RSSC vs Seabourn

[johnnycruise]

Last December, Seabourn had only one formal night on a 7-day Caribbean cruise. The first and last nights were casual (no jacket for men) and the others were elegant casual (jacket for men, tie optional). There could be an additional casual night in the middle of the week if you are scheduled to stay late (10 p.m. or 11 p.m.) in port. "2" Restaurant is always one step less formal than the Restaurant.

 

johnny

[Iamboatman]

Seabourn is, if you want, more formal, but it does not have to be. There are always alternatives such as 2, Sky Grill (on select nights), etc. So if you don't want to do formal you do not have to. (During the day Seabourn is always country club casual.)

 

Seabourn is also experimenting with some cruises not having a formal night at all. As with the revamped entertainment which was recently rolled out on the Legend, it is something which may hint at a change.

[DaveFr]

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

Hal,

 

I can't seem to duplicate your results. Would you please list the Regent cruise and the Seabourn cruise you used for comparison. Thanks.

[blackbird71]

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

 

On both my Nov 06 and Mar 07 Caribbean cruise there was only one formal night.

[HAL2]

Hal,

 

I can't seem to duplicate your results. Would you please list the Regent cruise and the Seabourn cruise you used for comparison. Thanks.

 

Dave, I compared the 11 day Regent Mariner cruise departing on April 7, 2008 to the 14 day Seabourn (Legend) cruise departing on both March 16 and March 23, 2008.

Keep in mind to compare each line the pre-diem rate per couple per day should be used for the two lines. Also I recieved a slight savings over published price (approx $500 per person for both lines) for each cruise from the same TA.

 

Bottom line was Regent was $746 per day and Seabourn was $673 per day ($73 more or approx 10%). Also these figures were in the early part of this year when I booked Regent.

 

Iamboatman- The TA also said the flights to Barbados or St Thomas were running about $1000 vs. Ft Lauderdale round trip of 1/2 cost. I may still revisit my decision to chose Regent. And the air fares have dropped considerably.

 

 

Best Regards,

Hal

[Iamboatman]

Hal,

 

I don't know where you are getting air from, so it is difficult to comment on the pricing for, as we know, from airport A it can be $1,000 but airport B 2,000 miles away it can be $299 and one 50 miles away it can be $500. (Ex. you can fly non-stop to Barbados from Miami, but it will be a full day ordeal from West Palm Beach...and substantially more expensive. In that instance, take a limo and the flight from Miami and save hundreds plus lots of time.)

 

Also, I hate to just compare per diems as if the lines are otherwise identical. There are real differences between them, so while price may be a factor, it shouldn't be the only factor.

[DaveFr]

Dave, I compared the 11 day Regent Mariner cruise departing on April 7, 2008 to the 14 day Seabourn (Legend) cruise departing on both March 16 and March 23, 2008.

Keep in mind to compare each line the pre-diem rate per couple per day should be used for the two lines. Also I recieved a slight savings over published price (approx $500 per person for both lines) for each cruise from the same TA.

 

Bottom line was Regent was $746 per day and Seabourn was $673 per day ($73 more or approx 10%). Also these figures were in the early part of this year when I booked Regent.

Hal,

 

The prices must have changed since you booked your cruise earlier this year. I just ran the figures using a $500 discount off the published price per person and not adding taxes. I compared the least expensive suite on each line, a Category H suite on Regent and a Category A suite on Seabourn Here's what I calculated:

 

Regent: 4495-500=3995/11=363*2=$726 per couple per day. For a returning Regent passenger, the published fare was $225 lower.

 

Seabourn: 5645-500=5145/14=367.50*2=$735 per couple per day.

 

Have I made a mistake or an incorrect assumption? If you don't mind answering, what were the published fares for each cruise when you booked?

 

I have the feeling that if you compare enough similar cruises between Regent and Seabourn, you'll find some cruises where Regent is less expensive, some cruises where Seabourn is less expensive and some cruises where they're roughly the same.

[HAL2]

Dave,

At the time my TA give me a Seabourn cruise price of $5026 then offered a $310 discount (or 7%) for a total of $4716 per person, which according to my notes is $673 per night.

