Crystal vs Seabourn

[toseaornottosea]

My guess is this has been discussed in the past but not sure how to find it and not sure how recent the discussion.  We have sailed on Regent Voyager, Seabourn Spirit, Seabourn Sojourn, Seabourn Odyssey and Seabourn Ovation.  We are considering a cruise on Crystal Symphony.  For those of you who have experience sailing on both Crystal and on Seabourn , how would you compare the experiences?  Suites, food, service, passengers, formality, dress, excursions, entertainment, etc.  I know that Crystal is somewhat, if not far, superior in terms of enrichment lectures and  opportunities.  

[ruready]

We are just tiptoeing into the luxury lines.  Our first is scheduled for Crystal later this year.  I thought about Seabourn as I believe their ships are newer but I liked the fact that Crystal is known for their enrichment classes/lectures and appears to have more lively evening events/participation, which we prefer.  We will try Seabourn next year, unless we fall in love Crystal. I do not think we could ever do the extremely small ships as they typically just have less space to accommodate different events, and I do not like to see the same passengers a of the time, lol.  We typically use cruises to relax and thus the ship’s offerings are important for us, but the majority of our vacations are land based where we are truly touring the area we visit (on the go all the time).

[Stickman1990]

I’m very familiar with Crystal and tried Seabourn last December

Here’s a review thread I did at the time 

The physical ship was nice, some of the staff were good, big kudos to Ross the CD, but based on service, food and entertainment aspects we won’t be rushing back to Seabourn - and a number of other guests we met on the cruise shared the same opinion 

As well as several Crystal cruises we have booked we’re also going to try a Regent cruise

 

 

 

 

[princeton123211]

23 hours ago, toseaornottosea said:

For those of you who have experience sailing on both Crystal and on Seabourn , how would you compare the experiences?

We sail Seabourn quite a bit and dipped our toe into Crystal a few years ago. We found the Crystal Serenity to be too large. Its nearly 1000 passengers vs about 400 on a given sailing of Seabourn (in the now older trio-- I have not sailed on Ovation or Encore). Sure, there are a few things like entertainment that Crystal was a bit better at, and which are easier on a bigger ship, but we prefer being among fewer people. 

[wripro]

As you can see there is no right or wrong answer to which is better, only which is better for you. So take all these opinions with a grain of salt and try both lines to see which suits you best. They're both great.

[saminina]

Exactly....try both to see which fits best.  Two very different products, including passenger demographic. 

To stick with the factual.  Yes, Crystal ships are older.   Once on board, you will never know it.  Well, except the standard cabins are much smaller.   But that does not mean they are less modern. 

 

If I were printing a fact sheet comparison, nod to Crystal.   For me, intangible value favors Seabourn.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Haven't been on Crystal, and won't be because of the size of their standard cabins.  Seabourn cabins are a wonderful size, just lovely.  As was everything else.  Intimate.  Don't like big ships, and I consider 1000 too big.

[LHT28]

40 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Haven't been on Crystal, and won't be because of the size of their standard cabins. 

Wonder if they are any worse than Azamara standard  cabins??

[Texas Tillie]

31 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Wonder if they are any worse than Azamara standard  cabins??

 

Didn't take much research to find that the Azamara smallest cabins are 158 sq. ft. vs 202 sq. ft. on the Crystal Symphony. I'd call that substantially smaller on Azamara.

[Stickman1990]

2 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Haven't been on Crystal, and won't be because of the size of their standard cabins.  Seabourn cabins are a wonderful size, just lovely.  As was everything else.  Intimate.  Don't like big ships, and I consider 1000 too big.

Your loss I guess

 

How do you know you won’t like something without trying it?

 

Crystal don’t have any 1000 passenger ships and besides the public space ratio per passenger would be relevant to any consideration of total passenger numbers (and Crystals would IMHO certainly be better than on Seabourn Encore). We’ve gone weeks sailing on Crystal cruises without running into some passengers and have never felt crowded - with one exception when we have to wait too long to board a tender to disembark in Sydney 

 

For us the cabin is one of the last items we consider when choosing a cruise line - as long as our minimum standard is met  - things like Service, Food and Entertainment are far more important to us 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I understand the Crystal loyalty.  Okay, not a thousand, a mere 980.  

 

Only time on Azamara we booked a PH (Club Continent Suite) for precisely the space.  

 

We do put up with the 301' standard balcony suites on Regent Mariner, but I see that on Symphony at least the standard balcony is 267'.  This is stretching it for us; prefer Voyager or Navigator's larger suites.  The only time we put up with tiny cabins is on the Paul Gauguin, but that's a special case, at least for us.

[wripro]

1 hour ago, Stickman1990 said:

Your loss I guess

 

How do you know you won’t like something without trying it?

