I just can't decide...help

I am planning our 20th anniversary cruise. We want to cruise in Northern Europe and we just can't decide on Recent Seven Seas or Crystal....for those of you who have cruised on both.....please let me know what you liked/didn't like on the cruise....THANK YOU.:)

Well, I don't meet your criteria as I haven't sailed on Crystal, but I'll at least weigh in with why we originally chose Regent over Crystal...

At the time, there were two main reasons:

1. Fixed dining times - I've heard they changed this, so it may be a non-issue, but I'm still not sure they're as flexible as Regent in this regard, and

2. Smaller cabins. I don't spend a LOT of time in my cabin, but when I do, I don't want to feel claustrophobic. The smallest suites on Regent are roomy and well thought out, in my opinion.

Others with Crystal cruises under their belts can possibly update this information, but those were the two main deciding factors that steered us to Regent in the first place. I'm sure you'll have a fantastic cruise whichever line you choose - and congrats on your anniversary!

We also have not been on Crystal because of the seating issues and small cabins. Although Crystal still has set seating, they also have open seating by reservation. Some people report that it is easy to get reservations and others are frustrated by the system.

One plus on the Regent side is the included excursions. Depending upon where you are going in Northern Europe, this can be an important factor.

I would choose one of Regent Explorer's Northern Europe cruises for your 20th Anniversary.

Spectacular new ship worthy of the event. I agree with the advantages noted above.

Cruzilove, These answers are going to be the overwhelming reasons why travelers choose Regent over Crystal. Hopefully for you Keith1010 will post and give you the other side.

Food is subjective. From all I've heard, however, the lectures and enhancements on Crystal are superior. Be aware as well the atmosphere on Crystal is more formal; that may or may not appeal.

Be aware as well the atmosphere on Crystal is more formal; that may or may not appeal.

That was another big reason we originally chose Regent, but I didn't want to open that can 'o worms. :D

I've said it before, there are several 'luxury' choices in the cruise world and they all have their pros and cons - the challenge is to find the one that's the best fit for you.

I hope you posted this question on the Crystal board as well - it would be interesting to compare the feedback from both threads...

We do both lines. Itinerary is what really drives us. I agree with the two major sticking points on Crystal....smaller cabins and the traditional dining thing (early and late seating).Those two "drawbacks" don't bother us at all, however I can understand that they may be legitimate turn offs. We have not been on Regent in the last couple of years, but are doing the TA on the Explorer. I'm looking forward to being on the new ship!

On the Crystal side, the food is spectacular, specialty restaurants are exceptionally and unfailingly good. Service is always top notch,(not the Regent's crew isn't nice too) and the cocktail bars, and Avenue Saloon are something special. They are masters of the sophisticated cocktail.

I don't really think you can go far wrong with either....

I would think dinner-if your having a nice dinner, you don't want someone moving you along for the next sitting. Bigger suites is a plus also.

Can't argue with the bigger suites, however we've never, ever had the feeling we were being rushed at dinner. For us anyway, 2 1/2 hrs are plenty for dinner.

Cruzilove - A bit over a year ago, I posted about our experience as veteran Regent cruisers on a Crystal cruise. You might find it helpful in your evaluation of the two options.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2214164

Cheers, Fred

Cruzilove - Sorry for a second post; but it was too late for me to edit my first one. So please consider the following as an addendum to my post #10:

The last page of the thread that I started went a bit (or more than a bit) off the rails; but the various comments on the rest of the thread might be of use of you. Further, contrary to my statement in one of the earlier posts on the thread, we have not, in fact, deserted Regent, as we have recently booked on a Regent Voyager cruise from Dubai to Singapore in December of this year and another from Bali to Hong Kong in 2018. However, we are also at long last going to experience Seabourn on a circle of the British Isles next summer. We anticipate enjoying Seabourn very much.

The one conclusion stated in my earlier review that has not changed is that we have no intention of cruising on Crystal again until the new ships (or ship, or who knows how many or few there will be??) are launched. As you can easily determine from the Crystal CC board, the launch date for the first of those new ships has now been moved back from 2019 to 2021. Thus, we will likely be cruising on Regent and Seabourn at least until 2021.

Crystal has a much more professional crew and they do not move them from ship to ship. The service is far more personalized in my opinion.

Crystal's dining by reservation is fine for us. We always get the table we want at the time we want, just have to make the reservations. I do them before we get on the ship.

I do NOT like that you can only eat at each of the specialty restaurants once (there are only two). Of course you can pay the $30 each, but that is comparable to what we pay on shore.

I do NOT like the smaller cabins and the only cabin that has two bathrooms is CP and the price for that is totally out of line.

Regent offers better airplane options.

Crystal sometimes has better ports (check the itineraries).

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Crystal has far better entertainment and enrichment programs. Far and away.

The Explorer is a far nicer ship as far as I can see from pictures. Have two cruises planned on this ship.

Tours are included on Regent, but you must pay on Crystal. Their pay prices are less than Regent.

Think I have been fair and balanced.

The small suites make Crystal a non-starter for us. Period.

I cruise both lines too.

I find the staff on Regent friendlier and it's nice to go from ship to ship and see familiar, smiling faces. Having said that, most of the staff on Crystal is excellent too.

The entertainment is a toss-up. Yes, more enrichment programs on Crystal

Dining by Reservation on Crystal has worked for me but open seating on Regent does too.

Nicer cabins on Regent - by far!

Itineraries: a toss-up again. Some better, some not.

