Advice on a different line

[SandyK1968]

Forgive me for posting a question about Silversea here, but you will understand that as a seasoned Seabournite, I'd rather ask Seabourn passengers for advice than ask committed (and therefore potentially more biased) Silversea regulars.

 

So... we are regular Seabourners, but I'd like to do an Alaska trip this year and have identified a Silversea trip that fits the bill.

 

I have already read enough criticism of SS on these boards so I'm not inviting a torrent of abuse :D but would love some help identifying whether ( as a lover of Seabourn) I might be able to tolerate SS. Might I prefer Oceania? Regent? or, God forbid, HAL?

 

All thoughts would be welcome and very many thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

 

Sandy

[Paminflorida]

We tried Silverseas on what was really a "free" cruise for us. The food in the Italian restaurant is outstanding. However, you can not compare the level of service between the two lines. I don't want to bash Silverseas, but I would not book another cruise with them. Once you've sailed with Seabourn, you really are spoiled and can't help but be disappointed. Even on a free cruise.

[Joc123]

We have sailed once with Silversea and will not sail again. We were on the Shadow in Asia several years ago and chose it for the itinerary. We found the ship was worn out and we didn't like the Art Deco look, but that is personal. We found the service was not as good as Seabourn and as we are low maintenance people we found no use for the butler. In fact we thought she was intrusive rather than helpful. On this cruise, we thought the food was dreadful, but it was just prior to the ship failing the CDC inspection. I gather this has been improved since then. We didn't like the automatic payment to some Charity we had never heard of. We found it embarrassing to have to go to reception to say we were not going to pay. The one thing that was better were the tours. They were great, well organised, with very professional tour leaders.

Every cruise has a different feel to it, we have enjoyed some Seabourn cruises more than others, but we just thought Silversea were not up to Seabourn in too many areas to try them again.

[marazul]

That still leaves the OP's question unanswered:

 

Which cruise line would you take in Alaska?

 

Curious too.

[travelingduo]

We have more than 75 cruises under our "belts" and have found over the years that each sailing is like a theater performance... Different cast of characters and different audience. We prefer the all-inclusive lines and are fortunate to be able to mostly avoid the 'mainstream' lines over the past 15 years. We loved SS and had wonderful experiences onboard. We have outstanding and OK experiences on Seabourn as well and tend to prefer Seabourn now. But we would not hesitate to take a SS cruise if the itinerary suited our needs. A caution about HAL-- and a personal one-- we recently were on a HAL cruise in a full suite and we hated every minute. Seabourn, Silversea, Regent, and Oceania truly spoil you. We have been on HAL, Silversea, and Oceania in Alaska. We would go with SS, Oceania, or Seabourn. Just another opinion! Good luck making your decision.

 

 

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[Emperor Norton]

Forgive me for posting a question about Silversea here, but you will understand that as a seasoned Seabournite, I'd rather ask Seabourn passengers for advice than ask committed (and therefore potentially more biased) Silversea regulars.

 

So... we are regular Seabourners, but I'd like to do an Alaska trip this year and have identified a Silversea trip that fits the bill.

 

I have already read enough criticism of SS on these boards so I'm not inviting a torrent of abuse :D but would love some help identifying whether ( as a lover of Seabourn) I might be able to tolerate SS. Might I prefer Oceania? Regent? or, God forbid, HAL?

 

All thoughts would be welcome and very many thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

 

Sandy

 

My one SilverSea trip was SFO > Alaska > SFO. The ship was well maintained. The food was eh to ok (tho they did serve me the absolute worst foie gras Ive ever had. Further rice/pasta came out snap crackle pop - south of al dente). This was back when la Champagne was a several hundred dollar surcharge with wine pairing. Most of the crew seemed like angry pirates. There was no personalization like you get on Seabourn. Further aside from being angry a good chunk of the crew seemed to have zero clue as to what customer service is. There was zero effort made to go the extra step for customers. The exception to this was the CD and the Maitre'd who ran La Champagne. Other than that I would've assumed they picked the crew up from a local McDonalds.

 

On one hand Id like to assume my experience was unique, however after speaking with other travelers it seems that having bad erratic staff is a current signature of SilverSeas. If they could fix that and pick the food up a bit they could be right there with Seabourn.

[Buccaneer_1]

The issue here is availability. You obviously like the Seabourn experience of smaller ship, all inclusive, upmarket in almost all respects. If you're going to Alaska then as far as I know the only comparable cruise line is Silverseas.

 

All other comparisons are pretty much irrelevant in that context..

 

Having said that we've done 3 Silverseas and about to do our 18th Seabourn so that probably states our preferences. All 3 Silverseas were where the itinerary (Alaska) wasn't available on Seabourn or the timing (Egypt to Dubia and Valparaiso to Buenos Aires) suited us better. We enjoyed all three thoroughly.

