We've cruised on the Regent Navigator and Mariner several times, and are considering booking a 6/2/13 London to Iceland cruise on the Regent 7 Seas Voyager, a 5/16/13 Silver Whisper British Isles cruise, or an 8/4/13 British Isles cruise on the Silver Cloud. In order to make a decent cost and value comparison, we need to know what is and isn't included on Silversea. We'd appreciate your comments. In most cases, we'll indicate what's included on Regent, and hope that fellow LCT people can tell us what's included on Silversea:

Air. Seems to be included on both. Business class upgrades are usually $999 each way on Regent.

Pre-cruise hotel, with transfers - included on Regent, or you can get a $300 per person fare reduction.

Tips - included on Regent.

Wine, beer, and most booze - included on Regent.

Excursions - included on Regent, but many are pretty lame.

Smoking - not allowed on staterooms or balconies on Regent, and allowed in only a few public places.

Washing machines - available and free on Regent.

Bottled soft drinks - free on Regent.

Shipboard credit toward what's not included - nothing on Regent, appears to be $1,500 per suite on Silversea.

Feel free to give comparisons other than cost.

Hi Joan and Joe -

I find sailing on Silversea or Regent to be very similar experiences. Somewhat great mix of guests from around the world on Silversea; somewhat more formal atmosphere on Silversea. Excellent service on both. I'm happy to sail on either line, and most often choose itinerary and all-in cost when booking a cruise. I don't find much of a difference between the shore excursion offerings. With Silversea, I will do more legwork ahead of time to find independent local guides or tours. That route is sometimes better than the ship's offerings, but not consistently so. It takes a fair bit of time to do that research ahead of time.

I've sailed on Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper, and Silver Explorer. Silver Wind and Silver Cloud are the smaller ships. Shadow and Whisper both had washing machines available - I think they are also free, but can't say for sure. Silversea includes a butler with every suite. I quite like this arrangement - it allows the housekeepers to focus on freshening the room itself and lets the butler handle other requests or issues. Tips were included on Silversea. Silversea excursions can add up; ergo the $1,500 shipboard credit. Included beverage list is quite similar on both lines. I'm not up to speed on smoking policy differences.

Cost differential varies with itinerary and choice of ship (ie, wind and cloud less expensive than shadow, spirit or whisper; navigator less expensive than mariner or voyager) as a general rule. The Voyager is most similar to the mariner in size and amenities. For me, if it were identical itinerary, ship, etc, I'd book on Regent because of Seven Sea Society benefits.

If it matters to you, consider any differential benefits at your level in Venetian Society or Seven Seas Society loyal programs. We find ourselves using the free phone calls and internet access on Regent; that adds up fast on Silversea.

Good luck deciding on your summertime 2013 cruise. Cheers, Anne

I am on my 1st Silversea cruise right now. Left yesterday from Southampton. 1st 3 days are ports but then have 4 sea days. I can check out any info you want, like cost of washing machines, then.
Today was Plymouth. Wonderful 5 hour tour of Dartmoor and the village of Widecombe. One of the best guides ever. Cost was $89 I think. Totally worth it when considering the 10% single supplement versus the 100% I would have had to pay on Regent. Tonight is 1st of 3 formal nights but no need to dress to the nines if eating in the main dining room.
Do agree - paying for internet and no free phone perk is not what I would prefer, but it is something I can live with.
Will check on that washing machine cost and get back to you.
And LOVE my butler.

10 Percent single supplement, Thats great! I would gladly pay for internet/phone/laundry/tours, rather than a 100 percent single supplement.. Glad your enjoying yourself...

Hi Betty, Enjoy your Silversea cruise, look forward to hearing more.

Washers, dryers and laundry soap complementary on Silversea. Iron and ironing board available in laundry room.

Choice of bathroom amenities on Silversea (Neutrogena, Bvlgari or Ferragamo).

It's funny how you make do. Love the free internet I get on Regent, but last year on a nine day Silversea cruise bought a small package using shipboard credit, maybe 60 minutes, and used my final minute the night before disembarking. This year I did NOT buy a package on board for my 12 night cruise, just looked for free WiFi on land (was standing outside an Apple store in Bordeaux with a couple dozen crew members) and supplemented the AT&T international data roaming on my iPhone. Texted more, sat reading/playing games on the internet far less, if at all, and didn't miss it one bit!

