Silversea vs Azamara

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Yes thanks.  I am aware of the Celebrity Flora.

Flora is a sister ship to Silversea Origin, and prices are very high for X.  Celebrity is also keeping Xpedition (now with only 48 pax) and Xploration (16) in Galapagos – since they are less luxurious than Flora, their fares should be somewhat lower.

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Flora is a sister ship to Silversea Origin, and prices are very high for X.  Celebrity is also keeping Xpedition (now with only 48 pax) and Xploration (16) in Galapagos – since they are less luxurious than Flora, their fares should be somewhat lower.

We plan on going to the Galapagos after the pandemic is over in the next year or two.  It will be an expensive trip no matter what the situation is.  So we plan on either the Origin or the Flora.

[excitedofharpenden]

14 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

We plan on going to the Galapagos after the pandemic is over in the next year or two.  It will be an expensive trip no matter what the situation is.  So we plan on either the Origin or the Flora.

I did Galapagos on one of the many very nice smaller vessels with just 16 guests accommodated for (not Celebrity), but in fact for the last few days there was just 11 of us. Amazing experience, especially if you have a good planned itinerary and naturalist onboard as we did. Be sure to spend a few days in Quito which is a great city. 

 

Boy, I'm glad I read this post through before pressing send. It read very differently. Can you guess my mistake?🤭

 

Phil 

[royallondon]

16 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I did Galapagos on one of the many very nice smaller vessels with just 16 guests accommodated for (not Celebrity), but in fact for the last few days there was just 11 of us. Amazing experience, especially if you have a good planned itinerary and naturalist onboard as we did. Be sure to spend a few days in Quito which is a great city. 

 

Boy, I'm glad I read this post through before pressing send. It read very differently. Can you guess my mistake?🤭

 

Phil 

I suspect you were just stating the bare facts Phil 😂

[combine]

4 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I did Galapagos on one of the many very nice smaller vessels with just 16 guests accommodated for (not Celebrity), but in fact for the last few days there was just 11 of us. Amazing experience, especially if you have a good planned itinerary and naturalist onboard as we did. Be sure to spend a few days in Quito which is a great city. 

 

Boy, I'm glad I read this post through before pressing send. It read very differently. Can you guess my mistake?🤭

 

Phil 

Hahaha ‘Naturist’ Phil !  First time for everything ! 

Edited January 23, 2021 by combine

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, royallondon said:

I suspect you were just stating the bare facts Phil 😂

1 minute ago, combine said:

Hahaha ‘Naturist’ Phil !  First time for everything ! 

 

Thanks for explaining it.  Went right over my head...

 

 

[excitedofharpenden]

51 minutes ago, combine said:

Hahaha ‘Naturist’ Phil !  First time for everything ! 

It would certainly have scared the blue-footed boobies😆

 

Phil 

[Riocca]

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

It would certainly have scared the blue-footed boobies😆

 

Phil 

[MakingUpForLostTime]

Silversea - Its owners invested in buying 100% - new ships over the past few years and new ship builds

Azamara - Its owners dumping it at a loss (impairment charge) put minimal money into refurbishment over the past few years with no new ship builds.

[donaldsc]

On 1/23/2021 at 5:39 AM, TeeRick said:

We plan on going to the Galapagos after the pandemic is over in the next year or two.  It will be an expensive trip no matter what the situation is.  So we plan on either the Origin or the Flora.

 

There are lots of really good ships doing the Galapagos that are not part of the big cruise lines and definitely less expensive.  I am not sure if we are allowed to mention a specific cruise line but we did the Galapagos several years ago w Metropolitan.  They are not a travel agent but they own or lease their own ships.  After all, when you do the Galapagos, you are there for what is outside of the ship and not what is on the ship.  I regarded the ship as just a floating bus but it was a very nice floating bus.

 

DON

[ECCruise]

2 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

There are lots of really good ships doing the Galapagos that are not part of the big cruise lines and definitely less expensive.  I am not sure if we are allowed to mention a specific cruise line but we did the Galapagos several years ago w Metropolitan.  They are not a travel agent but they own or lease their own ships.  After all, when you do the Galapagos, you are there for what is outside of the ship and not what is on the ship.  I regarded the ship as just a floating bus but it was a very nice floating bus.

 

DON

This is how we approached it.  You spend the vast majority of your time on planning excursions, doing excursions or recapping excursions.  I cannot fathom spending $20,000 to $40,000 for a 7 day sailing that you spend that little time enjoying the expensive amenities.  I think in our 7 days on the ship, we spent less than 2 hours in the cabin other than being sound asleep.

Highly recommend comparing before jumping.

[Pcruisefun]

I am looking to book a Silversea on the Silver Shadow next year, but the food reviews and crew reviews all seem to be horrible on Cruise Critic.  Anybody else been on the Silver Shadow and can give me thoughts. Never been on a luxury cruise. only small ship I have been on was the Paul Gauguin which was amazing every which way - except getting there in economy on Air Tahiti Nui.

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, Pcruisefun said:

I am looking to book a Silversea on the Silver Shadow next year, but the food reviews and crew reviews all seem to be horrible on Cruise Critic.  Anybody else been on the Silver Shadow and can give me thoughts. Never been on a luxury cruise. only small ship I have been on was the Paul Gauguin which was amazing every which way - except getting there in economy on Air Tahiti Nui.

 

My experience on CC is that there are two different groups.  Reviews tend to be posted by one-and-done-ers  who basically came to complain.  The Boards are a community with many long-term passengers.  Some may be cheerleaders, but most are able to write off the odd lapse in light of their many experiences and still be critical when it is warranted – in other words, a balanced picture.  I would put more credence in the Silversea board than in the review section.

