Seabourn vs. Regents Seven Seas?

I prefer SB to Regent, better food, better service, though my experience is less than those of other posters.

I wrote a recent review of the Quest ( just a few service glitches for a luxury ship)

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=576983

You can also find my review of two BTB Odyssey cruises in September 2015, was fantastic, do not worry about the ship being old, it did not show.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=513703

We are gold on both regent and Seabourn

Previous posters have done a good job detailing why Seabourn is better

Except for the specialty restaurants on Regent Explorer, Seabourn is better

I'd like to add my observations to the following posts. Full disclosure: I've sailed Regent seven times since 2009 with three more booked, and I have yet to sail on Seabourn (although they're my number one choice to try).

We have done both Seabourn (10 years +) and Regent (Caribbean on the Navigator). Our observations:

 

Feel on the ship

Regent - very "American" - some large ship attributes such as art auctions, photographers, filming of cruise director daily program which seemed a bit Disney park, announcements. Brash in your face CD (who, when she settled everyone in was probably the best we have ever had in terms of intuitiveness). Dark interiors, more old world in this sense. Passengers 490 - seemed crowded in many areas. Deck space feels tight and limited.

I haven't seen any art auctions on Regent since about 2011/2012, and I've never seen a photographer. You may see a videographer around the ship and on shore excursions, but I've never seen one just shooting to sell anything. As to CDs, we've seen them all the way from 'Full on Flamboyant' to 'Subdued and Sophisticated'. The CDs can improve a cruise, I think, but having a less than stellar one doesn't detract anything in my opinion. But yep, some of them can be a bit too enthusiastic at times. :D

Cabins

Regent - slightly smaller and dark paneled.

I feel that the cabins on Regent were usually on the lighter side - if you thought they were dark on Navigator, you won't want to sail on Explorer - THAT ship went dark. Although I like the darker décor (there are plenty of lights throughout the cabins) there have been quite a few people who are critical of it. Also, the recent refurbishments have introduced a darker look throughout the rest of the fleet as well.

Excursions

Most cruise lines do the same things in port and use the same local companies. Some of the included Regent excursions we have experienced were excellent - others basic.

I couldn't agree more - this is one area where you need to do some homework to see which ones might be more enjoyable than others. We've noticed a trend over the last few years to cram more people on each bus - and the 'hurry up and wait' in the theater is somewhat annoying. That said, though, we've had some excellent included excursions - and some mediocre extra cost ones. It really is hit-and-miss.

I'm sure a lot of this will have been covered but -

 

The only new Regent ship is the Explorer which is older than the Encore and will be older than the Ovation. The others are far older than the Odyssey.

Well, with Explorer being launched in 2016 it's not like it's a floating derelict - and they're planning on launching a sister ship in 2020. So that's cool - hopefully they'll address some of the issues plaguing Explorer...

Regent does (IMO) shady things like sell an inaugural cruise at a premium and then forgets to mention its not actually the inaugural cruise and by the way even if you count it as the first paying guest inaugural they're not doing anything special for the guests and that premium.

 

Then there's all the marketing they send out stating "free this, free that" only its not free. The word inclusive like Seabourn uses it far more accurate and honest. So shoreside Regent comes across as less than honest than the average corporation.

This has been a complaint of mine for the last five years or more. Their marketing is getting more and more like a bad infomercial every year - "But wait, there's more!! Order now and we'll send you a second cruise!!" Drives me nuts. And don't get me started on the free vs. included discussion. Ugh.

Wine service:

Over several cruises on Regent I've found that their wine stewards/sommeliers do the absolute minimal amount of work possible. They don't recommend wines based on your previous orders or what you're eating. They also were some of the worst when asked for pairing suggestions (not in the suggestions made - just in that they seemed unable to make suggestions).

Agree to an extent - we've had many wine stewards who were marginally capable, but as a rule we've encountered very knowledgeable, helpful, and personable sommeliers on board. On our cruise last summer, we had probably the best sommelier we've had yet - he really made our dining much more enjoyable. If your steward isn't helpful, ask for a sommelier - and hopefully you'll get Arthur or someone as good.

Bars/Coffee:

While the experience on the Explorer was VASTLY improved over previous Regent cruises I'm holding my breath to see what a regular Regent bar experience is like (some of the best bartenders on the faux inaugural cruise were temps on loan from Oceania).