I'm finding for us Silversea (and Seabourn) are now a better fit than Regent as we often do not like to take an organized tour and just putz around on our own as the smaller ships are often docked in the center of town and it is easy to do, or arrange a private tour and eliminate the big coaches and long restroom/shopping stops. This year we booked only two organized tours in 12 days on Silversea. We often saw more on our own hoofing it around than friends on a tour. Well, different things anyway...we love going through local markets and stopping at sidewalk cafes and that can be awkward with a busload.

Its funny, our 7 day cruise on the Cloud in April our laptop never came out of the bag, had a lot of emails when we got to hotel in Rome, but thats when you know you have had a blast when you do NOT even have any time to check email..

Looking forward to trying Silversea again, and really like that they have several ships..

Glad you are having fun, Betty. But, you were on Silversea with me in January. This is your second Silversea adventure.

Andi - I considered January an expedition. This one is a cruise. Totally different.
Frank - Since I travel as a single I need internet to stay in touch with family. Wouldn't want them to worry about me.

Betty:

Agree, keeping in contact with loved ones is a good idea......
I was just pointing out that its nice to only have to pay 10 percent supplement rather than the 100 percent, so the paying for the small incidentals is a small cost in the big scope of things..
Enjoy!!

Betty: If you don't want to "dress up" for formal nights. Book at the "Hot Rocks Cafe" on deck above pool. Great food that you can cook at your table and casual dress!

David, I don't think this ship has such a place. Was surprised the pool deck requires reservations in the evening. I am wrong! Just looked and noticed it is the same thing. A little cool to eat outside this time of year this far north. Tonight am eating in the Italian restaurant on board. Still trying to find my niche. For all you Silversea alumnae - is the Champagne restaurant worth the money?

Betty,
Champagne is really nice but honestly, I enjoyed our regular Restaurant meals on the Cloud just as much. The Italian restaurant is really nice also, and they rotate their menus every 3 or 4 days so you can try them a couple times per cruise.

Joan & Joe,

We are sold on Silversea. The prices cannot be beat. Like Suzanne, we tend to either go on self guided tours, or hire independent tour guides. So for us the price you pay for the "free" excursions on Regent just are not worth it. The Cloud is a wonderful small ship. We sailed it from London to the Baltics. It's due for a major dry dock later this year. The Hot Rocks restaurant is supposed to be added during dry dock.

If you have any other questions that haven't been covered, please ask away. I think there might even be a couple of people on LCT who may be on your London to Iceland cruise. Here are photos of our Baltic cruise http://worldflyer.smugmug.com/Travel/2012-Baltic-Cruise
and here is a video of the Cloud sailing out from Tower Bridge in London. Another great reason to take this cruise if it does this: http://worldflyer.smugmug.com/Travel/Movies/Silver-Cloud-Sailing-Under

Hi Joe & Joan,

We have multiple sailings on Regent and multiple sailings on SS. For example, we sail on the Voyager Dec 1st (Mumbai to Bali) them we have three SS sailings booked for 2013, including London Tower Bridge to Iceland and back--arrives the day of the SS Cloud cruise u are interested in. Special Kudos/shout out to John & Tanya for sharing their blog and answering my ? about this itinerary and ? on London.

We truly enjoy both lines, prefer the dress code on SS (2-3 formal nights per cruise), smoking policy on SS, will be essentially the same as Regent's in 2013 (no smoking in suites or verandas), prefer lunch in the La Veranda equivalent on SS (La Terraza) they have sushi daily, service is a tad more attentive in LT at lunch than LV. The Restaurant(MDR on SS)/Compass Rose are very similar--coin toss for us in terms of which we prefer. Both lines offer outstanding specialty restaurants.

We choose SS over Regent in Europe since we are comfortable making private tour arrangements or using SS tours paying with the generous SS OBC. For exotic itineraries we prefer Regent's included excursions (e.g. in Asia, SE Asia, Middle East). As for airfare (BC) From Chi, You will pay $200pp more for biz class air on SS than on Regent, if the Regent voyage BC price is $999 pp per leg, the SS price from Chi is $2198 total pp.

For us, where SS shines over Regent is in special orders--altho available on both lines. We find SS executes (steak diane, Crepe Suzettes, dover sole, English truffle, london pie (pix below). You simply give the Maitre'D 24hrs notice and viola you receive a true gustatory delight matched with stellar service. Also, am not happy with Regent's new $200pp reduction in air credit since we do our own air with miles (have a million plus) thus for 2014 we will look at SS first before looking/booking Regent.

