Please compare Silversea to Regent

[kjbacon]

We love Regent but a 2025 itinerary on Silversea is perfect for us. I already checked with a good friend who sails both for her opinion and since it was positive, we are holding the cruise. More feedback would be much appreciated! How do you feel the two compare? Thanks so much.

[WesW]

Kudos for your willingness to try Silversea.

 

We have over 200 days on Regent and near 300 on Silversea.  Dining; enjoy the main Restaurant on Regent more than Silversea, but much prefer the specialty restaurants on Silversea (except paying for Le Dame, Kaiseki). Enjoy the service more on Silversea (for us; more intuitive than on Regent (they serve you before you ask). Excursions are similar on both lines but Regent fills buses at near capacity, Silversea does not so you're with a smaller group on excursions.  Daytime entertainment more enjoyable on Regent (Enterainment staff and Officers always involved with guests).  Nightime entertainment similar on both lines; tho Silversea brings in very special entertainers on occassion (e.g., Andrea Bocelli).  Since we have been on most classic cruises on both Regent and Silversea (Med, South American, NZ/Aus, French Polynesia, Caribbean, Asia, Northern Europe, crossings), our preference now is Silversea for their marvelous Expedition cruising.  And the crew members on both Regent and Silversea are outstanding--having interviewed and profiled here on cruise critic, dozens of these hard working crew over the last ten years, have got to know many of them very well.  Silversea is much more generous for solo passengers offering many 25%single supplement fares.  We all should count our blessings that we are forutnate enough to cruise on either line and that we (and the crew) are now cruising again in the post Covid era.

[boblerm]

I only sailed on SS once, I would return only if the itinerary was one that Regent did not offer.

 

We had a few service glitches, but that may well have been an anomaly. 

 

I know that you are interested in cuisine, and I thought that the cuisine was comparable to Regent, although as Wes has mentioned, their very best restaurants require and extra charge. 

To me,  no big deal, in the big scheme.  Do not miss La Dame!  It is truly a unique experience at sea, a small intimate venue, well worth the extra cost for foodies.

 

I have to disagree with my friend Wes in regard to evening entertainment.  What was offered on my SS cruise was a troupe of 4 or 6 singers, (can't quite remember), no dancers, no costumes or scenery, no live orchestra.  What was offered was more of a cabaret show than production shows.  For those that relish the production shows on Regent, this does not compare in any way.

If that kind of entertainment does not float your boat, it doesn't matter.  I enjoyed the lounge performer very much.

 

Other than that, SS is more formal than Regent in that there are some formal nights that Regent (other than on longer cruises) do not.  SS has butlers for all suites categories.

 

I know that you are cruise lovers, and if you do decide to go with SS, I have little doubt that you will have a great time; as to whether or not it lives up to Regent standards, only you can decide.

 

Bob

[Gpilon]

We were very disappointed on our Silver Muse Med cruise a few years ago. The upcharge for La Dame was “somewhat” worth it but Kaiseki was an absolute waste. Advertised as a theatrical dining experience, it actually was 2 chefs preparing food teppanyaki style with zero “theatrics” involved. Agree with Boblerm that SS was much more formal than Regent, to the point, every evening at every dining venue men had to wear jackets, save for Spaccanapoli. One evening early in the cruise we went to dinner in the main dining room and I was actually “instructed” I needed a jacket and was turned away. Because of dining with another couple and not wanting to make a scene, I returned to our suite and put one on. Once in the dining room, I noticed virtually every gentleman there had removed their jackets and had them slung over the back of their seats. We were in a nice Silver Suite but I’d does not compare to Regents comparable suites, and with fewer amenities. That was our second cruise on SS, With Shadow to Alaska being our first, and our last. 

[kjbacon]

Thanks so much for all this helpful information.

 

Yes, the cuisine is definitely important to us and we liked the number of different food venues offered. If we follow through on this cruise, will certainly give La Dame at least a try and any others with a surcharge. Are the wines upgraded at these restaurants?

 

One of my concerns with SS is that it looks like it’s more dressy than we prefer. Is a sport coat actually required for dinner every night? My husband will not like that after doing the suit thing every day for too many years.

 

While we love shows, we rarely stay up that late (I am posting now and it’s 5am) we are either blessed or cursed to both being morning people. Love the idea of smaller groups for excursions. And back to the original point, this Hawaï itinerary is great for us and I’ve not seen it on any other small ship.

 

Much to consider and to echo the same sentiment as Wes … we are so fortunate to have these choices and to be able to cruise.

