Cruising Ultra-Luxury Taught Me 3 Eye-Opening Lessons!

But - it isn't like Carnival - I don't want children everywhere... no water slides and go carts... no hamburger and pizzas on the hallway floors. No groups of 20 somethings drunk and throwing up everywhere like Virgin.

We have taken almost 20 Windstar cruises, one Regent Seven Seas, one Radisson Diamond, and a Viking river. We can't imagine going on a behemoth ship. We prefer the 110-300 passenger options. Looking at Viking South America, and something in Australia/NZ.

I like the smaller ships for the interactions with other people, service, food, and experience. Everything seems much more relaxed. I've been on a couple of larger ships and agree that a higher level suite gets you better access (especially at port getting off the ship) and dining options but when not in a suite I had to wait for over an hour to get off the ship just due to the number of people tendering to shore.

There is an OLD sayin if you can’t say something NICE DON’t! Say it at All and that is you today! Shame

The idea of being confined on a converted container vessel with hundreds of other people is my idea of hell

Holland America Neptune suite sounds really good.yet Service and quality food means everything to me!

Thanks for another great video. Paying for all-inclusive you may be over paying for something you wouldn't buy anyway.

Hi Gary, Last year I did a cruise to Norway on Holland America's Rotterdam and we purchased an aft view cabin as well as Club Orange and the Have it All package. It was one of the best vacation experiences of my life and having the intimate Club Orange dining venue made a huge difference. The experience was much like what you explain here in regards to the dining experience on the ultra luxury line. The Maitre d and server knew our names and treated us like royalty. We had the same table that we loved each time we went to eat, they knew our names, our likes and dislikes, they were friendly and took the time to talk to us and we're always smiling and sweet. If you haven't done a video about Club Orange I truly wish you would. It also includes a cabin upgrade, priority embarkation and disembarkation, priority on tenders and included a dedicated customer service line.

Regent Rules!

Good video Gary, One thing that I would add, is that the ease of getting on and off the ship is vastly better on smaller ships — which are almost always higher end. We booked two suites on the Grand Princess for an Alaska cruise and getting off at the ports was an absolute nightmare, standing in line for over an hour. Even worse on tender ports. This despite the “priority” front of line privileges that were supposed to come with suites, which did not happen.

Super super video Gary

Good video. Many common lines are now offerring antartica but it comes with a lot of limits. You never get to land and the ships cant go where smaller ones go. Loud noisy ships with thousands on deck briefly seeing ice and seals. No way. Princess 36days $10k pp. 2900 people. Scenic antartica 24days $25k plus pp up to $100k pp All incl. 200 people.

Many of these luxury brands have trimmed their airfare offers. Once return business now even economy. And be warned the free airfare can be highly restricted to their charter dates for lowest included deal. Extras for scenic include helicopter and submarine. Most expedition ships are more intimate with jackets boots and more.

Fabulous video, Gary! Such a good point to know your own priorities. I don’t care about any of the entertainment, karaoke, multiple bars, multiple specialty restaurants or any of that. What I am looking for is a quiet, relaxed, uncrowdwd, elegant experience, devoid of screaming, out of control children and drunk, rude people. I want to get on and off the ship for my excursions easily and quickly. I want quiet on my balcony. Small luxury ships are worth every penny to me, and they offer an experience that ship-within-a-ship areas on a big ship cannot. Smaller ports, smaller groups on excursions. We are sailing Greece with Ponant this fall on a Smithsonian tour - about 250 passengers.

I've cruised with Regent twice now and I have to disagree with your assessment that the passengers aren't any different. I'm mostly speaking about political views.
On Regent I didn't come across anyone who would openly admit to being a Trump supporter. I did come across some Republicans but they were very moderate in their views.
Whereas the last cruise we did before Covid (Norwegian) was full of Trump supporters who were only too happy to ram their views down your throat.
I did find it very interesting that the cost breakdowns are about the same. That is good to know because the overall experience on Regent is just so much more pleasant.

Gary,thank you for this information as I was considering Seabourn for next cruise versus the bigger ships!

Hi I finally went to travel agent about cruise to Alaska and they suggested Silver Seas out of Vancouver I will be traveling alone - do you recommend cruising both ways or 1 way then spending time in Alaska and flying back

Less riff raff.