Plus on Silversea, we get to sail with David/EnglishUSA, Susan & Jeff/Grey Gypsey, DougBurns (Doug and the Lovely Miss Lynn and see you next Thursday in Phoenix) and soon Betty on the Spirit (fall crossing 2013)



Hope this helps.

r/wes

Re: Silversea vs. Regent - cost and value [Re: Joanandjoe] #233896 09/20/12 11:37 AM Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 672 Boston FDV72 cruiser FDV72 cruiser Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 672 Boston John; I agree about the prices and looking forward at some point in seeing the Cloud after its re-Fit.. I also believe the Food is better on SS, we did NOT have too many speciality dishes, but the variety was always there.. Look forward to trying them again.

Re: Silversea vs. Regent - cost and value [Re: Joanandjoe] #233946 09/23/12 04:28 AM Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 3,407 Houston Betty cruiser Betty cruiser Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 3,407 Houston David, I am signed up for the Hot Rocks tomorrow night and have 2 of your countrymen to show me how it all works. Hope I don't burn my steak to death. I am getting into a Silversea frame of mind. They do know the way to make a passenger feel very special. Betty

Re: Silversea vs. Regent - cost and value [Re: FFMilesJunkie] #233989 09/24/12 03:55 PM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 257 Washington State Travelcat cruiser Travelcat cruiser Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 257 Washington State Hi John, Agree with much of what you post about Silversea. We enjoy Silversea very much -- especially the Italian restaurant. However, after sailing on the Whisper and Spirit and doing a tour on the Cloud (could have been the Wind), we would not feel comfortable sailing on either ship (Cloud or Wind) due to it's apparent age and size. IMO, the Whisper is the most comfortable and best laid out ship we have sailed on to date. Note: We do not care for Hot Rocks. IMO, it was gimicky (spelling?), noisy and the service was spotty. Having the servers carry hot rocks and food up and down the stairs was more than I felt they should go through (on the Spirit). Jackie & Dennis

Re: Silversea vs. Regent - cost and value [Re: Joanandjoe] #233996 09/25/12 06:07 AM Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 3,407 Houston Betty cruiser Betty cruiser Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 3,407 Houston Had a wonderful meal prepared on the Hot Rocks last night. Prawns and filet. And the White Nile Martinis were to die for. It's fun to try something new. Will probably return one more time before this cruise ends. Thanks for the suggestion, David. Betty

Re: Silversea vs. Regent - cost and value [Re: Joanandjoe] #233997 09/25/12 10:03 AM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,788 seadog cruiser seadog cruiser Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,788 Glad you are having a great time!

Re: Silversea vs. Regent - cost and value [Re: Joanandjoe] #234204 10/04/12 07:57 PM Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 1,730 Sherman Oaks CA mp8shnt cruiser mp8shnt cruiser Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 1,730 Sherman Oaks CA Silversea is a much better value. ToddRiley.com https://sohomesforsale.com

Re: Silversea vs. Regent - cost and value [Re: Joanandjoe] #234206 10/05/12 02:56 AM Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 672 Boston FDV72 cruiser FDV72 cruiser Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 672 Boston The Recent deals that Silversea has been putting out, and our experience back in April, I totally agree Todd..

Re: Silversea vs. Regent - cost and value [Re: Joanandjoe] #235140 11/14/12 12:38 AM Joined: Sep 2012 Posts: 15 Worcestershire K katiew102 cruiser katiew102 cruiser K Joined: Sep 2012 Posts: 15 Worcestershire I think both lines are offering some great prices, but I think you guys are right, in my experience Silversea do offer better value. I have only ever been with Regent once though, so I guess this view may be a little biased! Never a failure, but always a lesson.

Re: Silversea vs. Regent - cost and value [Re: Joanandjoe] #235255 11/17/12 05:03 PM Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 1,730 Sherman Oaks CA mp8shnt cruiser mp8shnt cruiser Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 1,730 Sherman Oaks CA Much better values on Silversea and everyone gets a Butler! ToddRiley.com https://sohomesforsale.com

Re: Silversea vs. Regent - cost and value [Re: Joanandjoe] #236003 01/15/13 01:13 PM Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 672 Boston FDV72 cruiser FDV72 cruiser Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 672 Boston Another Smokin Hot Deal has come to the Horizon. Refurbished Silver Cloud Roundtrip San Juan.. Smokin!!!