[forgap]

I think it also depends on the ship.  Our only SS cruise was on Whisper.  It was one of their oldest ships and the common rooms looked like they had not been updated since the ship was launched.  I reviewed all aspects of the cruise in the review section of CC if you want more details.  Finally, SS is definitely more formal than Regent, but on our cruise, the jacket requirement was not enforced consistently.  

[WesW]

kjbacon; no a sportscoat is not required for dinner everynight.  On formal nights men can still dress casual at the Pool Grill restaurant, or just wear a sports jacket at the Italian restaurant. Below is Silversea's description of their clothing attire;

 

Suggest you also post this subject on the Silversea board to get even more perspective,  We have been on over 15 cruises on both Regent and Silversea and on each cruiseline there has been at least one off experience.  

 

 

Clothing Suggestions – Shipboard Attire

Shipboard attire ranges from casual to formal. Casual wear is appropriate for daytime aboard ship or ashore and consists of standard sports outfits as worn at five-star resorts. Shoes should be flat or low heeled for deck activities. Evening attire falls into three categories: casual, informal and formal. On casual evenings, pants, blouses, skirts and casual dresses for ladies; open-neck shirts and slacks for gentlemen are appropriate. On informal evenings, ladies usually wear dresses or pantsuits; gentlemen wear jackets (tie optional). Appropriate formal evening wear for ladies is an evening gown or cocktail dress; gentlemen wear tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits. Tie is required.

On formal nights, guests may dine in La Terrazza and choose to dress informal; dresses or pantsuits for ladies, jackets for gentlemen (tie optional). This option also applies to Seishin and Stars on board Silver Spirit. Dining at The Grill is optional casual
all nights. Following dinner, all guests are free to take advantage of any or all public spaces, however, jacket is required. Sailings of 9 days or less typically feature 1 formal night, while longer voyages usually have 2-3 formal nights. Details will be provided in your final cruise documents, but the chart below provides a basic guideline to assist in packing the proper attire.

[kjbacon]

WesW, thank you! That’s a great idea and I will post on the SS board. Admit that I’m a little (maybe a lot) concerned about that dress code as it sounds much more dressy than we are. On the other hand, the restaurants look fantastic and it’s often good to try new things!

[hamasgirl]

We have done a number of Regent, Seabourn and Silversea cruises.  There are many things that the three cruise lines have in common, so liking one means that you will undoubtedly enjoy the other.  But there are differences and from our perspective I can say that Silversea is our least favorite from the perspective of three things.  1.  They are definitely a more formal ship....there are very few evenings where at least a jacket for the men is required and the maitre d's seem to enjoy pointing that out to the men who show up 'under-dressed'.  Which leads me to my 2nd item.  Overall while everyone gets a butler on SS, we found the butlers to be not much more than a 'senior' cabin steward.  And their attention to our suite, given the large number of suites that each butler is assigned, is not so 'special'.  Overall in general we found the staff on our SS cruises to be more 'stand-offish' than those on Regent and Seabourn...not in a way that offends but just isn't very warm.

 

And finally our third item.  On the newer ships...like the Muse... there is no 'main' restaurant but a set or 8 dining venues.  We enjoy trying different food items when cruising and thought that this was a great new idea.  At the end of our 28 day cruise...not so much.  Essentially each dining venue has a set menu of dishes that basically remain unchanged.  Sometimes there are some small changes but these too become same-old-same-old as the days progress and these 'changes' show up again exactly as they did before.  We did not find La Dame all that special, Kaiseki was indeed a waste of money for dinner, Silver Note is not our style of eating (jazz club music while eating small plates) and Spanacanopoli (spelled that wrong I am sure) is an outdoor pizza place.  That left us with 4 restaurants including Italian (evening in La Terraza), outside dining (the Grill/Patio), steak and fish restaurant (Atlantide) and Asian-fusion restaurant (Indochine).  Small well-designed menus at each restaurant became stale after about 14 days...and we had 14 more to go.

 

So we will sail SS again...their itineraries are amazing....and have 2 already booked for 2024...but we will go on the cruises knowing what to expect.  We are going to try Nova..a new ship with a different approach to dining that we hope will be better for us.

 

Hope that helps.

[AtA]

I haven't been on Regent since 2010 (switched to Crystal) but will be back on Regent in March. We always enjoyed Regent in the past.

We sailed SS for the first time this past September on Whisper from NY to Quebec and back to NY.

So here is how I see SS compared to Wes:

 

Dining; enjoy the main Restaurant on Regent more than Silversea, but much prefer the specialty restaurants on Silversea

Found the specialties just so-so. We had the same dishes in the main dining room and found them mostly the same to make La Dame not worth the money.

