My husband and I have sailed 4 times with Regent. It seems a perfect fit for us, but we have noticed the steady price increases. We have never looked into Silversea because it seems more formal and stuffy than Regent and the average guest age seems a bit older than Radisson. (we are in our mid 40's) I saw Ngaire's posted 50% off specials on Silversea. There is a Baltics cruise (3720) on August 11th that starts at $3048 per person. Radisson has a similar cruise on the Voyager for $4546 in Category H. Given the significant price difference, does anyone have thoughts on whether we should give Silversea a try?

Nancy

Nancy -

I have been on both and am doing another Silversea in November as you saw in the Silversea section. Although the Silversea pricing indicates it is good through June 30, 2007 - I believe it is capacity controlled and that itin you selected could be sold out.

I was on a Caribbean itin in October 2006 on Silversea and did not find it stuffy - I am in my early 40's and the trip I was on was a bit more scaled to the younger than I expected.

If you can get the Silversea discount - I would grab it. Take the money and run. I am sure you will enjoy the Silversea experience.

Nancy, don't forget that you won't have a balcony at that price on Silversea. If a balcony is important to you (as it is to me!!), that might be something to consider! I didn't check prices but I am assuming at that price that Silversea might still come out ahead, though.

Oh right! Good point Karen. Both times on Silversea we paid the non-balcony price and waitlisted and cleared to a Shared Balcony.

I think I would still need a private balcony, I would want tables and chairs and I am sure no one cares to see me in my PJs on a shared balcony! :eek:

When I looked at our Rome to Athens the private balcony was $500 more per person - still a great value.

Nancy-

Did you find out anything more about the Silversea availability for the cruise you were considering?

Thank you Karen and Todd for your awesome advise. It was Todd's post about the deal he got on Silversea that inspired me to look for the August cruise in the first place. I have not called Ngaire to check on the availability yet. I have a huge project at work that is keeping me pretty busy. Also, my husband wants to go on the Orient Express from London to Venice instead. That prices at $13,000+ w/o airfare. The sticker shock is blinding on that one. I was looking for a bargain, since the two of us have not been anywhere alone for a year. We blew the wad on the Mariner Easter cruise because we booked side by side cabins for the kids and us. (That kids sail free thing is a lie if you have more than one pint sized kid) I had Eric convinced about the Silversea Baltic cruise and then he got the Regent brochure about the Paul Gauguin bargains. They are a great value and Eric is a diver. Personally, I want to see the Hermitage and I've put on some weight, so the jacket would look better on me than the bathing suit at this point!

Nancy

We took advantage of one of the reduced sailings on Silversea. We've cruise 120+ days with them and were really excited by this pricing. I don't think you will find the SS cruise stuffy at all. We are slightly older than you but our children, who are in their 20's, have gone on a number of cruises with us and enjoyed them tremendously.

We have cruised Regent many times, and SS once on the Cloud. It was Stockholm to London last fall, and it was a special. It was discounted so that it was less expensive than a comparable Regent cruise -- comparing private balcony rooms with private balcony rooms. On the Cloud, we liked the small size of the ship, the entertainment, and the absolute lack of vibration or any other ride problems. On Regent, we prefer the larger suite size in lower categories, the food and the excursion offerings -- which were clearly lacking on SS.

I would not call SS "stuffy" and there were plenty of guests our age (50s and 60s) and younger. But SS does not offer many (if any) cruises without formal nights. If you want to fit in on SS, this means a tux for men. On a Regent formal night, I've always had plenty of company wearing a dark suit. And, Regent offers more cruises with no formal nights. The service on SS is also more formal, and Regent's is more "chummy" But this is only a matter of style rather than substance, and the substance of the service seems about equally good on both lines.

So Richard, are you saying that most men wear tuxes on formal nights on SS? If so, that leaves us out permanently--it was enough of a struggle to get David into a suit!

Yes, Wendy, it's true.

