Which four Luxury/Near Luxury cruise lines to take?

[Chas2crews]

Edited January 24, 2021 by Chas2crews
Delete image as it is probably copyrighted.

[1982CruzStart]

We did a very similar itinerary to this one in Nov/Dec 2018 on Regent Seven Seas. It is an excellent cruise line that includes business class flights for most/all clients, shore excursions etc. 

 

The included shore excursions were very important for this itinerary because we found that many ports had a poor tourist infrastructure for handling the number of tourists off a cruise ship.  Now things may have changed since then but it would have required a lot of work and money to bring the tourist industry able to handle large numbers. I think someone would find it difficult to arrange private tours. When we were there they didn't have enough tour guides to handle our one ship.  They seemed to have very few professional tour guides as there just wasn't the demand. 

 

As well in some ports we had police escorts as the traffic was so bad we would have spent a good chunk of the day in traffic rather than seeing the sites. 

 

It is an interesting itinerary though i have to say i prefer the east coast of Africa. 

[Chas2crews]

This is great information and while I had previously put Regent on my “do not cruise” list (they kicked us off when some group reserved the entire ship), post the Azamara sale, I may be bringing them back into consideration.

[honumaui]

Don't know anything about your itinerary but we did two Mediterranean cruises on Regent and were very happy with the service, food, etc. Loved that they flew us across the pond Business class. All the included tour choices were well planned and organized.   We had planned to do a west coast Europe cruise and a crossing with them but covid cancelled that. We are booked for a crossing and Lisbon land extension with them for 2023.

[Chas2crews]

Thanks for sharing these thoughts. I’m warming up to Regent the more I hear.  It will be fun to see what the Final Four selection will be.  I will keep you posted for sure.
 

 

[mj_holiday]

DH and I are definitely Regent fans.  We have had 5 cruises on Regent and everything was just great, relaxing and pampered.  We have experience on Mass market cruise lines, and expedition cruise lines. We have taken one cruise on Azamara because of the itinerary to Cuba and have another intensive cruise booked with Azamara.  Azamara was very nice, but we didn't feel "pampered" like we do on Regent.

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, mj_holiday said:

.  Azamara was very nice, but we didn't feel "pampered" like we do on Regent.

You are comparing apples & oranges

Azamara is not a luxury line

[Ladys Mom]

7 hours ago, LHT28 said:

You are comparing apples & oranges

Azamara is not a luxury line

We did several cruises on Azamara years ago and didn't like the "vibe" so we moved on.  After several cruises on Regent, which we love, we tried Azamara again because the itinerary included the Edinburgh Tattoo, which had been on our bucket list forever.  We chose a penthouse cabin rather than veranda (the names on Azamara are different), and it made all the difference.  We were treated very well and it turned out to be one of the best cruises we have ever taken.  We would definitely take another Azamara cruise if the itinerary was right.

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, Ladys Mom said:

We did several cruises on Azamara years ago and didn't like the "vibe" so we moved on.  After several cruises on Regent, which we love, we tried Azamara again because the itinerary included the Edinburgh Tattoo, which had been on our bucket list forever.  We chose a penthouse cabin rather than veranda (the names on Azamara are different), and it made all the difference.  We were treated very well and it turned out to be one of the best cruises we have ever taken.  We would definitely take another Azamara cruise if the itinerary was right.

I think if you upgraded your cabin choice on any line you would be treated different

 But is Aza all inclusive like Regent?

[Chas2crews]

I did say I would update this thread.  My first luxury cruise, solo, will be on Silversea Dawn in March 2023.  That leaves plenty of time to do some RCCL so I will have a fresh baseline against which to compare.  

[Lois R]

On 12/1/2021 at 6:48 PM, Chas2crews said:

I did say I would update this thread.  My first luxury cruise, solo, will be on Silversea Dawn in March 2023.  That leaves plenty of time to do some RCCL so I will have a fresh baseline against which to compare.  

Hi, I have been on multiple Silversea Cruises and I sailed Mass Market for many, many years.......

You cannot compare the 2 lines........THAT is apples to oranges.  

 

Oh, I am sailing on the Dawn in April 2022😃

[Chas2crews]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi, I have been on multiple Silversea Cruises and I sailed Mass Market for many, many years.......

You cannot compare the 2 lines........THAT is apples to oranges.  

 

Oh, I am sailing on the Dawn in April 2022😃

Perfect, Lois R.  I would love to hear your thoughts on the Dawn.  I have done Crystal once, so I am aware there is a difference.  It never hurts to do Days Inn to help you know what is great about the Ritz Carlton.  

[SireDoime]

My first (true) luxury cruise will be with Regent in December 2022 on SS Splendor to the Eastern Caribbean, and again a Transatlantic in November 2023, same ship. I was going sail SS Voyager for the Transatlantic, but decided to stay on the Splendor.

 

My first taste of premium cruising was on Celebrity Equinox, and I liked it, but aside from the restaurants and Hot Glass Class I felt it could've been better. When I sailed on the Infinity I found out that all their ships are essentially the same, and was rather disappointed. I was hoping each ship would have it's own unique personality. Plus, premium isn't luxury...I wanted all inclusive, even my Concierge Stateroom was a dismal 192sqft.

 

My Dad (RIP 😇🙏🏿) went on the Crystal Serenity for European cruise in 2013. From his pictures and videos he LOVED it! That inspired to follow suit.

Edited December 30, 2021 by SireDoime

[Chas2crews]

Keep us posted, Wesley.  I would love to hear your thoughts on Regent as I will have three more lines to try.  Alternatively, I may get so smitten with Silversea that I just do three more on their ships.