Enjoy the service more on Silversea (for us; more intuitive than on Regent (they serve you before you ask).

We did not find the service on SS intuitive. Things like having to ask for sugar and cream for our coffee? Bringing 3 pats of butter at dinner for a table of 5? That's not intuitive.

When we mentioned to our butler how there was no place to just get a cookie in the middle of the day, his comment to us was, "well on the other ships you can get one". We weren't on the other ships and intuitive would have been, "Let me go get you one right now, What kind would you like?"

Excursions are similar on both lines but Regent fills buses at near capacity, Silversea does not so you're with a smaller group on excursions.  

Sorry but the only excursion on SS that wasn't filled was the one tour we paid a premium for. The "free" tours all were filled to capacity. In some cases on school busses.

Daytime entertainment more enjoyable on Regent (Enterainment staff and Officers always involved with guests).  

There was almost no daily entertainment or lectures on SS. Even on sea days.

Nightime entertainment similar on both lines; tho Silversea brings in very special entertainers on occassion (e.g., Andrea Bocelli).

They brought in NO ONE. Their only entertainment was their own singers/dancers. And their shows were barely better than a HS performance. On 2 or 3 nights their idea of entertainment was showing the same movie.

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by AtA

[kjbacon]

Thank you all for the additional and helpful feedback. As is with most things, sone aspects sound fabulous and others, not so much. The variety of restaurants is very appealing but that dress code is not! 
 

There are quite a few sea days on the itinerary that we are looking at so I’m curious about daytime activities? Is the spa nice? 

[Observer]

I agree that Silversea is a bit dressier than Regent. However, there is always a very casual dinner option on Silversea: the pool grill.  It is outdoors (though service can be in covered areas with heaters if the weather is inclement) and some guests can and do appear in shorts and T-shirts.  The menu is largely steaks and chops and fish, that can either be prepared in the galley or can be cooked by the guest on a hot lava rock at the table  there are a few salad options and a few desserts.  Since it is outdoors, it is quieter than typical restaurant venues. In this period of multiple viruses floating around, it may will also be healthier to be sitting in an open air venue rather than in a possibly crowded indoor restaurant.

[Lonedaddy]

I suspect you would enjoy a cruise on both.  A little variety is good.

[Joanandjoe]

There have been a lot of posts on this subject, so we'll once again post our not very favorable review of our only Silversea cruise, in 2018, in the Gulf of Bothnia (between Sweden and Finland).  One of our most interesting itineraries ever; Silversea has many itineraries that would be better for us than some of the "same old, same old" itineraries on Regent.  Nonetheless, our experience was not a good one, and we are unlikely to sail Silversea again.

 

   Food - too many snafus and service problems, at multiple venues, none of our problems addressed.  7 pm meal times were a deal breaker, since there was no afternoon tea or decent snacks to tide us over.

   Entertainment.  Shows were at 6:30 and/or 10 pm.  10 pm is too late for us, while 6:30 would have pushed our already-too-late dinner times to even later.

   Ports - generally interesting; but excursions were often disappointing.  (Note:  in reading the port and excursion reviews, the similar sounding Bornholm and Borgholm were different ports.)

   Service - generally on the same level as Regent.  The butler didn't add much to the experience.

   Dress code.  I didn't bring a tie with me.  The one extra service from the butler was that he loaned me a tie.

   Ship - beautiful and newly "stretched"; but they failed to enlarge the public spaces to accommodate an greatly increased passenger load.

   Overall - Regent is a much better fit for us.

 

 

Silver Spirit Review July 2018.docx

[SWFLAOK]

We've done quite a few cruises on Regent, and it's our favorite cruise line, with a 2 week cruise booked in 2023, and a 20 day cruise in 2024. We always enjoy the Compass Rose for our dinner since there are so many choices that change each night, and the specialty restaurants are free. We did however think that the specialty restaurants on the larger ships, such as Splendor, are too large to feel special with large tables of loud diners, and slower service. We didn't bother booking any extra dinners at the specialty restaurants on our last B to B cruises, but we did go for lunch a few times when the specialty restaurants were open for lunch (check your daily Passages for info).

