Silversea vs Regent Comparison

[QueSeraSera]

Do the British really eat baked beans for breakfast?  I mean, I love the people and treasure our shared history (post 1812 or thereabouts) so this can easily be overlooked, but still, do they?

[Clodia]

Until about 5 years ago very few did; it is a virus which is spreading. It's a real problem for me because of my allergy to the sauce.

[Kimmitt]

 

Please  be sensitive when mentioning a food allergy if the smell merely is repugnant to you. I’ve  seen my child in the hospital numerous times with an anaphylactic reaction to nuts after having told the waitstaff of her allergy. It’s getting quite common to hear people say that they are “allergic” to an item when they are just sensitive to it.  

This issue may cause the waitstaff to be less diligent when reporting life threatening  allergies to the kitchen.

Hope you have a lovely cruise!

 

 

[Silver Spectre]

16 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Do the British really eat baked beans for breakfast?  I mean, I love the people and treasure our shared history (post 1812 or thereabouts) so this can easily be overlooked, but still, do they?

Some do, some don’t, it’s much less common in polite circles than it used to be, a bit like smoking.

[Master Echo]

SS now has 64 complimentary wines, sourced from around the world, so ask the waiter for the grape variety you prefer.

 

Based on one experience on Regent Explorer, concierge grade offered useful benefits, e.g earlier booking for shore excursions, amongst others.  For detailed  list check Regent's website.

 

I also concur wholeheatedly on the farce that is checking in for Regent's shore excursions, as well as the inability to take more than one excursion on any particular day, despite their major advertising hyperbole of "up to x number of shore excursions on your cruise"!

 

Breakfast in the main dining room on SS is a very quiet affair enjoyed by only a few passengers and obtaining a table for one is never a problem.

 

Butlers - surprisingly this seems to cause a great deal of angst. The butler is there to fulfil reasonable requests.  The extent to which one uses one's butler depends on personal preferences.  Apart from the usual services, he/she is a source of information and they are always willing to help.

 

Hope you enjoy your SS cruises, and welcome to the 'Family'.

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

 

 

 

[WesW]

Master Echo's post immediately above "masterfully" describes a few differences between Silversea and Regent.

 

Tho, we have over a dozen cruises on each line--now, our first choice is Silversea for the expedition itineraries that Regent does not do.  We were on the Mariner for 35 days in the South Pacific last October and November.   I was on the Muse, Shadow, and Silver Cloud expedition for 29 days this year.

 

Cuisine, Wine, Classic Itineraries (vs Expedition), Hardware (ships) and Software (service) in our 16 year experience cruising is similar on both lines.  We both prefer Silversea's (La Terraza)  Italian restaurant (on a majority Italian owned cruise line)  than Regent's La Veranda (restaurant) when the regional specialty is Italian.

 

Dear wife likes the daytime entertainment (read games played with entertainment team and ship leadership) better on Regent than Silversea. 

 

Hope this helps.

Edited July 13, 2019 by WesW

[boblerm]

 I have only been on one SS cruise, so perhaps my experience  is not representative of SS cruises in general, but I would like to add that I found a significant difference between the 2 lines in regard to evening entertainment.  On Regent, nearly every night there is either a production show consisting of a cast of singers and dancers, with elaborate choreography, costumes, backlit scenery, a sophisticated lighting and sound system;  or a specialty act, a comedian, singer, virtuoso musician, etc.  There is also a live orchestra accompanying.  The entertainment on SS on our cruise consisted of 6 singers, who did dance a bit, no scenery, no costumes, recorded music accompaniment.  No specialty acts.  The shows were very poorly attended.

I understand that many people couldn't care less about these types of shows, but I think it is relevant in a Regent-SS comparison.

 

I have generally been well satisfied with the quality of the included excursions that Regent offers.

Bob

[Travelcat2]

We have also sailed on Silversea (3 cruises) and Regent (many more than that).  Although we have not been on the Muse, we have been on the Spirit (prior to it being stretched), the Shadow and Whisper.  If we were to cruise with Silversea again, it would be on the Whisper as we did not care for the Spirit.  

 

Silversea is so much better than Regent on sailings where food/wine is the focus (generally on transatlantic and transpacific crossings).  The wine tastings are extraordinary.  They have you taste wine with one food and then another.  You easily see how you would love the wine if you were eating one thing but would likely steer away from the same wine if you had something, for instance, with lemon in it.  Also enjoyed the knife skills class (no cost for any of these).

