RSSC vs Seabourn

[jschutz]

So for anyone who has traveled both - any huge difference? I know more about Seabourn (for example comp. wine, caviar, etc.) but would like to hear from someone who has sampled both.

[cruiseyguy]

The biggest difference is that Seabourn's current ships are very small--only 200 passengers, max--and often fewer. This changes the dynamics onboard---it is much easier to meet and bond with both passengers and crew than on the larger Regent ships. Food and amenity wise, they are pretty much the same although I think Seabourn's service is much more personal and polished, due both to training and, again, ship size.

[Iamboatman]

I have cruised multiple times on both lines.

 

As was said, the dynamic aboard the Seabourn ships is much different. The crew are much more proactive, but in a subtle way, and are trained to eliminate "No".

 

Example: I requested hamburgers to be delivered to the pool deck about 8PM on the Regent Navigator. I was told "No." I asked for them to be delivered to the suite, but they refused to give me a time. While it eventually got sorted out, that would not happen on Seabourn. On Seabourn, Carol Spenser, editor of Cruise Critic, mentioned that she was looking off the stern and an attendant asked her if she would like a lounge chair. When she said yes, he brought her a lounge chair, a table for her book...and a drink.

 

Another example: I have had a number of frustrating dining experiences on Regent where desserts are very late or simply aren't delivered and others where the menu items could not be explained. On Seabourn the service in the dining room flows and is pretty much seamless.

 

I also find the food on Seabourn to be superior, though Regent does have some nice dining.

 

Does this make Regent a poor choice? Absolutely not. It is just on a different level of service and polish. It is, however, improving after having slipped a bit.

 

Also there is necessarily a difference when you are dealing with 200 people vs. 700 people. That larger ship and number of people does support more alternative venues, more entertainment, more tours, etc. Also those ships have true balconies while Seabourn's present ships do not.

 

I love the personal touches, such as drawn baths for my DW, massage moments on deck, etc. that Seabourn provides, as well as the more country clubbish feel. That, however, is a personal preference.

[blackbird71]

Note: I just canceled my Nov cruise because Regent is going non-smoking in suites. And I spend most of my time in my suite.

 

I did the Amazon on the RSSC Mariner and had two Seabourn cruises.

 

In 2005 RSSC was a great deal. Their prices were between say Princess and Seabourn. Today they are priced equal to Seabourn but like IAMBOATMAN pointed out their service is not up to Seabourn standard.

 

My personal choices are 1) Seabourn 2) RSSC for food and service.

 

IMHO the only place RSSC could beat out Seabourn food wise is on very long cruises. The Charlie Palmer menu on Seabourn is more limited than the RSSC menu.

[BILLP1]

We prefer Regent now that it is all inclusive. Less formal crowd and now even better with the new smoking regulations... Each to his own...

[blackbird71]

We prefer Regent now that it is all inclusive. Less formal crowd

 

I would dis-agree with that. Both lines are the same in the formal dress area.

[cruiseyguy]

BB-You're running out of luxury cruise lines now that SS, Seabourn & Regent are on your "no fly" list (although I think Regent's new smoking policy takes effect after your now-cancelled NZ cruise). FYI-Celebrity is assigning the Millenium to the Oz-NZ run in 2008/2009. Much nicer than Mercury.

[blackbird71]

BB-You're running out of luxury cruise lines now that SS, Seabourn & Regent are on your "no fly" list (although I think Regent's new smoking policy takes effect after your now-cancelled NZ cruise). FYI-Celebrity is assigning the Millenium to the Oz-NZ run in 2008/2009. Much nicer than Mercury.

 

Home office changes on Regent and Seabourn could change that. SS is the only one that the food and service was BAD on my cruise. But over all the service on Seabourn was unbelievable and RSSC was not far behind.

 

As for the Mercury I just do not know what is plaguing that ship.

[dougburns]

A big difference that nobody has mentioned is that Seabourn really doesn't have balconies that you can go out and sit on. If a balcony is important to you then Seabourn is not for you. There will also be a big difference in the ride during open ocean cruising due to the size difference.

[Iamboatman]

Hey, I mentioned the balconies!:) However, on a smaller ship with so few other passengers you tend to spend more time on deck, so the balcony is not missed as much as you might think. Missed, probably, but not as much.

 

You are correct about the ship in rougher seas...but there is no vibration issue like on the Navigator or Voyager

[JDRMYS]

Many Seabourn fans will scream at me but I find that Seabourn service and food have slipped quite a bit. That combined with less than perfect maitenence (rain cascaded into our suite and there were many leaks in the deck 6 hallway during our last Seabourn cruise) have led me to want to wait for the new Seabourn ships before booking on Seabourn again. While RSSC is not perfect, we love the spaciousness, the food in Signatures, the staff that remembers us from year to year, the butlers and the huge private decks in the aft sutes on the Mariner and Voyager.