 

Regent price published price back then is still the same as your findings are now (4495 but not not include taxes, post fees etc). TA gave us a nice ship board credit (150 each) and also said she will mail us a check for 730 when full payment is made. These credits/check brought the cost to down to (my notes) $746 per day.

 

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Hal

[DaveFr]

Thanks for the pricing information Hal. I'd appreciate it if you would send me the name of your TA. Please send the name here. Thanks.

 

I recalculated the Seabourn per diem using the current fare with a 7% discount. The per diem per couple now comes to approximately $750. Using your figures for Regent, I still get a per diem of $723. :) There must be some added cost I don't have. With a past passenger discount on the Regent cruise, the per diem drops to approximately $683.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[cotto22]

Thanks for the interesting posts, everyone., and the pictures. We are deciding between the Seabourn Pride 11/10 seven day Barbados cruise and the RSSC Voyager 11/30 seven day Ft. Lauderdale sailing. Seabourn is @ $1100 more, although about 40% of the difference is due to the increased cost of airfare to Barbados.

Unfortunately, I am no closer to a decision now than before I read the dialogue! We have cruised on RSSC twice, and were very happy with both cruises, although did notice that there were bottle necks at times and slower than relaxed service in the dining room at other times.

My husband and I are somewhat demanding people and do enjoy good service and I know that Seabourn would not disappoint in that regard. The lack of a balcony is worrisome. And we are not cruising to meet and greet; we are friendly, but not overly so. ARRGGH!! I could use some divine intervention.:)

[HAL2]

Thanks for the pricing information Hal. I'd appreciate it if you would send me the name of your TA. Please send the name here. Thanks.

 

I recalculated the Seabourn per diem using the current fare with a 7% discount. The per diem per couple now comes to approximately $750. Using your figures for Regent, I still get a per diem of $723. :) There must be some added cost I don't have. With a past passenger discount on the Regent cruise, the per diem drops to approximately $683.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Dave,

I sent you an Email to your address.

 

Cotto,

As you probably know and have read in the above posts, the higher price cruise does not necessarly result in the more enjoyable cruise experience. Iamboatman said it best and is more than qualified to state.

 

I firmly advise that if one reads all the posts carefully, one will determine the "culture" of the cruise experience and the fellow cruisers.

 

Also the airline costs have come down to competitive prices no matter where you to fly too. But this could change at anytime.

 

Best Regards,

Hal in Ohio

[DaveFr]

Thanks, Hal.

[Iamboatman]

I always caution against using a cruise lines air. Over 90% of the time you can find flights for much less. Seabourn is no exception. You need to compare pricing without airfare and then add private air back into the equation. JMO.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I know Boat is an expert, and I am not, just a traveller. But I think the issue of cruiseline air depends on: where you are coming from, and where you are going. For European cruises with "open jaw" flights, the cruiseline often is a better deal. I find flying to Tahiti a better deal with Regent as well.

 

Sometimes it varies--last year I did my own air Toronto-Fort Lauderdale, this year I'll do Regent's because I just can't get the same deal with Air Canada. Of course, they nick you for deviations--I wish they would not count an overnight stay as a deviation, since so many of us like to arrive the day before embarkation.

[Iamboatman]

Wendy,

 

I can't speak for travel to/fm Canada, but open jawed tickets to/from the US to Europe are almost always less expensive done privately. For every Regent cruise with "free air" I have quoted or booked I have found taking the $1,000 credit was the best deal. (Of course if you are booking closer in to the sail date and the lower air fares are gone, that could well be different.)

 

Also, as you noted in part, if you don't take "pot luck" the price goes up...sometimes substantially. When this client doesn't want to fly through Heathrow, that one wants to use miles to upgrade, another won't fly first thing in the morning or late at night, and yet another needs to be on a Sky Team airline (to get miles), the value of the cruise line's air is even less.

 

Tahiti is an exceptional place (and one I know you know well), but even that air is in a state of flux. Personally I used miles and am stopping in Hawaii before my pre-cruise in Tahiti. My math made that a better deal. (No kiddin'!)