Celebrity is not more expensive

[Ipeeinthepools]

4 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Even the port of Gaza?  🤣

If they stop, I’ll bet they make money.

[travel1light]

Morning,

 

I am relatively new to the cruise world having only 4 cruises under my belt. All with celebrity, first 2 in aqua, next two an EV and RS. I have 2 upcoming, one in a signature and another in a sky suite.  For various reasons, for the first time I am looking for other than celebrity for a future cruise. Reading this thread, Regent seems to be go to for a very much elevated experience. Surprised how little mention of Silversea, is there a reason for this? Thank you. 

[zitsky]

15 hours ago, rj59 said:

Making general statements like that really isn't accurate, because it all depends on where and when you book, and what you spend on board. My first 5 X cruises in Solstice cost an average of $300, and a week on Apex cost $650 or so. Even last November/December I booked Mexico cruises on X for $300 or so, although for one I had to book a no-show second guest, to get around the price discrimination. I booked Ascent in January and Beyond next November for around $900, both with a solo discount--you just have to know when and where to book and grab deals when you see them. Next January I have Silhouette booked for $60/nt for a solo cabin. I find similar deals on other lines, like $100/nt for Azamara in Europe and the Caribbean solo, and last month I had a deluxe suite on HAL for $50/nt to Mexico under their standby program. As a solo cruiser, I also have complete control of onboard spending, so I skip packages, I buy e-sim passes for data in every port, and skip most excursions. I also had my first 5 X cruises paid for by buying RCL at $40 to get the OBC, and then selling at $120. No cruise line is perfect, they all have pluses and minuses, as do all ships and all destinations, which is why I'm agnostic about lines--I just returned from a Carnival cruise and last week booked 5 cruises on Quantum of the Seas to Mexico, since the Quantum class reminds me of Edge-class, but without the offensive-to-me closing of so much public space by the Retreat. 

For us we have never paid more than $15,000 for a cruise in the Retreat.  And a lot less for Aqua.  For 12 days.  It’s hard to justify paying $20K or more on a cruise, even on a luxury line.  Even for a bigger cabin.  But next time I will compare to all included.

[Dolebludger]

Travel1light, Silversea is an excellent cruise line. It requires more formal dress than Regent, both by code and actual onboard practice. It doesn’t include laundry for all guests — only some. And the air offered in its rates that include it is all economy. But, I have seen some attractive prices on  Silversea recently, so it clearly deserves consideration. 

[ChucktownSteve]

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

Travel1light, Silversea is an excellent cruise line. It requires more formal dress than Regent, both by code and actual onboard practice. It doesn’t include laundry for all guests — only some. And the air offered in its rates that include it is all economy. But, I have seen some attractive prices on  Silversea recently, so it clearly deserves consideration. 

I just looked at Silversea Ray for an 11 night Caribbean cruise in a Medallion Suite which is 527sf compared to the Regent Grandeur Penthouse at 561-644sf for 14 nights and the Celebrity Ascent Celebrity Suite at 501sf for 11 nights which I posted on the Regent Board. All three overlap with different Caribbean itineraries in Feb 2026.

 

Silversea is $408 more pp/pn than Regent. The Celebrity suite is $52 pp/pn more than Regent's suite. 

 

Besides my preferred itinerary on Regent and daily Valet Laundry for every suite, I no longer wish to deal with schlepping formal wear on a Silversea Caribbean cruise. Regent and Azamara don't require Formal nights anymore.

Since RCG now owns Silversea, I'm wondering if they'll apply the same cost slashing to that line that they've done to both RCL and X? That's what made me move from X, my former go to line, to AZamara and Regent at better pp/pn rates, longer cruises and better food IMO.

Edited March 10 by ChucktownSteve

[81Zoomie]

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

Travel1light, Silversea is an excellent cruise line. It requires more formal dress than Regent, both by code and actual onboard practice. It doesn’t include laundry for all guests — only some. And the air offered in its rates that include it is all economy. But, I have seen some attractive prices on  Silversea recently, so it clearly deserves consideration. 