 

That said, I can't really think of a 3rd cruise line that I would want to take on a regular basis. RSSC and Seabourn are the best of the best for us.

[blackbird71]

Hey, I mentioned the balconies!:) However, on a smaller ship with so few other passengers you tend to spend more time on deck, so the balcony is not missed as much as you might think. Missed, probably, but not as much.

 

 

True unless you are a sun bunny. I loved the picture windows on Seabourn. I sat for hours watching the sea and sea critters from the COMFORT of my suite. The temp was just right, not hot or not cold. ;)

[tennisbunny]

We LOVE having a balcony which is why we cancelled our Seabourn cruise and decided to give RSSC a try. What you look for in a cruise is different for everyone. But I think we'll enjoy the Regent cruise a lot!

 

Seabourn has some great deals at the end of this year. I definitely want to experience Seabourn but will wait until the new ships are out with balconies.

 

I have read this thread with much interest since it is a comparison between these two lines. Although we haven't been on either of these lines, they're top on our list for our next cruises. :rolleyes:

[dd@sea]

Having had been an original Raddison (Regent) cruiser and loving all the ships, a few years ago we tried Seabourn and are now converts to this line. I love balconies too, but in no way would that keep me from going on Seabourn. I love the service and the smaller more intimate feel of Seabourn. As stated before by many, there are many places to go on deck to enjoy the 'open balcony' feeling. Let alone the nice friendly people you will meet by doing so. I would hope no one would 'knock' Seabourn until they try it.

 

On the other hand, we still continue to use both lines - Voyager in December in the Carribean - moving up to the next level - with additional perks. But then we are close to our free cruise on Seabourn too. All in all, they both are wonderful lines - but if I had to choose right now between the two - it would be Seabourn.

[count florida]

We are approaching the magic 200 day Platinum tier level with Regent (will reach it during our upcoming Osaka-Hong Kong Mariner cruise, actually), but for a variety of reasons, we've cancelled our Buenos Aires - Ft. Lauderdale cruise on the Mariner next winter and are going to take the Seabourn Pride instead. Seabourn is actually a bit less costly than Regent ($28K vs. $31K for two people) despite the fact it takes 6 or 7 extra days to cover the same territory, and has (IMHO) a slightly more interesting itinerary - ports we've not hit before, and also includes (no extra charge) “special events” that in at least two cases seem quite interesting. No balcony, of course, but we're not big devotees of them anyway, and the standard suites on the Pride are actually about 25 sq.ft. larger than those on the Mariner, inside vs inside.

 

One statement in this thread really struck me: The crew are much more proactive, but in a subtle way, and are trained to eliminate "No". Radisson used to be that way, but no longer. In fact, my experience, starting subtly in the fall of 2004 and now blatent, is that Regent staff and crew have shifted 180 degrees and are trained to say "NO", not eliminate it. This one line has convinced me we really must try Seabourn! Thanks, Iamboatman

 

We really loved Radisson, the ships, the crews, basically everything about that line, but now look forward to finding another to like, because Regent is outrageously expensive now, not as good and changing for the worse. But that’s one but person's opinion. We still look forward to our Japan-China cruise on the Mariner this fall, but also to exploring a new line, Seabourn, next winter. We tried Princess this past winter, a one week Caribbean cruise with a bunch of local friends, but the Caribbean Princess is just too big. We did have a great time, but a week was enough, and our normal preference is for at least two or preferably more weeks cruising.

 

Perhaps we'll have more to write about after we've tried both cruise lines so close together.

[blackbird71]

 

One statement in this thread really struck me: The crew are much more proactive, but in a subtle way, and are trained to eliminate "No". Radisson used to be that way, but no longer. In fact, my experience, starting subtly in the fall of 2004 and now blatent, is that Regent staff and crew have shifted 180 degrees and are trained to say "NO", not eliminate it. This one line has convinced me we really must try Seabourn! Thanks, Iamboatman

 

 

First on price, when I compared this year's RSSC to Seabourn for the around the Cape SA cruise segment, the per person rate was the same, the only way RSSC came in less was single sup on Seabourn was 150% and it was 135% on RSSC.

 

Points on the crew. While minor to some, I like being address by my last name as I enter any restaurant on Seabourn. Seabourn trains their staff to address guests by last names (hint the "mug shot" that goes on your cruise card and is checked by security when you reboard also goes into 'the book' that is copied for the bar and restaurant staff') . While I had good service by the same crew member on the Mariner for breakfast every day, he did not know my name.

 

You can order from your stewardess or Purser Office "drug store things" from the store onboard any time you need them. In the back of the big book of things like room service menu etc is a list of things you can purchase from your stewardess. One day I needed a flash for my camera and when I got it out saw the batteries were dead. I check the list of "drug store things" and did not see batteries so I went to the Purser's Office. He pull out two boxes of things and looked thru them and pulled out a pack of 4 AA batteries. I signed for them and was a happy camper. :) It is nice not having to wait until the shop onboard is open to buy something like batteries.

