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.