On the newest Silversea ships (Nova and Ray) formal attire is optional.  The thought is that this change will spread to the rest of the fleet. 

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, ChucktownSteve said:

I just looked at Silversea Ray for an 11 night Caribbean cruise in a Medallion Suite which is 527sf compared to the Regent Grandeur Penthouse at 561-644sf for 14 nights and the Celebrity Ascent Celebrity Suite at 501sf for 11 nights which I posted on the Regent Board. All three overlap with different Caribbean itineraries in Feb 2026.

 

Silversea is $408 more pp/pn than Regent. The Celebrity suite is $52 pp/pn more than Regent's suite. 

 

 

 Have been investing early 2026 myself. I can find any price relationship anybody wants 😂😂.

 

I was intrigued by the “$408pppd more than Regent” .

For 2:

Celebrity Ascent - Feb 23, 2026  - 11 nights - CS= $17,849 = $811 pppd

 

Silversea Silver Ray - Feb. 27, 2026 - 11 nights - Medallion Suite= $21,200 = $963pppd

 

Regent Grandeur - Feb. 28, 2026 - 14 nights - Penthouse Suite C= $25,283= $902 pppd.

 

No air in any of those numbers.

 

What am I missing? 
 

As an engineer, I have a spreadsheet for everything —- except the intangibles.    Ship size, passengers, activities, entertainment, food—- I wish I could have a formula for those. 😂. 
 

That 14 night itinerary is nice. 
 

mac_tlc

[ChucktownSteve]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

 Have been investing early 2026 myself. I can find any price relationship anybody wants 😂😂.

 

I was intrigued by the “$408pppd more than Regent” .

For 2:

Celebrity Ascent - Feb 23, 2026  - 11 nights - CS= $17,849 = $811 pppd

 

Silversea Silver Ray - Feb. 27, 2026 - 11 nights - Medallion Suite= $21,200 = $963pppd

 

Regent Grandeur - Feb. 28, 2026 - 14 nights - Penthouse Suite C= $25,283= $902 pppd.

 

No air in any of those numbers.

 

What am I missing? 
 

As an engineer, I have a spreadsheet for everything —- except the intangibles.    Ship size, passengers, activities, entertainment, food—- I wish I could have a formula for those. 😂. 
 

That 14 night itinerary is nice. 
 

mac_tlc

Yeah I liked the itinerary too which is why I booked it.  I was seeking the ABCs not two of them.

I did make a fat finger error.  I just rechecked the Silversea web site and the Medallion suite is $12,100 pp or $105pp/pn more than Regent. Thankx for catching that.

 

I booked this Regent cruise on 2/29/24 which was the last day for that cruise to receive the two category upgrade promotion. I always book when they run that promotion on a Regent cruise I want. 

I paid for the Concierge E and received the Penthouse C suite. Thus I paid $10,949 pp on the 14 night which comes to $782.07pp/pn. Since it's the same price on their website still listed for the Concierge, I didn't think I needed to show the invoice.Too bad you missed the promotion. It may come back though.  As a side note, my TA is rebating me $2,050 on this cruise instead of OBC which I didn't calculate into the cost. 😁

There is an online cruise booking company which I use for ship details (which must not be posted) that shows the size of the ship, with pax and crew numbers. So for your spreadsheet edification...

SILVER RAY

Year Built 2024

Tonnage 54,700 tons

Registry Bahamas

Length 801 feet

Beam 97 feet

Passenger Capacity 728

Crew Size 556

# of Inside Cabins 0

# of Outside Cabins 298

# of Cabins w/ Verandas 286

# of Suites 298

 

SEVEN SEAS GRANDEUR

Year Built 2023

Tonnage 55,498 tons

Registry Bermuda

Length 735 feet

Beam 102 feet

Passenger Capacity 746

Crew Size 542

# of Inside Cabins 0

# of Outside Cabins 375

# of Cabins w/ Verandas 375

# of Suites 375

 

CELEBRITY ASCENT

Year Built 2023

Tonnage 140,600 tons

Registry Malta

Length 1,073 feet

Beam 128 feet

Passenger Capacity 3,260

Crew Size 1,400

# of Inside Cabins 131

# of Outside Cabins 792

# of Cabins w/ Verandas 1210

# of Suites 198

Edited March 10 by ChucktownSteve

[billc23]

6 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

 Have been investing early 2026 myself. I can find any price relationship anybody wants 😂😂.

