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Which Luxury Cruise for our Anniversary


katiekatie

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We are looking for just the right luxury cruise to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary next year.

Does anyone have a suggestion or positive experience they would like to share - best ship, best cabin, something above and beyond the cruise line did to make the cruise special.

We are looking to book as soon as possible to try and secure the best cabin category. Help us make up our minds!

Katie

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Princess is not a luxury line, it is a premium mass market line. One of the things that distinguishes a true luxury line is the size of the ship. With ship sizes in the mid thousands, and space ratios in the low to mid thirties, that would not qualify. I love Crystal as a luxury line. Great service, the personnel will remember your name and your preferences after the first day. With ships that hold around 900 that would hold close to 2000 on a mass market line, you have more space than you can imagine. I have only sailed on full ships and have never, and I mean never waited for anything. That includes tenders, pool chase lounges, service at the concierge desk, anything.

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Thank you for your suggestions. We have been on Celebrity - to the Carribbean (Infinity) and to Alaska (Summit) and soon the Xpedition.

I will research thru the cc site Crystal - a friend mentioned Sea Dreams.

We are flexible as to where and when we go - we are retired. The date of our anniversary is June 14, but we don't have to be on a ship that exact week. My husband mentioned a smaller ship (than X) that can get into ports the bigger ships can't. I like the idea of going out of Rome - maybe ending up in Spain. We also want to book the largest suite or penthouse available as this is a special occassion to us. Also, we would prefer a ship that did not have 'formal' nights!

This is a big decision and with this decision I know it will cost $'s, so making the right one is very important!

Would appreciate additional comments - I would like to have something booked by this June - I do know the 'prime' cabins go quickly ... Happy sailing - everyone! Katie

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If your budget allows, you should look at Crystal, Regent and Silversea. All are wonderful and definitely luxury (don't have experience on Sea Dreams, so cannot comment on how it compares). Most of them will have formal nights, but some itineraries have country club casual (you would just need to check to see if that is important to you). Oceania is not really a luxury line, but people say is nice and they apparently it is country club casual all the time.

 

You might do well to get a travel agent who specializes in cruises to help you sort out all the options. And you are definitely on the right track to be on the Cruise Critic board!

 

Good luck and congratulations!

 

NJBelle

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Regent Seven Seas and Seabourn are our favorite cruise lines. Personally, we like these much more than Crystal.

 

Both Regent and Seabourn have ships in the Mediterranean in the summer. Seabourn (like Crystal) is quite formal, so you might not like it on that account. Regent in the Mediterranean is mostly informal or country club casual. These ships are among the most spacious afloat. The suites are wonderful and enormous. All have balconies. Of the 2 Regent ships sailing in the Mediterranean, I would recommend taking the Seven Seas Voyager for a special event. We have spent a number of birthdays and anniversaries in Signatures, the Cordon Bleu restaurant available on the Voyager and the Mariner. It has a wonderfully elegant setting and some of the best food at sea, and does not have a cover charge. In fact there is no extra charge for any food or drink on board unless you want to order super premium wines and spirits.

 

Accomodations are wonderful. Even the smallest is marvelous. All suites above the standard size categories have wonderful butler service. The Master suites are the largest with 2 bedrooms each (there are 4 of these). The Grand and Voyager suites have one bedroom plus a large living room. The Seven Seas suites are somewhat smaller, but we find the 6 Seven Seas Aft suites to be our favorites. These are very glamorous with huge corner terraces at the end of the ship and vast floor-to-ceiling, wrap-around bay windows. There are both indoor and outdoor dining tables at which your butler can serve any meal, course by course, if you want to have a quiet, romantic time.

 

The Voyager has a 7 night cruise from Venice to Monte Carlo (Rome is one of the ports) from June 2 to 9 and a 10 night cruise from Monte Carlo to Dover (with 3 Spanish ports) from June 9 to 19. Why not take both, back-to-back?

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Echo the suggestion to do Regent.

 

Two possibilities though -- the ten night on Voyager will probably have formal nights. You can skip them by eating in your suite or your balcony if you get one of the larger suites.

 

Navigator, although smaller, would have seven night cruises next year, and their seven night cruises have eliminated formal nights in Europe.

 

Do a back to back 7 June to 21 June and overnight on your anniversary in Monte Carlo.

