Silversea/Crystal

[renny]

WE have sailed on SilverSea and Crystal, using lower priced cabins. What differences will we find on Azamara? Will we be disappointed?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I have never crusied before

We will on the Jounery for 7 days starting May 16 for our first crusie :D

Cost was about $1000 CDN / person

Siversea for a one week crusie is starts at $3,200 US

So how can you compare them?:confused:

[tgg]

WE have sailed on SilverSea and Crystal, using lower priced cabins. What differences will we find on Azamara? Will we be disappointed?

 

If you cruise Azamara and compare it constantly to Silversea or Crystal, you will be disappointed.

 

But you must have a reason for considering an Azamara cruise. If you think about the value received for dollars spent on Azamara, you probably won't be disappointed. Why? Because disappointment is based on how well something meets your expectations. And going in, you'll know not to expect a Silversea experience at an Azamara price.

 

Azamara has a quality but not luxury product at a very reasonable price.

[estofon]

WE have sailed on SilverSea and Crystal, using lower priced cabins. What differences will we find on Azamara? Will we be disappointed?

Renny, if you have been "Crystallized," you will probably be disappointed with Azamara. It is considered "deluxe," a big step up from mass-market lines like RCCL, NCL, Carnival, etc., but not luxury like Crystal and SilverSea. Azamara competes with Oceania, but at a lower price.

[Jade13]

If you cruise Azamara and compare it constantly to Silversea or Crystal, you will be disappointed.

 

But you must have a reason for considering an Azamara cruise. If you think about the value received for dollars spent on Azamara, you probably won't be disappointed. Why? Because disappointment is based on how well something meets your expectations. And going in, you'll know not to expect a Silversea experience at an Azamara price.

 

Azamara has a quality but not luxury product at a very reasonable price.

 

We will be on SilverSeas in July and then Azamara next February. The Azamara is going to be more expensive once we add in the excursions (on PAII the zodiacs are included). We are going on Azamara because of itinerary. SilverSeas did not have a cruise next February from Hong Kong and visiting both Vietnam and Thailand.

[Lobbylin]

If you cruise Azamara and compare it constantly to Silversea or Crystal, you will be disappointed.

 

But you must have a reason for considering an Azamara cruise. If you think about the value received for dollars spent on Azamara, you probably won't be disappointed. Why? Because disappointment is based on how well something meets your expectations. And going in, you'll know not to expect a Silversea experience at an Azamara price.

 

Azamara has a quality but not luxury product at a very reasonable price.

 

This above reply is spot on.

 

I have sailed a lot of the cruise lines, including Silverseas and Azamara and you just match your expectations to:

- what you know about that cruiseline

- why you booked that cruise (me, I pick itinerary first and then cruiseline second)

-and how much you paid.

 

As Estofon wrote: Crystal/Silverseas are Luxury and Azamara is Deluxe. They are two completely different experiences.

If you go in with your eyes open and set your expectations accordingly, then Azamara should not disappoint.

[Lobbylin]

WE have sailed on SilverSeas and Crystal, using lower priced cabins. What differences will we find on Azamara? Will we be disappointed?

 

Food in the Azamara dining room is below Silverseas quality, but should not disappoint.

 

Food in the Azamara Speciatlity dining rooms is outstanding and will not disappoint.

 

The buffet experience IMO is completely different - choice of food, how you are served etc is completely different and Azamara is not a patch on Silverseas in that respect.

 

Afternoon tea is comparable IMO when set up on sea days on Azamara in their nice dining rooms (as opposed to the port days afternoon tea in the buffet).

 

Alcoholic beverages are included on Silverseas and are not on Azamara.

 

Cabins are nice on both IMO.

 

There were more on board activities on Azamara than on Silverseas.

 

The clientele is very different on both ships, and we found it easier to chat and mingle with other passengers on Azamara.

 

Service is outstanding throughout the ship on Silverseas, and varies from acceptable to good to outstanding on Azamara IMO.

 

I guess you could summarise it by comparing Silverseas as flying business compared to Azamara as enhanced economy.

 

We picked our Azamara cruise because of the itinerary, set our expectations on what we knew of Azamara and enjoyed the cruise.:)

[Grandma Gilly]

We have sailed on Crystal and Azamara but not Silverseas. I dont think you can compare the quality or service, however, when one considers the price difference Crystal is about twice as expensive but only 1.2 times better! We do not have any cruises booked at the moment but when we start looking again Azamara will be at the top of our list. I hope this helps you.

[stevefrankel]

This above reply is spot on.

 

As Estofon wrote: Crystal/Silverseas are Luxury and Azamara is Deluxe. They are two completely different experiences.

If you go in with your eyes open and set your expectations accordingly, then Azamara should not disappoint.

 

Having been on all of them, I'd say the one's offering more but at substantially higher prices are Silverseas and Regent 7 Seas (RSS). I think Azamara is now substantially equal to Crystal with the minor exception of free wine on Crystal; but Azamara is substantially less expensive.

 

The best value leaders, I think, are Azamara (under $150 a day recently for a balcony room and air) and RSS (around $250-300 a day with a balcony room and air), but with RSS now including wine and nearly all land tours. With land tours now costing $150-$300 per day per couple, I thinks this makes RSS the overall value leader with Azamara coming in second. Then I'd rank Crystal and then Silverseas. Then I'd put all the rest of the lines FAR behind.

 

While I'm putting Siverseas 4th, don't discount it. With so few passengers and its higher prices and longer voyages, it's really like a private club. The guests are the most interesting, I think, and the service is by far the best of them all. NOTHING is out of line for a guest to request.

 

I haven't been on Seabourne so I'm not including it in my rankings; and any ship with more than 1200 guests (including the Queens) cannot match the experience of any of my "top 4."

 

Comments anyone?

[Paulchili]

I think this is an almost a pointless discussion. How do you compare a Lexus to a Honda? They are both good cars and they both get you from point A to B. That is where the similarities end. So it is with Azamara and Silversea - you know what it will cost you on each and what you will receive in return on each. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether it is worth to spend the extra money for the extra cruising experience (food, service, cabins, etc) - to some it is well worth it (especially those that have the money) and to others it is not worth it. But it is really comparing apples to oranges.

As pointed out earlier, just keep an open mind, don't constantly compare Azamara with Silversea/Crystal and enjoy the savings!