Silversea and Regent - a limited comparison

[forgap]

We recently returned from ur first Silversea cruise from Tromso to Reykjavik.  We have been cruising Regent almost exclusively since 2012 but we wanted to try this itinerary on a small ship and we had heard glowing reports about the Silversea experience.  I posted a review of our trip on the Silversea cruise critic board.  You can find it here:  

 I tried to limit my scope to just comparing the Whisper to the Navigator as they are about the same size and age.   Anyway, to cut to the chase, Navigator won the comparison and Regent is still number one in my heart!   We are embarking on Explorer in about four weeks and on Voyager in January!

[bitob]

We were crystal regulars who tried silversea when crystal shut down and we fell In love with the line. Our friends feel the same. We have the equivalent of 8 or 9 future cruises booked on regent (many b2b) and I hope I like it better or as much as Ss 

[mnocket]

Well written review.  Thanks!

[forgap]

2 hours ago, bitob said:

We were crystal regulars who tried silversea when crystal shut down and we fell In love with the line. Our friends feel the same. We have the equivalent of 8 or 9 future cruises booked on regent (many b2b) and I hope I like it better or as much as Ss 

I hope that my less than wonderful ship experience was limited just to Whisper.   Sometimes cruises are jus one off fo what ever reason.  

[irishwitchy]

Well rounded review,  think I will stay with Regent! 

[Arlopop]

On 9/14/2022 at 11:24 AM, forgap said:

I hope that my less than wonderful ship experience was limited just to Whisper.   Sometimes cruises are jus one off fo what ever reason.  

We did 15 day Carribean last December on the Whisper.  As far as entertainment goes I agree entirely - it was not very good.  Fortunately for us it isn’t high on our list of expectations.  The serving and bar staff are superb. They knew exactly when to check on us without ever hovering, and there wasn’t a single crew member who didn’t give their all if one had a request or question.  They are simply the best.

We found La Terrazza to be perfect.  We kept going back.  The main dining had one single hiccup in terms of food quality (a dish arrived a little cold) and was easily forgiven.

We didn’t encounter any provisioning problems at all and we were actually surprised at what they had on hand when we asked.

We had one excursion, sailing, that went awry when the boat we were to board broke down on the way to get us.  We were told it could be an hour or more by the ship rep before they got it fixed. When we said that we would pass and take the tender back to the ship because, as my wife said, “How do we know it won’t break down again while we are aboard?”, the rep mocked my wife and said, “You’re being ridiculous.”  That left a sour taste in our mouth and we reported it.

 

Overall, our experience on Whisper was wonderful, and we were quite pleased.

[UUNetBill]

Silversea was always at the bottom of my list of the 'Big Four' (or 'Big Three' now, I guess - or is it back to four?  Who knows???)  My personal order of preference, based solely on internet research and reading bajillions of reviews on CC, was:

 

1. Regent

2. Seabourn

3. Crystal

4. Silversea

 

Now bear in mind that I've only ever sailed Regent, and they've almost always met our needs perfectly.  Of course, over the years I'm sure things have changed and I might need to reevaluate, but for us, R is the best fit.  I've come close to booking on other lines but so far haven't found the perfect itinerary that would make me stray from our old standby.

 

But the bottom line, as I see it, is that I'd probably be happy on any of the luxury lines.  I've compared cruise lines to German cars before - I prefer BMWs, but I'd probably be just as happy in an Audi, Porsche, or Mercedes.  But I keep sticking with what I'm familiar with.  🙂

 

But I gotta say, if the cruise fares keep climbing like they have been, I'm thinking a few weeks in a nice resort might start to look a lot more appealing...

[Lonedaddy]

3 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Silversea was always at the bottom of my list of the 'Big Four' (or 'Big Three' now, I guess - or is it back to four?  Who knows???)  My personal order of preference, based solely on internet research and reading bajillions of reviews on CC, was:

 

1. Regent

2. Seabourn

3. Crystal

4. Silversea

 

Now bear in mind that I've only ever sailed Regent, and they've almost always met our needs perfectly.  Of course, over the years I'm sure things have changed and I might need to reevaluate, but for us, R is the best fit.  I've come close to booking on other lines but so far haven't found the perfect itinerary that would make me stray from our old standby.

