Silver Wind or SB odyssey

[hazelh1]

Having sailed on seabourn spirit last year ,we loved the experience.

 

This year we aere looking at May 8th on Odyssey -Athens-Istanbul,or Silver Wind -Rome to Barcelona.

 

Odyssey has plusses for us such as marina day,evenihg at Ephasus and shopping with the chef.Downsides seem to be reviews here as to staffing,food,and build quality.Also the larger passenger numbers.

 

Silver Wind is a small ship,going to some places we have been ,but has all its problems ironed out,but lacks the few extras above.

 

Seabourn Legend has not got flight packages and is more expensive as an alternative & spirit is sailing to places we went last year.

 

Any advice?

[LOVE@CRUISE]

Since you are writing on the Silversea board, be prepared for prejudice!

 

I cannot believe you will find better service or food than you will find on SS. Just my personal opinion, but we have been on Regent and Crystal. Never on Seabourn, so........................I am sure you will LOVE the trip either way. Perhaps you should let pricing make the decision for you, as itineraries are similar. Either way, suffice it to say you are very fortunate to have the opportunity to choose between what is arguably the best of the best for value, service, and overall ambiance!

[Hobar]

love Seabourn, nothing compares. going on our 2nd SS cruise, but just b/c the itinerary is much better than anything we've found on SB and have been on many SB itineraries already, and we do look forward to the much larger balcony as compared to the ledge on SB. you can compare SB and SS just by reviewing the Cruise Critic boards - those posting on SS always have reservations about the service, etc, while on SB, all the posts are rave reviews. We are, however, hopeful that this SS cruise will be wonderful and muct better than our last SS cruise.

[wripro]

You can't go wrong with either.

[Jaffa]

The SilverWind is far and beyond my most favorite ship in the SS fleet.

 

For me this ship is like coming home. Intimate, sophisticated, and consistent in both product and service delivery.

 

If you have never taken a smaller ship experience, you need to try this at least once.

 

I did try in 1997, and have never been on a ship with more that 400 passengers since.

 

You won't see me on the Spirit or the Odyssey, as there are to many souls onboard for my liking.

 

I like Seabourn almost as much as Silversea. There are no other cruiselines that come even close to these two, in my honest and sincere opinion.

 

Just remember, its now how big it is, its how you use it!

[lord of the seas]

Since you are writing on the Silversea board, be prepared for prejudice!

 

I cannot believe you will find better service or food than you will find on SS. Just my personal opinion, but we have been on Regent and Crystal. Never on Seabourn, so........................

 

 

You will only be able to answer the poster when you have tried Seabourn.

 

I now only sail with both of these lines and always find the food,service and officers better on Seabourn.I sail with Silversea if the itinerary suits me for the time of year.

How lucky I am.

[MuseCruiser]

As WriPro says, you can't go wrong with either. We are not in the travel industry (I have been told some posters on this site are, and have "special" relationships with one line or the other, which could affect their comments, so readers beware) but we have a preference for Silversea.

 

The important point is, the competition between SS and SB is good and keeps them both on their toes and keeps prices somewhat in check. Without the other one, I can assure you, you'd see prices jump. Glad for both!

[writer100]

A nice quandary to have. Never been on SS, but we were on the Odyssey in December. Only our second cruise--first was Regent Navigator--and enjoyed the SB experience. Yes, there are a couple of flaws--perfection is impossible, given that our definitions are always personal and will always vary--but the food, service and drinks were all of a very high order. (The non-premium wines were sub-par, but it appears that every cruise line "cheats" on the freely available potables.)

I admit to being curious about the Silverseas experience. The reviews , while hardly mixed, are seemingly less uniformly enthusiastic than those garnered by SB. Also, I have to confess that the Silverseas $200 a head dinner with premium wines annoys me. At those prices, you can (almost) choose your Michelin-starred restaurant and certainly get better food and appropriate wine. Mind you, the cruise lines--all of them--are a business, and have every right to offer whatever they choose at whatever price they choose. But that grates against the projected image of hospitality and bon homie supposedly inherent on every such cruise. The same charge can be leveled against SB, but their gilded offerings are whispered rather than shouted. I do get the sense--and I know I will be corrected on these pages if I am wrong--that SS is, at least for the moment, offering somewhat better deals than SB.

One thing that I glean from the reviews and these posts is that recent drydocking for mechanical updates and freshening cosmetics can revive a ship that may be tiring.The Odyssey, is still more or less new, if that is reassuring.

[jerblu]

Some of the postings on this thread make a point about the size of the ship and the number of passengers. Most of my recent experience has been on Crystal, and I never had a sense of being crowded or bothered in some way by the size of the ship. Maybe I'll have an epiphany when I cruise in April on the Wind, but I doubt it. I just hope that the Wind will have a dance floor large enough for me, which might be an advantage of a larger ship after all.

[hazelh1]

Thank you all for your replies.I have made my mind up for SB on itinery,price and "try it and see".Seems may in the athens-Istanbul will be just perfect

 

regards