 

Crystal don’t have any 1000 passenger ships and besides the public space ratio per passenger would be relevant to any consideration of total passenger numbers (and Crystals would IMHO certainly be better than on Seabourn Encore). We’ve gone weeks sailing on Crystal cruises without running into some passengers and have never felt crowded - with one exception when we have to wait too long to board a tender to disembark in Sydney 

 

For us the cabin is one of the last items we consider when choosing a cruise line - as long as our minimum standard is met  - things like Service, Food and Entertainment are far more important to us 

As everyone else here Wendy is entitled to her opinion.

[Stickman1990]

Just now, wripro said:

As everyone else here Wendy is entitled to her opinion.

and did I say she wasn’t? I simply asked a perfectly logical question of her 

 

Your point being?

[calliopecruiser]

On 11/4/2019 at 8:54 AM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Don't like big ships, and I consider 1000 too big.

Unfortunately, you're looking at two different things........are you talking about the size of the ship, or the number of passengers.   They don't always point to the same thing.  You could have a smaller ship with 1000 passengers, in which case you wouldn't be on a big ship (good by your standards) but have 999 other people around you (bad by your standards).  Or you could have bigger ship (bad by your standards), but with a smaller number of passengers.

 

I see this confusion (conflating size and capacity) a fair bit, and it makes discussing preferred options or searching for the right fit (in cruise ships) quite difficult.    We each have preferences (I don't want a capacity of < 500, for instance) so I don't mention this to berate your choice, but to try and understand what you're saying. 

[Keith1010]

Each person has to figure out which cruise line or for that matter which cruise ship(s) within a line work for them.

 

There are so many factors which come into play from the accommodations, to the service, cuisine, enrichment, entertainment, size of the ship, etc.

 

This is no different from any product.

 

One size does not fit all.

 

Now sometimes one only enjoys one luxury line or ship, sometimes the multiple ships across the same line and for some they enjoy two or more luxury lines.

 

For some a ship carrying 500 passengers is too large, for some just right and for some way too small.

This applies to any size ship.

 

Some of the discussion reminded me of Goldilocks and the three bears when she tried three bowls of porridge and one was too hot, the other too cold and the third just right.  Well, just right for someone else could have been one of the other bowls.

 

So what does this mean?

 

It means toseaornottosea you might love Crystal so much you might continue making bookings on this cruise line. Sometimes this happens as someone is so happy with the first luxury line they sail on they look no further.  You might have another experience as well.  Even if you have a wonderful experience my suggestion is overtime if you find an itinerary on another line that you had always wanted to try that you can't find on the line you normally sail then try the other line.  It is a good opportunity to do that.  We've done this across three luxury lines and several other lines over the years.  This is how we figured out which lines we enjoy and which didn't work for us.

 

Prior to that we did our due diligence and with good research you can often rule out some lines or include some lines in the ones you consider.  However, in the end you won't know for sure if it is a toss up between lines until you sail each one yourself.

 

I often use this as an analogy but when we bought our first luxury automobile we test drove several including Lexus, Mercedes and BMW.  As much as I studied up on the cars I needed to take a test drive to figure out which models and auto makers I prefer.  A cruise is no different.  The only difference is it is hard to take a test drive but some do something similar by booking a shorter cruise or in some cases having the opportunity to visit a ship for part of a day.

 

Keith

 

 

[Thecat123]

And go with an open mind unlike Stickman when we were on the Encore together

See the good things on any cruise line like the old half full glass rather than a glass half empty

We have been on lots of different cruise lines and cant really remember the things we didnt like of which I would actually post on Cruise Critic as those particular disappointments are part of that particular cruise line from too many passengers, food not the same standard as some cruise lines etc etc

You get what you pay for 

 

[Stickman1990]

38 minutes ago, Thecat123 said:

And go with an open mind unlike Stickman when we were on the Encore together

Let’s get this straight....

 

I had an open mind (who wouldn’t having paid a good amount for the cruise) but many things like cold potato’s - 3 times in one service!, consistently sloppy service around the ship, bar staff who couldn’t be bothered getting a Bacardi from stock, a theatre with poles in the way and entertainers who were dressed like they’d visited an Opp ship didn’t impress me (and I could go on) - maybe I was too high with my expectations?

 

But then again others on the same cruise were actually more unimpressed than us and other friends who sailed on Encore a month or two later were unimpressed also - so it wasn’t just us 

 

Nice big room but a disappointing “luxury” experience in afraid 

 

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

21 hours ago, calliopecruiser said:

Unfortunately, you're looking at two different things........are you talking about the size of the ship, or the number of passengers.   They don't always point to the same thing.  You could have a smaller ship with 1000 passengers, in which case you wouldn't be on a big ship (good by your standards) but have 999 other people around you (bad by your standards).  Or you could have bigger ship (bad by your standards), but with a smaller number of passengers.

 

I see this confusion (conflating size and capacity) a fair bit, and it makes discussing preferred options or searching for the right fit (in cruise ships) quite difficult.    We each have preferences (I don't want a capacity of < 500, for instance) so I don't mention this to berate your choice, but to try and understand what you're saying. 

