Silversea or Seabourn ?

[MARIANH]

We have sailed many times on Seabourn - our last voyage was in December 2009 on the Seabourn Odyssey.

 

We would like to try Silversea, in particular the "new" Silver Spirit in December this year.

 

Before we make a booking, it would be helpful to have views on the relative merits of Seabourn and Silversea. They look like very similar products on paper. Any comments on the Silver Spirit would be particularly welcome.

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[Jaffa]

Geez!

 

Thats a tough question.

I have, up to now loved both, with SS being my overall preference.

Only because l need a full balcony and l like a decent pool deck which Seabourn up until the new Odyssey could not accomodate.

 

But there is a warmth and familuarity (sorry about the spelling) with Seabourn that is different to SS.

SS is more European/international and Seabourn more American/Western.

 

Now that Seabourn is lowering its dress standards that sends me more firmly into SS lap. I do love to dress.

 

We fought hard with SS and won re the marketing to kids. SS now does not advertise at all to familys. (thank god!)

 

But l see Seabourn is taking a different line on this.

(wrong direction IMHO)

 

But to tell you the truth, l will not be sailing on either of the bigger ships, (Odyessy or Spirit) Big is just not my cup of tea.

Intimate all the way, for this ugly duck! (:-))

 

If Seabourn maintain the dress standards on the triplets and shun the kids, then l could put up with lack of balcony because l love Seabourns core product.

But if they keep going with the new direction on all ships, then its firmly SS for me.

 

Up until now they have always been neck and neck to me, with only subtle differences.

 

SS is letting me down with these new extra dining charges, but thats only on the Spirit so far. Losing the Caviar is a bummer as well.

I think SS does look after its return guests a bit better than Seabourn but thats only my own experience. Some Seabourn return passengers rave about their treatment, but l have not experienced that myself.

[Susan07470]

I have only traveled on SS once. I will be doing an Asian itinerary this fall. I choose SS over Seabourn for two reason- the ports and the tarriff. I remember from my other cruise that there is a stiffer air of formality to SS. I absolutely love Seabourn and personally would have preferred it. My last cruise to Croatia was so spectacular. The crew is the most accomodating around. They receive an extra day off if they memorize everyone's name. They absolutely are warm and genuine anticpating all your desires. I only hope that I will not be disappointed with SS.

[Capri73]

Funny but we had our biggest issue with children on SS.Even after numerous complaints neither the crew or parents did anything.

Service on SS had declined greatly.It took 2 days for them to stock our room bar and when they did it was wrong.This sounds petty but it shows it was not 5 star service.Brought back dry cleaning that had not been cleaned and the spa was messy.This was our second SS trip.The first had been much nicer.

SB in my opinion was much better.Service and a much friendlier staff was more to my liking.

I think SS has lowered their standards.

[Hobar]

Seabourn outshines Silversea on everything except itinerary. Seabourn service and food are so superior to SS, but SB doesn't have the itinerary we want this time around, so we are limited to SS -- and are nevertheless hoping to be surprised with much better service and food than we had on a previous SS cruise. If you read both SB and SS boards, you will see much greater overall satisfaction with SB than with SS.

[Croce]

Comparing Odyssey with Spirit - When factoring in the free air promotion, SS is currently offering far better pricing than SB. Also SS doesn't up-charge you for suites on the higher level decks as does SB. I like the way SS allows you to book far in advance at the best rates. SS does not charge a fuel surcharge like SB when oil goes above 70USD per barrel. SS also will usually give you a shipboard credit just for asking, when booking direct. Therefore, I think all of this may compensate for some of the better service and two bathroom sinks you will get on SB. We've been on the Odyssey and loved it. Now looking forward to our first Spirit cruise.

[nuts4cruising]

We have sailed on the three smaller sister Seabourn ships a number of times and loved them, but we are notoriously disloyal to all cruise lines after about 30 cruises. Our favorite vacation is a cruise on a line we've never tried, going somewhere we've never been. We do repeat Seabourn the most and haven't tried Silversea or Regent thus far. We just booked the new Spirit for a Jan 2011 crossing from LA to Tahiti and are looking forward to it. Our biggest concern is the big drop in passenger to crew ratio. The small Seabourn ships are about 208:190 and the spirit will be 540:370. That's still a healthy ratio given the better scale economies of the larger ship. Seabourn staff is truly amazing. They truly all do address you by name within 48 hours. I requested a twist of lemon with my espresso the first time I had it on my first cruise with them. Many cruises later, they have never failed to bring it automatically. Their use of customer databases to improve service is amazing. We're in our mid 50's and have been doing Seabourn since we were 40ish. We would prefer a younger crowd and less formality might help with that, although we're happy to dress. I'll write a full report next February and I hope it's a rave.

[Silver Spectre]

Currently on the Whisper and will be posting a full review when we get home. My view is that the service is declining gracefully. There are still many individuals on the staff who provide an outstanding service, however the general quality of new/replacement staff is going down.