 

But the bottom line, as I see it, is that I'd probably be happy on any of the luxury lines.  I've compared cruise lines to German cars before - I prefer BMWs, but I'd probably be just as happy in an Audi, Porsche, or Mercedes.  But I keep sticking with what I'm familiar with.  🙂

 

But I gotta say, if the cruise fares keep climbing like they have been, I'm thinking a few weeks in a nice resort might start to look a lot more appealing...

Bingo, Love the car analogy.  Pricing and itinerary got us to book a Silverseas cruise on the Dawn.  First we have 30 plus days on explorer in january and then the silverseas cruise in May/June.  So, by that point we should not have any covid excuses as the line should have things ironed out.  I'll post my thoughts once I've sampled.

[Joanandjoe]

Silversea has many itineraries that are more interesting than Regent itineraries, so we hoped to add Silversea to our favorites..  Therefore, in 2018 we took a Scandinavia cruise on the Silver Spirit that had one of the best itineraries we've ever sailed, to places on both the Swedish and Finnish sides of the seldom-visited Gulf of Bothnia,  As shown in the attached review (the CC link had expired, so this is a Word Document), the ports were great, but Silversea was a huge disappointment.

 

For cruises not wholly within the US (American Queen and American Cruise lines, with Viking an added starter), we'll stick to Regent.

Silver Spirit Review July 2018.doc

[UUNetBill]

On 9/17/2022 at 5:22 PM, Joanandjoe said:

Silversea has many itineraries that are more interesting than Regent itineraries, so we hoped to add Silversea to our favorites..  Therefore, in 2018 we took a Scandinavia cruise on the Silver Spirit that had one of the best itineraries we've ever sailed, to places on both the Swedish and Finnish sides of the seldom-visited Gulf of Bothnia,  As shown in the attached review (the CC link had expired, so this is a Word Document), the ports were great, but Silversea was a huge disappointment.

 

For cruises not wholly within the US (American Queen and American Cruise lines, with Viking an added starter), we'll stick to Regent.

Silver Spirit Review July 2018.doc 36.5 kB · 51 downloads

Thanks for posting that, I hadn't seen it.  To be honest, they lost me at 'tie'.  I don't even wear a tie in the office anymore, I'll be damned if I wear one on vacation.  🙂

[Gpilon]

Our last Silversea cruise (Muse) was when the ship was basically new and sailed from Venice to Barcelona. Every dining venue save for the deck required men to wear jackets, and was very much enforced, even though it was never announced beforehand. One of the first nights on board, I ventured into the main dining room without a jacket, and was promptly (and fairly rudely) told I could not enter until I put one on. I did and went back, was seated, and did as most men at the restaurant did that evening, removed my jacket and put it on the back of my chair. Where is the sense in that? We found Silversea too formal and “stuffy” and agreed we would never sail with them again. We did our third Regent sailing March this year and are now committed to the Brand.

[Arlopop]

46 minutes ago, Gpilon said:

Our last Silversea cruise (Muse) was when the ship was basically new and sailed from Venice to Barcelona. Every dining venue save for the deck required men to wear jackets, and was very much enforced, even though it was never announced beforehand. One of the first nights on board, I ventured into the main dining room without a jacket, and was promptly (and fairly rudely) told I could not enter until I put one on. I did and went back, was seated, and did as most men at the restaurant did that evening, removed my jacket and put it on the back of my chair. Where is the sense in that? We found Silversea too formal and “stuffy” and agreed we would never sail with them again. We did our third Regent sailing March this year and are now committed to the Brand.

Totally understandable - some people prefer a less formal atmosphere, while some like something more.  It’s nice to have a choice.

It is interesting that you say it was “never announced beforehand” as Silversea always lists the dress code for the evening in the daily Chronicle that is distributed to each cabin, and throughout the ship.

I include an example:

[Gpilon]

Just now, Arlopop said:

Totally understandable - some people prefer a less formal atmosphere, while some like something more.  It’s nice to have a choice.

It is interesting that you say it was “never announced beforehand” as Silversea always lists the dress code for the evening in the daily Chronicle that is distributed to each cabin, and throughout the ship.

I include an example:

It should have been announced prior to booking, paying and sailing. Then, one can make his/her choice as to how formal they want their cruise to be, or not to be.

[Arlopop]

4 minutes ago, Gpilon said:

It should have been announced prior to booking, paying and sailing. Then, one can make his/her choice as to how formal they want their cruise to be, or not to be.

