SeaDream or Silverseas

[ClaudiaF]

So not having cruised SD (yet) can some one who has.. :D totally convince me.. have this and Silverseas on hold..

[Cammiem]

So not having cruised SD (yet) can some one who has.. :D totally convince me.. have this and Silverseas on hold..

 

Hi ClaudiaF!

 

I've never sailed Silversea, so I cannot properly compare the two. My very first cruise ever was on SeaDream 1 in November '07. We will be on SeaDream 2 in April '08. We loved the experience so much that I cannot wait to get back onboard. :D

 

At maximum capacity, two of Silversea's ships carry 296 guests. The other two carry 382 guests. That's a bunch of people! SeaDream's yachts carry 110 at maximum capacity. We really felt like the yacht was ours. It's so wonderful! We loved the crew and met so many truly great people onboard. There are no formal nights, so leave the tuxedo, suit, ties & very dressy clothes at home.

 

I'm sure others with more experience will chime-in. Personally, I'll never cruise with anyone but SeaDream. They are fabulous!

[DisneyJen]

So not having cruised SD (yet) can some one who has.. :D totally convince me.. have this and Silverseas on hold..

 

Just like Cammiem we haven't sailed Silverseas. We will take our third SD cruise in March '08.

 

We have cruised on HAL, RCCL, Disney, Princess, Seabourn and SD. By far, our favorite cruise line is SD because we enjoy the "yachting" experience versus the "cruising" experience.

 

We like that the itinerary is flexible and the the captain has the ability to let us stay in a port longer or to go to another port based on conditions. We also like that there are no announcements, no bingo, no pool games ... just the sun and ocean and the islands.

 

We like the smallness of the ship but the spaciousness of the outdoor spaces.

 

The food and service are outstanding ... just what you would expect from a luxury line.

 

We like SD because they aren't a lot of distractions ... it allows for lots of quiet time for DH and me to reconnect.

 

We don't need to be entertained ... we don't need shows and tons of activities ...

 

We do love a good meal, followed by some star gazing, an after dinner drink and maybe a stop in the casino or piano bar.

 

I am sure others will weigh in!

[Zimmy]

So not having cruised SD (yet) can some one who has.. :D totally convince me.. have this and Silverseas on hold..

 

We have cruised both, SD twice in the Carribbean, Silversea in the Caribbean and South America. We are currently booked on a Silversea Viet Nam cruise in November. We love both lines and certainly hope to sail on both many times in the future. They are very different. While SD is casual, Silversea is elegant. If we are sailing in the Caribbean, we would definitely choose SD. The type of yachting experience on SD is perfectly suited to that itinerary. When on SD in the Caribbean, we get up in the morning, put on bathing suits and head out for the day. On Silversea we would never go to breakfast in a bathing suit and cover up - it is a more formal setting. If we were going to be in rough seas, we would choose Silversea - we have had the experience of being in rough seas on SD, and to us, it is not fun. We have not sailed SD in the Med, but I wonder if we did if we would have a conflict between wanting to be in the ports, and wanting to enjoy the ship. It is truly a delight to spend a sea day on SD (even if that sea day is really spent in port, but not getting off the ship).

[Luxury Traveler]

:D

I have not been on Cruise Critic for a while but when I saw this post and have experienced both products quite a few times, It is very easy to answer your inquiry...This really is not a fair apples to oranges comparison.

 

You must make the call if you want a fairly structured formal Luxury Cruise vacation or an unstructred informal Yachting experience...

 

At this point in my life I really do not want to wear a tie again if I don't have too...I really enjoyed the outstanding Crew and felt the Food was better on SeaDream as it really is so much more of a personal experience...I also liked the informality of the entire operation..

 

These products are not the same except for the quality that you will receive on both.

 

To me it was simple when I wanted a Formal Cruise experience it was SilverSeas but when I wanted a relaxing yachting experience it was SeaDream...( I am now a firm believer that Bigger is not better when it comes to the Cruise Industry)

 

You can't go wrong with either product, just have a good understanding of which experience suits you better...It seems that almost everyone on this forum have become converts...after their SeaDream experience..

 

Good luck..you really can't make a poor choice..

LUX

[DisneyJen]

:D

I have not been on Cruise Critic for a while but when I saw this post and have experienced both products quite a few times, It is very easy to answer your inquiry...This really is not a fair apples to oranges comparison.

 

You must make the call if you want a fairly structured formal Luxury Cruise vacation or an unstructred informal Yachting experience...

 

...

 

 

Welcome back LUX!

 

I think you make excellent points about SD ... especially the unstructured informal point.

[wripro]

There is one more thing to consider between the two and that is itineraries. SD basically offers one week Caribbean or Med cruises with no sea days. SS offers more diverse itineraries to more exotic locations along with the usual Med and Caribbean ones. If you want to go to Alaska, the Seychelles, Viet Nam, Africa, the Baltic etc. then SD is obviously not your choice. If you're only going to experience the ship and want to be casual, it is your choice.

[JustAud]

Never sailed SilverSea so can't comment there, but I can say comparing our three Regent experiences to the one on SD, Regent won hands down. The atmosphere is casual, yet elegant, the service is excellent, there are multiple dining venues (so more choices and less crowds) with indulgent and healthy choices, an excellent changing complimentary wine selection, gym is larger and has more options, etc., etc. The itineraries were excellent (SDs sounded great, but changed so often it wasn't what we'd signed up for). The ships we were on had about 400-250 people, the only one where we didn't feel like we met everyone and had some nice conversation was in French Polynesia, but there was so much to do on the islands folks went their separate ways more often. In Alaska and Antarctica, we really bonded with many of the passengers and crew - just never got that on SD, not sure why. SS sounds lovely, but a bit too "over the top elegant" for us, that's why we thought SD would be great. We will stick with Regent or try Seabourne and Oceania (which seems like a great alternative so that we can go more often!)

[Cruisedude56]

If I could put my 2 cents in....................???

I think people have to look into what type of itinerary they book, and then expect accordingly.

After having studied their brochures etc. and if I wanted the SeaDream Experience with Dinners on Deck, Water Sports and overnights in port etc., then common sense is telling me that sailing from Miami to St. Thomas would be the last itinerary I wanted to look at.

I have mainly sailed on bigger ships and not yet been on SeaDream myself but some good friends of mine have, they just came back from a 9 day cruise a few days ago and could not stop raving about it. Some years ago I sailed on Seabourn on an incentive trip and that was very good but somewhat too formal for me.

Tahiti with Regent also sounds good interesting.

I have heard from people who have sailed SilverSea that the two older ships have extremely poor "sound insulation" between the cabins. When it comes to the SilverSea product I believe it is a very good one.

I'm hoping to try SeaDream in the future, my "Piggybank" is not fat enough yet.

 

Cruisedude