I check the matter out before we booked, and what I was told proved to be true on the SS cruise. Almost all the men wore tuxes. SS's printed rules do allow dark suits, so you won't be kicked out for wearing one on formal night. But I would personally feel out of place and uncomfortable if I didn't wear a tux.

For value, open seating and no Tux or jacket for that matter, a Penthouse Level cabin on Oceania might be worth looking at. I am going to post my review later today.

Kathy, I was assuming that Nancy wanted an all inclusive cruise?

Her post did not indicate that AI was a factor but since she mentioned looking for a bargain, it is worth exploring. If you are used to RSSC, I wouldn't go below Penthouse or at least Concierge. Regent is my favorite, but, Oceania has some great itins. Not for those into sea days.

Kathy, at Penthouse level, does Oceania provide bottled water without having to sign for it? I live with a bottle of water in my hand, I'm not about to schlep it along with me, and I don't want to constantly be signing for it.

We met a delightful couple on our Voyager cruise last Fall. They are Platinum on Regent, had very recently cruised the first (and only) time with Oceania. They hated having to sign for every single thing.

On the first night I told the butler I hated to sign for soft drinks. I drink a lot of water (Evian 1 liter in room) He put a few bottles a day on the minibar account, as I used them, so we did not have to sign for any beverages from the room. We brought some bottles of wine from a few ports so we had that and the Perrier Jouet in our room - and at the wine tasting class we took, we were offered a package of premium wines so we never signed for dinner wine either. So the only time we signed really was for before or after dinner drinks, if we had them.

Not only would I hate to sign for water, I would hate to pay for it, lol.

Karen,

You do pay for it either way - it's not free! Regent just doesn't itemize it on your bill - they include it in the fare. Oceania is supposed to be changing the policy on it according to the Cruise Director. And unlike HAL or RCCL etc, the prices were very fair - they did not price gouge because you are a captive audience. Water was $2.50 and a Coke can $2.00. Perrier $2.50 for a small and a Pelligrino (Large)is $3.00 - very fair compared to a restaurant charge and far less than the RCCL and HAL price of $4.00 for a bottle of water.

Kathy, but I can have as much as it as I want and my rate won't go up!

Editing to add:
Kathy, I was trying to do a price comparison, which category would be comparable to bottom category Voyager?

This is the closest I can come for a certain time frame.

Oceania 14 days Sept. 13th in a Penthouse 3 (322 sq feet) Athens to Rome is sale priced at $9699 pp

Navigator in Category F 356 sq feet. balcony room b2b Oct. 13th sale priced $7396 pp (not including SS and B&K discount) for 14 days and it might even be less , I forget what the b2b discount is.

That gives you about $2k to add your air and you are still all inclusive.

I think with prices more on the luxury side, Oceania should bite the bullet as RSSC did and go all inclusive.

Of course, you can get a lesser room on both Oceania and the Navigator but I don't think I could do that on either ship!

And I must apologize for hijacking Nancy's thread!!

I don't think you can't compare the Nautica with the Navigator. They are not comparable. You would want to compare Voyager since the ship's are more similar - more alternate restaurants, activities.

Our next cruie will probably be a Baltic. Comparing O's Baltic, with Voyager's Baltic in July 08.

Regent: Cat H on Voyager
Fare $5795 (Special)
Air - not include
# of Days = 7
Per diem $827.85

Oceania Insignia: PH 3
Fare $6499
Air Included
# of Days 14
Itinerary inlcudes Kiel Canal transit, Brussells and Amsterdam. Overnights in ports.
Per Diem - alloing $1000 for air 392.78 per night
Tips and bar for us $50.00 pp per day $450. per day

Interesting comparison, Karen. I think it's easy sometimes to forget all the add ons, if a line is not all inclusive. Clearly, your comparison (apples to apples) proves RSSC to be the best "buy" of the two.

