Silversea v Regent Seven Seas pricing

[phil1107]

I have been trying to decide a 14 night Silversea Japan cruise and a 12 night Regent Seven Seas one.

 

They are both for April 2024. Regent include a complimentary 3 night day package and so the trips are similar length.
 

As we are celebrating a ‘milestone’ birthday, I am seeing if I can stretch to business air. I asked Silversea to quote including business air and they said C$26500. A similar suite on Regent would be C$22000.

 

Can anyone explain this large difference? Has anyone noticed similar on other itineraries?

[travelfan20]

Hi 

 

My suggestion to do a fair "fare ' comparison is to strip out Air to see what per person per night price is . 

Also depends on what ships you are comparing . Both lines have new and old vessels 

 

I have travelled on both lines and enjoyed them . Each has pros and cons 

 

happy travels 

[cruiseej]

The Regent cruise is on the Explorer, one of their newest ships, so you're probably not going wrong there. Regent also includes business class air on all their bookings, where Silversea offers it as an add-on for some voyages (and it seems like they're trying not to get burned on future air prices as likely happened a lot in 2021 and 2022), so Regent's air cost may be a little lower in some markets. If price is a deciding factor, you can't go too far wrong with Regent. But I'd choose based on the differences between Regent and Silversea. Silversea has more formal dress. Regent has a larger ship. Entertainment shows are bigger/better on Regent. 

 

That said... are you sure about the $22,000 Regent price? Looking on their website, I see that cruise is fully waitlisted, and the lowest level suite is $32,400 for two people. 

[RetiredandTravel]

The Regent complimentary pre cruise package is usually at the Tokyo Hilton and includes excursions so its about a $1800-2k value.   That's less than two cruise nights but close enough.  The base veranda suites are smaller on Regent vs SS veranda suites..  Travelfan is correct,  Regent fares include business class and SS economy.so you need to back out airfare.  After backing out airfare I see the early April SS 14 day cruise veranda ~US$25 and Regent (waitlisted) 12 day w/pre cruise package ~ US$21. 

 

IMO Kyoto (Osaka/Kobe) is the most important stop on a Japan cruise and Regent spends 1 1/2 days there and SS one long day.   I consider the SS Muse and Regent Explorer to be in the same class.  The two itineraries are quite different with SS going to Northern Japan.  

 

Two important dates to consider are Cherry Blossom season and Golden Week.  Golden week (late April >early May)is the biggest vacation week in Japan so all tourist sites and flights are extremely crowded.

 

I wrote some reflections on our Regent 12 day Japan cruise (w/pre cruise package) in the Regent forum.

 

[les37b]

19 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

IMO Kyoto (Osaka/Kobe) is the most important stop on a Japan cruise

Although we will find out I guess on the 15th March when Silver Muse arrives in Osaka, I’m trying to pinpoint where the actual dock is for my sailing on 26 April.

 

I had thought it berthed right next to the aquarium / ferris wheel, but now think it’s way out in Kobe. We have 2 nights pre cruise in The Imperial. My plan was to visit Kyoto just for a couple of hours and take the bullet from Shin Osaka and return to the hotel for transfers.

 

Indeed one guest who is travelling independently was planning to visit the aquarium on the morning after handing over their luggage! I’ve a sneaky feeling that’s not possible.

 

Now I’m thinking, it it is there, it’s a fair distance and will take longer by coach transfer than it would returning from Kyto direct. If I’m able to offload our suitcases and re-unite on the ship, that may well be our better option.

 

My first visit to Japan and doing so much fact finding

[RetiredandTravel]

2 hours ago, les37b said:

Although we will find out I guess on the 15th March when Silver Muse arrives in Osaka, I’m trying to pinpoint where the actual dock is for my sailing on 26 April.

 

I had thought it berthed right next to the aquarium / ferris wheel, but now think it’s way out in Kobe. We have 2 nights pre cruise in The Imperial. My plan was to visit Kyoto just for a couple of hours and take the bullet from Shin Osaka and return to the hotel for transfers.

 

Indeed one guest who is travelling independently was planning to visit the aquarium on the morning after handing over their luggage! I’ve a sneaky feeling that’s not possible.

 

Now I’m thinking, it it is there, it’s a fair distance and will take longer by coach transfer than it would returning from Kyto direct. If I’m able to offload our suitcases and re-unite on the ship, that may well be our better option.

 

My first visit to Japan and doing so much fact finding

 

Japan is wonderful, I'm sure you'll enjoy your trip.  The Japanese people are friendly, polite, intelligent and sophisticated.   Great timing with the cherry blossoms, should be beautiful.

 

We did the Regent included full day trip to Kyoto (from Ferris wheel location).  The excursion was what was advertised but we regretted not getting a full day private tour.  One could certainly spend two full days touring Kyoto.  We missed many sites but would highly recommend Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion) and Kyoto Imperial Palace.  They are both very popular sites so make sure you don't spend all your time buying tickets and waiting in line.  Kyoto was the Capital of Japan and left relatively unscathed from WW2.  We (allies) firebombed Tokyo in WW2 which did a massive amount of damage so there aren't a great deal of historic tourist locations.  The Tokyo Tower is a tourist trap IMO which I would but at the bottom of the list.

 

 

Please keep us updated on your journey.

 

 

 

 

 

[Lois R]

3 hours ago, les37b said:

Although we will find out I guess on the 15th March when Silver Muse arrives in Osaka, I’m trying to pinpoint where the actual dock is for my sailing on 26 April.

 

I had thought it berthed right next to the aquarium / ferris wheel, but now think it’s way out in Kobe. We have 2 nights pre cruise in The Imperial. My plan was to visit Kyoto just for a couple of hours and take the bullet from Shin Osaka and return to the hotel for transfers.

 

Indeed one guest who is travelling independently was planning to visit the aquarium on the morning after handing over their luggage! I’ve a sneaky feeling that’s not possible.

 

Now I’m thinking, it it is there, it’s a fair distance and will take longer by coach transfer than it would returning from Kyto direct. If I’m able to offload our suitcases and re-unite on the ship, that may well be our better option.

 

My first visit to Japan and doing so much fact finding

Hi Les, I have 2 friends that will be on your 3/15 cruise!  Hope all of you have a wonderful time🙂.

Oh wait, sorry, you are not on that cruise but you go in April......well, I still hope everyone has a great cruise🙂

[les37b]

9 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi Les, I have 2 friends that will be on your 3/15 cruise!  Hope all of you have a wonderful time🙂.

Oh wait, sorry, you are not on that cruise but you go in April......well, I still hope everyone has a great cruise🙂

 

Haha, yes sorry… my bad. We sail on 26 April. Gets a bit confusing. My March reference was to the Muse first arrival in Osaka and wanting to work out the likely berthing point.

[phillipahain]

The difference with Regent Japan cruise and Silversea is the ports ...hence much depends on what you want to see ...we prefer Regent any day on any of their ships however the Japan cruise on Silversea is more comprehensive ...it remains to be seen which cruise overall is better