Silversea vs. Regent Seven Seas: What I Noticed Before Boarding the Silver Shadow

I have been sailing Regent Seven Seas since the fall of 2012, always as a paying passenger, never on a press trip or a hosted famil. This December I am boarding Silversea's Silver Shadow for the first time. I am doing it because my clients ask me which line is right for them, and I want to answer that question from experience rather than from a brochure. This is what I have learned before the ship even sails.

I have been a Regent Seven Seas passenger since the fall of 2012. Not as a travel advisor doing site inspections. Not on a hosted famil trip. As someone who has put real money on the line, planned carefully, and arrived with the kind of specific expectations that only come from doing this for fourteen years.

This December I am sailing Silversea for the first time, aboard the Silver Shadow. She carries 392 guests and a crew of 302, making her meaningfully smaller than anything I have sailed on Regent. I booked this voyage for one reason: to answer the question my clients ask me more than any other. Regent or Silversea? Which one is right for me?

This is Part One of two. Everything here covers what I have learned, noticed, and occasionally been surprised by before the ship sails. Part Two comes in late December, after I am home, with the full report.

Price Comparison: Silversea vs. Regent Seven Seas

The figure that surprises most first-time comparison shoppers is the base fare. For the itinerary I am sailing this December, Silversea came in at approximately $2,500 Canadian per person less than the equivalent Regent voyage.

That sounds like a clear win for Silversea. It is not that simple.

Regent's pricing is all-inclusive in the most complete sense of that phrase. Round-trip flights, pre-cruise hotel, transfers, gratuities, unlimited premium beverages, all specialty dining, and every shore excursion are folded into the ticket price. When you disembark, there is nothing waiting on your credit card.

Silversea structures pricing differently. The base fare is lower. Shore excursions are charged separately. Specialty dining carries supplements. In the months leading up to my December departure, I watched $2,400 Canadian land on my credit card to cover excursion bookings and dining reservations made in advance. That is not a hidden charge. Silversea is transparent about it. But for a passenger accustomed to Regent's model, it takes a moment to recalibrate.

Who benefits most from Silversea's pricing structure? A traveller who prefers to explore independently, rarely books ship-organised excursions, and wants a lower barrier to entry. The base fare savings, paired with selective use of the add-ons, can work meaningfully in their favour.

Who may find Regent the stronger value? A traveller who takes most of the included shore excursions, dines regularly in specialty restaurants, and wants one number they can plan around. For that passenger, the $2,500 per person gap narrows considerably once the extras are calculated.

The price comparison between Silversea and Regent Seven Seas is not a question of which line costs less. It is a question of how you travel.

Shore Excursion Booking Experience: How Silversea and Regent Compare

One area where Silversea outperforms Regent clearly, at least from a pre-sailing standpoint, is the technology behind booking excursions and dining online.

The Silversea portal is fast, intuitive, and does what a booking system is supposed to do. My husband, navigating it alongside me as a fellow first-time Silversea passenger, put it plainly: if they are going to charge separately for excursions, the least they can do is make them easy to book. He is right. And they do.

Regent's process works differently. Excursions are included in the fare, so when you book through Regent you receive a PDF outlining what is available on your itinerary. You review it, decide what interests you, and then when your booking window opens, you go online and reserve your spots. There is no payment involved. Regent also offers upgraded small-group and private excursions at an additional cost, but the included options are yours to select at no charge.

Where the Regent portal falls short is in the selection experience itself. Sorting by interest, confirming departure times, understanding exactly what is available at each port: those pieces are less polished than they should be for a line at that price point.

The contrast with Silversea is instructive. Silversea's system asks you to do more — choose, pay, confirm — and still makes the process feel easier. That says something worth noting.

Dining on Silversea Silver Shadow vs. Regent Seven Seas

Dining on Silversea Silver Shadow divides into two categories: included venues and premium restaurants. This is the most significant structural departure from Regent's model, where every specialty restaurant on board is included in the fare, every night, with no supplement and no advance payment required.

On Silver Shadow, the main dining venues are included. The exception is La Dame, Silversea's signature French fine dining restaurant, which carries a supplement of approximately $120 USD per person. Based on recommendations from Silversea passengers whose judgement I trust, I have reserved a table at La Dame once during the voyage. It is the restaurant I am most curious about, and I want to form my own opinion rather than arrive having already decided what to think of it.

I have also made advance reservations at the other specialty venues it was strongly recommended I book before sailing. Both Regent and Silversea require advance reservations for specialty dining, so that process was familiar. What is different is that on Regent, the reservation is simply confirmed — no payment, because everything is already covered. On Silversea, La Dame is the exception: a supplement of approximately $120 USD per person, paid at the time of booking.

I come to this sailing with a specific benchmark for what excellent shipboard dining looks and feels like. Regent has set it over fourteen years. Part Two of this series will include a full comparison of both dining programmes, including La Dame, the main restaurant rhythm, and what it feels like to eat well on a ship this size.

Pre-Sailing Differences: What I Noticed Right Away

Several differences between Silversea and Regent Seven Seas became clear well before my December departure date. Some I expected. A few I did not.

Laundry. Valet laundry is included for all suite categories on Regent. On Silversea, it is charged separately. For passengers who travel frequently, pack lighter by relying on shipboard laundry, or are sailing back-to-back voyages, this is not a small thing. It belongs in any honest cost comparison of the two lines.

Butler service. On Silversea Silver Shadow, butler service is included for every suite category across the ship. On Regent, it begins at the penthouse level. For a mid-category suite passenger who values that level of personalised attention, this is a meaningful advantage for Silversea, and one that does not show up in the base fare comparison.

Formal night. I like to know whether a sailing includes a formal night so I can pack accordingly. Twelve weeks out from my December departure, I asked another experienced Silversea sailor, who pointed me to a small bow tie icon on the online itinerary. Sure enough, there are two formal nights on our voyage. As a first-time Silversea passenger, that icon was easy to miss, and there had been no mention of it in any pre-sailing documentation I had received. A tip from a fellow cruiser solved it. On Regent, that information would have come to me without my having to ask.

Gym hours. I check gym hours before I travel. I have not been able to find Silversea's standard gym hours in any of my pre-sailing materials. I am currently asking my network of experienced Silversea passengers for an answer.

Both of those gaps point to the same thing. Regent's pre-departure communication is more thorough and more proactive than what I have experienced from Silversea so far. A first-time passenger on any new line is going to look for reassurance in the details. When the details are hard to find, it creates friction that could easily have been avoided.

I will be back in late December with Part Two: the experience on board Silver Shadow. Food quality, service, butler, La Dame, and the verdict I am actually after, which is not “which line is better” but “which client belongs on which ship.”

If you have sailed Silversea and want to weigh in before Part Two is written, I am reading every comment.

And if you are in the middle of the Regent-versus-Silversea decision right now, that is exactly the right time to talk. Feel free to reach out.