 

Service on both lines are about the same but the officers on Regent are much friendlier and more approachable than on Silversea.

 

Food is subjective.  We prefer lunch at La Terrazza on Silversea to La Veranda on Regent.  However, we prefer Regent for all other dining venues (especially the main dining room on Silversea - did not care for it very much).  

 

We don't care much about shows but Regent does have better shows than Silversea.

 

Bottom line for us is that we may have preferred Silversea if we sailed on them before Regent.   We were instantly hooked on Regent after our first cruise and are now Titanium level in their loyalty program (which gives us benefits that cannot be matched on other lines).

 

We still like Silversea and do recommend them, however, we will likely be Regent loyalists as long as we continue to cruise.

 

P.S.  Tried not to go into the "dress code" thing but I do prefer Regent's dress code.  My DH does wear a jacket on most nights and a tie on other nights on Regent.  However, Silversea is a bit over the top in terms of their dress code (IMHO).  

[TheRampantSnail]

I also concur wholeheatedly on the farce that is checking in for Regent's shore excursions, as well as the inability to take more than one excursion on any particular day, despite their major advertising hyperbole of "up to x number of shore excursions on your cruise"!

We never had a problem booking morning and afternoon cruises in St Petersburg on our Baltic cruise.

 

 

Service on both lines are about the same but the officers on Regent are much friendlier and more approachable than on Silversea.

Our experience is that Silversea officers are more friendly and approachable - although I have to admit that the captain on one Regent cruise did nod at me (I think!)

[Silver Sweethearts]

On 7/14/2019 at 3:57 PM, Travelcat2 said:

P.S.  Tried not to go into the "dress code" thing but I do prefer Regent's dress code.  My DH does wear a jacket on most nights and a tie on other nights on Regent.  However, Silversea is a bit over the top in terms of their dress code (IMHO).  

 

No, we don't want to go into a dress code thing either, but would - purely for curiosity sake - be interested in what you thought was "a bit over the top"?

Edited July 17, 2019 by Silver Sweethearts

[Travelcat2]

54 minutes ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

 

No, we don't want to go into a dress code thing either, but would - purely for curiosity sake - be interested in what you thought was "a bit over the top"?

 

During a 14 night cruise, there were about 3 (estimate) casual nights.  The rest were formal (suits, ties, tuxes, gowns), or "informal" which requires a minimum of a jacket - probably a tie....... it just seemed that we had to get dressed up too much almost every night.  

 

And, Silversea passengers take this very seriously - they do not want anyone to change their dress code.  Perhaps this is due to the majority of passengers not being from the U.S. and people tend to dress up more in Europe.

[nowornever]

We've only been on the Navigator & Mariner & my beef isn't with the ships.  It's with the marketing.  It's like fingernails on a blackboard to read that they have FREE shore ex; FREE unlimited beverages & on & on with the FREE.  Do they really think that they're dealing with naive people or even children who think there really is a FREE lunch?  It's insane & I resent being talked down to.  That attitude earns a big 0 in my book.

[wripro]

13 hours ago, nowornever said:

We've only been on the Navigator & Mariner & my beef isn't with the ships.  It's with the marketing.  It's like fingernails on a blackboard to read that they have FREE shore ex; FREE unlimited beverages & on & on with the FREE.  Do they really think that they're dealing with naive people or even children who think there really is a FREE lunch?  It's insane & I resent being talked down to.  That attitude earns a big 0 in my book.

YES!!!!!!!

[Camillus112]

15 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

During a 14 night cruise, there were about 3 (estimate) casual nights.  The rest were formal (suits, ties, tuxes, gowns), or "informal" which requires a minimum of a jacket - probably a tie....... it just seemed that we had to get dressed up too much almost every night.  

 

And, Silversea passengers take this very seriously - they do not want anyone to change their dress code.  Perhaps this is due to the majority of passengers not being from the U.S. and people tend to dress up more in Europe.

 

I travel to Europe frequently, and have noticed that the younger generations are quite relaxed in their dressing for concerts and such activities.  I have sat in concert halls amidst cocktail dresses and crop tops and jeans.  We have all decided to wear what makes us happy and Silversea is catering to those of us that enjoy dressing up.  However, it provides for venues where you can choose a more casual style.  I will be cruising Regent for my first time next year and will also be happy wearing informal clothes.  

