Silversea v. Oceania

[Sweeterpea]

We are thinking of booking a Silversea cruise around the Seychelles next fall and I'm wondering people's thoughts on how Silversea compares with Oceania?

 

Also, any comments or experiences about the Seychelles would be helpful. I would like any opinions good or bad :)

[Leonid]

My wife & I have done one on each line: the Regatta in 01/2005 (got 3 more booked on Oceania) and one on the Silver Shadow to Alaska last summer. They are both great lines, but you are comparing apples to oranges. Silversea is all-inclusive, and I mean all-inclusive. With the exception of shore excursions, you pay for nothing. All your libations are complimentary. Whatever you order for your suite, they replace it when you ask. Also the suites are much bigger and, if I remember correctly, much lighter. Of course, one pays a lot more for Silversea than Oceania.

Silversea dining is limited to two venues while Oceania has four. We have found that the food is no better on Silversea than Oceania. In fact, I'd have to say Oceania is better.

Service, on the other hand, is much better than on Oceania. You can tell immediately that the Silversea staff has been trained in the art of service. I can't say that about Oceania. At least that was our experience.

Silversea still clings to the "formal" nights routine, but one can avoid it by dining in their Italian restaurant on those nights, which is what we did. After 30 cruises, we are tired of the formal thing. That's why we now embrace Oceania.

In summary both are great lines. It all depends on what you are looking for in a cruise experience.

[bigreckster]

We've been on both Oceania and Silverseas and agree with the previous comments of Leonid totally. It is nice to not have to sign for anything on an all-inclusive cruise and we do like the formal nights (since we retired early, it gives us an opportunity to "dress up" once in alwhile...just our preference) after doing about 30 cruises to date. You do pay for that all-inclusive luxury. We also found the cruisers on Oceania to be a well-travelled but "friendlier cross section as opposed to a decidely "aloof" attitude on behalf of some of the Silverseas crowd. It those choices and variety that have made cruising our favorite vacation pastime! We did cruise around the Seychelles some years back on one of the small (110 passenger) Renaissance ships and loved the trip!!! The islands are beautiful, unspoiled and there are some great secluded beaches there that are wonderful. I'm sure you will find the islands a perfect destination!

[mdmourges]

Haven't yet done Oceania, although we are booked for 12 days in March 2008 on Regatta but did sail on Silversea Silver Whisper last March. Up to that point we had mostly sailed on RC, staying in their grand suites. I think the other two posters have summed it up pretty well. My wife and I are 44 and 50 respectively and we were on the young side although most folks, regardless of age, were fairly friendly. It was VERY nice not to have to worry about signing for drinks, etc. and to call and have them bring you cold bottles of champagne to your room whenever. We had a medallion suite, which was just a tad smaller than their silver suites, which tend to sell out quickly. It was a nice room with the ability to close the bedroom door so it could be kept quiet when someone was watching tv in the "sitting room". It was about 400 sq ft, I think. The service throughout the ship was top rate. There actually were 3 evening dining areas. One of which, Le Champagne, was a fee added dining room. It is a wine pairings dinner. It was $150 per person. Ouch! We did it just to see what it was all about. Don't think we would do it again even though the food and wines were very, very nice. Silversea is pricey but nice. Their itineraries are unique and sometimes in places that are hard to get to. You should try them at least once.

 

Mark

[Sweeterpea]

Thanks everyone, for your thoughts. We are going on our first Oceania cruise in April, and are really looking forward to it. We have decided to book the Silversea Seychelles cruise as well, just for the unique itinerary and it's nice not having to be nickel and dimed.

 

The formal nights are a turn-off for sure, but we'll just hide out in our cabin. Also, we'll just ignore the sniffy people too, can't wait !!!:D

[Jancruz]

I have been on both and both are really wonderful in their own way!!

You will have a really wonderful time!!

Jan

*****

[cruzadict]

Hi Sweeterpea

 

We have also booked an Oceania cruise for next April and also the Silversea Mahe B2B to Port Louis, this will also be our first Oceania cruise, which one are you taking.

We have just come back from our first Silversea cruise and could find nothing to fault so it will be interesting to try out Oceania but have already decided that it would be unfair to compare the two as they are two different products.

