Difference Seabourn vs Silversea?

[Kilroyshere]

On 6/9/2023 at 6:27 PM, ak1004 said:

 

Regent is 3.7 and Celebrity is 4.1. Does it make Celebrity better than Regent?

 

Viking is 4.6. Does it make it the best cruise line?

Regent v. Celebrity CC scores are not a valid comparison. Apples v. Oranges.

 

Regent, Seabourn, Silversea all market themselves as 'All Inclusive, Small Ship, Ultra-Luxury' lines with under 1,000 passengers per ship.

 

Celebrity is a mass market, not all inclusive, multi-class cruise line with ships accommodating many thousands of passengers. Celebrity does not market themselves in the "Ultra-Luxury, Small Ship" category.

 

A better comparison for Celebrity might be Royal, Princess, Cunard, etc.

 

Viking comes closer to SB, SS and Regent, but as I understand, they don't include full open bar only offer beer & wine. Viking ships carry more passengers than SB, SS or Regent. Viking does not up-charge for specialty restaurants. Last time we were on SS, there was up-charge for their specialty restaurant.

 

I'd give some validity and weight to CC's rating of Viking at 4.6 v. SS at 3.8 in choosing a cruise line.

Edited June 12, 2023 by Kilroyshere

[Techno123]

Seabourn Odyssey was our first cruise ship and the standard of service ruined us for any of the mass market ships 😁. We have sailed on Regent twice (most recently on the Navigator just before Christmas) which we really enjoyed but Seabourn is still our favourite. Off to the Norwegian Fjords soon on Ovation and I am hoping that we haven't put Seabourn on too high a pedestal. Following @SLSD avidly in preparation. Our first SS cruise is on the Nova in 2025 so I am also very much looking forward to that (so then I will be able to compare the 3.)

 

Re pricing: @ak1004 in the UK I find Regent fairly reasonable cost wise as we don't get the free (not free) business class flights and of course we have much stricter cancellation restrictions so I assume that makes a difference. I have found Seabourn to have become comparatively  quite expensive. I can't compare Silver Sea as we booked with a company who is including a 2 week India tour and a 2 week SS Nova cruise for practically the same price as the SS Nova door to door cost 😁

Edited June 12, 2023 by Techno123

[ak1004]

2 hours ago, Techno123 said:

Seabourn Odyssey was our first cruise ship and the standard of service ruined us for any of the mass market ships 😁. We have sailed on Regent twice (most recently on the Navigator just before Christmas) which we really enjoyed but Seabourn is still our favourite. Off to the Norwegian Fjords soon on Ovation and I am hoping that we haven't put Seabourn on too high a pedestal. Following @SLSD avidly in preparation. Our first SS cruise is on the Nova in 2025 so I am also very much looking forward to that (so then I will be able to compare the 3.)

 

Re pricing: @ak1004 in the UK I find Regent fairly reasonable cost wise as we don't get the free (not free) business class flights and of course we have much stricter cancellation restrictions so I assume that makes a difference. I have found Seabourn to have become comparatively  quite expensive. I can't compare Silver Sea as we booked with a company who is including a 2 week India tour and a 2 week SS Nova cruise for practically the same price as the SS Nova door to door cost 😁

 

I think the pricing would depend on your location, but also on duration, cabin category and destination. We are interested mostly in 10-12 nights European cruises. The cheapest ones were still more expensive than SS and SB, and those were on the Navigator. I have no interest to sail on a 30 years old ship when I can pay less and sail on 5-10 years old ships (same holds for Crystal). Even the cheapest ones on the newer ships were still more expensive than many sailings on SS and SB, even after accounting for all inclusions. We are comparing the cheapest categories which are OV on SS and SB, so this might be not 100% apples to apples, but we don't need the veranda and are not willing to pay for it.

 

After one sailing on SS and one on the old Crystal, I'm still not convinced that the premium is justified compared to Oceania. 

[Techno123]

@ak1004 This is two examples of what I can book in the Med for July today both on older ships and for the length of time you like but different itineraries and S is 10 nights R is 12. For us, the included flights are relatively cheap and not business class (business class flights are probably the same price as the cruise 😜)

 

 

[ak1004]

Well, this is what I see on the Canadian website:

 

 

 

Regent includes BC flights or credit of $3,650 CAD, so cruise only price is $13,600.

 

SB comes to $712/night and Regent $1,133/night. Even if you account for included excursions (say $100/night), Regent is still 50% more expensive.

 

For some reason, Canadian pricing is very unfavorable for Regent.

[Techno123]

22 hours ago, Techno123 said:

@ak1004 I have always been curious re the different pricing structures in various countries and the two posts above just illustrate that. Why there is such a difference I don't understand - all they do is drive you into the arms of their competitors!
 

Edited June 14, 2023 by Techno123

[MJN1]

2 hours ago, Techno123 said:

@ak1004 I have always been curious re the different pricing structures in various countries and the two posts above just illustrate that. Why there is such a difference I don't understand - all they do is drive you into the arms of their competitors!
 

This is partially driven by (previous) exchange rates when the prices are set, but also by different consumer rights (cancellation/refund policies) and "cost of doing business/what the market will bear".

You can always use a TA in another country to book your cruise at a better price.

We always look at USD, GBP and Euro prices. In the past, USD were most advantageous, right now GBP are best for a SS cruise in September. Euro prices have always been the highest ones.

Yes, the credit card company does take a cut on the Forex rate, but this is minimal compared to the difference in cruise prices. 

The cruiseline's cookies sometimes prevent you to  go to its website in another country to see those prices, but using a VPN usually allows you to get around this by picking a server in the respective region.