 

Well yes I do understand those factors, and for the lines I've taken have studied these issues.  Looking just at passenger to space ratios I see these numbers the two non-expedition Crystal ships: passenger capacity, # of crew and pax-to-space ratio:

Crystal Serenity	1090 - 1254	635	54
Crystal Symphony	904 - 1040	530	49

 

For the five Regent ships, three of which I've been on (not the newer ships), I see these numbers:

 

Seven Seas Explorer	754 - 829	542	68
Seven Seas Mariner	708 - 779	440	60
Seven Seas Navigator	506 - 557	315	51
Seven Seas Splendor	754 - 829	542	68
Seven Seas Voyager	706 - 777	447	63

 

For Regent, Navigator seems the outlier, with a number down in the Crystal range.

 

These numbers never tell the whole story.  In the above, I find Mariner has roomier public spaces than Voyager, subjectlvely speaking.  And as for cabin size, I make an exception for the Paul Gauguin with its tiny perfect 200' cabins because of its wonderful ambience and itineraries, but I see that their numbers aren't too bad, i.e.:

 

Paul Gauguin

320 - 352

199

54

[calliopecruiser]

1 hour ago, Stickman1990 said:

an Opp ship

Huh?

 

[Stickman1990]

2 minutes ago, calliopecruiser said:

Huh?

 

I mean’t to type Opp Shop - like a charity shop with recycled clothing - my wife reminds me of the missing buttons and safety pins holding a dress together 

Edited November 7, 2019 by Stickman1990

[Texas Tillie]

2 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

Well yes I do understand those factors, and for the lines I've taken have studied these issues.  Looking just at passenger to space ratios I see these numbers the two non-expedition Crystal ships: passenger capacity, # of crew and pax-to-space ratio:

Crystal Serenity	1090 - 1254	635	54
Crystal Symphony	904 - 1040	530	49

 

For the five Regent ships, three of which I've been on (not the newer ships), I see these numbers:

 

Seven Seas Explorer	754 - 829	542	68
Seven Seas Mariner	708 - 779	440	60
Seven Seas Navigator	506 - 557	315	51
Seven Seas Splendor	754 - 829	542	68
Seven Seas Voyager	706 - 777	447	63

 

For Regent, Navigator seems the outlier, with a number down in the Crystal range.

 

These numbers never tell the whole story.  In the above, I find Mariner has roomier public spaces than Voyager, subjectlvely speaking.  And as for cabin size, I make an exception for the Paul Gauguin with its tiny perfect 200' cabins because of its wonderful ambience and itineraries, but I see that their numbers aren't too bad, i.e.:

 

Paul Gauguin

320 - 352

199

54

 

Those are outdated capacity numbers for the Crystal ships and do not reflect the capacity since the latest dry docks. The current numbers are 980 for the Serenity and 848 for the Symphony.

[Thecat123]

On 11/8/2019 at 10:46 AM, Stickman1990 said:

Let’s get this straight....

 

I had an open mind (who wouldn’t having paid a good amount for the cruise) but many things like cold potato’s - 3 times in one service!, consistently sloppy service around the ship, bar staff who couldn’t be bothered getting a Bacardi from stock, a theatre with poles in the way and entertainers who were dressed like they’d visited an Opp ship didn’t impress me (and I could go on) - maybe I was too high with my expectations?

 

But then again others on the same cruise were actually more unimpressed than us and other friends who sailed on Encore a month or two later were unimpressed also - so it wasn’t just us 

 

Nice big room but a disappointing “luxury” experience in afraid 

 

 

Stickman I went through your posts on the Encore and found one of your photos of the theatre  for passengers who have never been on the Encore showing how most people can avoid the posts as you call them

Also just recently a passenger who went with an "open" mind made this post  So every cruise line will have their hick ups

 

Edited November 10, 2019 by Thecat123

[Thecat123]

On 11/8/2019 at 1:08 PM, Texas Tillie said:

 

Those are outdated capacity numbers for the Crystal ships and do not reflect the capacity since the latest dry docks. The current numbers are 980 for the Serenity and 848 for the Symphony.

 

And Seabourn seem way up there

Seabourn Cruises ships capacity

Vessel Name	Passengers (Min - Max)	Crew	Passengers-to-Space-Ratio
Seabourn Encore	532 - 638	330	63
Seabourn Odyssey	450 - 540	330	60
Seabourn Ovation	532 - 638	330	63
Seabourn Quest	450 - 540	330	60
Seabourn Sojourn	450 - 540	330	60

[Stickman1990]

1 hour ago, Thecat123 said:

Stickman I went through your posts on the Encore and found one of your photos of the theatre  for passengers who have never been on the Encore showing how most people can avoid the posts as you call them

I didn’t sit behind a pillar during a performance - I did want to see the shows however here’s a couple of pictures of the theatre on Seabourn Encore - as can be seen there are many seats which have their views blocked by the pillars

 

Why would any cruise line build a ship like that and then put chairs behind the pillars?