Regent Explorer or Silversea Dawn for Mediterranean summer 2022 cruise

[SuperSwimmer22]

So excited! I've booked my first luxury cruise...well actually I put deposits on two Mediterranean cruises and trying to decide between them -  Regent Explorer July 3-13, 2022 and Silversea Dawn Aug. 4-11, 2022. I chose a Penthouse Suite A on deck 14 on Explorer and a Silver Suite on deck 11 on the Dawn.

 

My partner is not the type to want to dress formally for dinner so I'm thinking Explorer might be better (and I like the ship's decor better) but I think I prefer the itinerary (albeit it is shorter) for the Dawn, and the choice of restaurants on Dawn seems superior. However, on Explorer we will also get priority reservations for dinner and shore excursions as well as business class air. 

 

I've been on a Mediterranean cruise 16 years ago on Celebrity, I know, a very different experience, so have seen many of the ports on a more mainstream cruise line. 

 

Any advice?

 

[Brownie54]

Go with Regent Explorer. You won’t be disappointed!

[mj_holiday]

I am a Regent fan, have not been on Silversea. But I really like not having to pack clothes for formal nights.  Everyone is still neatly dressed after 6, collared shirts, slacks, etc.  For those evenings you don't want to change there is the pool dining (weather permitting).  We have never been disappointed in any of the food, service, excursions or on board activities.

[travelwell]

Explorer for a more inclusive, less formal, first class experience. Regent still has a dress code so read website. I have not been on Silverseas but we have not heard food better. Explorer has great restaurant choices for no extra charge. Business air with Regent huge for us.

[vistaman]

there is no main dining room anymore on several Silversea ships but  - various restaurants however for 2 there is an addtional cost  :  ( 60$ la Dame gastronomical ) and  a Japanese  40 $

I only did visit Regent twice and I found it quite overpriced ( not caused at all  by the fact the single fares are onerous ) for what they served you   

 

[1982CruzStart]

Have not been on Silverseas. I am a fan of Regent.

 

For us having everything included is great. We walk off the ship without paying an extra dime. A big plus for us being on the west coast of Canada is the included business class airfare.   I run the numbers on almost every cruise and compare as much as possible apples to apples when comparing similar cruise itineraries on other cruise lines and Regent always comes out the same price or often lower. We take advantage of everything that is included so by the time i add in bc air, shore excursions etc, Regent is a great deal. The food is wonderful and the main dining room has a spectacular every day menu along with specials of the day.  As well if there is a dish you want and they have the ingredients onboard they will prepare it for you with just 24 hours notice. 

 

Explorer is a beautiful ship and the crew fantastic. I don't think you could go wrong. 

 

Good luck with your decision. Have a super time regardless of whatever you decide. 

[MBP&O2/O]

I went to an official Regent presentation some months ago and was surprised at the lack of ‘straight ‘ answers that they gave to questions.

I cannot afford the higher end suites so would not be able to get early booking on excursions etc.

In this scenario, when asked about excursions being full I was told it should be OK .. just ask when you board?

I pointed out that international flights are few and connections are limited so it could well be that getting to the embark port in good time could prove difficult. The answer was that they would sort something nearer the time (an overnight at LHR?) or pay for a deviation.

No thanks ... too obtuse for me.

I have booked a Med cruise with Silversea on the Silver Dawn ... no complaints whatsoever with SS.

[vistaman]

On 4/24/2021 at 1:43 PM, MBP&O2/O said:

I went to an official Regent presentation some months ago and was surprised at the lack of ‘straight ‘ answers that they gave to questions.

I cannot afford the higher end suites so would not be able to get early booking on excursions etc.

In this scenario, when asked about excursions being full I was told it should be OK .. just ask when you board?

I pointed out that international flights are few and connections are limited so it could well be that getting to the embark port in good time could prove difficult. The answer was that they would sort something nearer the time (an overnight at LHR?) or pay for a deviation.

No thanks ... too obtuse for me.

I have booked a Med cruise with Silversea on the Silver Dawn ... no complaints whatsoever with SS.

if your cruise is for summer 2021 , it seems you cannot leave the sip on your own ... 

[vistaman]

Just now, vistaman said:

if your cruise is for summer 2021 , it seems you cannot leave the sip on your own ... 

of course the ship - apologies

[mj_holiday]

On 4/24/2021 at 4:43 AM, MBP&O2/O said:

I went to an official Regent presentation some months ago and was surprised at the lack of ‘straight ‘ answers that they gave to questions.

I cannot afford the higher end suites so would not be able to get early booking on excursions etc.

In this scenario, when asked about excursions being full I was told it should be OK .. just ask when you board?

I pointed out that international flights are few and connections are limited so it could well be that getting to the embark port in good time could prove difficult. The answer was that they would sort something nearer the time (an overnight at LHR?) or pay for a deviation.

No thanks ... too obtuse for me.

I have booked a Med cruise with Silversea on the Silver Dawn ... no complaints whatsoever with SS.

Sorry you didn't get "straight" answers.  Hope you enjoy Silver Dawn. 

