Earlier I had posted the quote immediately below in a Silversea vs. Regent thread on CruiseCritic:


quote:
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We too have been disappointed with Regent in recent years, particularly the decline in service and food and the constant expansion of all-inclusive coupled with increasing costs, so after almost 250 days on RSSC, we are trying Silversea in April – Silver Shadow from San Juan to Ft. Lauderdale. If that cruise goes well, we'll take the triple back-to-back Istanbul-Athens-Venice-Monaco cruise on the new Silver Spirit in September-October, 2011. . .
The information here about the extra charges for alternate dining and wine with dinner on Silversea is disquieting, particularly as we will again have to pay for the Internet, and do or pay for our laundry. . .
It’s really a shame, RSSC was so good, and many of the Platinum perks are so nice, but we just haven’t been happy with the cutbacks, first in cabin service, and more recently in food and dining service. Plus we prefer to make our own excursion arrangements rather than join the thundering herds on the busses. We like a drink, but not enough to support the all-inclusive policy. Wine with dinner plus the set-up was plenty for us, although we would have preferred a cocktail party or happy hour before dinner to the in-suite setups. We're giving Regent another shot though, the Voyager from Ft. Lauderdale to Reykjavik in May, with high hopes but low expectations. Truly a shame!
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Well, now we’ve taken both cruises, the April - Caribbean cruise on the Silver Shadow and the May - East Coast to Reykjavik cruise on Voyager, which just happened to be this year’s (season’s?) President’s cruise; Mark Conway and his lovely wife were on board as far as Halifax. During that part of the cruise, both food and service were the best we’ve had on Regent in several years. After Halifax, it fell off a bit, but was still pretty good. And we certainly enjoyed all the perks that come with the Platinum tier on Regent, plus we were offered and took a low-cost upgrade to a Penthouse Suite, so we were able to compare service, butler against butler!

I don’t know if we’d be willing to pay full price for a butler on Regent, but it is a very welcome addition; it takes the level of in-suite service back to, and honestly a fair distance beyond, that we used to enjoy when every suite on Radisson had both a stewardess and a steward. Interestingly enough, our Silversea butler was on his first contract with them; previously he had been on Voyager for several contracts, and was a good buddy of our butler on that ship. Both were great and insured we had outstanding service! Having butlers in all suites is a definite plus for Silversea.

Silversea’s food was just a slight bit better than Regent’s early high standard, in both selection and quality, but the choice of standard wines was not as extensive or as good. And since we had to pay for many amenities we get without charge via our Seven Seas Society tier status with Regent (laundry, Internet access, newspaper, free air deviation service, etc.), we didn’t spring for any of the connoisseur collection wines. Overall, Silversea gets the edge on food, wine and overall service. My wife remarked that while all of the Regent staff were graciously attentive and smiled a lot while the Conroys were aboard, the quickly went back to cordial but slow service, smiles absent as soon as they disembarked. Despite disclaimers that service and provisioning expenses have not been cut, our experience on this cruise (after Halifax) and on earlier cruises as well as the very nature of the Apollo-Prestige-Regent business relationship, the way outfits like Apollo operate, at least strongly suggest otherwise. If budgets haven’t been cut, they certainly haven’t kept pace with inflation.

In his Town Meeting on board, Mark Conway pointed out some of the constraints on staffing, one being Regent’s ability to recruit and keep trained help, particularly in competition with lines that do not include gratuities in the fare, where wait and stateroom staff typically make more overall than their counterparts on lines like Regent that do include tips in the fare. Other factors affecting staffing levels is that Regent ships don’t have free staff cabins to house larger crews, a hard-to-believe contention as all three ships were in service when Radisson had two stewards(esses) per suite and many more wait and supervisory staff in the dining rooms. Also, Mark cited competition from all the large new ships that are just coming into service, and joked at one point that if he banned smoking he’d have to do it for both guests and crew. Then we’d have to wait on ourselves and make our own beds. Neither of us smoke, and only once in two weeks, in the bar across from the Casino, did we smell smoke, not enough to bother us, but certainly noticeable.

Comparing the two ships overall and in suites and entertainment, the two lines come out nearly equal. Bothersome to us are charges for the alternate restaurant and the Internet on Silversea, and the loss of food choice and quality as well as the declining levels of service on Regent. We get lots of benefits with them though, and like all three Regent ships, with the Voyager being a slight favorite. We’re concerned about the Silver Wind and Cloud, with their lack of separate showers (we always take a shower suite on Mariner). The specialty restaurants on Regent are better too, in our opinion, plus there isn’t an added charge for any of them. And today, access to the Internet is (or certainly should be) an integral part of any upscale lodging or cruising experience. Silversea approach is so 1990ies.

In all honesty, overall for us Silversea and Regent are mostly just about equal. Silversea’s edge in food quality and selection, it’s universal butlers, and very clear edge overall in service and friendliness of staff is balanced by Regent’s plethora of included features and amenities. So we’ll continue to cruise with Regent, and if we can find a cruise that isn’t cancelled or truncated to accommodate a charter, we'll also travel again with Silversea.

