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Since we frequently have discussions comparing Regent to other lines, like Silversea,


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Report from Reuters on RCI's majority stake in Silversea:

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-royal-carib-crus-investment/royal-caribbean-adds-ultra-luxury-cruises-with-1-billion-stake-in-silversea-idUSKBN1JA1EP

 

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL.N) said on Thursday it would buy a 66.7 percent stake in privately owned Silversea Cruises for about $1 billion to add ultra-luxury and expedition cruises to its fleet.

Edited by RJ2002
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I read that and am happy to see the change. Silversea is a good cruise line that could be great if it were managed a bit better. Things like automatic donations to the owner's charity will hopefully go away (you can have the charge removed but people forget). The refurbishments have not been as complete as Regent's. There is much to like about Silversea - they just need an infusion of new ideas and to maintain their ships at a higher level.

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SS which we have five under our belt is too formal for us. Much prefer the other luxury lines which are a bit more casual and Regent being one of them.

 

We've done 3 Silversea cruises and agree with you. Maybe they will change the dress code but if they do European passengers will likely be upset.

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SS which we have five under our belt is too formal for us. Much prefer the other luxury lines which are a bit more casual and Regent being one of them.

 

I have never even taken a sports coat onboard my three Silversea voyages and won't on my next three trips either. All have been on Silver Explorer and future on Silver Explorer and Silver Cloud.

 

Marc

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I have never even taken a sports coat onboard my three Silversea voyages and won't on my next three trips either. All have been on Silver Explorer and future on Silver Explorer and Silver Cloud.

 

Marc

The Explorer ships are very different in dress code as they are very active in outdoor activities..like Antarctica. The Shadow was pretty formal on BT nights.

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I normally cruise with SS and love it and have another one booked for August but will be on my first Regent adventure in November as taking my folks with us and I liked the itinerary as it was not too far to fly to Rome. I do like the formal dressing of SS but equally will not mind being more casual, hoping all the positive things I have read on these boards is true of Regent :)

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We cruised SS a couple of times, and enjoyed it very much. But as time has gone by, we have been increasingly opposed to dressing up for formal nights. When we first cruised SS a decade ago, I did research and found that most men wore a tux on formal nights, so I bought one for this cruise. I don't know what the prevailing practice is now on SS, but these days I don't even want to wear a suit, and certainly not a tie. We were on Celebrity suite class for a music cruise last January, Before we went, I researched the dress code and found (to my happy surprise) that good jeans and a collared shirt were fine after 6:00 PM anywhere on the ship. And many men took advantage of that rule, including me. The formality of SS may be designed to rightfully serve a "niche market". But it doesn't "suit" me.

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We cruised SS a couple of times, and enjoyed it very much. But as time has gone by, we have been increasingly opposed to dressing up for formal nights. When we first cruised SS a decade ago, I did research and found that most men wore a tux on formal nights, so I bought one for this cruise. I don't know what the prevailing practice is now on SS, but these days I don't even want to wear a suit, and certainly not a tie. We were on Celebrity suite class for a music cruise last January, Before we went, I researched the dress code and found (to my happy surprise) that good jeans and a collared shirt were fine after 6:00 PM anywhere on the ship. And many men took advantage of that rule, including me. The formality of SS may be designed to rightfully serve a "niche market". But it doesn't "suit" me.

 

Wearing "dress jeans" seems to be okay on most premium cruise lines but they are not luxury cruise lines. How did Celebrity suite class compare with Regent (food, service, etc.)? In other words, is it worth sailing on a premium cruise line in order to wear dress jeans?

 

You're correct about the formality of Silversea. The majority of their passengers (on the sailings that we have been on) are mostly Europeans. Not sure if that will remain the same now that Royal Caribbean is involved.

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TC2,

 

We found Celebrity suite class compared very favorably with Regent in all areas you mentioned. The difference between wearing jeans or slacks as Regent requires makes no difference to me. What does make a difference is that our Celibrity suite (a real suite) was over twice the size as the lower five categories on the Mariner at a lesser cost. Also, you know how I hate lines and crowds. There were fewer of these that we encountered in the Celebrity suite area than on the Mariner.

