Seabourn vs. Silversea

[markham]

I don’t know what is meant by the “Dreadful Carnival umbrella”, but I do know that the Carnival Corp infrastructure gives Seabourn, Cunard, HAL, Princess and other CCL lines great financial and logistical support. That is partly why Seabourn is able to deliver such a strong product while its front office concentrates on delivering a product that is a cut above. Oh, and we always appreciate the extra onboard credit we get on our Seabourn and Cunard cruises as CCL shareholders. Not dreadful at all.

 

That’a my observation based on the facts of the last several years. And the trends on the costs side for an independent such as Silversea was one of the major drivers for it to sell out a majority share to mass market Royal Caribbean (which I wouldn’t call “dreadful” without an explanation either.)

 

About the subject of this thread, my view is that what makes Seabourn far better for me than Silversea is the officers and especially the crew. Seabourn’s international crew, mainly South African, eastern European and Latin American, is generally far more engaging, confident and innovative than the crew on Silversea, who happen to be mainly Filipino. It’s probably down to training and on-board supervisory management where Seabourn visibly excels, in my experience.

 

Consequently we choose Silversea when the itinerary is unique eg Arctic cruising and/or suits us more at a particular time of year. Of course the Venture ships due out for Seabourn in 2021 and 2022 may backfill some of this gap.

 

How will Seabourn continue on its mission to maintain its lead? With and through the strength of Carnival.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Edited June 27, 2019 by markham

[cuddles115]

18 minutes ago, markham said:

I don’t know what is meant by the “Dreadful Carnival umbrella”, but I do know that the Carnival Corp infrastructure gives Seabourn, Cunard, HAL, Princess and other CCL lines great financial and logistical support. That is partly why Seabourn is able to deliver such a strong product while its front office concentrates on delivering a product that is a cut above. Oh, and we always appreciate the extra onboard credit we get on our Seabourn and Cunard cruises as CCL shareholders. Not dreadful at all.

 

That’a my observation based on the facts of the last several years. And the trends on the costs side for an independent such as Silversea was one of the major drivers for it to sell out a majority share to mass market Royal Caribbean (which I wouldn’t call “dreadful” without an explanation either.)

 

About the subject of this thread, my view is that what makes Seabourn far better for me than Silversea is the officers and especially the crew. Seabourn’s international crew, mainly South African, eastern European and Latin American, is generally far more engaging, confident and innovative than the crew on Silversea, who happen to be mainly Filipino. It’s probably down to training and on-board supervisory management where Seabourn visibly excels, in my experience.

 

Consequently we choose Silversea when the itinerary is unique eg Arctic cruising and/or suits us more at a particular time of year. Of course the Venture ships due out for Seabourn in 2021 and 2022 may backfill some of this gap.

 

How will Seabourn continue on its mission to maintain its lead? With and through the strength of Carnival.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Thank you very much for your insight.  I tend to agree with everything you said.  We last were on  a Seabourn cruise in April and your  thoughts are 'right on."  Keep up with your excellent comments  and observations.

[BuckGood]

24 minutes ago, markham said:

I don’t know what is meant by the “Dreadful Carnival umbrella”, but I do know that the Carnival Corp infrastructure gives Seabourn, Cunard, HAL, Princess and other CCL lines great financial and logistical support. That is partly why Seabourn is able to deliver such a strong product while its front office concentrates on delivering a product that is a cut above. Oh, and we always appreciate the extra onboard credit we get on our Seabourn and Cunard cruises as CCL shareholders. Not dreadful at all.

 

That’a my observation based on the facts of the last several years. And the trends on the costs side for an independent such as Silversea was one of the major drivers for it to sell out a majority share to mass market Royal Caribbean (which I wouldn’t call “dreadful” without an explanation either.)

 

About the subject of this thread, my view is that what makes Seabourn far better for me than Silversea is the officers and especially the crew. Seabourn’s international crew, mainly South African, eastern European and Latin American, is generally far more engaging, confident and innovative than the crew on Silversea, who happen to be mainly Filipino. It’s probably down to training and on-board supervisory management where Seabourn visibly excels, in my experience.