 

One plus for the Mariner, now I have not been on it since the Good Old Days of VHS tapes.:D But the tape library was down by the computer spot and it's great coffee machine. I would take my VHS movie back to the "email place" and get a cup of coffee pick out a new movie and check email. On Seabourn you have to go to library and pick out the movie and take the box down to the Purser's Office and he would pull the movie's DVD from their store and put it into the box. Just not as easy as the Mariner.

[Iamboatman]

Count:

 

Years ago I found, like you, a bit of a better price and higher level of service on, errrrr, hummmmm, "Radisson". My weeks on the Diamond were great, the staff charmed my kids and my DW and we were pretty much treated as good as it gets. A few years ago I noticed the prices shoot up and the service drop. While Regent now runs quite a number of specials, the prices are generally still higher than I think they should be...especially considering the service and as you point out, what the superior (in my eyes) competition charges.

 

While I would like to think I am a bottom line kinda guy most of the time, the personal greeting, elegant service and an anticipation of what I might want (like a glass of champagne magically appearing as I relax in a whirlpool) can make me a sucker and overlook the price as I "feel" more than "see" the value.

 

And, BTW, you mentioned one BIG benefit to Seabourn (as it is to a limited degree for Regent in Alaska), Seabourn visits many ports that other lines simply cannot visit due to their size. My September cruise on Seabourn out of Barcelona visits a number of ports that would be quite difficult by land and otherwise not an option by sea (aside from a private yacht).

 

That said, I am still readily and now excitedly awaiting my August cruise on the PG.

[blackbird71]

We are approaching the magic 200 day Platinum tier level with Regent (will reach it during our upcoming Osaka-Hong Kong Mariner cruise, actually),

 

This may be a plus or minus. There is only one club benefit for Seabourn repeaters. A free 14 day cruise after 140 days.

[count florida]

If they count days on the other "World's Leading Cruise Lines", e.g., HAL and Cunard, we're more than half way there, and will pass 100 on our Buenos Aires - Ft. Lauderdale jaunt next winter. Thanks, I'll have to check this out! Come to think of it though, I doubt those 'other' days can count; someone surely would run up days on lesser WLC lines then cruise on Seabourn just to get the free-be. But it's nice to dream!

[wripro]

They do NOT count days on other lines. It's 140 days on Seabourn itself. This is a terrific benefit as it effectively reduces the cost of any Seabourn cruise you take by ten percent.

[count florida]

Blackbird, I did round the cost to the nearest thousand, admittedly a bit strong for a comparison, but I'm not sure what your cost comparison includes. Mine is for two people as follows:

 

Seabourn Pride's A2 suite 277 Feb 10 to Mar 17, 2008 (35 days) at $28,269.18 total or $807.69 per day

VS

Regent Mariner's F842 (least costly room with shower) Feb 4 to Mar 4, 2008 (28 days) at $30,630.76 total or $1,093.96 per day.

 

That gives a cost difference of $286.27 per day (lower) in Seabourn's favor. I’m sorry, Regent is just getting to be very expensive!

[Iamboatman]

I saw this trend coming two years ago and just cannot justify the cost difference. If someone can explain a good reason Regent is 10-20 percent higher I would love to hear and understand it.

[blackbird71]

They do NOT count days on other lines. It's 140 days on Seabourn itself. This is a terrific benefit as it effectively reduces the cost of any Seabourn cruise you take by ten percent.

 

In real life it is probably more than that. From what I understand there is no blackout dates, so you could use the free cruise on a cruise that is not discounted much. So you could use it on the more expensive 14 dayers.

 

count florida

 

I am a single cruiser and the 150% (Seabourn) vs 135% RSSC single sup would make the RSSC a little less than Seabourn. LOL I remember the Good Old Days when a veranda suite was only a couple hundred more for a 12 Amazon cruise over the Royal Princess.

[LisaDee]

I would dis-agree with that. Both lines are the same in the formal dress area.

 

Can someone clarify the dress code issue? When I look at 7-day Caribbean itineraries on RSSC, the RSSC website shows no formal nights, just country-club casual and informal. The Seabourn site says you have two formal nights during a 7-day cruise. Is this true for Caribbean intineraries?

 

Thanks,

Lisa

[HAL2]

Iamboatman,

I too did a cost analysis (pre diem for a March 2008 Caribbean cruise) of these two cruise lines and came up the same (10% higher for Regent) as you did. I chose the Regent 11 day cruise 'only' because I have heard that Regent is a less formal line than Seabourn. Maybe I should revisit my decision.

And I am interested in the relpies to Lisa's post.

 

Hal in Ohio