 

I was intrigued by the “$408pppd more than Regent” .

For 2:

Celebrity Ascent - Feb 23, 2026  - 11 nights - CS= $17,849 = $811 pppd

 

Silversea Silver Ray - Feb. 27, 2026 - 11 nights - Medallion Suite= $21,200 = $963pppd

 

Regent Grandeur - Feb. 28, 2026 - 14 nights - Penthouse Suite C= $25,283= $902 pppd.

 

No air in any of those numbers.

 

What am I missing? 
 

As an engineer, I have a spreadsheet for everything —- except the intangibles.    Ship size, passengers, activities, entertainment, food—- I wish I could have a formula for those. 😂. 
 

That 14 night itinerary is nice. 
 

mac_tlc

Hi Mac_tlc,

Have you included gratuities and a refundable deposit on the Ascent? The Silversea quote does include those by default and I'm not sure about Regent. Silversea offers a "port to port" booking that is basically a quote with a non refundable deposit that is only available on their basic suites. The basic suite is similar size to a sky suite but better functionally by far. 

 

I'm finishing up a 32 day Silversea sailing in 3 days and have chatted with many on the sailing who also sail Regent. Most say it is a tossup depending on price and itinerary. Some prefer one or the other for a variety of reasons. I plan to try Regent soon. No way to know if I will like it until I try it.

 

Happy travels!

[billc23]

5 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

Yeah I liked the itinerary too which is why I booked it.  I was seeking the ABCs not two of them.

I did make a fat finger error.  I just rechecked the Silversea web site and the Medallion suite is $12,100 pp or $105pp/pn more than Regent. Thankx for catching that.

 

I booked this Regent cruise on 2/29/24 which was the last day for that cruise to receive the two category upgrade promotion. I always book when they run that promotion on a Regent cruise I want. 

I paid for the Concierge E and received the Penthouse C suite. Thus I paid $10,949 pp on the 14 night which comes to $782.07pp/pn. Since it's the same price on their website still listed for the Concierge, I didn't think I needed to show the invoice.Too bad you missed the promotion. It may come back though.  As a side note, my TA is rebating me $2,050 on this cruise instead of OBC which I didn't calculate into the cost. 😁

There is an online cruise booking company which I use for ship details (which must not be posted) that shows the size of the ship, with pax and crew numbers. So for your spreadsheet edification...

SILVER RAY

Year Built 2024

Tonnage 54,700 tons

Registry Bahamas

Length 801 feet

Beam 97 feet

Passenger Capacity 728

Crew Size 556

# of Inside Cabins 0

# of Outside Cabins 298

# of Cabins w/ Verandas 286

# of Suites 298

 

SEVEN SEAS GRANDEUR

Year Built 2023

Tonnage 55,498 tons

Registry Bermuda

Length 735 feet

Beam 102 feet

Passenger Capacity 746

Crew Size 542

# of Inside Cabins 0

# of Outside Cabins 375

# of Cabins w/ Verandas 375

# of Suites 375

 

CELEBRITY ASCENT

Year Built 2023

Tonnage 140,600 tons

Registry Malta

Length 1,073 feet

Beam 128 feet

Passenger Capacity 3,260

Crew Size 1,400

# of Inside Cabins 131

# of Outside Cabins 792

# of Cabins w/ Verandas 1210

# of Suites 198

Wow! What a drastic difference in the passenger to crew ratio. No wonder why Celebrity service cannot compare to Regent or Silversea. A metric I saw a while back was the amount of public space per passenger and that is also very telling of how crowded a ship feels. I do not have the numbers but could probably find them. 

[markeb]

7 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

 Have been investing early 2026 myself. I can find any price relationship anybody wants 😂😂.

 

I was intrigued by the “$408pppd more than Regent” .

