Seabourn Encore or Silver Spirit?

[sail1658]

In 2019 we were fortunate to cruise on both Silver Spirit and Seabourn Encore sailing from Barcelona around the Mediterranean.  At the time I thought I was being a bit extravagant but after last year's lockdown and the prospects of cruising this year receding I'm glad I did.

 

So which did we prefer?  Well the differences are wafer thin really. Each ship had things I preferred over the other. Food was similar.  I preferred La Terrazza on Silver Spirit for lunch,  but I loved The Colonnade in the evening as there were varied menus and theme nights  Entertainment was better,  I thought, on Seabourn, - live music in the shows with a house band and singers,  plus live music in the Observation Lounge. I personally prefer the slightly more formal dress style on Silversea. I think it adds atmosphere to the evening. 

 

Butlers on Silversea are great. They'll get you anything you need, while Seabourn cabin staff are good but are always very busy. I didn't like the Retreat, as it was a real  waste of deck space. Even when we tried it  I wasn't impressed, except by the comfortable sunbeds, which highlighted the cheap sunbeds around the pool. On Silversea all sunbeds are padded, and there was more space around the pool. All the staff on both lines are equally excellent and go out of their way to please you.

 

But after all is said and done, these are first world issues and I'd jump at the chance to sail on either of them as soon as possible.

 

I've uploaded some Silversea and Seabourn videos to my YouTube channel, Cruise Video Memories so you can compare experiences -

 

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbYW-Y1IjRSD9MECilTBG5A

 

Silversea videos are completed but Seabourn is a work in progress and I'll upload more each week.

 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, sail1658 said:

  Entertainment was better,  I thought, on Seabourn, - live music in the shows with a house band and singers,  plus live music in the Observation Lounge.

 

What entertainment was offered on Silver Spirit?  

[sail1658]

15 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

What entertainment was offered on Silver Spirit? 

 

Entertainment on both Seabourn and Silversea is low key in comparison to the mega cruise ships where you can see Las Vegas style shows.

 

Silversea has the Voices of Silversea, usually six singers who provide shows in the theatre as a group and also some of them do individual shows there. They're accompanied by a backing track, not a live band.  They also sometimes sing in the Panorama Lounge to get the party going. There's a small sample of this around 5 minutes into this Part 7 video

 

 

Also in the Panorama Lounge there's usually a Filipino trio who play live music for dancing or just listening. Their singing is not usually as good as their musical skills, but they're very good at creating a fantastic atmosphere.  Later on there's a DJ providing the dance music.

 

There's also the Silver Note dining venue which has a jazz and blues singer or duo where you can just listen or dance after dining.

 

There are some examples of the Voices of Silversea towards the end of Part 5 of my YouTube video

 

 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

6 hours ago, sail1658 said:

 

Entertainment on both Seabourn and Silversea is low key in comparison to the mega cruise ships where you can see Las Vegas style shows.

 

Silversea has the Voices of Silversea, usually six singers who provide shows in the theatre as a group and also some of them do individual shows there. They're accompanied by a backing track, not a live band.  They also sometimes sing in the Panorama Lounge to get the party going. There's a small sample of this around 5 minutes into this Part 7 video

 

 

Also in the Panorama Lounge there's usually a Filipino trio who play live music for dancing or just listening. Their singing is not usually as good as their musical skills, but they're very good at creating a fantastic atmosphere.  Later on there's a DJ providing the dance music.

 

There's also the Silver Note dining venue which has a jazz and blues singer or duo where you can just listen or dance after dining.

 

There are some examples of the Voices of Silversea towards the end of Part 5 of my YouTube video

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for posting these and I am looking forward to seeing more.  Wonderful views of the ship and the restaurants and the lounges.