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TC2,

 

We found Celebrity suite class compared very favorably with Regent in all areas you mentioned. The difference between wearing jeans or slacks as Regent requires makes no difference to me. What does make a difference is that our Celibrity suite (a real suite) was over twice the size as the lower five categories on the Mariner at a lesser cost. Also, you know how I hate lines and crowds. There were fewer of these that we encountered in the Celebrity suite area than on the Mariner.

 

Thank you for the explanation - most interesting! We likely will remain Regent loyalists forever but enjoy dipping our toes into other areas - just for fun!

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Wearing "dress jeans" seems to be okay on most premium cruise lines but they are not luxury cruise lines. How did Celebrity suite class compare with Regent (food, service, etc.)? In other words, is it worth sailing on a premium cruise line in order to wear dress jeans?

 

You're correct about the formality of Silversea. The majority of their passengers (on the sailings that we have been on) are mostly Europeans. Not sure if that will remain the same now that Royal Caribbean is involved.

 

I know for a fact that dress jeans ARE permitted on casual nights on a couple of luxury lines we have sailed. No holy jeans or ripped ones. Regent has their policy so it what it is and having sailed Regent we have seen nice jeans men and women in CR and nobody cared.

 

How many of you get tired of this dress code issue? Just asking.

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Malbec asked, "How many of you get tired of dress code issues?".......ME!

 

Add me to the list....Besides on the last Regent cruise we saw a few guest in jeans every night--and that was in every dining room we ate dinner in after six at night.. No one said a thing and I know for a fact the Maitre'd and wait staff saw them also. No big deal to us, fact is those jeans looked better than some of the slacks and pant suits we saw on others.

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I do not get tired of dress code issues because Regent needs to know what many of us are observing. It amazes me how many people do not read the Regent dress code or think that the policy is not for them. While it is easy to ignore these people, if you went on Oceania at night and observed what I observed (on two cruises), you likely would not want Regent to follow in their footsteps. While jeans (torn or not), worn out denim overalls, shorts, t-shirts, etc. are permitted in one dining venue, the passengers are walking around the ship dressed in this manner. It reminded me very much of what I saw on NCL.

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Don't you all think it is nice that there are differences between the cruise lines?

 

is it really necessary that they all be the same?

 

I am happy they are not.

 

Why? Because we are not the same.

 

We all choose to cruise for different reasons and what one enjoys the most might not be what the other one enjoys.

 

My hope is that each luxury line will have their own identity. Yes, change with the times but not be clones of one another.

 

One other item this thread reminds me of is that things do change on all cruise lines. If you haven't sailed on one of them in awhile you may not realize that it has changed. It doesn't matter whether you have sailed them five or fifty times if not for several years things likely have changed. I know because we sailed Silversea in 2009 and saw changes in 2016. Same goes for other lines that we have sailed. Most have changed so while the memories of how it was when one sailed them as nice it likely is different today than it was back then. Could be better. Could be worse. All depends on your own perspective.

 

Also sometimes some of the changes are made slowly so as not to ruffle the existing base of loyal cruisers and that includes the evening attire. Actually the most formal of the lines that we have sailed is not even a luxury line.

 

Keith

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Don't you all think it is nice that there are differences between the cruise lines?

 

is it really necessary that they all be the same?

 

I am happy they are not.

 

Why? Because we are not the same.

 

We all choose to cruise for different reasons and what one enjoys the most might not be what the other one enjoys.

 

My hope is that each luxury line will have their own identity. Yes, change with the times but not be clones of one another.

 

One other item this thread reminds me of is that things do change on all cruise lines. If you haven't sailed on one of them in awhile you may not realize that it has changed. It doesn't matter whether you have sailed them five or fifty times if not for several years things likely have changed. I know because we sailed Silversea in 2009 and saw changes in 2016. Same goes for other lines that we have sailed. Most have changed so while the memories of how it was when one sailed them as nice it likely is different today than it was back then. Could be better. Could be worse. All depends on your own perspective.

 

Also sometimes some of the changes are made slowly so as not to ruffle the existing base of loyal cruisers and that includes the evening attire. Actually the most formal of the lines that we have sailed is not even a luxury line.

 

Keith

 

What a refreshing post. Practical, honest perspective without the condescending tone often found on this board. Thank you for sharing your actual travel experiences in a positive way.