For 2:

Celebrity Ascent - Feb 23, 2026  - 11 nights - CS= $17,849 = $811 pppd

 

Silversea Silver Ray - Feb. 27, 2026 - 11 nights - Medallion Suite= $21,200 = $963pppd

 

Regent Grandeur - Feb. 28, 2026 - 14 nights - Penthouse Suite C= $25,283= $902 pppd.

 

No air in any of those numbers.

 

What am I missing? 
 

As an engineer, I have a spreadsheet for everything —- except the intangibles.    Ship size, passengers, activities, entertainment, food—- I wish I could have a formula for those. 😂. 
 

That 14 night itinerary is nice. 
 

mac_tlc

 

Just stating upfront that all of those are above my current "comfort zone"! I don't see myself booking any of those fares...

 

The Regent I believe is "all in". There are no real add ons. Drinks, gratuities, etc. are as I understand it included in the base price. I don't know about the Silversea pricing, but I think it's the same. Regent includes excursions, which isn't a big deal to me and may be a negative depending on the port. Same "I don't know" disclaimer on Silversea.

 

The Celebrity won't include gratuities in their current pricing, so you actually need to add $23/person/day to the celebrity pricing. That's still less than the other two, but let's be fair here. If you're going to that price point, Regent definitely is worth consideration. The "intangibles" from Celebrity as a larger ship with more options are going to be a plus for some and a minus for others.

 

From a business marketing and strategy perspective, they've all "lost" if people are comparing prices. Their value proposition is the intangibles, IMHO...

 

 

[ChucktownSteve]

8 hours ago, billc23 said:

Wow! What a drastic difference in the passenger to crew ratio. No wonder why Celebrity service cannot compare to Regent or Silversea. A metric I saw a while back was the amount of public space per passenger and that is also very telling of how crowded a ship feels. I do not have the numbers but could probably find them. 

As a caveat,I'm not sure if those crew numbers are still accurate for Royal Caribbean Group's lines. They may not be based upon recent crew cut backs; increasing their bottom line the past couple of years during/post covid.

Look at the uproar over Celebrity's attempt to change to a butler group instead of the promised/booked personal butler.

Also I'm not sure Silversea Medallion suites include the specialty restaurant or excursions since I have not experienced that line.

I've found that the smaller ships tend to be more port intensive which is what I prefer in an itinerary. The more active in port I am, the less likely I wish to stay up later for "entertainment."  Part of the intangibles proposition for me, as Markeb mentioned, is the caliber of other passengers.  Meeting and making new friends is much easier on the intimate ships.

Billc23, the way to determine PSR: Passenger Space Ratio = Gross Tonnage (GT) divided by the number of passengers. Thus Regent Grandeur = 74.39 and Celebrity Ascent  =  43.12.

 

Edited March 11 by ChucktownSteve

[Ipeeinthepools]

A lot of the discussion has been about suites, what about the average cruiser?  I did a couple of mock bookings for a 7 day Caribbean cruise for the first week in March 2025.  I compared Celebrity to Holland America, two similar cruise lines.  These comparisons are for a standard veranda cabin with drinks, WiFi and a refundable deposit.  Tips are not included.  Fees and taxes are included.  I also compared a new ship and an old ship 
 

Celebrity Ascent March 9th.   $4915

 

Celebrity Equinox March 8th. $4230

 

Holland America Nieuw Standendam March 8th. $3878

 

Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam (older ship) March 9th. $3658

 

The Holland America cruises also include a free dinner at a specialty restaurant, $100 credit for shore excursions and $200 OBC with the current promotion.

 

At least for this situation Celebrity is a lot more expensive but I have found similar comparisons for a lot of other cruises I’ve considered.