 

Avoid suites in the back of the ship, the ship cavitates (vibrates) at high speeds ---

 

You could probably get a grand or master suite with the huge forward balconies. I would consider it in a heartbeat because I love Navigator for its size, only 490 passengers.

 

We had no formal nights in the Caribbean last spring. Loved the ship, and the itineraries are much better than the large ships.

 

All inclusive -- good food --- really well thought out excursions. You can do better but probably pay more, I find Navigator to be a great value for a luxury experience.

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WOW ... just read your reviews of Regent and I think we might be sold! I'm going to look into what suites are available since we are flexible with our travel dates ... will aim for the aft suites because we love windows and a large balcony. I'm not sure if the vibrations would actually bother us ... does any one else have a comment on this?

A million thank you's ... Katie

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WOW ... just read your reviews of Regent and I think we might be sold! I'm going to look into what suites are available since we are flexible with our travel dates ... will aim for the aft suites because we love windows and a large balcony. I'm not sure if the vibrations would actually bother us ... does any one else have a comment on this?

 

A million thank you's ... Katie

 

Everyone tells us Navigator "Vibrates" more than Voyager, but some who are very sensitive to motion have talked of vibration on both. We have never had an issue on ships about motion, as we both worked years for the US Navy, and "you ain't seen motion 'til you cruise on a destroyer".

 

Stabilizers, we don't need no stinking stabilizers :)

 

Seriously, if you aren't extremely motion sensitive, you will be fine on either ship.

 

I love small ships. My avatar is Le Ponant, a very tiny sailing yacht that we sailed on in the Western Med two years in a row. 64 passengers.

 

I adored it. Even when my porthole in my cabin would disappear under water. Now, there is a real ship. With incredible food. Their parent company bought the Song of Flower the week we were on Le Ponant in 2003. I always wanted to sail on Song of Flower when she was part of Radisson's (now Regent's) fleet. She is now Le Diamante and Tauck occasionally charters her for South America cruises. We are seriously hooked on small ship cruising, with fine food, culture, and port intensive itineraries. Regent fills most of those needs.

 

We are mid-50s, very active, and have done great excursions on the old Radisson Diamond and on Navigator. Lots of snorkeling trips. Rented a car on St. Barth's (we must be crazy but we did survive). We found everything they offered to be of high quality and they know the business. I think you will be very satisfied with the product.

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Annie, thanks for your input ... what part of Maryland are you from? We are in the St. Michaels area, our home is on the water and we just love it here! If you come down this way, we should meet! I've requested the brochure from Regent and I'm going to talk with a travel agent next week about what cabins are still available on the Monte Carlo to Rome cruise! By the way, we are having our 5th annual St. Michaels Food & Wine Festival here if you guys like that sort of thing.

:) Have a great weekend :) ... Katie

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My only caveat about the Navigator is that there is no Signatures restaurant which is a splendid place to celibrate a special occasion. However, we are always happy on any Regent ship.

 

Regarding the aft suites, there aren't any aft facing suites on the Navigator. On the Voyager we take Seven Seas Aft suites 673 or 674 which have the largest balconies on the ship. We love them. There is some vibration in these suites but we, personally, have never found it bothersome and have felt it only during transatlantic crossings.

 

If you are on a cruise that does have a formal night, you can have your butler serve you dinner in your suite and watch a movie or two on the television or DVD player.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Annie,

 

I cruised on the Song of Flower 8 times, the last time was her final cruise with Radisson. She was wonderful. Many of us have talked about getting a charter together, but felt that part of the Song's charm was her fabulous staff and crew. I doubt that can be duplicated on Le Diamante.

 

Beth

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I've narrowed down my search and picked the :) June 9, 2008 Seven Seas Voyager :) 10 nights from Monte Carlo to Dover. As much as I would love to book the master suite, that's not in our budget. Can anyone tell me about the other suites from the grand suite down to penthouse A? It's hard to tell from the pictures - for example, some of the bedrooms have a window (which looks like it doesn't open), but not a door. We like to listen to the ocean and that would be a big factor in deciding what stateroom we would book.

Any pro's or con's about one suite over another? I would like to book as soon as possible. Also, is there anything I need to tell our booking agent (besides the fact it's our anniversary)?