Most of the bars are pretty good, with good bartenders...but don't ever expect decent service from the pool bar. Honestly, they'd be better off just keeping it closed and putting up a sign saying "Patrons, please walk your happy butts into the nearest bar and order your own drinks." We've mentioned this many times over our last several cruises and it NEVER seems to improve.

Tours:

They're included (not free like the less than honest people at Regent claim). Depends on location but a lot skew towards the scenic overview via bus end of the equation. Then they have higher priced paid versions (even higher priced when you realize you're paying more than other lines would charge for the same tour PLUS you've already paid for your included tours and don't get any form of discount based on that). Capacity of each tour seemed to be more than on Crystal and Seabourn.

Technically, you DO get a discount on the 'Regent Choice' excursions if you look at the comparable list prices. For example, some that have a $109 upcharge would run you $200-250 if you booked them through a private company or competing line, at least they did the last time I looked. Whether that's worth it to you is a different story.

I'm sorry if I come off sounding like a Regent cheerleader, but so far they're my only reference for luxury cruises - and as I said earlier I'd love to try Seabourn someday when the itinerary/schedule fits with mine. But I wanted to throw in my observations to maybe help the OP make a decision. Personally, I think most anyone would be happy on either line (well, unless you come down with a bad case of food poisoning - that could really turn someone off). :cool:

UNNBillNet

I'm slightly amused that you would chime in on a thread about Seabourn vs Regent when you have never been on Seabourn so cannot offer comparisons

As previously stated, I am gold with both

In January we convinced our Seabourn cruising friends to try Regent Explorer. It was a one off. They went back to Seabourn

We are gold on both Seabourn and Regent as well ( though approaching platinum on Regent). When we initially started cruising on Seabourn, we thought they were clearly superior to Regent. However, our last two cruises on Seabourn were disappointing, with increasingly noticeable cutbacks, especially in food service, but also in staff numbers. At the same time, Regent has improved in a number of areas, including the much improved menu choices in the MDR. At this time, we clearly prefer Regent.

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UNNBillNet

I'm slightly amused that you would chime in on a thread about Seabourn vs Regent when you have never been on Seabourn so cannot offer comparisons

 

As previously stated, I am gold with both

In January we convinced our Seabourn cruising friends to try Regent Explorer. It was a one off. They went back to Seabourn

Purple - as you'll notice, I specifically stated in my post that I had never sailed Seabourn. But I read some things about Regent that I thought might benefit from some clarification (or my opinion, at least). I don't see anywhere in my post where I made any comparisons, I merely offered my experiences on Regent which I hoped might help anyone making decisions on a cruise line.

I think there are a lot of people who are reading this thread to help decide which line to book with - I know I did a LOT of research before I booked my first cruise, and I read many opinions of the major luxury cruise lines, both positive and negative, before I settled on my first choice.

My apologies if I offended anyone by offering some additional information. :confused:

We used to cruise Regent exclusively until they made all their shore excursions inclusive. My wife and I do not like bus tours and prefer to either rent a car and tour on our own or hire a local guide depending upon the country and port. We then shifted to Crystal but decided that their rooms were to small and that we preferred open dining. We now use Seabourn and Silver Seas and are happy with both. We base our decision on itinerary, and have found that these two cruise lines usually have a cruise scheduled where we want to go. While there are certainly significant differences between the four major luxury cruise lines (Crystal, Seabourn, Regent & Silver Seas), for our needs we find that the quality of food, entertainment, facilities and service are all at a more than acceptable level on all of them. If Chrystal is successful with their upcoming stateroom modifications and subsequent adoption of open dining, we will definitely try them again as they otherwise offer an excellent product.

UUNETBILL, We are platinum on Seabourn and have sailed over 100 days on Silverseas. We have two cruises booked with Regent, one this year and one next year. Your post was very helpful to me as it clarified that art auction and photographer comment that was posted earlier. It also set my expectations regarding drink service at the pool bar. Thank you for posting your comments.

We have over 200 days on Seabourn and are going on Odyssey end of Dec. We have been on one Regent trip (Navigator round trip Miami to the Amazon). We did not like the Navigator--too much vibration. Just booked the Mariner because of itinerary (Vancouver through Alaska and then through the canal repositioning to Miami Sept 2018) Seabourn did not offer this itinerary. Will wait and see!!:)