[philw1776]

On 7/12/2019 at 12:49 PM, Silver Spectre said:

Some do, some don’t, it’s much less common in polite circles than it used to be, a bit like smoking.

I'm just a simple colonial. On my 2nd Silversea cruise I was thinking of trying baked beans (I'm from former colonial Boston) for breakfast.  Will this become some huge international gaffe?  

[SteveH2508]

On 7/12/2019 at 12:49 AM, QueSeraSera said:

Do the British really eat baked beans for breakfast?  I mean, I love the people and treasure our shared history (post 1812 or thereabouts) so this can easily be overlooked, but still, do they?

Any Brit who was in the services will have eaten baked beans for breakfast on many occasions. This could mean that they either love them (like me) or hate them with their breakfast.

 

Remember, those baked beans are only a small part of the great British breakfast - proper back bacon (not cremated); proper sausages; black pudding and fried bread are musts (ducks down to avoid incoming fire on the trans-atlantic bacon dispute)

[SteveH2508]

On 7/19/2019 at 6:57 PM, philw1776 said:

I'm just a simple colonial. On my 2nd Silversea cruise I was thinking of trying baked beans (I'm from former colonial Boston) for breakfast.  Will this become some huge international gaffe?  

Try baked beans on toast - one of the best snacks in the world.

[QueSeraSera]

On 7/19/2019 at 1:57 PM, philw1776 said:

I'm just a simple colonial. On my 2nd Silversea cruise I was thinking of trying baked beans (I'm from former colonial Boston) for breakfast.  Will this become some huge international gaffe?  

Ah, your Boston background may explain your weakness.  I don't know if baked beans served on board ship will stand up to genuine Boston Baked Beans.  SteveH2508 reminds me of Virginia-cured bacon being called streaky bacon at some event in the past - we weren't sure how to take it at the time...  

[Twitchly]

On 7/19/2019 at 1:57 PM, philw1776 said:

I'm just a simple colonial. On my 2nd Silversea cruise I was thinking of trying baked beans (I'm from former colonial Boston) for breakfast.  Will this become some huge international gaffe?  

 

Probably depends on what happens afterwards. 

[HotRoot]

Recently spent 131 days on Regent.  As for the comment about friendly officers - The first Captain was the friendliest Captain we have ever had.  He called passengers by their names.  The Captain who replaced him was invisible.  He did not attend the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party.  I am sure all cruise lines have friendly and invisible staff.  

 

We just booked our third SilverSeas cruise.  We are itinerary driven.  We enjoyed the dress code, included excursions, friendly crew, silly games, and production staff on Regent.

 

[Travelcat2]

On 8/2/2019 at 7:24 AM, HotRoot said:

Recently spent 131 days on Regent.  As for the comment about friendly officers - The first Captain was the friendliest Captain we have ever had.  He called passengers by their names.  The Captain who replaced him was invisible.  He did not attend the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party.  I am sure all cruise lines have friendly and invisible staff.  

 

We just booked our third SilverSeas cruise.  We are itinerary driven.  We enjoyed the dress code, included excursions, friendly crew, silly games, and production staff on Regent.

 

 

Sometimes the Captain has to be on the bridge during the Captains Reception. It cannot be helped. They attend functions whenever possible.

[HotRoot]

13 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Sometimes the Captain has to be on the bridge during the Captains Reception. It cannot be helped. They attend functions whenever possible.

Stand by my comment.  He was invisible.  Did not attend the Captain's reception, block parties, Krew Kapers.  Had the previous Captain not been so visible, we probably would not have known the difference.

[Silver Spectre]

18 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Sometimes the Captain has to be on the bridge during the Captains Reception. It cannot be helped. They attend functions whenever possible.

I think we all understand that, but what does it have to do with a comparison between SS and Regent.

[Travelcat2]

HotRoot asked a question and I answered it.  Simple as that!  It is no more off topic than "baked beans" IMHO.

[wripro]

Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with the cruise line. It's the Captain himself (or herself) who is responsible for his interactions with passengers. I've seen everything from the Captain of a Seabourn ship run all the way across the deck to open a door for me when he spotted me to a Captain on Silversea who turned and walked the other way when I tried to catch his eye. And furthermore I could care less id the Captina has any interaction with me. AS far as I'm concerned as long as he does his job of sailing the vessel safely I'm happy. I don't need him to entertain me. Most of them are far too boring anyway.