Up next in 10
Realising it costs the same to cruise in a suite on most “regular” cruise lines (like Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and so on) as it does to cruise on an ultra-luxury line (like Regent, Seabourn & Silversea), I look at which is better and why. And when you should stick on a "mainstream" line rather than go on an "ultra-luxury" cruise line.
For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron:
---------------------------------------------------
* Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers
* YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join
Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products:
---------------------------------------------------
* T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore
* Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354
My social media:
---------------------------------------------------
* Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com
* Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge
* Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers
* Instagram: http://www.instgram.com/garybembridge
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge
ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 101 cruises I have done to date.
#cruisetips #CruisingTips #CruiseTipsAndTricks
00:00 Start
01:00 Obstacle #1
02:27 Obstacle #2
03:50 Experience
06:18 Food
07:07 Excursions
07:25 Service
08:53 Which is better?
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
I was recently on an Ultra Luxury Cruise
0:03
Line and I realized being able to afford
0:05
to go on one does not mean you should in
0:08
fact I saw it could be one of the worst
0:10
cruising decisions ever as I will
0:13
explain and show you by the way if you
0:15
are new here welcome aboard I'm Gary
0:17
bembridge before going on this Ultra
0:19
Luxury Line a big surprise hit me it
0:21
would have cost me as much once I
0:23
included the onboard cost to cruise into
0:25
Suites in the Caribbean on lies like
0:28
Norwegian or Caribbean Holland America
0:30
celebrity whatever it would have cost me
0:32
the same as it would to cruise on an
0:34
Ultra Luxury Line like region Seven Seas
0:36
Seabourn and silver sea I know because I
0:39
compared them all before I actually
0:41
booked the Regent Cruise they all cost a
0:44
staggering one thousand two hundred
0:46
dollars to one thousand five hundred
0:48
dollars per cabin per night that's one
0:50
thousand to one thousand three hundred
0:51
fifty pounds and knowing that they all
0:54
cost the same I had a lot of questions
0:57
like you probably have two my biggest
1:00
question was how is an Ultra Luxury Line
1:03
different from going on one of those
1:05
what I'll call in this regular Cruise
1:08
Lines
1:09
here's what I found out
1:10
the ship had the same facilities as any
1:13
other ship a pool and hot tubs bars
1:16
lounges main dining rooms specialty
1:18
dining rooms Spa Fitness Center theater
1:20
shops and so on it went to the same
1:22
places calling it mostly the same ports
1:24
for example in Barbados we were in Port
1:27
with Costa celebrity Pinot cruises and
1:29
Antigua with MSC and celebrity I
1:32
discovered also that my fellow
1:34
passengers wanted the same things as on
1:37
any other line Good and Plenty food and
1:40
drink a daily program with trivia guest
1:43
speakers deck games cooking
1:44
demonstrations karaoke and the like
1:47
Captain's welcome party deck parties
1:49
live music they wanted to meet people
1:51
they wanted to shop and spend their
1:54
onboard credit they also wanted to get a
1:57
good deal by booking their next cruise
1:59
on board in fact they were so alike that
2:02
I even saw chair hogs around the pool
2:03
and Bad Manners in the theater there was
2:06
also the usual mix of cruises as on
2:09
other lines I've been on lots of couple
2:11
a good number of seller Travelers
2:12
friends traveling together
2:14
multi-generational families and same-sex
2:17
couples the dress code had about the
2:20
same level as compliance and all those
2:22
regular lines as it were and was no
2:24
smarter than other premium lines like
2:26
celebrity Holland America and Princess
2:28
no difference at all the average age was
2:31
the same maybe it was even a bit younger
2:33
than lions like Holland America and
2:36
Princess because of course this is not a
2:38
youthful party line and also the cost is
2:41
going to keep some people out it was
2:44
probably a bit of a shock because I
2:46
expected the passage to somehow be
2:49
different to other lines so they got me
2:51
thinking if it's not the passengers that
2:53
are the big difference
2:55
what is it then
2:57
the first and simplest of course was my
3:00
bill at the end was Zero as all the
3:03
extras were in the fair unlike winning a
3:06
suite on those kind of regular lines as
3:07
I'm calling them where it can be rather
3:09
Hefty I knew the exact cost of my cruise
3:11
before I bought it on region 7c cruises
3:14
even the excursions were included as
3:16
were gratuities especially dining Wi-Fi
3:19
and all of the drinks the second
3:21
difference was having a much smaller
3:23
cabin for the price for example the
3:25
cruise I did before this was on Holland
3:27
America conning Stan in a Neptune Suite
3:30
that was a huge suite at 502 square feet
3:33
with seating area bedroom massive
3:36
bathroom and a huge balcony for the same
3:39
price on Regent it was over a third
3:42
smaller and more like a veranda cabin or
3:45
a mini Suite Not only was the cabin
3:47
smaller but the experience was smaller
3:49
too it's a small ship experience and I
3:52
cannot underestimate the importance of
3:54
this region 17 Navigator carries just
3:56
480 two passengers a smaller ship means
4:00
way less choice of venues and of course
4:03
much fewer facilities if I go on a suite
4:06
on say Norwegian Encore I'd have a
4:08
choice of 11 bars accounted a maximum of
4:11
four on Navigator the theater shows were
4:13
on a much smaller scale the shows
4:15
weren't big glitzy Productions like on
4:17
Norwegian with full Broadway shows
4:19
celebrities high energy acrobatic shows
4:21
or even hot in America's one-step Dance
4:24
Company shows with kind of big audio
4:26
visual effects there was also way less
4:29
evening entertainment too the one band
4:31
played in the Galileo lounge and there
4:34
was a Pianist in the Explorer bar versus
4:36
the multiple venues with live musics
4:39
Comics game shows on Norwegian Carnival
4:41
Royal Caribbean or even the four live
4:44
music venue music walk on a line like
4:47
condom America it was also a
4:49
dramatically smaller daily program with
4:52
fewer things laid on there was usually
4:55
one trivia day one day game event today
4:57
one talk per day and on Port days often
5:00
virtually no activities when the
5:02
excursions were out and about of course
5:05
there were no big activity facilities on
5:07
Deck there was a small crazy golf course
5:09
but on bigger ships I of course will
5:11
have multiple pools go-karts or
5:13
Norwegian flow Riders on Royal Caribbean
5:15
water slides on gosh so many ships
5:18
Carnival ships MSC ships Disney ships
5:20
and so on I realized if as a cruiser I
5:22
wanted choice
5:24
like to be entertained and have a lot
5:26
laid on for me than an Ultra Luxury Line
5:29
is definitely challenging there was one
5:33
bigger heart moment that this gave me
5:34
paying for an Ultra Luxury Line style
5:37
fair to travel in a suite on a regular
5:40
line as I'm calling them means I have
5:42
the luxury of a large cabin access and
5:45
many to an exclusive restaurant lounge
5:47
pool and deck like the Haven on
5:48
Norwegian although she's on Celebrity
5:51
but I can then tap into the hustle the
5:53
bustle the choice of activities the big
5:56
scale shows and the entertainment on
5:58
Ultra Luxury though I'm paying for a
6:01
smaller more intimate less high energy
6:03
probably a little bit quieter
6:05
environment I will come back to this
6:07
when I talk about when an Ultra Luxury
6:09
Line might be better than paying for a
6:10
suite on those other lines but first
6:12
three aspects there are an upside in
6:16
their favor definitely one of the
6:18
biggest differences I experienced as an
6:20
Undisputed Advantage is in the area of
6:23
food food is great on many cruise lines
6:25
but certainly on region 7c and other
6:28
Ultra Luxury lines while the daily
6:30
program may be light the menu is
6:33
absolutely definitely or not I counted
6:35
over 50 items on the main dining room
6:38
breakfast menu including caviar on some
6:41
days the evening menus were vast with a
6:43
page of Standards a page of daily
6:45
specials and a separate Standalone
6:47
dessert menu and high quality and
6:50
sophisticated dishes when they did an
6:53
on-deck barbecue it made even the great
6:55
ones that I've done on ships like
6:56
Azamara look frugal
6:59
there are no charges for lobster and
7:01
caviar that are non-existent across
7:03
those other regular lines either the
7:05
other really big plus is excursions
7:07
they do small group excursions and I
7:10
find this a step-changing experience as
7:13
even when in a suite like I did on that
7:15
Holland America conning stand before
7:16
this trip all the excursions were in big
7:19
groups on Regent the tours were split so
7:21
I never had more than 20 people on an
7:24
Excursion probably the most significant
7:27
difference I experienced was service
7:28
right across the ship in every single
7:31
Department everywhere I went the crew
7:34
got to know me and greeted me by name
7:36
everything was quickly personalized like
7:39
knowing that I liked skin milk in my
7:41
decaf coffee at breakfast or my
7:43
caffeine-free Diet Coke or non-alcoholic
7:46
wine it functions and even The Carving
7:48
Station made in the buffet remembering
7:50
that I like chicken legs not breasts
7:52
while only of course there is more crew
7:55
per passenger than on any other line it
7:57
also felt that the training behind it
8:00
was also so evident but also versus
8:02
other regular lines it meant the crew
8:05
had so much more time to stop and talk
8:09
and interact so for example LMI server
8:12
in the main dining room was really
8:14
interested in cameras and photography
8:16
and of course she saw that I had many
8:18
and so she was able though to stop talk
8:21
chat to me about that because she had
8:22
fewer tables to serve she had time to
8:25
kind of build a relationship the
8:27
officers were also very engaged visible
8:29
they interact with guests more than I've
8:31
seen on those regular lines certainly
8:33
over the last couple of years
8:35
it's hard to describe but I almost felt
8:37
the ship was geared around me that I was
8:40
the focus of every Department Of course
8:42
that was not at all true because
8:43
speaking to other guests though they
8:45
agreed that they felt the same way as I
8:48
did
8:49
there was about them not about me it
8:51
really struck home to me that when
8:53
spending this amount of money careful
8:55
choice is needed to ensure the overall
8:58
experience is the best that money can
9:00
buy for you
9:02
I know for example that my partner mark
9:04
would prefer to spend it on a bigger
9:06
cabin a suite to hang out in varied
9:09
venues a busy daily program with lots
9:11
going on to entertain in big scale
9:13
theater shows so a suite on a regular
9:16
line would be how he'd want to spend
9:19
those big bucks for me I like the
9:22
smaller but like the more intimate the
9:24
more exclusive environment where it's
9:25
more about the food the service and the
9:28
interactions though there is one massive
9:31
factor I think will swing the decision
9:35
certainly for me the destination and the
9:38
reason for the trip I must admit they're
9:40
going to the Caribbean on region was a
9:41
little dull at times in the evenings
9:43
versus those other regular lines because
9:46
nightlife let the trip down a bit you
9:48
know compare it to what it would have
9:50
been on an American and Suite it would
9:51
be just so much more active so much more
9:53
stuff going on on the other hand as I
9:55
look at Japan which I have booked for
9:57
later in the year if I compare region 70
10:00
versus the biggest ships like that on
10:02
America or princess who do that
10:04
itinerary region has a more intensive
10:06
off the beaten path ports artery as well
10:09
as covering the must-see they have lots
10:11
of included excursions now the
10:12
excursions are long days so actually
10:14
nightlife is going to be much less
10:16
important so small and intimate is going
10:18
to work better which is why I'm going to
10:20
spend that amount of money going on
10:22
region 7c not on a suite on one of the
10:25
other lines now if you found this
10:26
interesting watch this video we're going
10:28
to dive into my experience of regent
10:29
with how it started really badly and why
10:32
I was surprised at what they were doing
10:34
and why see you over there
Luxury Goods
Travel & Transportation
Cruises & Charters
Specialty Travel
Adventure Travel
Honeymoons & Romantic Getaways
Luxury Travel
Transportation