We've only cruised once on Silversea, roundtrip from Barbados to Manaus. We enjoyed it the cruise, and the food and service were excellent. We loved the food and service at La Dame, and ate there several times. The dress code, however, is more formal than we liked. I don't think anyone wants to wear a jacket to dinner every night. The pool grill is more casual, but I hated the smell of the hot rocks, with a lot of smoke from it, and I had no desire to cook on it.  On one of our formal nights, we came close to our requirements with navy jacket and pants that looked like a suit, and a fancier dress with nylons and heels. But on the second formal night we ordered room service. Our butler as excellent in every way. We've had a butler on Regent for 2 cruises, and for one on HAL, and they were not as good.

But eventually it comes down to the itinerary on cruise lines that you're already familiar with. And that's why we booked Silversea for the 2025 World Cruise on Silver Dawn. It's not too big or too small for a very long cruise, with a large selection of restaurants and bars. We think we will miss having the restaurant as an option. And I hope they have less formal nights by then, but we'll have the clothes for it, and laundry is included for the world cruise. The itinerary covers all of the places that we haven't been before, and wanted t go to. The few areas that we visit again stop in different ports than we stopped in the past, or where we didn't have enough time for everything we wanted see on our first stop. We hope it works out, because this would be the high point of our lives.

 

[kjbacon]

This feedback has been so helpful, thank you all. We tried Seabourn over the summer and it was not a good fit for us, the 7pm dinner time was late for us. We are early risers and 6:30 is plenty late for us. We do like the variety of those restaurants and no one else has that Hawaii itinerary. Then there’s that dress code that we won’t like at all. Who wants to wear a jacket in Hawaii??

[SWFLAOK]

We always eat as early as possible for dinner since we are alao early risers, and ready for dinner as soon it's available. We found that wearing a jacket to dinner and putting it on the back of the chair in a warm environment worked for men. The dress code for women was easy to follow.

We would like to see Silversea have a more relaxed dress code, We don'r want to see the restauranrs filled with people in shorts, T shirrs, sneakers and flip flops for dinner. but dinner jackets should only be expected on in the upscale restaurants, and not required in the bars after dinner.

[kjbacon]

9 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

We always eat as early as possible for dinner since we are alao early risers, and ready for dinner as soon it's available. We found that wearing a jacket to dinner and putting it on the back of the chair in a warm environment worked for men. The dress code for women was easy to follow.

We would like to see Silversea have a more relaxed dress code, We don'r want to see the restauranrs filled with people in shorts, T shirrs, sneakers and flip flops for dinner. but dinner jackets should only be expected on in the upscale restaurants, and not required in the bars after dinner.

Are dinner jackets for men also expected in the bars? We can’t go to the bar to have drinks before dinner without him wearing a jacket?

 

I’m not sure that I see where SS is coming from in terms of elegance with a dining room full of dinner jackets on chairs!

[AtA]

On 12/17/2022 at 6:01 AM, kjbacon said:

This feedback has been so helpful, thank you all. We tried Seabourn over the summer and it was not a good fit for us, the 7pm dinner time was late for us. 

Dinner on SS also starts at 7 PM.

[Observer]

11 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Are dinner jackets for men also expected in the bars? We can’t go to the bar to have drinks before dinner without him wearing a jacket?

 

I’m not sure that I see where SS is coming from in terms of elegance with a dining room full of dinner jackets on chairs!

To be precise, dinner jackets or other formal wear is never required on Silversea. The jackets that are expected on nights designated “informal“ are sport jackets or suit jackets but not dinner jackets.

[kjbacon]

4 hours ago, Observer said:

To be precise, dinner jackets or other formal wear is never required on Silversea. The jackets that are expected on nights designated “informal“ are sport jackets or suit jackets but not dinner jackets.

Ok, so are sport jackets or suit jackets expected in the bars for before (or after) dinner drinks? 

[sabreline]

10 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Ok, so are sport jackets or suit jackets expected in the bars for before (or after) dinner drinks? 

After 6 pm, yes.

[kjbacon]

Not too sure that this cruise is for us and I’m really disappointed because the itinerary is so appealing.

 

Would it go to follow then that a tie is expected in the bars after 6pm on formal nights? 
 

Still cannot figure out why anyone would want to get that dressed up in Hawaii!

[cwn]

We didn’t  20 years ago and don’t now! That is why a SS transAtlantic years ago was a one and done. We then didn’t mind one or two more formal nights, but now Dick doesn’t even like to take a sports coat. 

[Observer]

15 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Ok, so are sport jackets or suit jackets expected in the bars for before (or after) dinner drinks? 

  

About 25% of the evenings have casual dress code.  So no jacket expected anywhere on the ship.  On dressier evenings, one can always drink at the pool bar, which is open until late every night.  The pool bar is always casual (as is the Pool Grill restaurant.)