 

Consequently we choose Silversea when the itinerary is unique eg Arctic cruising and/or suits us more at a particular time of year. Of course the Venture ships due out for Seabourn in 2021 and 2022 may backfill some of this gap.

 

How will Seabourn continue on its mission to maintain its lead? With and through the strength of Carnival.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Oops, I guess Dreadful was the wrong phrase, I simply ment I would Never sail on any carnival ships, we do like Princess however as we are Platinum with Them and do like HAL also never sailed Cunard but is currently in the works. My Apologies if I offended anyone. 

[saminina]

BuckGood, you have written enough about yourself that it might be impossible to offend anyone reading this thread.

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Buckgood, surely one has to have experienced both Seabourn and Silversea to really have a valid opinion on this thread? Maybe a bit of research re Carnival corp would've been more succinct.

[alwaysonaship]

We did one cruise on SS Shadow in Asia. This was 5 or 6 years ago. It was horrible from start to finish. No comparison with SB

[BuckGood]

14 hours ago, Tillylovesseabourn said:

Buckgood, surely one has to have experienced both Seabourn and Silversea to really have a valid opinion on this thread? Maybe a bit of research re Carnival corp would've been more succinct.

And that I agree! After our September cruise I will have the Experience! 

[BuckGood]

On 6/27/2019 at 10:16 PM, saminina said:

BuckGood, you have written enough about yourself that it might be impossible to offend anyone reading this thread.

I didn’t realize I shared my Life on here! 🤔

[avalon1025]

I would say 10-15 yers ago, I sailed Silversea all the time, and had wonderful voyages.  Last October we sailed a cold weather cruise on the Spirit and left never wanting to sail SS again.  The dining set up where the menus don't change was a deal breaker.   Made dinner something to not look forward to (oh, I'll have that same steak again, but change the sauce this time).   A ridiculous and cheap method of dinning.   Crew was nice but not the genuine service we get on Crystal (we reverted back to Crystal).   I hope RCI support this line, currently its a mess.

 

PS:   Sailed all the triplets, and loved them.  I haven't had the chance to sail the larger ships yet.

Edited July 1, 2019 by avalon1025

[saminina]

Sounds like us.  Except we're heavier on SB.   SB, where we always see refugees from Silversea.   The only thing to like about SS nowadays would be some of the fellow passengers.  Cannot understand how intelligent people maintain a loyalty to that company.   It certainly is not a two way street. 

[Colgal]

23 hours ago, saminina said:

Sounds like us.  Except we're heavier on SB.   SB, where we always see refugees from Silversea.   The only thing to like about SS nowadays would be some of the fellow passengers.  Cannot understand how intelligent people maintain a loyalty to that company.   It certainly is not a two way street. 

Wow-must I now speculate about my intelligence? My husband and I just spent 11 wonderful nights on the Spirit, our first Silversea cruise in 10 years. We had previously cruised in Alaska and the Med with Silversea and found the dining to be lackluster so with the recommendation of friends we opted to cruise on the Quest. It was a wonderful cruise-food and service fabulous and we were hooked!

 

We followed with the  Legend, Sojourn, Encore and Odyssey. Some of the cruises were better than others in food and service, but our experience on Encore was so negative that it took took us 18 months to return for a 14 night cruise in the Caribbean this past January on Odyssey.The dining on Encore was mediocre to miserable, much of the  the staff untrained and the ship felt overcrowded. We could not wait to depart and enjoy the rest of our vacation in Italy.  We enjoyed our last cruise on the Odyssey but found that the dining choices became redundant after the 8th night. 