 

The service is a bit better on Seabourn, the attention paid is a little more formal on Silverseas, having a butler can be overwhelming but also very effective for a number of things. Overall we prefer the MDR on Seabourn but prefer the Italian themed restaurant on Silverseas to Restaurant 2.

 

All personal choices and you pays your money and you takes your chances for the rest.

 

It comes down to timing and itinerary and the size of the ship and how they charge for what you're getting.

 

What you don't want is a 3,500 people carrier.

[secoma4]

We have about 200 days on Seabourn and took a Silversea cruise to Alaska because it was the only smaller ship (and supposedly comparable to Seabourn) option. This was about 5 years ago.

 

The ship was nice (but no Seabourn Square).and otherwise similar to the Oddysey class ships, albeit a bit older. We had no real complaints about the food, service or entertainment. The one thing to be aware of is that Cruises to Alaska are generally during US school holidays and there were quite a few kids on board. The ship did not have facilities for this number of children.

 

I would go with Seabourn if the option was available but would not be deterred from sailing with Silversea again if it was an itinerary that Seabourn was not covering.

[Paminflorida]

Here's an idea - instead of going to Alaska, join us on Seabourn for the fjords in Norway in June! We did sail HAL in Alaska about 15 years ago, but it was our first cruise and we didn't know any better. A balcony is a must in Alaska, which ever line you choose!

Edited January 11, 2015 by Paminflorida

[ab21au]

We were investigating either Alaska or New England cruise for Aug/ Sep this year. Had Seabourn had an Alaska cruise we would have chosen that.

 

The best of those you listed we would have looked at, based on all the reviews I read, was the Oceania but it had some negatives for us ( our travel dates were specific) but I would have chosen it had the dates aligned. But our research showed the Oceania cabins were small compared to SB for the same money. To get the same size suite, the cruise would have been more costly than a SB cruise for the equivalent cruise length.

 

I found many negative reviews of the SS Alaska cruise and we decided it was a no-go for us. We have now booked on the Quest New England cruise.

 

Hopefully by the time we decide to do Alaska, SB will be cruising there.

 

Good Luck with your decision. What ever you decide, I am sure it will be good.

[Emperor Norton]

The issue here is availability. You obviously like the Seabourn experience of smaller ship, all inclusive, upmarket in almost all respects. If you're going to Alaska then as far as I know the only comparable cruise line is Silverseas.

 

...

 

If you don't mind cruising with ~500-600 other people or paying too much for an IMO inferior product, Regent still goes to Alaska

[Chairsin]

I cannot speak to SS as I have never sailed on one of their ships but depending on what you are looking for there are other small ship options. If you require something more upscale another option would be Le Ponant. If you are looking for adventure and a chance to really experience Alaska's natural treasures and willing to give up luxurious surroundings try Lindblad. We have used them for all of our adventure trips( Galapagos, Sea of Cortez, etc.) and been quite impressed with the up close experience and the high quality of their naturalists -- I did not even mind giving up my Seabourn bathtub and endless glass of champagne.

 

 

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[Tillylovesseabourn]

I have tried Silversea, Regent and HAL.

I would definately not in my experience sail with SS again due to the poor food quality, and my dislike of their type of service.

I found Regent to be a much nicer brand, which i would go on again.

My HAL experience was in one of their gigantic penthouse suites, which was spectacular,as was the service to boot. We were treated like royalty, nothing was too much for them.

Our friends who also love seabourn, always sail in the suite category on Oceania, and say it is a good quality priduct if you stick to the speciality restaurants and opt for an all inclusive drinks package.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Tillylovesseabourn

[Tillylovesseabourn]

I cannot speak to SS as I have never sailed on one of their ships but depending on what you are looking for there are other small ship options. If you require something more upscale another option would be Le Ponant. If you are looking for adventure and a chance to really experience Alaska's natural treasures and willing to give up luxurious surroundings try Lindblad. We have used them for all of our adventure trips( Galapagos, Sea of Cortez, etc.) and been quite impressed with the up close experience and the high quality of their naturalists -- I did not even mind giving up my Seabourn bathtub and endless glass of champagne.

 

 

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Quite surprised you liked Ponant from your previous postings, they must have improved their service and food quality significantly, for us they made Silversea look good!

[Chairsin]

Tilly, , sorry to imply I have been on Ponant. .My Ponant suggestion comes friends with similar tastes who went on Ponant twice last year and with the exception of the French atmosphere which caused a few hiccups due to language issues/ service style they liked liked it quite a bit though did miss the warmth of the crew on Seabourn. They thought the food and wine was fine but did miss being able to special order. I assume a small ship like theirs can go into some of the smaller ports in Alaska.We HAVE been on Lindblad. Lindblad , while a different experience, true adventure versus luxury pampering and fine dining, was outstanding. Frankly until Seabourn started doing Antarctica we were sure that we would go there with Lindblad. . Now we are quite torn!

 

 

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[Tillylovesseabourn]

Lindblad sounds an interesting option, thanks for that!