Silk Road is terrific but having to pay extra to go more than once is annoying.

I've been happy with the included tours on Regent - no different than prior to that arrangement.

I prefer the lay-out of the Regent ships - again, like all of this - my personal preference.

Peggy

WOW....thank you to everyone who posted....i really appreciate you taking your time to do so. It sounds like Regent is probably going to be a better fit for my hubby and me...........thanks again......

Am sailing on Regent for the first time in November, but was on the Crystal Serenity in the Mediterranean last August. It was sensational.

Pros: Food was spectacular. Having to pay extra to eat a second meal in a specialty dining venue was, however, quite annoying. But not a deal breaker. The set dining times didn't bother us.

Entertainment was quite good as well...the shows were small scale but generally entertaining, and the entertainers brought on board were all fun...a magician, a mind reader, a Billy Joel impersonator. ( I hear people raving about a violinist that was one of the performers on Regent, which I fear might be a tad dull.) They also featured a close-up magician as part of a Magic Castle-At-Sea program that everyone enjoyed.

The ship was beautiful.

Cons:

Shore excursions were not included and they can get pricey.

The cabin was clean and well maintained but nowhere near what they appear to be on the Seven Seas Explorer.

The cruise director was very old school, as was his cringe worthy ventriloquist act.

Overall, we'd sail with them again depending upon the itinerary. Am quite curious as to how the food on Regent compares.

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Cruzilove, These answers are going to be the overwhelming reasons why travelers choose Regent over Crystal. Hopefully for you Keith1010 will post and give you the other side.

Food is subjective. From all I've heard, however, the lectures and enhancements on Crystal are superior. Be aware as well the atmosphere on Crystal is more formal; that may or may not appeal.

I would hope he ask the same question on Crystal.I pick the [ports of call before anything else. then i look at my perks. i know what size cabin i need and i would pick that cabin size. .my second Regent cruise is due to ports and it RT Mia.

We too have sailed both lines.

The cabins on Regent are exceptional. The Cabins are small on Crystal but very well appointed. On Northern Europe, your cabin will not be used for much more than changing and sleeping - very port intensive.

Crystal was more formal but that is much relaxed. It's what kept me from sailing them. We refused to sail Crystal for years due to fixed dining but even that has pluses in that your stall will get to know your options. There is flexibility with Dining by Reservation but there is great entertainment between early and late seating on board in three venues.

If you like to gamble at all - the casino on Crystal is superior with many passengers playing and more favorable rules. There were often times on Regent no one was in the casino.

Entertainment on Crystal is far superior to Regent's entertainment. The production shows are over the top compared to Regent. The Billy Joel show for example - the singer/pianist was selected by Biily Joel to play that role. It is a traveling show that is not only a Crystal show but produced by Billy Joel. Other production shows are more professionally produced and appealing.

Everything is included on Crystal - wine, classes (far more than Regent) tips, entertainment. All that is extra is Specialty restaurants and excursions. if you go more than once a week. If you have a two week cruise you can go one time per restaurant per week. Regent includes excursions but many of them have additional charges. Crystal's cost for many will be less. You can also find outside companies - especially for Northern Europe like Alla or Red October and you will have a custom experience. If you notice, we did Northern Europe on Oceania so we could do a custom tour and it out shined that of any of the onboard tours on Oceania or Regent. All of the tours we have taken on Crystal have been to our liking.

Hello

To further confuse this discussion, we did Northern Europe with Seabourn. We love them, but chose them for this journey because they also went to Murmansk. The visit to Murmansk was a real highlight for us. We are both WWII age and remember our parents discussing this part of the war. It is very little known and we found it fascinating.

WE have sailed Regent, Seabourn and Silversea. We do not sail Crystal because of the staterooms. We are not tiny folks and those small suites are much too small for us. I can't stand a hotel room that size, so I can't imagine booking several weeks on them.

We are currently booked on a Regent journey of Dubai to Singapore. We can hardly wait and I have already booked all our excursions and the journey isn't until December!

We like the three ships named earlier equally well and it is all about the ports for us also!

Josephone:)

Seabourn seems to consistently get fantastic reviews, and I've been tempted to give it a try. But the Seven Seas Explorer is considerably larger than the Seabourn ships and the cabin layout far superior. And it's my perception that Seabourn is even pricier, and I'm just not sure it's worth it.

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Seabourn is the one luxury line other than Regent that really has my interest. But so far I haven't found an itinerary that totally grabbed me.

I agree with ChatKat on the quality of the entertainment on Crystal. Excellent. But the theatre on Symphony is awful. It seats 400 and there is very little grade toward the stage. So the view from mid-theatre back is largely the back of other people's heads. On our cruise on Symphony there were 936 passengers. 400 seats for 936 passengers to share. Yes, two shows a night. But do the math!!!

Wow, Something about Crystal is not perfect. My impression from reading posts on this board from Crystal loyalists is the line could do no wrong despite small cabins and restricted dining. Seems there is a chink in the armor.

Wow, Something about Crystal is not perfect. My impression from reading posts on this board from Crystal loyalists is the line could do no wrong despite small cabins and restricted dining. Seems there is a chink in the armor.

Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again - I don't think any line is perfect, but people can find one that's almost perfect for them. I passed on Crystal originally because of the smaller cabins, set dining, and more formal feel. I know a lot of that has changed, but after 7 years of cruising on Regent, we're in our comfort zone...so I guess that makes Regent perfect for us! :)