 

Our recent cruise on the Spirit has been one of the most memorable overall-the food in the main dining room Atlantide was delicious and beautifully presented and the service warm and on-point. There were always new selections on the evening menu- more seafood selections in addition to the standard offerings which exceeded those offered on Seabourn. The alternative dining venues, Indochine and Seishin  were  excellent and a great change of pace, while La Dame certainly surpassed The Thomas Keller venues on Seabourn. Yes, there is a surcharge for La Dame and Seishin but it is $ well spent. La Terazza was less hectic than Colonnade and the service prompt and spot on which was not our experience on Seabourn. Silver Note is a small plate venue with a Supper Club atmosphere that we never got to but heard great things about. Other passengers raved about evening poolside dining similar to Seabourn’s but we enjoy a more formal venue. There is also all day snacking from breakfast to late evening at the Arts cafe  and a pizza restaurant on the upper pool deck. It is often mentioned on these forums that food is “subjective” and I might agree if different people are commenting; if the same passenger finds that their experience changes from cruise to cruise then I believe the opinion has merit, as their standards have not changed. 

 

 We enjoyed the butler service- he took care of the little things and kept our champagne stocked. Yes, we enjoyed the Pommery more than the Nicolas Feuillatte. The  cocktails were better, particularly poolside, and it was great to have a “list” of specialty drinks in the Lounge. The room service was also better-always on time, the food hot, and the order correct. 

 

I would certainly look to Silversea for another cruise as it offered a delightful experience worth repeating. Our fellow cruisers were, for the most part, repeat passengers and we found them to be friendly, polite and undemanding- it was a pleasure to bo onboard.

 

 

 

[saminina]

3 hours ago, Colgal said:

Wow-must I now speculate about my intelligence? My husband and I just spent 11 wonderful nights on the Spirit, our first Silversea cruise in 10 years.

 

Wow-did you misread my post?   The part about loyalty?   One SS cruise in ten years would not be my idea of a loyal customer.

Enjoyed your review, though.

3 hours ago, Colgal said:

 

 

 

 

[Colgal]

1 hour ago, saminina said:

 

Wow-did you misread my post?   The part about loyalt

1 hour ago, saminina said:

 

Wow-did you misread my post?   The part about loyalty?   One SS cruise in ten years would not be my idea of a loyal customer.

Enjoyed your review, though.

 

y?   One SS cruise in ten years would not be my idea of a loyal customer.

Enjoyed your review, though.

 

I really don’t believe that it is appropriate to question someone’s intellect regarding their loyalty to any cruiseline.The other two cruises we took were not satisfying due to the dining but this past one blew every other cruise( including our best Seabourn cruises) out of the water. We did speak to many people who were on our cruise about their experiences with SS and most were highly complementary- otherwise they would have gone elsewhere. After 8 cruises, 5 with Seabourn and 3 with Silversea I would have to give SS a thumbs up for not only meeting the bar but surpassing it- I can also say that others who sail SS feel the same way!

[Accessor]

We sailed on the Encore March 2019 in Australia/NZ (our 1st SB cruise 14nts) and just completed Norway on Silver Spirit June 2019 (our 1st SS cruise 14nts).

 

For us, in our opinion, we loved SS over SB. Granted we have only cruised once on each line, but we have also cruised Oceania, Regent, Celebrity, and all the other cruiselines (except Crystal) with 60+ cruises under our belt.

 

1. Dining room service on SB was chaotic. Not enough servers, scrambling, forgetting what you're drinking, taking an hour btw courses, and even running out of TK featured dishes! No dedicate wine service, just reg servers doing double duty. SS they were calm, cool, professional, and friendly. Never felt rushed or overwhelmed like we experienced on the Encore.

 

2.  Food. We have heard people complaining menus never changed on SS. This is simply NOT true. They changed every 4 days or so. With 7 places to dine (2 add charge), we never got bored of the food like we did on SB. On SB, we were offered lobster ONCE in main DR in 14nts. On SS it was on the menu every day. Things like King crab, Chilean Sea Bass were never found on SB.We did enjoy SB's Patio over SS hot rocks (our least fav rest). Colonnade was carb overload, and also hard to find seating at peak hours.

 

Arts Cafe on SS had excellent small bites, flavored waters, superior quality teas, sandwiches, truffles, and sweets. Seabourn square lacked the quality and variety of what is offered in the Arts Cafe.