While the answers from Regent may have sounded flimsy, this is a time of uncertainty with what will be happening.  In normal times, yes, excursions do fill up on line fairly quickly.  But you can get on the wait list and I have never had to miss an excursion that I was on the wait list for.  The waitlists clear.

And if Regent handles you airline booking they will get you to the ship.  I heard recently on some news program that many. many airline itineraries will be changing due to the fact that the number/destination of flights needed has been hard to predict as more and more people are starting to fly again.  They were trying to say, that if you made reservations several months before you fly, there is a good chance that time, etc will have changed.

You are talking about summer 2022, so many things will probably change with regards to airlines by then.

[MBP&O2/O]

To clarify, this presentation was pre-covid.

 

I don’t dispute what you say about excursions and waitlists but there are no guarantees 😊 but the comment of “it should be ok” was the wrong answer. Something more understanding as opposed to disinterest would have been appreciated.

[ak1004]

On 4/20/2021 at 12:47 PM, 1982CruzStart said:

Have not been on Silverseas. I am a fan of Regent.

 

For us having everything included is great. We walk off the ship without paying an extra dime. A big plus for us being on the west coast of Canada is the included business class airfare.   I run the numbers on almost every cruise and compare as much as possible apples to apples when comparing similar cruise itineraries on other cruise lines and Regent always comes out the same price or often lower. We take advantage of everything that is included so by the time i add in bc air, shore excursions etc, Regent is a great deal. The food is wonderful and the main dining room has a spectacular every day menu along with specials of the day.  As well if there is a dish you want and they have the ingredients onboard they will prepare it for you with just 24 hours notice. 

 

Explorer is a beautiful ship and the crew fantastic. I don't think you could go wrong. 

 

Good luck with your decision. Have a super time regardless of whatever you decide. 

 

Just found this great topic, and have a question for you.

 

I heard from several people that Regent is a great deal if you account for all inclusions, but I every time I check them, they seem significantly more expensive than others.

 

Here is one example:

I tried to price a Mediterranean cruise for the next summer (2023), around 10-12 nights, and compare Regent to Seabourn. Here are the results:

 

Seabourn

 

Regent

 

So average 10 nights cruise on Seaburn is around $7k CAD, while Regent is around $13k+ CAD.

 

That's $6-6.5k difference.

 

There are typically around 8 ports on a 10 nights cruise, lets say another $2k CAD for excursions, and another $3-3.5k CAD for a business flight. Regent is still more expensive. Plus you have more flexibility with excursions, and some people can get business flights for less with points.

 

I realize that Regent one all inclusive price comes with the convenience of no extra expenses and everything taken care for you. But from the pure price point of view, I couldn't find a single cruise that was cheaper than other luxury lines.

 

What am I missing?

 

 

[LHT28]

Not sure what Seabourn includes with the fare

 Does Regent include BIZ air with the cruise?

If you do not want their air  (if included) find out what the credit is that will be deducted from the fare listed

 

We like to DIY in ports so have excursions included does not work for us

We do not drink much either so having unlimited drinks  adds to the cost of the cruise fare  so not for us 

It can be complicated  😉

 

 

[1982CruzStart]

22 hours ago, ak1004 said:

What am I missing?

Not sure but i have a different experience. 

 

One thing is that your business class flights to the ports we embark from, can be less expensive from the east coast than ones we have to pay for from the West Coast.  On Regent we don't pay more for our fare than anyone else no matter how close the airport is to the embarkation or debarkation port.  We don't have points for biz class flights.  As well, we don't look at the least expensive flights as we don't want to be stuck with large airline credits if we have to cancel the cruise. If we cancel a Regent cruise before any penalties apply we don't have to worry about the canceled flights. No cost to us. 

 

We have often sailed on itineraries that include a pre or post cruise tour that is included in the price and by the time we added that in Regent was definitely less expensive.

 

I am pretty sure that not every Regent cruise would work out better than a Seabourn one but the ones we want have generally been a better deal than others i have looked at. Seabourn is lower on our list as they tend to be more formal than we want to sail on so i don't do a comparison with them on every cruise. 

 

I also compare suite sizes when doing my number crunch as the size of the cabin is very important to me as i like to spend my time in my cabin or on my verandah when not in port. So when i price match i compare cabins of the same size and that can often make a difference because the cabin level we choose on Regent means we have to move up a number of levels on other lines thus increasing the cost. 

 

Not everyone's experiences are the same. Good luck with whatever choice you make. To me you can't really go wrong if you do your research and match your needs and wants to the cruise line. 

 

 

[ak1004]

Thank you very much for the detailed response @1982CruzStart

 

Yes, probably being on the West Cost and selecting different cabins makes the difference.

 

For us the cabin size is really not important, and we can often get some good flight deals with points, so other lines are significantly cheaper when you account for those factors.

[wine-wine-wine]

Silver Dawn and Moon both lack any really good forward facing public spaces - which is mind blowing to me. 
 

We sailed a TA on the Moon last November. Lovely ship but would never sail her on an itinerary where we care about looking forward - that includes the Mediterranean, Norway, and, well, anywhere scenic.  

Edited July 2, 2022 by wine-wine-wine
Correct the month