We encountered great rudeness from staff on Ponant, and a real cant do attitude. The rooms were tiny, we had the second largest room on oboard, a deluxe suite and the bathroom was one sink, and a mini bathtub. The loccitane products were never replenished, and all of the time we got the feeling we were not welcome as we were not french! Not the luxury we are all used to!

Edited January 11, 2015 by Tillylovesseabourn

[Capri73]

We have been on SS twice.The first cruise was very nice but it was in all honesty it was the spring following 911.The ship was not full and they could not do enough for you.

The following time we felt like we were on another line.The staff was curt,did heir job but with no emotion.They were very stuffy and to be honest made us feel like they could care less if we were there or not.

The following year we tried SB and were hooked.The difference was so dramatic that we never looked back.Another SB planned for May.

[Tothesunset]

Thing is...if the OP had posted their question on the Silversea forum the replies would almost certainly reflect the views here except that the slant would be towards Silversea.

 

Clearly, since both lines sail with good occupancy, there are fans of each; even fans of both. For each person that admires a feature of one line someone else, will have a counter-argument in favour of the other.

 

Their are even one or two who, like the teenagers whose favourite pop group you disparage, will come over all in a huff if you disagree with them!

 

Really, the only sensible answer to the OP is to take all positive and negative comments with a pinch of salt and try for yourself

[wripro]

The bottom line to me is if the OP wants to cruise to Alaska and SS is the only luxury option then it will be absolutely fine. Alaska is the point here and it is spectacular and one can "endure" lesser food and perhaps different service without making a big deal of it in order to go there. I've been on SS many times and while it's not Seabourn it is imo a decent substitute. And don't discount Oceania either. it's not in the same class but it is very good.

[oregon50]

Yes, Alaska is the point here. Be sure to study the itinerary. They are not all the same and you will find a certain cruise line tends to skip notable fjords.

[Chairsin]

Well yes, it would now be nice to hear from the OP as to what is driving their selection of an Alaskan cruise line. Are they looking to experience Alaskan up close and personal or do they want a luxury cruise that takes them through lovely scenery? We each have our priorities and there is no one size fits all.

 

 

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[oregon50]

It was post #12 that introduced the idea of "up close and personal." That would be a different category than mentioned by OP. A category that Un-Cruise could look much better in than the two companies mentioned in post #12.

[SandyK1968]

I am really grateful for the fulsome and considered replies.

 

I am really time limited this year and can only take an Alaskan cruise in August because of professional commitments. I have cruised in Alaska (many years ago) but DH has not,so I'd like him to have the Alaskan experience, which I found spectacular. My cruise was on HAL, long before my Seabourn days.

 

For the last 12 years, we have sailed only Seabourn (with exceptions on HAL for cruises with our kids).

 

The SS option I'm looking at is more expensive than an equivalent Seabourn (at around £20,000 for 14 days) I am therefore reluctant to travel if I am going to be constantly bemoaning the food/service etc. I am principally doing the cruise for the scenery/wildlife, but am a discerning eater too. Seabourn is usually OK from this perspective.

 

I wondered about Oceania. I also considered PH or at the very least Neptune suite on HAL ( but not with much enthusiasm). I had not given any thought to Regent and unfortunately Crystal are not doing Alaska in August.

 

This is a genuine conundrum because it's less about the money and more about the fact that DH and I work hard for our few weeks of annual cruising and I would be most resentful if I felt I had wasted hard earned holiday on a sub par experience.

 

Once again, I am really grateful for your input. Most appreciated!

[wripro]

If food is important to you and you book at least a penthouse you would be fin on Oceania. Get their premium beverage package and it's almost all inclusive as many sailings now include tips and internet. Have your TA check it out for you.

[harbormaster]

We have done Alaska twice on Silversea and once on Regent. We are Gold status on Regent and did the cruise before they included excursions.The Regent Mariner was fantastic but we now do not need excursions and do not like Navigator so we would pass on Regent.

 

Our Silversea Shadow cruises were ok, food was not great (we did one cruise before and one after the CDC fiasco) and there were other issues. Crew was super.You can read our reviews on the Silversea board. We would not sail them again in Alaska. We have sailed Silversea almost 100 days but feel the bloom is off the rose.

 

We now would probably do Crystal as they will be doing Alaska this year. All inclusive with food pretty good and service is normally excellent. Drawbacks are smaller cabins and set dining times (they have as you wish dining but it also has set times). But the specialty restaurants are great and we love the crew, especially on the pool deck/lido. That would be great in Alaska.

Have not sailed Ponant but actually were looking at it last night. We definitely would consider them. Cannot speak about Oceania. HAL cruise with family in Alaska was a disaster in a full suite. never again.

We do recommend that if you do Alaska to really look at itinerary. We prefer the full Anchorage/Seward to Vancouver not the round trip Seattle or Vancouver. And definitely smaller ships. If Seabourn did Alaska, we would be there in a minute!