[ak1004]

3 hours ago, MJN1 said:

This is partially driven by (previous) exchange rates when the prices are set, but also by different consumer rights (cancellation/refund policies) and "cost of doing business/what the market will bear".

You can always use a TA in another country to book your cruise at a better price.

We always look at USD, GBP and Euro prices. In the past, USD were most advantageous, right now GBP are best for a SS cruise in September. Euro prices have always been the highest ones.

Yes, the credit card company does take a cut on the Forex rate, but this is minimal compared to the difference in cruise prices. 

The cruiseline's cookies sometimes prevent you to  go to its website in another country to see those prices, but using a VPN usually allows you to get around this by picking a server in the respective region.

 

We are using a TA in the US and have a choice to book in USD or CAD. With some lines it's better to book in USD, but the difference is usually no more than 5-7%. It's the first time I'm seeing such dramatic difference (Regent in GBP).

[2SailingNomads]

We had a similar thing with a Scenic ocean cruise last year. US price was $30,000 while the price in pounds was 30,000 so 26% higher if we used our UK agent.

[LaineyRod]

On 5/23/2023 at 11:00 AM, Mr Luxury said:

That's the answer then.

 Not too many guests turning up at your dining table and asking where y'all from.😀

LOL, that is true, that is what we (Americans) do LOL but it is contrary to the egocentricity we typically get pegged for, but to meet new and interesting people from different and interesting places.  

[AJCM]

We’ve just completed Seabourn 11n Dover to Hamburg and Silversea 10n Copenhagen to Oslo

 

Both ships very gracious with a very uncrowded feel and friendly atmosphere. Much higher number of Europeans on Silversea - otherwise, the fairly typical predominance of US, UK, Canadian, Australian guests.

 

Service very good in all areas in both ships although main restaurants a bit stressed at dinner times. .

 

Food is very subjective. Meals came hot most of the time, which is a big plus for us. Surprisingly, the Seabourn buffet managed to have most cooked items hot - never experienced this before on ships or hotels.Silversea dinner menus were too fancy for my liking and would have preferred more “simple” dishes. Sabourn’s everyday dinner menu has more choices than Silversea. Scappolini, on deck 11 outdoor Silversea, makes fabulous hot pizzas - great for lunch.

 

Included wines were good on both, after finding a couple that we liked. We just stuck to those. Sommeliers can be helpful early on.

 

Silversea had twice the number of guests. As a result, there were larger well appointed public areas with plenty of seating. However, we found the furniture more comfortable on Seabourn. Size difference also means that Silversea had more sitting areas and bars and more dining areas.

 

Guest lecturers on both cruises were very informative and interesting. Silversea main entertainment was too late for us, with one show at 9.45pm - too much waiting time after finishing dinner. They did put on 2 shows at 6.15pm, which were ok but we would have liked 8.30 shows. Azamara does 8.30 and 9.45 and this works well.

 

Tender services good on both ships.

 

Standard suites on both are very comfortable and good size, including bathroom and balcony, with plenty of power outlets. Silversea had more, well placed outlets and better storage.

 

Outdoors, Silversea has very good roofing and heating over outdoor sitting areas; excellent wind breaks and cushioned sun lounges (sadly lacking with Seabourn). Heaters make outdoor areas at least usable in colder weather.

 

We reckon both lines provide a wonderful experience and will happily cruise with either, based on the itinerary more than anything. Silversea is more expensive but includes free excursions in each port. We used “door to door” and if the excursion cost is factored in, there’s probably little price difference really.

[Isklaar]

2 hours ago, AJCM said:

We’ve just completed Seabourn 11n Dover to Hamburg and Silversea 10n Copenhagen to Oslo

 

Both ships very gracious with a very uncrowded feel and friendly atmosphere. Much higher number of Europeans on Silversea - otherwise, the fairly typical predominance of US, UK, Canadian, Australian guests.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for presenting a balanced, interesting comparison between SS and SB. We have sailed only Seabourn since 2012 but after 12 years away, we would consider Silversea again in the future. Which ships were you on? 

[AJCM]

Seabourn Ovation and Silversea Dawn.

 

I made a mistake with Silversea - we were “port to port”

[SLSD]

On 5/23/2023 at 10:08 AM, nancygp said:

😄😄

I’m a friendly transplanted southerner… I asked my new Brit friends and Aussies ‘were y’all from”.   LOL…kidding 

 

I’m originally from the Big Apple area, no trace of that accent and hubby is a native Houstonian, no Texas accent and neither one of us typically says Y’all..😄😄

I'm afraid that an occasional ya'll comes out of my mouth!

[markham]

Just a reminder to cruisers new to Seabourn and especially to Silversea.

 

The ships within each line vary in terms of size, age, facilities including restaurants and even style to some extent. A good example to use when you look at deck plans and descriptions is Whisper vs Dawn, my favorite. (That said, we also like Dawn’s slightly older sisters Moon and Muse. We have yet to try Nova which we get to enjoy in April, 2025.)

 

BTW, the future - and therefore the future of the lines’ investments in enhancements - is the newer ships due to environmental requirements and general efficiencies. That only makes sense.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[Hlitner]

It seems that each cruise line plays their own games regarding pricing in various countries.  For example, when Explora Journeys (a new luxury line) started excepting bookings, prices were several thousand dollars cheaper if one lived in the EU.  Why?  You would have to ask the EJ folks.  The result... there ship has operated far below capacity.

 

Most cruise lines use sophisticated "yield management" programs along with decising-making by experienced marketing folks.  Sometimes they get it right and maximize the revenue per passenger/day throughout the ship.  Other times they get it wrong, and sail with empty berths or must offer some big discounts (such as to the Interline program) to fill those berths at marginal rates or a loss.

 

Hank