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Which luxury line is best for us?


Ringlet

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Hello!

 

My DH and I have never sailed on a luxury line before and we've recently decided we'd like to give it a shot. This decision was prompted by our recent booking of a Princess cruise, wherein we opted to go w/ Princess in order to get away from the wildness of Carnival or NCL (for example). While we're still going on the Princess cruise, we realized that perhaps what we're really after can best be achieved by sailing with a luxury line. That being said, we're not sure which luxury line would be the best fit for us.

 

I'm 39 and DH is 52. We like a laid back ambience but do enjoy some entertainment in the evening. We've been taking ballroom dancing lessons, so would like the chance to dance to live music. A casino is a must, as I like the slots and DH would be so disappointed to miss his blackjack. We enjoy a festive atmosphere, but are not wild partiers. We definitely don't want to be around lots of kids (nothing wrong with kids, just that we've encountered way too many of the "little darlings" and their parents who let their kids run wild, on the mass-market cruise lines already). We rather enjoy dressing up, so formal nights are not a problem.

 

Another issue is that we are smokers and we do not want to feel like second class citizens about it when we cruise, although we are always very considerate of non-smokers and do not wish to be an imposition to others. We received a mailing from Regent and started to get all excited about them as a possible future cruise option, but then I discovered that their smoking policy is quite restrictive. What other lines might be better for us as smokers?

 

Thank you all in advance for any insights you may be able to give!

 

- Ringlet :)

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Give Crystal a try. While their smoking policy has changed somewhat, you can still smoke in the cabins and balconies. It's becoming more and more difficult for smokers on any cruise line as they are changing policies to make smoking more restrictive.

 

Crystal has ships larger than those of Regent/Seabourn/Silversea, provide much more in the way of entertainment than the other luxury lines and have been ranked number one for the past number of years.

 

Crystal also has some very good incentives for cruising them, such as a $2000 per cabin on board credit that you can use for everything other than casino charges and future cruise bookings, which would make a cruise on Crystal virtually all inclusive.

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The smoking policies are less stringent than Regent on the other three luxury cruiselines: Silversea, Seabourn and Crystal. You may want to do a side by side comparison to determine which one is right for you.

 

For instance, Crystal is by far the largest of the three cruise lines and is the only one that is not all-inclusive and has set seating in their main dining room. It also has the best entertainment of the three cruise lines.

 

Seabourn currently has the smallest ships (until the new one debuts next month). Their current ships do not have balconies. Seabourn is known for having the best service.

 

Silversea is more or less in the middle size wise. Silversea also has a new (larger) ship that will begin sailing either December 2009 or January 2010.

 

In terms of children, there are not many children on any of the luxury cruise lines except during school breaks, school holidays and summer. Seabourn tends to have the least amount of childrlen while Crystal, being a larger ship with more to do, has more.

 

You may want to compare the items that you most important to you (cabin size, etc.) Whichever you choose, have a great cruise!

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I don't know much about the other lines, but Crystal sounds like it would meet your needs. There was dancing every night in one of the lounges and has excellent entertainment. They even have some theme cruises, so you might want to see if any of them match your needs.

 

Another alternative is Cunard, which has dancing in ball rooms every night (the Queen Mary 2 has the largest one at sea with a great large band). I don't know Cunard's smoking policy and it is not really a luxury line, but people do dress up much more than on even the premium lines (Celebrity and Princess) and ratings for the suites, which have special dining rooms, pushes the ratings up to the luxury category. The Queen Mary 2 has great entertainment. But, to repeat, its not the same luxury experience as Crystal, the main difference being the level of personalized service.

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Ringlet, I would also take a look at the new Seabourn Odyssey. The current Seabourn ships are 200 passengers. They are quite nice but entertainment is a little more limited and the casino is quite small. The new Odyssey which comes out very soon will carry 450 passengers. It will offer several amentiies that the triplets don't offer.

 

So, I would take a look at Crystal, Silversea and Seabourn.

 

If you get a chance pick up a copy of Ocean Cruising by Douglas Ward and published by Berlitz. You can get it on Amazon.Com

 

It is updated yearly. It give a nice writeup on each ship and gives you a good feel on the different amenities. It has served me well as a good reference tool.

 

Good luck.

 

Keith

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Hi Ringlet,

I, too, am a smoker and Regent is still my favorite, even though their smoking policy is somewhat restrictive. However, they do not make you feel like a pariah. There are numerous places to smoke both inside and outdoors. There are ashtrays everywhere you are allowed to smoke. I found that I did not need to smoke in the cabin. I far prefer their dining set up over Crystal, which I DID try; no comparison IMHO! The cabins are much larger on Regent, and overall, I think it's far better value, when I looked at the cost difference on balcony staterooms on Crystal.

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Crystal does not permit smoking on any balconies, thank goodness. We took our first Crystal cruise only after we learned that Crystal's smoking policy became more stringent. We were able to enjoy most of the ship without being bothered by smoke, though not as much of it as we would like. I enjoy singing, but the room(s) where karaoke is held is not to my knowledge non-smoking yet.

 

We were very happy that the observation lounge where afternoon tea is served and bands play has only a few tables near the entrance to the room where smoking is permitted, and those were not near the band.

 

There has been discussion that Crystal may ban smoking in the Avenue Saloon, and numerous people here on Cruise Critic in the Crystal forum have voiced their opinions on that, with the majority (if I'm not mistaken) agreeing that venue would be better as a non-smoking room. Right next door to it is a beautiful room where passengers can smoke and certainly NOT feel like second class citizens.

 

If you visit the Silversea forum you will likely read a very heated debate about children onboard, and I got the impression that Silversea caters to adults perhaps more than the other luxury lines and that the forum members want it to stay that way.

 

Does it matter to you whether you have single seating where you can dine when you want? Do you want alcoholic beverages included in your fare? These are some other questions you might use in your comparison.

 

Someone mentioned Cunard and that sounds like it would work, too, if you book the higher end staterooms and dine in Grill Class.

 

Have fun with your research. :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Definitely agree with Wripro. They are all luxury cruise lines, but, definitely cater to different people.

 

Quick note on children: Regent, Seabourn and Silversea are basically adult cruise ships except when school is out or during school holidays. Regent has special programs for children during these times -- Silversea gets a few children -- Seabourn -- almost none -- too small. Sorry, have no idea what Crystal has or doesn't have in that area.

 

Yes, there is a lot of competition, but in my experiernce, Seabourn, Silversea, Seabreeze and Regent will just give you their opinions and will not try to sway you one way or the other. You know what you are looking for -- we're just here to answer questions and give opinions.:)

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I just wanted to state that the onboard credit on Crystal is up to $2000, and the lower the cost of the itinerary, the lower the credit. This is an offset for them not including alcohol and some of the other things that some others do.

 

Start figuring out where you want to go if you haven't already and when and then look at the ships mentioned and try to weigh everything. There is more to consider than the smoking policy. Do avoid a holiday sailing on a ship with a children's program if you want very few kids.

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