It actually is - on their website.

https://www.silversea.com/travel-informations/general-information.html

 

Clothing Suggestions – Shipboard Attire

Shipboard attire ranges from casual to formal. Casual wear is appropriate for daytime aboard ship or ashore and consists of standard sports outfits as worn at five-star resorts. Shoes should be flat or low heeled for deck activities. Evening attire falls into three categories: casual, informal and formal. On casual evenings, pants, blouses, skirts and casual dresses for ladies; open-neck shirts and slacks for gentlemen are appropriate. On informal evenings, ladies usually wear dresses or pantsuits; gentlemen wear jackets (tie optional). Appropriate formal evening wear for ladies is an evening gown or cocktail dress; gentlemen wear tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits. Tie is required.

On formal nights, guests may dine in La Terrazza and choose to dress informal; dresses or pantsuits for ladies, jackets for gentlemen (tie optional). This option also applies to Seishin and Stars on board Silver Spirit. Dining at The Grill is optional casual
all nights. Following dinner, all guests are free to take advantage of any or all public spaces, however, jacket is required. Sailings of 9 days or less typically feature 1 formal night, while longer voyages usually have 2-3 formal nights. Details will be provided in your final cruise documents, but the chart below provides a basic guideline to assist in packing the proper attire.

Please note: On 7 day sailings in the Baltic, Mediterranean and
Alaska, formal night is always optional; guests may choose to
dress informal, a jacket is required for gentlemen.

Evening Dress Code*   
Number of Cruise Days -> Formal -> Informal -> Casual
4 -> 1 -> 2 -> 1
5 -> 1 -> 3 -> 1  
6 -> 1 -> 3 -> 2  
7 -> 1 -> 3 -> 3
8 -> 1 -> 4 -> 3
9 -> 1 -> 5 -> 3
10 -> 2 -> 5 -> 3
11 -> 2 -> 6 -> 3
12 -> 2 -> 6 -> 4
13 -> 2 -> 7 -> 4
14 -> 3 -> 7 -> 4
15 -> 3 -> 8 -> 4
16 -> 3 -> 8 -> 5
17 -> 3 -> 9 -> 5
18 -> 3 -> 10 -> 5
19 -> 3 -> 10 -> 6
20 -> 3 -> 11 -> 6

[Gpilon]

12 minutes ago, Arlopop said:

It actually is - on their website.

https://www.silversea.com/travel-informations/general-information.html

 

Clothing Suggestions – Shipboard Attire

Shipboard attire ranges from casual to formal. Casual wear is appropriate for daytime aboard ship or ashore and consists of standard sports outfits as worn at five-star resorts. Shoes should be flat or low heeled for deck activities. Evening attire falls into three categories: casual, informal and formal. On casual evenings, pants, blouses, skirts and casual dresses for ladies; open-neck shirts and slacks for gentlemen are appropriate. On informal evenings, ladies usually wear dresses or pantsuits; gentlemen wear jackets (tie optional). Appropriate formal evening wear for ladies is an evening gown or cocktail dress; gentlemen wear tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits. Tie is required.

On formal nights, guests may dine in La Terrazza and choose to dress informal; dresses or pantsuits for ladies, jackets for gentlemen (tie optional). This option also applies to Seishin and Stars on board Silver Spirit. Dining at The Grill is optional casual
all nights. Following dinner, all guests are free to take advantage of any or all public spaces, however, jacket is required. Sailings of 9 days or less typically feature 1 formal night, while longer voyages usually have 2-3 formal nights. Details will be provided in your final cruise documents, but the chart below provides a basic guideline to assist in packing the proper attire.

Please note: On 7 day sailings in the Baltic, Mediterranean and
Alaska, formal night is always optional; guests may choose to
dress informal, a jacket is required for gentlemen.

Evening Dress Code*   
Number of Cruise Days -> Formal -> Informal -> Casual
4 -> 1 -> 2 -> 1
5 -> 1 -> 3 -> 1  
6 -> 1 -> 3 -> 2  
7 -> 1 -> 3 -> 3
8 -> 1 -> 4 -> 3
9 -> 1 -> 5 -> 3
10 -> 2 -> 5 -> 3
11 -> 2 -> 6 -> 3
12 -> 2 -> 6 -> 4
13 -> 2 -> 7 -> 4
14 -> 3 -> 7 -> 4
15 -> 3 -> 8 -> 4
16 -> 3 -> 8 -> 5
17 -> 3 -> 9 -> 5
18 -> 3 -> 10 -> 5
19 -> 3 -> 10 -> 6
20 -> 3 -> 11 -> 6

Unfortunately, it was not posted 4 years or so ago as we always read requirements beforehand. Regardless, staff were just rude on that cruise. An anomaly……perhaps but it strayed with us to the point of never wanting to sail with Silversea again.