 

Marilyn

[Leonid]

Sweeterpea: Remember that one can opt for the Italian restaurant on formal nights. Not even a jacket is required. Just find out which nights are formal and sign up ASAP since seating is limited! You can sit with others or sit by yourselves.That's what we did for the three formal nights. For our cruise, each night had a different Italian theme dinner.

One other point. although smoking is allowed on Silversea, the smokers we encountered were very considerate no matter where we encountered them. That is another reason why we like O. A very strict smoking policy.

Enjoy!

[Sweeterpea]

Cruzadict, we are taking Oceania's "Adriatic Interlude": Florence to Venice, leaving April 28, and Silversea's Mahe to Mahe, which is leaving Nov. 25th. - Dec. 1; I think your cruise Mahe to Port Louis leaves Dec. 2? the timing for that one is not right for us, unfortunately.

 

Leonid, thanks for the tip re: formal nights! The last thing we want to do is to drag formal wear halfway across the world. And if the people are sniffy, we would rather relax in our cabin anyway, thank you very much!! Also, thanks for the heads up about the smokers. As long as they are considerate, then that's ok.

 

On a side note, this has panned out for us most interestingly, as we NEVER been on a cruise before! We figure if we absolutely hate it, we can still cancel Silversea without penalty on return from our Oceania cruise.

[Sweeterpea]

Oops, our Oceania cruise is Rome to Venice.

[cruzadict]

Hi Sweeterpea

 

I think you must be doing exactly the same cruises as us. We are also on the 28th April sailing on Insignia - Rome to Venice and then the 25th November Mahe to Mahe but are staying on for the next 9 day cruise from Mahe to Port Louis. Hope to bump into you and I am sure you will love cruising.

 

Marilyn

[jimgib]

we have also been on silversea which we thought was the best cruise line in the world, so much so we thought we would remain loyal to them. However that was until we went on an Oceania cruise, now we always try to go with oceania.

I also agree with bigreckster, the passengers on silversea were no where near as friendly as oceanias passengers.

Incidentally I did a calculation regards prices, i worked out a per day rate on silverseas midship balcony cabin and compared it to oceanias owners suite ( which is far superior) then added my average per day charges for tips alcohol etc, and oceania was significantly cheaper. As a couple we drink a lot 2 reasonable bottles of wine every evening and to many of the great martinis, so our drinks bill was $170 + per day, and O still offers better value!

Regards Jim Gib

[BeBeReader]

That's a lot of drinks. Were you conscious during the tour or did the ship seem to be moving a lot when you walked? In any event, hope you take guided tours and don't drive yourself when you cruise.

[Sweeterpea]

Jim Gib ...uh... that is a lot of booze ... however, I'm glad you had a good time on your cruises, cheers!

 

Cruzadict, yes, those are the exact same cruises we are going on!!:D It's a small world for sure. There's a roll call for the April 28 Insignia cruise, I don't know if you saw it or not, but it seems to have disappeared from the roll call board. I wonder since it's been inactive for a while it was deleted? Anyhow, we must meet up sometime during the cruise.

[sw18]

I recently returned from a transatlantic on Regatta in a PH1 cabin - nice ship, average cabin, great crew, good food........a nice experience but nothing stellar. It is quite evident that "O" lavish money on some areas such as food, and yet skimp in other areas like service staff training & a Marshall Islands registry.

 

The main dining room was an interesting experience - the quality of the food was excellent (better than SS in the main restaurant), but the room was cramped, the head waiter & maitre'd (when they were actually visible) insisted on seating 2's next to another table for 2 even when the dining room was half empty and a table for 4 could have been used.

Restaurant service was rushed despite ship being half full - there is no need to replace cutlery for the next course when the customer is still eating the preceeding one. Coffee frequently arrived before dessert, even when requested at the end of the meal. Despite this lack of polish the service staff were very enthusiatic & personable, hence my earlier comment about staff training.

 

As for the cabin (PH1) - slightly larger than Silver Cloud/Wind standard verandah suites, but much less storage, & an odd use of the available space. Best feature was the wider balcony. The Butler was a great guy, but not a true Butler in the traditional sense of the word. 2 SS stewardesses did more than 2 O cabin stewardesses plus the Butler. Toiletries & towels were cheap & tacky.