Thank you for all your help and input ... Katie

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Our favorite suites are 673 and 674 which are "Seven Seas Aft" suites. Of the 6 Seven Seas Aft suites, these have the largest balconies -- in fact, at 271 square feet these are substantially larger than any other balconies on board (including the balconies in the most expensive Master and Grand suites). The balcony has a teak dining table with 4 chairs and there are 2 chaises longues. It also has an excellent mix of sunny and shady areas. The suite itself is very glamorous. It consists of one very large room with a queen size bed (or 2 twins), a sitting area with a sofa, a dining table with 4 chairs, and a huge, floor-to-ceiling, wrap-around bay window with spectacular views of the ocean. There are also a very large walk-in closet, several dressers, a desk with a full size P.C., and an excellent marble bathroom with a tub, a shower stall and 2 sinks. Some people feel objectionable vibration from the ship's engines in these suites, but we have spent quite a few cruises in these accomodations and have never felt any vibration that has bothered us.

 

All of the other premium suites on board, from PHB to the Master Suites are wonderful as well, but only the Master Suites, the Grand suites, and the aft facing Horizon suites (which are standard size suites and do not have butler service) have balconies that are larger than the standard 50 square foot balcony that every other suite has.

 

If you like to have a sliding glass door open at night so that you can hear the sound of the ship's wake, the Seven Seas Aft suites are your best bet among the premium categories. The Penthouses (A or B), the Seven Seas Forward suites and the Voyager suites would be the next choices. In the Grand suites, the doors to the balcony may be too far away from the bed.

You might also want to consider a Horizon suite, if you don't mind doing without butler service. #'s 877, 878, 1054 and 1055 (but no other Horizon category suites) have huge corner balconies, just like those in the Seven Seas Aft suites but at much less cost. BTW, the extra large size of these 4 balconies is not indicated on the deck plans, but the balconies really are huge.

 

Whatever accomodation that you choose on the Voyager, you will do O.K. IMHO, there is no bad suite on this ship!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Carol - we are still looking. After checking out Regent we loved the ship but not crazy about the itinerary, so we are still looking and I'm still researching. Any other ideas?

 

Thanks for your interest!

 

Katie

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Hi Carol - we are still looking. After checking out Regent we loved the ship but not crazy about the itinerary, so we are still looking and I'm still researching. Any other ideas?

 

Thanks for your interest!

 

Katie

 

Hi Katie-

We have friends that have sailed with SilverSeas and loved it! They said SilverSeas is the only line they will sail with from now on. They said the service and ambiance is incredible. Just a thought...:D

 

Have a great anniversary!

 

Gina

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  • 1 month later...

You might want to look at Regent's Paul Gauguin in Tahiti. We took it last September and it was the best cruise we ever had (and we have been on most "decent" lines). The ship is co-owned by Grand Circle and Vantage Travel and they have great deals, including air fare from L.A.

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I'ved been on all the luxury lines, and here is what I suggest..

If you want a larger ship with refined service, choose Crystal (semi-inclusive). If you want a laid back luxury experience, choose Regent (all-inclusive). If you want a smaller ship experience with fine service and nice balconies, choose Silversea (all-inclusive). If you want a large yacht-like experience with the finest food and service on the seas, choose Seabourn (all-inclusive). If you want to cruise in the finest style on true yachts with wonderful service and food, choose SeaDream. Keep in mind, Seadream and Seabourn can call on ports large ships simply can't.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Host Dan

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I'm not Dan, but I have experience with most of the lines mentioned. I would not put Oceania in the luxury category. At best, I feel they are more akin to Windstar or perhaps Azamara's Journey/Quest. At the moment, Oceania doesn't offer what I would call great food or service---at least not what Seabourn, Sea Dream or Crystal offers. It's just basic, decent food. Also, we found the service on board to be very spotty--this was on Regatta. While Oceania is trying to put themselves in the luxury market, but they have a ways to go, IMHO

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I'm not Dan, but I have experience with most of the lines mentioned. I would not put Oceania in the luxury category. At best, I feel they are more akin to Windstar or perhaps Azamara's Journey/Quest. At the moment, Oceania doesn't offer what I would call great food or service---at least not what Seabourn, Sea Dream or Crystal offers. It's just basic, decent food. Also, we found the service on board to be very spotty--this was on Regatta. While Oceania is trying to put themselves in the luxury market, but they have a ways to go, IMHO

I agree Tracie wholeheartedly!!! Thank you for replying!

 

Host Dan

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