 

3. Service superior with our Butler making a big diff for us over SB with no butler.

 

4. Bar service, quality of champagne, and wines we found SS superior. Find the bar menu on each line and compare the two. We hated the NF champs on SB, but found the Monopole very drinkable on SS. The bar servers in Observation lounge would ask us 3 times what we ordered, and then bring us the wrong drinks on SB. The lite bites on SS far superior (canapes) in the evening vs baloney, chips & salsa, and other low quality bites in Observation lounge at nite on SB. Were usually offered nuts/chips on SS, which didn't happen on SB.

 

5. Entertainment would be equal. Hit and misses on both lines.

 

6. Cabins are equal on both lines. Both have high quality bedding/furnishings

 

Overall, you can feel the Carnival Corp bean counting, penny pinching, race to the bottom mentality on Seabourn. It was quite the opposite on Silversea with Royal buying a majority ownership now offering free caviar at anytime. Bottomless high quality champagne. Higher quality meats & fish. Better variety of food.

 

We would hands down choose Silversea over Seabourn as our go to luxury cruiseline. We will try Crystal sooner or later. We also love Oceania's food quality, but the service is more 4 star and lately pricing has been very 5 star.

 

Hopefully our very recent cruises on both lines add some value; things change and memories of how we perceived a cruise 2-3 years ago aren't always accurate (along with cuts, adds, and changes over time). If you haven't cruised SS recently maybe it's time to give them another try. No cruise is perfect, we had quibbles on both, but in the end after adding up our scorecards, SS was the best of the two.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Accessor

[Mahogany]

2 hours ago, Accessor said:

We sailed on the Encore March 2019 in Australia/NZ (our 1st SB cruise 14nts) and just completed Norway on Silver Spirit June 2019 (our 1st SS cruise 14nts).

 

For us, in our opinion, we loved SS over SB. Granted we have only cruised once on each line, but we have also cruised Oceania, Regent, Celebrity, and all the other cruiselines (except Crystal) with 60+ cruises under our belt.

 

1. Dining room service on SB was chaotic. Not enough servers, scrambling, forgetting what you're drinking, taking an hour btw courses, and even running out of TK featured dishes! No dedicate wine service, just reg servers doing double duty. SS they were calm, cool, professional, and friendly. Never felt rushed or overwhelmed like we experienced on the Encore.

 

2.  Food. We have heard people complaining menus never changed on SS. This is simply NOT true. They changed every 4 days or so. With 7 places to dine (2 add charge), we never got bored of the food like we did on SB. On SB, we were offered lobster ONCE in main DR in 14nts. On SS it was on the menu every day. Things like King crab, Chilean Sea Bass were never found on SB.We did enjoy SB's Patio over SS hot rocks (our least fav rest). Colonnade was carb overload, and also hard to find seating at peak hours.

 

Arts Cafe on SS had excellent small bites, flavored waters, superior quality teas, sandwiches, truffles, and sweets. Seabourn square lacked the quality and variety of what is offered in the Arts Cafe.

 

3. Service superior with our Butler making a big diff for us over SB with no butler.

 

4. Bar service, quality of champagne, and wines we found SS superior. Find the bar menu on each line and compare the two. We hated the NF champs on SB, but found the Monopole very drinkable on SS. The bar servers in Observation lounge would ask us 3 times what we ordered, and then bring us the wrong drinks on SB. The lite bites on SS far superior (canapes) in the evening vs baloney, chips & salsa, and other low quality bites in Observation lounge at nite on SB. Were usually offered nuts/chips on SS, which didn't happen on SB.

 

5. Entertainment would be equal. Hit and misses on both lines.

 

6. Cabins are equal on both lines. Both have high quality bedding/furnishings

 

Overall, you can feel the Carnival Corp bean counting, penny pinching, race to the bottom mentality on Seabourn. It was quite the opposite on Silversea with Royal buying a majority ownership now offering free caviar at anytime. Bottomless high quality champagne. Higher quality meats & fish. Better variety of food.