 

The introduction of the butler service is a nice idea that is ruined by replacing a predominately european (and south african) based service, where english is not only spoken but understood, with one based around indian & filipino staff who appear to speak and understand, but very often do not actually comprehend.

 

Ok, I appreciate that SS faces the same economic drivers as all cruise lines, but if I chose to pay for quality then I really expect to receive it all the time.

 

I also believe that the general service has suffered by shifting a subset of the very good people to man the Spirit and it will take time to get the newbies up to standard.

[unfathomable]

I can't speak from personal experience of any dip in service standards since the arrival of Spirit; but I remember something similar when Shadow and Whisper were introduced. The good news is that the training worked and the newcomers came up to SS's standards. The bad news is that it took a year or so to get back to 100%. The other good news is that, last time, SS took its very best people onto the new ships; and this time, if the rumour machine is working, they have taken only some of its very best...

[MARIANH]

Many thanks for all the helpful comments. We have bitten the bullet and booked Silver Spirit in the Caribbean in December 2010. Also trying Seabourn Sojourn ex Dover 20 June 2010. So we will be able to do a bit of " comparing and contrasting" at the end of the year.

[wripro]

I think people would be a lot happier if they weren't so obsessed with comparing and contrasting and enjoyed each experience for what it offers. They're both great cruise lines!

[TLCOhio]

I think people would be a lot happier if they weren't so obsessed with comparing and contrasting and enjoyed each experience for what it offers. They're both great cruise lines!

 

I'm more with wripro's viewpoint. We've done just two cruises: Seabourn in June 2006 for the Greek Isles and Turkish Coast and Crystal in late July 2008 for the Baltics and Russia. Loved both. Each had their service differences and other factors. We are getting ready for Silversea on the Silver Cloud for the Norway Coast, fjords, Arctic Circle, Land of the Midnight Sun, July 1-16, 2010. Like Susan mentioned, we are more focused on the ports and reaching where we want to go and what we want to see. Worrying too much about how dressed up people get and if we would see any children are fairly low on our list. We will be able to report more in later July.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[MARIANH]

I think people would be a lot happier if they weren't so obsessed with comparing and contrasting and enjoyed each experience for what it offers. They're both great cruise lines!

 

I take this to be a personal putdown as the "comparing and contrasting" is a straight quote from my last contribution. Just to set the record straight I am not obsessive, never have been and hopefully never will be. However, having cruised extensively with many lines I naturally "compare and contrast" . I would be surprised if others did not do the same. As a result we all take a view on what we enjoy and what we do not like and this is usually the basis for our personal choices of cruises in the future. I was under the impression that Cruise Critic was a vehicle for sharing views and experiences in the hope that these would be helpful to others in making informed decisions. Recognising of course that we are all different and understandably place different values on different things. Information is key and this is where in my experience Cruise Critic is such a valuable resource and adds such value.

 

Having cruised a lot with Seabourn and enjoyed it immensely I was hoping for a steer on Silversea so as to decide whether to commit funds to a cruise on Silver Spirit. As it turned out, the positive and helpful response I had on this thread decided me to book with Silversea.

 

Being an extremely happy person by nature, I am sure I will enjoy the Silversea experience. And I will share this through Cruise Critic in due course in the hope that it will be helpful to others. I may even "compare and contrast" but as always in a positive and constructive manner.

[chicagogal]

I was under the impression that Cruise Critic was a vehicle for sharing views and experiences in the hope that these would be helpful to others in making informed decisions.

 

Agree! We can share more on Silver Spirit after our April 23rd sailing.

[ging466]

Good to see u back on the board...did u have a great time on Odyssey?

 

What's your next cruise?...Silver Spirit...just for a comparison:)

 

Did u manage to meet Matt Moran whilst u dined at Aria? He's quite a celebrity in Sydney.

 

Hope u r fit & well.

 

Cheers

Jennifer (ging466)

[unfathomable]

I think people would be a lot happier if they weren't so obsessed with comparing and contrasting and enjoyed each experience for what it offers.

Of course the perfectionists here, me included, run the risk of making themselves unhappy by generating unrealistic expectations. But half the fun of cruising is the choosing, the comparisons, the discussion and the anticipation. Let a hundred flowers blossom.

[rl787]

I have sailed on both and there are many differences between the two lines but quite frankly I think they are nuances rather than material differences. I am sure when you are back you will have had a fabulous time on a fabulous ship with a fantastic crew. Broadly speaking most people would happily sail on either.

Have a great time.

[wripro]

Sorry if I offended anyone, was not my intention. But the bottom line is Silversea devotees will steer you to SS while Seabourn devotees will steer you to SB. All the boards are highly partisan so take it all with a grain of salt.

[TLCOhio]

Sorry if I offended anyone, was not my intention. But the bottom line is Silversea devotees will steer you to SS while Seabourn devotees will steer you to SB. All the boards are highly partisan so take it all with a grain of salt.

 

Excellent point on the "highly partisan" nature of devotees on both sides. I thought rl787 summed it up well with his "I think they are nuances rather than material differences" comments.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio