We have now done the big 4 luxury cruise lines. Here are some thoughts. The Crystal Symphony was our first cruise 5 years ago, so they may have changed some of their policies. Other ships were the Radisson Mariner and Voyager, Seaborne Spirit and SilverSea Silver Shadow.

Crystal had the best afternoon tea and they have the best casino with the only full size craps table on the 4 lines and with proper odds (run by Caesars). I did not like having to sign for everything, even Cokes. With no booze in the room there was a lot of signing for us. Dinner has assigned seating. With almost 1,000 people on board, there were sometimes short lines at the lunch buffet and lines for tendering and disembarking the ship.

Seaborne was such a small ship, it was more like a mega-yacht than a cruise ship. Some people will love that, some won’t. It did not feel crowded, even though there were only a few public spaces. One day they opened up the back of the ship and we swam in the Mediterranean. They had ski boats, banana boats and other toys. They did the best tendering, since they did not use the slow life boats. They had separate speed boats for tendering so it was much more efficient and comfortable. They can also handle very demanding people. One lady we met brought her personal soup recipe and had the chef make some for her every night for dinner. This they did with a smile. The Chef even came to her table a few nights to make sure it was as she liked it. We are not demanding people so some of the available service is lost on us. That makes this line less of a value to us than to some others. It is nice being smothered in service though. The officers on this ship were friendly, ate dinner with passengers almost every night and were seen walking around the ship.

SilverSea was the perfect size ship for me. Big enough to be stable and have lots of public spaces, but not so big that you had a crowd of people. The service, like Seaborne was truly top notch. Again, somewhat lost on us as we are not demanding people. I never saw the officers in the dining room eating with passengers or walking around the ship. They seemed very standoffish. The Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper have serious tendering limitations (don’t know about Cloud and Wind). Can’t tender unless seas are very still.

Of the 4 we feel more comfortable with Radisson. Their passengers seem a touch younger (we’re 45) and it’s a little less expensive than the others. They put 2 bottles of booze in the room and have some wines by the glass included with dinner. You only have to sign for bar drinks (Cokes are included). I wish they would take the next small step to all inclusive. The service level is not quite up to Seaborne or SilverSeas, but it is plenty good for us. The crew on the Voyager was friendly and ate dinner with passengers and were seen around the ship. The Mariner crew was French and only some were friendly. The casinos have a mini craps table but the odds are unacceptable.

Overall if you are demanding and want extra service or really want the all-inclusive style, then Seaborne and SilverSea are the better choice. If you are not as demanding then Radisson is the best value. Crystal is only good if you like the old style of cruising with assigned seating and don’t mind signing for everything.

thanks for the review comparison, good work...r/wes

Thanks for review - I look forward to your reviews on Rome and other ports -

Thanks for sharing your experiences. RSSC's change in pricing the past year or so, coupled with greater specials on SS and Seabourn, means there are greater options for approximately equal fares. This is helpful in choosing among the itineraries. Hope all is well in Texas and give our best to Peggy. Cheers, Anne & Gary

Great reviews..thank you .
We have taken Crystal 2 times and I agree with you..as great as they are I really detest that assigned seating so most likely will not cruise on them in the future.
I am interested in Silverseas & Seaborne so your comments are very much appreciated, even though I will leave my favorite soup recipes at home too. lol

Very interesting comparison. Thanks so much for taking the time to write it all up.

Like you, we aren't really terribly demanding of special services. Can't see myself asking someone to make my favorite soup recipe somehow. :)

Sounds like RSSC is the best fit for us. I can't imagine going back to assigned seating again. I just love it that you can meet folks over drinks and then invite them to dine with you - it really "makes" the trip for us.

Thanks again!

Kathy

Great analysis. So nice to have people who have been on all the lines to post the comparisions. We all appreciate that.

Thanks for the info. We have been only on Radisson -- and loved every minute -- but we are interested in the smaller ships of Silversea especially, maybe Seaborne. So all information is welcome.

I can't imagine taking my own soup recipe on board and expecting it to be served every day. Unbelievable, unless it was for health purposes or something. Oh well, service with a smile is one of the reasons for loving luxury cruising.

Thanks for your review of all of these.

We are very anxious to try RSSC and even more so after your review. We are booked for next August on the MUSH to Alaska cruise and really looking forward to going with our LTC friends.

It also confirms with us that Crystal probably is not the line for us. We do prefer the smaller ships, can't stand assigned seating for dinner, and hate signing for drinks all the time. I am sure that they have over the top service, but these other items are deal killers for us.

We have been on both Seabourn as well as Silversea and loved both. We found the staff on both very accomodating though we thought it a little better on Silversea. We did not experience the same standoffish attitude on either of our Silver Whisper cruises that you experienced. Quite the contrary. On our Caribbean cruise, Captain Casaro as well as the rest of the staff were always mingling with all of the passengers. One time in particular, the Captain asked if he could join the two of us at our table outside of the Terrace Cafe and he just sat down and chatted with us for quite some time. He was very personable. We also found Captain Tatulli and his staff during our Med cruise to be very good in mixing with the clientele. We did found our Legend cruise to be a little stuffier, but it may have just been us, since that was our first luxury cruise experience.

Another line that I would like to experience at some point would be SeaDream. More casual, but still all inclusive and very luxurious. I just wish they had larger cabins.

Don, my fomrer SIL is a Sea Dream fan, she loves it, but she has not been on ships that have those wonderful balconies. Since I seem to require them, I keep egging her on toward the ships I like. It is really just a personal decision. I also did not find Silversea staff to be at all standoffish, ate with the Staff Captain and he even followed me out to the appropriate area in the middle of dinner for a smoke! I loved the Shadow on my one cruise.

I have always wanted to do SeaDream too . I love the yacht feel.. but being balconyless ( is that a word ?) would make me very unhappy.

Claudia: I have looked and looked at Seadream but hestitate due to no balconies - but if you read the SD board people tell you that the majority of the time you are "outside" but for the many times I like to disappear to my balcony well????

This is a very valuable, informative post. Thanks! Makes the decision making a little more difficult, especially now that B&K books Seabourn and Silversea. I think for me, in the end, it comes down to who else is going.

Lawrence: Your male buddy in Ponte Vedra always asks "is Lawrence on that cruise?"

So does your buddy in Fullerton always asks too!!

Aw shucks. But it's true - the itineraries are all great and the ships/service are always going to be top notch. So it's the people that can make a vacation from just "great" to "truly memorable." There's nothing like closing down Compass Rose every night!

Yes Lawrence - double Sambuca Double Expresso!!

I so agree with Lawrence, as last month cruising in Norway with a not so large group of lct'ers (Peggy, Maria, Carolyn, Karyn, Ngaire, Linda, and others and their spouses) really made it special to us! I had met all of them here, and we were all Ngaire's clients, so she really took care of us as she always does. It is especially nice when you cruise alone (as Lawrence does, and I sometimes do, more in the future) to get to know others before you even board the ship. Like he said, all the itineraries are great, just depends on where you want to go next. But a nice group turns it from "great" to "truly memorable" Maybe one of these days we can have a BK group cruise on Silversea, as lots of people want to sail the line.

Count us in for SS Olivia

I'll go anywhere with any "group" on this thread, as I either know or love them from this board, and that is a promise! So long as it is in 2007. I am fully booked, land and sea for 2006, as most of us are.

I love this group.. would love to go on Silverseas with you all too..

We'll go, we'll go--but it has to be 2007 as well. We're "overbooked" so to speak in 2006. Hopefully we'll have some money left to use for a 2007 cruise :D

Same here for 2006 - love looking forward though

Bingo...... you hit the nails square on all 4 lines......And I agree in total.
I used to be a Royal Viking devotee... ( dont do the math) for years.
Now I am a loyal Radisson passenger... It matches my casual, outgoing and yet high quality variety in service and fellow passengers.

The mariner as the best crews.... Cant wait to get onboard....

wineasmusic,

I just read our review again and it was very helpful. I am always checking out the luxury lines like most people here.

I knew you had to be from Texas when you said the "Cokes" are included with Radisson!