Regent vs Silversea

[Carol From California]

I just put a deposit on a Silversea cruise. Anyone who has sailed on both lines can you share some thoughts about the differences? I previously posted about Regent vs Seabourn but we decided to go with Silversea instead. It was mainly because of the itinerary, but also Regent is raising prices so much that it has forced me to consider other options. I had been talking to Regent about one cruise, and it went up $500/person on October 1.

[wripro]

If you do a search I am sure you will find thousands of comparisons.

[Travelcat2]

My first question is which ship you plan on sailing. IMO, the experience is different depending upon the ship. We first sailed SS about two years ago. At that time we just wanted to try a different cruiseline because Regent was the only luxury line we had tried. Our second SS cruise was based on itinerary as is the sailing next year that we booked (Vancouver to Tokyo -- a route that Regent used to do).

 

Although I wrote a fairly long review on the Regent board, the bottom line is that there are pluses and minuses on both cruise lines. We enjoy both Silversea and Regent. Food is subjective, but, we found the food in Compass Rose better than in the SS equivalent...... The Restaurant but found the food in La Terrazza considerably better than La Veranda (obviously this was prior to the debut of Sette Mari). We did not try Le Champagne due to the cost.

 

Service on both ships is wonderful. We've met former Regent crew members on Silversea and visa versa. For some reason, the service on the Silver Spirit was slightly better than on Regent but we did not care for the ship at all. On the Silver Whisper (my favorite ship -- ever), service on Regent and Silversea were on par. Of course, this was our experience and it could certainly be different as crew members change.

 

We did not enjoy dressing up so many nights on Silversea. We also were concerned about their liberal smoking policy (this will be a non-issue in 2013 when they become non-smoking in suites). We really missed having the Coffee Connection on SS where it is very difficult to get a cup of coffee anytime.

 

We only took one Silversea excursion, we did mostly private tours. Their excursion was much better organized than Regent but, the ships are smaller. The instructions were to meet outside the ship (thankfully not in the theater:-) where we were quickly directed to where our group was and boarded the boat for our excursion in a very organized manner. There was no priority disembarkation based upon what time your excursion was or any nonsense like that.

 

Definitely missed the included internet and ended up paying around $500 for the slow internet service.

 

We were in a Silver Suite and really liked the bathrooms (two part -- one side with shower, bath and two sinks -- one side with sink and toilet). It was almost like having two bathrooms. When you sail in a Silver Suite or above, you receive included laundry -- a great perk.

 

If you have any specific questions, just ask!

[Carol From California]

Travelcat - we booked on the Whisper so glad to hear that is your favorite Silversea ship!

 

Regarding the dressing up, it is not mandatory (2 nights on our cruise). They said we could dine at La Terrazza those nights.

 

Compass Rose is our least favorite restaurant on Regent, and new smoking restrictions go into effect prior to our cruise.

 

All in all, we are excited to try something new.

[wripro]

If you intend to dine at La Terrazza on formal nights be sure and board as early as possible on embarkation day and make that your first stop to get reservations. Lots of people want to do the same and the reservations go quickly.

[McMer]

We just returned from a SS cruise on Silver Shadow (twin ship to Whisper), Tokyo to Beijing, and it was great. This was our third SS cruise but we had not been back with them for several years.

I have to agree with Travelcat2 as to comparisons. SS service was excellent and the food was comparable to Regent. I also could do without the formal nights but did not notice any smoking this time. Our butler was ex-Regent and thought he recognized us - his service was superb. I too missed the Coffee Connection and free internet but SS tends to give a good onboard credit, so that helps with internet and laundry.

We also did a mid-voyage trip to another city plus a post cruise trip through SS and all the hotels, guides and transportation arrangements were excellent.

You'll have a great trip with Silversea.

[gdlamberth]

I'll throw in a link to my comparison (we were on Cloud).

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=25367847&highlight=usna+72#post25367847

 

I'd like to add that due to the "age" of my post the bathroom issue has been fixed on Cloud and , as TC2 said, smoking will not be an issue at all in 2013.

 

One additional thing I'll throw in is that you can "avoid" formal nights by having in suite dining on two occssions on our Norway cruise on Cloud. As an aside, my DH, cousin and I were just discussing our "Favorite Cruise." While we couldn't agree on a Number 1, we did agree that our Norway Cruise on Cloud and our Auckland to LA cruise on Regent's Seven Seas Mariner were two of our favorite.

 

I don't think you can lose:D. We have cruise booked on both Regent and Silversea in the future. Itinerary and price are drivers for us...though I'll throw in my whine about internet and coffee connection:(.

 

Greg