We have enjoyed many wonderful cruises on Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea, suite class on Celebrity and others. Regent remains our favorite, but we continue to cruise with different lines and enjoy the differences. We are very lucky to have this opportunity.

It makes me question what incentives the most vocal cheerleaders receive for blindly promoting only one cruise line. Surely it’s more than free laundry! We already have that perk.

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Don't you all think it is nice that there are differences between the cruise lines?

 

is it really necessary that they all be the same?

 

I am happy they are not.

 

Why? Because we are not the same.

 

We all choose to cruise for different reasons and what one enjoys the most might not be what the other one enjoys.

 

My hope is that each luxury line will have their own identity. Yes, change with the times but not be clones of one another.

 

One other item this thread reminds me of is that things do change on all cruise lines. If you haven't sailed on one of them in awhile you may not realize that it has changed. It doesn't matter whether you have sailed them five or fifty times if not for several years things likely have changed. I know because we sailed Silversea in 2009 and saw changes in 2016. Same goes for other lines that we have sailed. Most have changed so while the memories of how it was when one sailed them as nice it likely is different today than it was back then. Could be better. Could be worse. All depends on your own perspective.

 

Also sometimes some of the changes are made slowly so as not to ruffle the existing base of loyal cruisers and that includes the evening attire. Actually the most formal of the lines that we have sailed is not even a luxury line.

 

Keith

 

Keith, you know that I love to see you on the Regent board. Very curious to know what the most formal line you have been on is (guessing that it was a Cunard ship).

 

As you know we are playing around with different cruise lines that have West Coast departures so I'm interested in learning all that I can (although there is no way we will leave Regent permanently).

 

Be well,

Jackie

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Thank you Jackie. Yes, the most formal of the lines we have sailed is Cunard.

 

Even they have begun cutting back on the number of formal nights. Some of their longer term passengers didn't like the change while other welcomed it.

 

We did a crossing and the mix was formal nights and the other nights were jacket for gents and something dressy for the ladies so no true casual nights.

 

I suspect that in time we will continue to see the move to more casual as we have seen on land.

 

Maybe someday that will change as each generation wants to be different from their parents generation.

 

Keith

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Kieth,

 

I think most of us recognize that there are some (I don't know what %) cruisers who prefer a dressier cruise. There should continue to be lines that appeal to these folks, even though I am not one of them.

 

The market will decide if there will continue to be cruise lines that appeal to people that want to dress up as a norm. A few years ago I did Cunard , with its strict dress codes. Would not ever consider that again.

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cruiseluv,

 

I'm with you. I will not consider a line where I cannot wear at most slacks, a dress "T" and a sports coat anywhere any time. I will not wear a tie, but would consider an ascot! That's why SS is off my list. But that's just me. Other cruisers might want something else. I live in the Colorado Mountains. Here, some organization had a benefit party where tie was required. Nobody came. I'm probably a unique case of a person who had to wear coat and tie to work for many years (in another location) and now is sick of it. Not all feel as I do, and that is why there are different cruise lines. I just want AI, a large suite, and a loose dress code for the best price!

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cruiseluv,

 

 

 

I'm with you. I will not consider a line where I cannot wear at most slacks, a dress "T" and a sports coat anywhere any time. I will not wear a tie, but would consider an ascot! That's why SS is off my list. But that's just me. Other cruisers might want something else. I live in the Colorado Mountains. Here, some organization had a benefit party where tie was required. Nobody came. I'm probably a unique case of a person who had to wear coat and tie to work for many years (in another location) and now is sick of it. Not all feel as I do, and that is why there are different cruise lines. I just want AI, a large suite, and a loose dress code for the best price!

 

 

 

Great approach. Everyone is different and this “important aspect” is easily remedied if you know what’s expected and decide it’s not what you are wanting and chose something more suitable to your tastes and preferences.

 

I suspect if people booked onto a more casual cruise started demanding guests wore more formal wear there would likely be an outcry - and rightly so.

 

Conversely, I enjoy “dressing up” and do think it wrong when I hear people booking and then wanting to change the code to suit them and vocal others should (and cruise line) comply.

 

As Keith also said, differences are not a bad thing and one size doesn’t fit all. Choose accordingly.

 

For the record, I’m equally at home on both sides of the fence, but swing more to dress up. (Or more to the point my wife does, so my choice is taken care of!)

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