The great three week triple back-to-back Istanbul-Athens-Venice-Monaco cruise on the new Silver Spirit in September-October, 2011 we’d booked (see quote above) was cancelled when they chartered the ship for a major piece of the Athens-Venice leg. Our super-agent and a very helpful woman at the Silversea call center found us another, shorter back-to-back cruise on the Cloud a bit later, making several of the same port calls, so we booked that, disappointed that we wouldn’t be sailing in the new ship but comforted by a small discount to make up for the cancellation. Then just last week we were notified that this second cruise has been shortened by several days, making it hardly worth the effort to get to it and back; flying is such a giant hassle these days!

So our verdict in the Silversea vs. Regent sweepstakes: TOO CLOSE TO CALL! For those just getting started cruising, I think Silversea gets the edge, but I’d try Seabourn and Crystal as well before I made up my mind.

Ngaire/Ken's escorted Montreal to Ft. Lauderdale October 2011 CANADA cruise

I’m posting a suggestion for those on the October 2011 Navigator - Montreal to Ft. Lauderdale cruise (or on any late September or October cruise between New York and Montreal – either way) who would like to see more of the spectacular Autumn foliage and scenery in the Hudson Valley and Adirondack regions of New York State in conjunction it – fly into New York City (which because of greater competition may be quite a bit less expensive than flying into Montreal) and take Amtrak’s Adirondack train from New York to Montreal. The Amtrak guide to this trip is available from: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/Page/1241337978894/1237405732511 - then click on Adirondack Route Guide. While schedules and costs for October 2011 are not yet available, this October (as well as for many years past) the train leaves Penn Station in New York daily at 8:15 AM and arrives in Montreal’s Gare Centrale (central train station) at 7:10 PM, and the per-person fare is $62.00, with discounts available, among others, for senior citizens (62+) and AAA members. This is a comfortable train with a bar and snack-type restaurant, but it’s not one of Amtrak’s new super-trains.
When flying into New York, you can actually take the train from Newark Airport into Penn Station, although unless you get a very early-arriving red-eye, you can’t fly in the day you take the train up to Montreal – it leaves too early – and hotels in New York are expensive – in the $300 and up range during the week at that time of year! Those who are willing to take a bit of a chance on their hotel can try the famous but not-so-well-rated Pennsylvania Hotel, just across 7th Avenue from Penn Station. It’s phone # is (or was, when telephone exchanges had names as well as numbers) Pennsylvania 6-5000, made famous by the Glenn Miller song of that name. Read the reviews at Trip Advisor [go there and search for Pennsylvania+Hotel+NYC] and/or elsewhere before booking here though – clearly chancy even if it is wonderfully located. Obviously, there are other hotels near Penn Station, and plenty elsewhere in New York from which to choose. We’re from Albany, and will almost certainly fly there (Albany is a Southwest Airlines city so we’ll get there nonstop from Tampa) and visit family before catching the Adirondack train across the river at the Albany-Rensselaer station.
Leaving New York City, the train runs up the east bank of the Hudson River, so a seat on the left (port) side of the car is most desirable. About an hour north of the City, the train runs right through the infamous Sing Sing prison, cutting off the view of the river briefly. At Albany about 11:00 AM, the train crosses the river and (switch sides of the train you’re sitting on if possible) starting about noon at Saratoga Springs begins it’s run through the Adirondack region of New York State, which will continue as it comes out on the west shore of Lake Champlain between Ticonderoga and Port Henry just before 2 PM. Incidentally, the Adirondacks are a State park, the largest in the continental US and the largest park of any type east of the Mississippi. Another two hours or so along the Lake and north of it bring travelers to the Canadian border where a 1½-hour stop is scheduled to clear customs. ADVISORY: Persons with US misdemeanor convictions, (for example, driving under the influence, reckless driving) can be denied entry to Canada because such offenses are felonies there! See http://www.1800duilaws.com/article/travel_to_canada.asp (among others) for more complete and reliable information. The entire trip is in daylight, so you get to view the scenery the whole way.
In Montreal, the central train station is right under the Fairmount Queen Elizabeth Hotel, a well-rated full-service establishment that will cost $175-$250 this fall. Nearby (walking distance) is the Hilton Bonaventure, on top of the adjacent Place Bonaventure, a bit higher at around $200 and up, and the Marriott Chateau Champlain, a bit higher yet at around $210-220 and up, also a bit lower rated. We’ve found Marriott hotels like to extract the last possible dollar from guests, with for example refusals to accommodate guests (e.g., charging to hold luggage for a few hours), as well as with resort, Internet and phone fees, etc., and this is apparently beginning to be reflected in their ratings. We’ll stay at the Bonaventure as we have several times going back to the 1970s. We love its contemporary style and location, and the last time we stayed there (2006/7) it’s coffee was among the best we’ve ever had, anywhere – if only Regent could learn from them! We’ll probably stay at least one extra day in Montreal – it’s a lovely city with an amazing old town and many great restaurants. But mainly, we’re really looking forward to sailing again with Ngaire, Ken as well as with 80+ of their friends and clients!
If you have questions, please feel free to e-mail me: count_florida@hotmail.com. Disclaimer: not an agent; no affiliation with Brown & Keene, except as a superbly satisfied long-term client!