[ChucktownSteve]

10 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

A lot of the discussion has been about suites, what about the average cruiser?  I did a couple of mock bookings for a 7 day Caribbean cruise for the first week in March 2025.  I compared Celebrity to Holland America, two similar cruise lines.  These comparisons are for a standard veranda cabin with drinks, WiFi and a refundable deposit.  Tips are not included.  Fees and taxes are included.  I also compared a new ship and an old ship 
 

Celebrity Ascent March 9th.   $4915

 

Celebrity Equinox March 8th. $4230

 

Holland America Nieuw Standendam March 8th. $3878

 

Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam (older ship) March 9th. $3658

 

The Holland America cruises also include a free dinner at a specialty restaurant, $100 credit for shore excursions and $200 OBC with the current promotion.

 

At least for this situation Celebrity is a lot more expensive but I have found similar comparisons for a lot of other cruises I’ve considered.

 

So it just shows to go ya, Celebrity IS more expensive whether its a standard veranda cabin or Resort Suite.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

43 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

A lot of the discussion has been about suites, what about the average cruiser?  I did a couple of mock bookings for a 7 day Caribbean cruise for the first week in March 2025.  I compared Celebrity to Holland America, two similar cruise lines.  These comparisons are for a standard veranda cabin with drinks, WiFi and a refundable deposit.  Tips are not included.  Fees and taxes are included.  I also compared a new ship and an old ship 
 

Celebrity Ascent March 9th.   $4915

 

Celebrity Equinox March 8th. $4230

 

Holland America Nieuw Standendam March 8th. $3878

 

Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam (older ship) March 9th. $3658

 

The Holland America cruises also include a free dinner at a specialty restaurant, $100 credit for shore excursions and $200 OBC with the current promotion.

 

At least for this situation Celebrity is a lot more expensive but I have found similar comparisons for a lot of other cruises I’ve considered.

You are not supposed to be written about cabins that are not Suites on this section 😱😉😁

 

 

[mac_tlc]

10 hours ago, billc23 said:

Hi Mac_tlc,

Have you included gratuities and a refundable deposit on the Ascent? The Silversea quote does include those by default and I'm not sure about Regent. Silversea offers a "port to port" booking that is basically a quote with a non refundable deposit that is only available on their basic suites. The basic suite is similar size to a sky suite but better functionally by far. 

 

I'm finishing up a 32 day Silversea sailing in 3 days and have chatted with many on the sailing who also sail Regent. Most say it is a tossup depending on price and itinerary. Some prefer one or the other for a variety of reasons. I plan to try Regent soon. No way to know if I will like it until I try it.

 

Happy travels!

I did not include the grats, that would be another $23pppd. 
 

The deposit requirements are an intangible to me. I would probably never pay the extra $$ for a refundable deposit on X.

 

You are correct— will never know if you don’t try it. I probably would not go all the way up to a Medallion  Suite to find out! 
 

mac_tlc

[travel1light]

4 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

As a caveat,I'm not sure if those crew numbers are still accurate for Royal Caribbean Group's lines. They may not be based upon recent crew cut backs; increasing their bottom line the past couple of years during/post covid.

Look at the uproar over Celebrity's attempt to change to a butler group instead of the promised/booked personal butler.

Also I'm not sure Silversea Medallion suites include the specialty restaurant or excursions since I have not experienced that line.

I've found that the smaller ships tend to be more port intensive which is what I prefer in an itinerary. The more active in port I am, the less likely I wish to stay up later for "entertainment."  Part of the intangibles proposition for me, as Markeb mentioned, is the caliber of other passengers.  Meeting and making new friends is much easier on the intimate ships.

Billc23, the way to determine PSR: Passenger Space Ratio = Gross Tonnage (GT) divided by the number of passengers. Thus Regent Grandeur = 74.39 and Celebrity Ascent  =  43.12.

 

Thanks for all the replies to my post, lots of great information. I am going to look into booking Regent instead of Silversea, just not confident in the overall direction RCL is going.

[ChucktownSteve]

44 minutes ago, travel1light said:

Thanks for all the replies to my post, lots of great information. I am going to look into booking Regent instead of Silversea, just not confident in the overall direction RCL is going.

If you liked the info I supplied and you're going to book a Regent cruise, I can get you $250 off the booking if it's within 14 day of making the reservation.  Let me know. I'll tell you how.. steveL50 hotmail.

Edited March 11 by ChucktownSteve