Kathy, I couldn't compare the Voyager as the ship wasn't in Europe at the same time. In any case, I can say I will pick all inclusive over any other line as I waited years for my favorite line to go AI. Now that it is, it would be mighty hard to go back, even if I had to give up an restaurant or two in favor of a smaller passenger list.

Kathy, I don't quite understand what you are saying. I just looked at two almost exact cruises on Voyager and Navigator. In order to get a midship balcony cabin on Navigator, it looked to me like Nav and Voyager were basically identical prices. Are you saying it costs more to sail on Voyager than it does on Navigator?

Yes. Compare a Europe Itinerary on Navigator to Voyager.
.
I just did the math on a Baltic and edited my post. Same time.
Voyager to Insignia. $400 a day different per person. I factored how we drink and tips. More ports on O. For me, this is a no brainer

I would have argued differently last month, but, there was such a small difference in quality onboard, that we will book our next cruise - Baltics with O - even if we pay for internet and wine.

Kathy, I thought we were comparing a non inclusive cruise sailing to an inclusive sailing of the same length on the two lines.

I also chose two sailings that included specials for both lines.

Comparing the two specials from the two lines, there is basically no difference. I will continue to sail on RSSC where I have many all inclusive perks, including free internet. I can just imagine my internet charges on Oceania!

I just had to go see for myself. I found almost identical 10-day cruises on Voyager and Nautica. Both included air; Nautica's was on a 2/1 special, and Voyager was at a 40% discount.

Voyager Class H - $5745
Nautica PH3 - $5099

I will be the first to admit that not all RSSC cruises are comparable in price to Oceania's but I will do as I always do and look for the bargains like LAMB.

At this point in time, I could not go back to paying for drinks, tips, internet, etc.

It really depends on the itinerary. RSSC is my first choice - no question. But the next cruise I will book will be Baltics. And comparing that itinerary, for me, will be more ports and a substancial fare difference. We have done many of the RSSC specials which have made it possible to cruise them within the budget for us.

I think the ports would be very important in a lot of those areas, too. Our next cruise is simply to get away after the traumas of this year, and the Eastern Carib is the perfect place to do that. Add in that incredible 1-week sale, and we are happy campers.

Well gee, maybe we need a new thread!

It's my perception that Navigator is always a bit less expensive than Voyager. But I think when doing comparisons with Oceania, you should consider a minimum G on Voyager, not an H.

Pam, I agree about the Caribbean--I can get that wonderful Voyager ambience for a whole week this December without breaking the bank.

Kathy, I know you're going to write a review, but how was the PH3 cabin? I looked into it for next year, and decided that I would go for either a PH2 or an A2, since the 1-2-3 differences are position within the ship (i.e., 1 is mid-ship, 3 is fore and aft.)

The cabin felt roomy. Batheroom was smaller but adequate. The desk did double duty as a dressing table. I just fired up the laptop and my review and pix are on it. Going to finish the review and upload pix.

Thanks Kathy. But I actually meant its position in the ship. Did you have much movement on this trip?

Oh - it was smoothest cruise we've ever been on. We had to look to see if the ship was actually moving!

Karen, no apology required. You absolutely have not hijacked my thread, only enhanced it with your insight. Dolebludger answered my most important question. I just don't have the energy for the formal night. We have plenty of formal wear. I just hate to pack it and the accessories when luggage space is limited. The more we think about it, the more we know that Regent is the best line for us. We have never been disappointed. Just need to complete this deal we're working on so that we can have a real vacation ALONE. We may have to push it to the fall.

Nancy, if you can spare the vacation time required for LAMB, it would be great to have you come with us this winter!

Or PEARLS and go to Tahiti for 10 days +. :)

What is LAMB? I've seen you all refer to it, but I actually don't know what the acronym stands for.

N.

Nancy, LAMB is the name we gave to the Auckland to LA cruise in December.

You can find a list of all the cruises and their acronyms here for the 2007 cruises and here for 2008 cruises.