adding Seabourn to our luxury list:)!

[wripro]

imo on a luxury line the choice should always be yours....at no extra charge.

[Keith1010]

I am with Henry on this. If they have never charge at the specialty restaurant on the other Silversea ships (La Champagne excluded) they should not be charging for Seishin. My view is simple. If they need to offset costs just charge a few more dollars with the cruise fare.

 

Keith

[Travelcat2]

When we were on the Silver Spirit, we could not see a reason to pay to dine in Seishin, nor could we find a reason to dine in Le Champagne. When we look for that level of dining, we dine in port at the finest restaurant in the area. In spite of deciding not to dine in these dining venues, we had excellent service and food in Silversea's other restaurants.

 

In terms of what Crystal's decides to do on it's ships vs. what Silversea decides to do in terms of charging for their dining experiences is up to them. It is not up to us to decide what should or should not incur an extra charge. Crystal has gone against what most luxury cruise lines do for years. . . . and, finally, after sailing with less than full ships, will join in the all-inclusive luxury cruise experience in mid-2012.

 

In spite of the differences, it has been decided by someone that Silverseas, Seabourn, Regent and Crystal are luxury cruise lines. It is what it is and we accept it and make decisions based on our personal preferences.

[Keith1010]

When we were on the Silver Spirit, we could not see a reason to pay to dine in Seishin, nor could we find a reason to dine in Le Champagne. When we look for that level of dining, we dine in port at the finest restaurant in the area. In spite of deciding not to dine in these dining venues, we had excellent service and food in Silversea's other restaurants.

 

In terms of what Crystal's decides to do on it's ships vs. what Silversea decides to do in terms of charging for their dining experiences is up to them. It is not up to us to decide what should or should not incur an extra charge. Crystal has gone against what most luxury cruise lines do for years. . . . and, finally, after sailing with less than full ships, will join in the all-inclusive luxury cruise experience in mid-2012.

 

In spite of the differences, it has been decided by someone that Silverseas, Seabourn, Regent and Crystal are luxury cruise lines. It is what it is and we accept it and make decisions based on our personal preferences.

 

I am not sure what Crystal has to do with all of this except that Henry mentioned that Crystal has Silk Road which is also a Japanese Restaurant.

 

The discussion was why Silversea would charge for dining at Seishin which is a specialty restaurant where they don't charge at their other specialty restaurant.

 

I am not sure why we cannot offer our opinion on that and question why they would have a charge. In the end of course it is the cruise lines decision but that has never stopped anyone on cruise critic from expressing their viewpoints.

 

By the way the fill rates that we have experienced on Crystal now and before are no different than the fill rates we have experience on Silversea or Seabourn.

 

Keith

[Travelcat2]

I am not sure what Crystal has to do with all of this except that Henry mentioned that Crystal has Silk Road which is also a Japanese Restaurant.

 

The discussion was why Silversea would charge for dining at Seishin which is a specialty restaurant where they don't charge at their other specialty restaurant.

 

I am not sure why we cannot offer our opinion on that and question why they would have a charge. In the end of course it is the cruise lines decision but that has never stopped anyone on cruise critic from expressing their viewpoints.

 

By the way the fill rates that we have experienced on Crystal now and before are no different than the fill rates we have experience on Silversea or Seabourn.

 

Keith

 

I thought that the "subject" was luxury cruise lines and speciality dining was a slightly off-subject off shoot.:confused:

 

Since you are familiar with Seishin, did you dine there when you were on the Spirit? When we visited the venue and reviewed the menu, we understood why there was a charge, however, the offerings were not to our taste so there was no reason to dine there. Having not cruised on Crystal, I cannot compare the size of Silk Road or the menu to Seishin. I suspect that it is a larger dining venue than Seishin with more typical Japanese cuisine. The menu is not as elaborate in the other speciality restaurant and the space can accommodate many more passengers than Seishin or Le Champagne.

 

There is a Crystal poster who has repeatedly mentioned fill rates (actually, this has been posted on the Regent board for some reason) and how the Crystal ships are rarely full. I have just taken their word for it. Perhaps I should have questioned it.

[Keith1010]

 

There is a Crystal poster who has repeatedly mentioned fill rates (actually, this has been posted on the Regent board for some reason) and how the Crystal ships are rarely full. I have just taken their word for it. Perhaps I should have questioned it.

 

Yes, it was one person and I know who you mean.

 

In general, even when all cabins are sold it never feels too crowded because of two major factors; there is alway a nice number of passengers traveling solo plus there is a lot of public space room.

 

Fill rates do range based on factors such as time of year and itinerary and of course the overall economy which has been our experience on other lines such as Seabourn and Silversea.

 

Keith

[wripro]

Yes, it is up to the line to decide what to charge for. Just don't call yourself all inclusive if you are charging extra for two restaurants.

 

TC2, how would you feel if Regent started charging for Signatures and/or Prime 7?

[Travelcat2]

Yes, it is up to the line to decide what to charge for. Just don't call yourself all inclusive if you are charging extra for two restaurants.

 

TC2, how would you feel if Regent started charging for Signatures and/or Prime 7?

 

Regent has started charging for some upscale wine tastings. If we were really into fine wines, we would go. . . . but, we're not.

 

If Regent started charging for Prime 7 and Signatures, some people would go -- others would not. I'm not quite as all-inclusive minded as some people. For instance, we would prefer excursions not being included.

 

If there were an upscale Japanese restaurant on board any ship where you could order what you wish (rather than the strange items on Silversea), I would be happy to pay for it.

 

I just read several screens on Silversea's website and did not find the term "all-inclusive" used. On the Regent website -- opening page it states "enjoy... it's all included". Just an interesting observation.

[Keith1010]

Just did a Yahoo Search on Silversea and when it pulls up the Silversea site this is what it said.

 

Silversea Cruises Official Site | Discover the Ultimate ...

Visit the official Silversea Cruises website to explore the world of luxury cruise vacations aboard Silversea. From an elegant all-inclusive lifestyle to ocean-view ...

 

I guess my only point is that given that this is one ship of five it might have made sense to just keep La Champagne the way it is as it provides a very unique experience and it makes sense that there is a cost for dining there. It might have been more straightforward to have kept any other specialty restaurant with no charge on the newest ship as they are on the other ships but this is the cruise lines decision and not ours.

 

Keith

[wripro]

Couldn't agree more, Keith.