 

I have been looking at Silversea too, and I checked off-line with a couple of posters from that board community whose judgement I trust – both recommend Silversea highly, even the older ships like Shadow and Whisper.

[mdpa]

I’ve been on Silversea twice. Once as an incentive in the Baltic on one of their smaller ships, and once again for our 25th wedding anniversary on the Spirit in the Eastern Med.

 

We’ve since done Celebrity twice, Oceania once, and have now booked our first Azamara cruise mainly based on value and destination. We’ve enjoyed each one, appreciating their respective price points. I will say Celebrity was initially a culture shock (cards, up charges, sales) and we almost didn’t use them a second time (had a credit) and enjoyed the experience more the 2nd time.

 

Silversea is understated luxury. The food is higher quality across the board, but not flashy. No cards, drink what you want. Room service is fantastic. Butler service, stocked fridge. I even made a special meal request 24 hours ahead and it was accommodated (Indian themed). The quality of the crew & guests are high (polite and well traveled). For the right price my wife and I would go again in a heartbeat. Maybe for our 30th anniversary 😉 

 

Silversea can be a decent value. Flights, transfers, gratuities, drinks, and shuttle service is included. They had given us a great price for our 3rd guest (daughter) which helped us justify the purchase. They do subsidize upgraded flights if that is of interest.

 

Unless they changed their policy, excursions and specialty restaurants do require an up charge.

 

We are not able to afford that lifestyle regularly. Candidly, we should probably stick with Celebrity but we try to grab the Azamara/Oceania level for the right price. Good luck.

[excitedofharpenden]

mdpa, thank you for your thoughtful post.

 

Phil

[Host Jazzbeau]

Silversea only charges extra for La Dame (French tasting menu with wine pairings).  Starting in 2022 they include a choice of several included excursions in each port – and their prices have gone up by far more than the excursion savings...

[Lvshack]

I have reluctantly held off answering to this thread... I have cruised since 1990 ( many of you may have seen earlier postings of mine ref silversea!!)  My first cruise was with royal Caribbean & had almost 40 cruises with them & absolutely fabulous; in the day) 

Along with other mainstream lines p&o , celebrity,Cunard we experienced  our first luxury cruise with silversea 2005 & have  never looked back .. we have been fortunate enough to sail  with crystal & regent and they are all a game changer in cruise travel ..

If you want to find out about silversea then I would maybe suggest you go on silversea thread & ask the questions you have !! For me & husband & friends ," family it's the only way to travel no worries once your onboard it's all taken care of..drinks etc!!

As for the restaurants that charge the extra  it's worth a visit ..

It may seem a little more expensive then azamara but it's world's away ( in my opinion 😉) but hey it's what you feel you want from cruising but go on give it ago ..go that extra mile as we did in 2005  ...🚢 Keep safe 🙏

 

 

 

[TheRampantSnail]

I am coming late to this debate about Azamara v Silversea but will add my bit for what it is worth.

We have cruised very frequently with Azamara (but not in the last 3 years) to various destinations in Europe, South and Central America and India. Every cruise was enjoyable. We always found the food very acceptable and the cabins, though perhaps a little on the small side, are perfectly OK. The main shows are not to our taste and very repetetive, but they have had some very good other acts. The cruise directors are (were, as I know Russ Grieve has moved on) fantastic. The Azamazing evenings were very good, generally. Best of all, the staff are amazing from the captain to everyone else. The included drink selection is OK only and we really got to dislike the constant promotion of upgraded drink passages and especially the way the staff had to parade around to try to flog various not-included drinks - it felt very un-Azamara like.

What has put us off recently has been the price hikes, which really stretch the value quotient.

To illustrate that, in 2019 we did a round Japan cruise on Silversea. We had considered a similar cruise on Azamara but the price being asked was more than Silversea.

We like Silversea, with whom we have had four cruises. The food is excellent as are the included drinks. Cabins are better and bigger. Senior staff, unlike on Azamara, are not really visible, though staff you actually engage with are fantastic. Entertainment is not up to much. Some people may not like the formality (formal, informal and casual nights) but it is not at all stuffy and we don't mind the dressing up. All things considered, we think Silversea is better value at the moment.

I will be interested to see how Azamara fares under new management and would not be averse to going back to Azamara for the right itinerary at the right price. However, for now, our first choice will be Silversea

[takemewithyou]

Is  Celebrity status combinable with SilverSea?  Since SilverSea is under RCCL umbrella?

[mdpa]

1 minute ago, takemewithyou said:

Is  Celebrity status combinable with SilverSea?  Since SilverSea is under RCCL umbrella?

Unfortunately not...maybe this will be changed with the departure of Azamara.

[Host Jazzbeau]

23 minutes ago, mdpa said:

Unfortunately not...maybe this will be changed with the departure of Azamara.

 

Unlikely.  Way too many Celebrity (and especially Royal) elite types – would overwhelm a small line like Silversea and drive away their existing loyalty elites.

[takemewithyou]

It would be nice if there was some recognition for booking SilverSea, if you are coming from RCCL family.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, takemewithyou said:

It would be nice if there was some recognition for booking SilverSea, if you are coming from RCCL family.

 

I don't know of any luxury line that does this.  Seabourn doesn't have any reciprocity with any CCL line.  MSC is one line with excellent reciprocity [from almost anything], but it's a mass market line.

[takemewithyou]

Guess SilverSea is doing so well with its current client base that they can’t bother to entice any of us X and Azamara cruisers to try them.  
 

 

[takemewithyou]

I am not asking for complete reciprocity, just some recognition of my loyalty status to help entice me to book with them.  Even a one category upgrade or some OBC.