 

We would hands down choose Silversea over Seabourn as our go to luxury cruiseline. We will try Crystal sooner or later. We also love Oceania's food quality, but the service is more 4 star and lately pricing has been very 5 star.

 

Hopefully our very recent cruises on both lines add some value; things change and memories of how we perceived a cruise 2-3 years ago aren't always accurate (along with cuts, adds, and changes over time). If you haven't cruised SS recently maybe it's time to give them another try. No cruise is perfect, we had quibbles on both, but in the end after adding up our scorecards, SS was the best of the two.

Interesting comparison. I will be going on Pacific repositioning on Muse in September, first SS since right before Spirit was split in half. I've taken 3 Seabourn since then. I travel solo, and though there is some attention at Silversea, I like the invitations to dine with staff and visiting lecturers that I receive on Seabourn. BTW, you can have complimentary caviar any time on Seabourn. I just returned from an 8-day on Crystal, my first, and was disappointed with the MDR there, with staff constantly rushing around. I never found that on Encore. I agree the wine service is unprofessional, relying on servers. But I do love the TK Grill bar.

[Accessor]

16 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

Interesting comparison. I will be going on Pacific repositioning on Muse in September, first SS since right before Spirit was split in half. I've taken 3 Seabourn since then. I travel solo, and though there is some attention at Silversea, I like the invitations to dine with staff and visiting lecturers that I receive on Seabourn. BTW, you can have complimentary caviar any time on Seabourn. I just returned from an 8-day on Crystal, my first, and was disappointed with the MDR there, with staff constantly rushing around. I never found that on Encore. I agree the wine service is unprofessional, relying on servers. But I do love the TK Grill bar.

 

We learned that we must invite staff to dine with us on Silversea. They can't invite you on SS. The staff loves to dine with guests and get our food, we had several entertainers dining with us nightly and they were extremely happy to be our guests.

[Isklaar]

35 minutes ago, Accessor said:

 

We learned that we must invite staff to dine with us on Silversea. They can't invite you on SS. 

 

Interesting. Policy must have changed since we were last on SS - admittedly a few years ago - as we have received several invitations.

[Accessor]

24 minutes ago, Isklaar said:

 

Interesting. Policy must have changed since we were last on SS - admittedly a few years ago - as we have received several invitations.

Or maybe the entertainment staff is unable to invite; they said we must invite them. I would guess top management has the ability to invite guests at their beckon call

[wripro]

Reading this thread is exactly why I hate what I call "lawsuit threads" which means one line v. the other. You will never get a definitive answer as to which is better because there are nothing but personal opinions posted. And there are enough personal opinions on both sides of the "lawsuit" to make a meaningful decision impossible to achieve.

 

Try both lines and decide for yourself because only you will know which you prefer,

[markham]

And the conversation can get very specific e.g. we are fans of the Ody class but not the Encore.

 

Regarding Silversea this may well become a more difficult topic since their brand is far more varied e.g. the Whisper is not the Cloud is not the Muse by any measures. They are physically very different ships; we thought the old Whisper’s food and complimentary champagne the only aspects that were competitive with Seabourn while we are hoping for the revamped Cloud Explorer and new-ish Muse with its 8 restaurants will be more competitive - although different - from Seabourn, our go-to choice.

 

We have yet to sail on Cloud and Muse but we will have the opportunity next month and in 7 months respectively and we are keen to like them! But it’s clear you cannot generalize about these brands. Better then to discuss what you liked and didn’t care for within the brands and/or between specific ships.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

[raphael360]

On 7/3/2019 at 2:28 PM, markham said:

And the conversation can get very specific e.g. we are fans of the Ody class but not the Encore. 

A bit off topic also but: We've sailed on the SB triplets (aka Odyssey class ships) more times than we can count but did our first Encore 14 day Sydney to Auckland cruise this year.  We were nervous the Encore would disappoint but it was equal to the O class ships with 2 exceptions.  First the TK restaurant and especially the TK bar on the Encore are phenomenal.  Secondly the Encore handled the extremely rough Tasmanian seas very well.  The Seabourn Experience was equally fabulous on all 4 ships.