 

In terms of clientele "O" is 99% American in the 65+ age range with service & entertainment wholly geared to that market segment. SS is far more cosmopolitan 35+ age range with lots under 65. Big cross section of nationalities & much less snobbery than on "O" - I hated getting my Gold card out as after 2 days I got fed up with the hushed mutterings of those with Silver & white cards. On SS there is no apparent class system, maybe SS passengers are less aspirational....I don't know.

 

We had a few minor problems on board which were dealt with rather poorly, but eventually resolved - the front desk staff & the concierge in particular dealt with things haphazardly.

 

"O" have the makings of a good product - good main restaurant food, great service staff, but the penny pinching & inconsistent service standards soured my impression & I won't be back. In terms of service standards, particularly in the restaurant, I find Celebrity far more polished & consistent.

 

At the end of the day you get what you pay for & at the prices I am prepared to pay I want consistenly excellent service tailored to my needs rather than being expected to fit into the "O" formula. I'm going back to SS & have booked a crossing on the Wind next September.........maybe more £$£$£ but definitely better value for money. If I tire of SS I may well try RSSC or Sea Dream.

[Sweeterpea]

Sw, thanks for your thoughts.

 

What do you mean by gold, silver and white cards?

[sw18]

Sweeterpea......the stateroom key cards are colour coded - Gold for Suites, Silver for concierge level cabins & white for the rest. SS key cards are all silver...naturally ;)

[meow!]

For those of you who have sailed on many different lines, do you know whether other lines also use different coloured key cards to distinguish between different classes of passengers?

 

Usually, different classes of passengers are segregated into different locations. For example, on an aeroplane, first class and business class are put into separate sections. Especially at meal time, the stewardess will draw the curtains to "hide" the different food from direct view. On the Queen Mary/Eliazbeth, different classes dine in different rooms.

 

It may not be "nice" to put people together, in direct sight of one another, while showing them obvious distinctions, such as in the form of different colourd key cards, which they have to pull out in others' view. Oceania may have done that for the convenience of the staff, distinguishing who is what. Colour coding may be useful in "encouraging" people to pay the $300 per person extra for "concierge class". Those who paid may want to be recognized for it, while those who didn't may feel stigmatized (there are more silver cards and above than white cards!)

 

This is an issue for their marketing and operations departments to study carefully. Is such a policy on the whole beneficial or detrimental? I don't know, any comments? Thank you.

[LHT28]

On NCL & Princess the colour coded keys were for people that had taken more cruises on that line.

The newbies had white, if you had 5 cruises you had blue and more than 10 you had gold or what ever card to distingush past cruisers.

 

It doesn't matter to me what colour my card is as long as it gets me on the ship. :D

[LHT28]

On NCL & Princess the colour coded keys were for people that had taken more cruises on that line.

NCL is Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum

 

It doesn't matter to me what colour my card is as long as it gets me on the ship. :D

 

You will find pretentious people on all cruiselines.

[shoshona2]

Dear sw18,

 

I have sailed on all three Oceania ships over the past three years and have never felt any "apparent class system" between those of us carrying different color key cards. Until recently, I was not even aware that there were different colors. We have made some wonderful friends on those three Oceania cruises and I will have to email them and ask them which color key card they had on our cruises.

 

Happy sailing on SS!

 

Sheila

[Leonid]

It's too bad that certain pax. might feel stigmatized because they opted for a lesser stateroom. It appears that we know have another "victim" class. We must do something for these poor retches, else they will not have any self esteem. Possibly a subsidized upgrade would sooth them.

I had hoped that political correctness would have spared us cruisers.It's bad enough in every day life. Obviously, I dead wrong!

[orchestrapal]

Leonid,

I love your posts! It would never oocur to us to look at the color of someone"s cards.Wo cares...

How PC can one get??:)

See you in May.

[LHT28]

Leonid,

It would never oocur to us to look at the color of someone"s cards.Wo cares...

 

I agree with you...I would not care what colour the card is !

 

Now if they would let all the passengers start boarding when the ship is ready us PEONS would be happy! :D

[BeBeReader]

A good idea would be to let everybody choose her/his color. That way it could be an expression of individual taste -- just as clothing color -- not a statement of room designation and price.

 

I never thought a thing about the color of the cards on my cruise. Now will I be motivated to check? I hope not and care not.

 

But don't you really think it would be more "classy" to have all cards the same color? I vote for a simple white card.