[Arlopop]

4 minutes ago, Gpilon said:

Unfortunately, it was not posted 4 years or so ago as we always read requirements beforehand. Regardless, staff were just rude on that cruise. An anomaly……perhaps but it strayed with us to the point of never wanting to sail with Silversea again.

Maybe it was more than four years ago because this is a thread from Cruise Critic from 9/25/18 that quotes the same criteria from their website.

I’m sorry you had a rude experience.  I’m inclined to believe it was anomalous, but I understand how it can stay with you and sour any other thoughts of trying it again.  I’m glad you’ve found Regent to your liking.

[forgap]

Yet, as I said in my review, with all the guidance about dress codes it was not enforce - even on formal nights.  I saw men in short sleeved, open neck shirts, no jacket, stroll right on it, led by whomever was assigned to escort them.  give me Regent any day!  
 

 

[Arlopop]

1 minute ago, forgap said:

Yet, as I said in my review, with all the guidance about dress codes it was not enforce - even on formal nights.  I saw men in short sleeved, open neck shirts, no jacket, stroll right on it, led by whomever was assigned to escort them.  give me Regent any day!  
 

 

That’s been a major complaint from longtime SS cruisers over the last year - that the dress code has fallen by the wayside.

I suspect it will be changed at some point.

[Joanandjoe]

15 minutes ago, forgap said:

Yet, as I said in my review, with all the guidance about dress codes it was not enforce - even on formal nights.  I saw men in short sleeved, open neck shirts, no jacket, stroll right on it, led by whomever was assigned to escort them.  give me Regent any day!  
 

 

Did you post your review on the SS board?  Of so, I wouldn't be surprised to find people attacking ("flaming") you for your unfavorable review.

[Arlopop]

9 minutes ago, Joanandjoe said:

Did you post your review on the SS board?  Of so, I wouldn't be surprised to find people attacking ("flaming") you for your unfavorable review.

I certainly hope she isn’t getting attacked.  It was a fair and consistent review of her experience.  I felt the review hit on things she found good and not so good.

There is no reason for the OP to be attacked at all.

[Gpilon]

10 minutes ago, Joanandjoe said:

Did you post your review on the SS board?  Of so, I wouldn't be surprised to find people attacking ("flaming") you for your unfavorable review.

I did post my review of our Med cruise on Muse on the SS board detailing experience with dress code as well as more misses than hits with dining venues, almost immediately after our cruise was over. I don’t feel any attacks here…_we all have our likes, dislikes and opinions and I respect others have differing viewpoints than mine. 

[Gpilon]

56 minutes ago, Arlopop said:

Maybe it was more than four years ago because this is a thread from Cruise Critic from 9/25/18 that quotes the same criteria from their website.

I’m sorry you had a rude experience.  I’m inclined to believe it was anomalous, but I understand how it can stay with you and sour any other thoughts of trying it again.  I’m glad you’ve found Regent to your liking.

Time flies….our cruise on Muse was indeed in 2017.

[forgap]

16 hours ago, Joanandjoe said:

Did you post your review on the SS board?  Of so, I wouldn't be surprised to find people attacking ("flaming") you for your unfavorable review.

I did post on the SS board,  I wasn’t attacked per se but countered pretty strongly.  The FaceBook page, on the other hand, was venomous.  They have a “no complaining” rule which is liberally interpreted as no negative comments.  Someone said I should build my own ship so I could be completely satisfied.  Gee whiz - tough crowd.  

[Arlopop]

2 hours ago, forgap said:

I did post on the SS board,  I wasn’t attacked per se but countered pretty strongly.  The FaceBook page, on the other hand, was venomous.  They have a “no complaining” rule which is liberally interpreted as no negative comments.  Someone said I should build my own ship so I could be completely satisfied.  Gee whiz - tough crowd.  

The SS FB page is pretty much a cheer section for Silversea. It can be difficult to actually have a conversation that even hints at flaws.  That said, I’ve seen posts there that were genuine tirades about how the ice in their drinks was sized inappropriately (too small and melted too much) 😂.

[Rothko1]

Well, if you're a whiskey drinker, that can be very important.  🙂