Gary is missing a lot that should absolutely factor into your decision to book a luxury premium cruise line. For example, itinerary. We have taken well over 30 cruises literally all over the globe. One of the absolute best cruises we have taken and one you must do is Hong Kong to Singapore. Amazing, You see so much its not fair!!! Vietnam (French Colonial Hoi An, Saigon and Halong Bay, etc), Cambodia, Thailand and of course Singapore. The key is, you have to do it on a small ship, which means its in the luxury class, upper or lower. And the reason why is that only small ships can go all the way up river to dock in downtown Saigon and Bangkok. If you take even a mid size ship you will dock three hours away and be bussed in and back, and you will not be overnight. So you will miss a ton and the experience and ambiance of being in world class cities like Saigon and Bangkok. Overnights are critical. Most cities are very different at night. In Copenhagen, you have to go to Tivoli Gardens at night. Thats what its all about. How could you go to Athens and not see the Acropolis lit up at n ight and experience the nightlife in both and all cities. Saigon especially. Totally different at night. And you will not get this experience on a big or even a mid size ship since they do not do overnights as a general rule. Gary totally missed this as an important factor. And there is more. Later.

Except now those NCL and Celebrity cruises are now running at 100% or more capacity. How do the ultra luxury cruises compare to ultra packed ships?

Just went for New Year cruise with Oceania Vista and the people were much more elegantly dressed that we have seen in other lines in the recent years! It was our 173rd cruise, and reminded us of cruising in the 1970s and 1980s or in Cunard.

thoroughly enjoy your travel tips! My wife and i are new to cruising and went on a Royal Caribbean last fall, and the service and experience were exquisite! Curious about how it would improve we booked on Silversea next summer. always enjoy your tips! keep up the great work!

I’m doing it for excursions.

Being a non-acholic drinker, I refrain from taking cruise with all-inclusive ultra luxury cruise lines like Silver Seas where drinks and shore excursions are included. It is a cardinal sin to waste money on something one pays but not using it. Also being a common person, I don't believe in the need of a personal butler to take care of my needs in the cabin. I also disdain of the limited facilities associated with a smaller vessel of the ultra-luxury cruise lines. As for the organised shore excursions, mostly are designed to spend a small portion of the time sightseeing but the bulk of the time to take excursion participants to the shopping.

Taking ultra luxury cruise is not cost effective but merely to boost self ego.

We never spend more than 1200 per person for our cruises regardless of where they are. Be very useful if could give a cost effective guide to world destinations Without all the posturing.

So, same price after the nickel and diming, however none of the things I despise (too many people, go carts, cheap off off broadway productions, forced activities, and again a charge /high pressure sales EVERYWHERE). Phenomenal food, service, and access to exciting ports. I’ll take the floating luxury hotel. Leave the amusement park to Carnival.

We sailed on Regent Seven Seas, and as we knew that on board daytime activities were limited, we chose a Mediterranean trip with ports virtually every day so that we weren't bored. The experience was similar to a viking river cruise.
When I am older and less inclined to want to do a lot of activities, I will def sail a small high quality line again

I much prefer the destination intensive, long port days and peace and quiet of the smaller ships. I don’t really care about the entertainment. So the food, the service and the smaller groups with no kids much nicer for us. But obviously horses for courses.

Hello Gary. Have you cruised on RSSC SS Mariner in the past year (2023?) It’s getting horrid reviews. I’ll let you know when we get back😵‍💫🤷🏽‍♀️

Royal Carribean is one of the worst that they focus on the size of the ships with 3000+ passenger capacity, crowded pool areas, rowdy kids, understaffed services, guest service rachial is much greater than Silversea's 1:1 (you call your butler in your suite and get no or delayed service due to understaffing). Like I said, the "regular" lines have ships that are way too big for the experience people seek paying the extra higher fares to go. Its like, why would you want to go on this big ship with over 3000+ other passengers on not really having the experience that you would expect on a cruise vacation.

On 4 min 48sec Hollands Lincoln stage appears. As of May 2023 the 3 daily Lincoln Center Stage no longer exist, nor any other Classical music such as lone piano player nor violin player. I have cruised holland for more than 50 years but will no longer do so until Classical music is reintroduced.

So pleased you mentioned Mark, Gary. My husband and I (!) have kind of given up the ships. When Hapag Lloyd lost its shine for us we knew time was UP!

Recently on Explorer in Alaska. First rate on the Hotel side. Large cabin with closet, excellent staff, luxury bedding, etc. entertainment was tired - no jazz, string quartet, or other upscale touches. Food was disappointing. Not elevated and Celebrity Retreat was much better.

I so agree. I just completed a transatlantic cruise on Regent. I thought the service, food, and entertainment were on par but not better than what I experienced on Viking or Virgin. And I rate Viking much higher. The decor was dated, and the service was passable. I will never cruise on Regent again. I just booked a Viking Hawaiian cruise for December.

You should tell about the land tours you can book on longer cruises. I have done 8 world cruises on Silversea and the land tours are fabulous. I went to Nepal this year, have done several in India, China, and Africa. We go to places deep in the countries where they've never seen a white person. I love it! When I tell people about these tours, they've never heard of them, don't even know they exist. They are especially great for solo travelers like me. Silversea takes care of you every minute of the tours, top hotels. They are the best part of cruising!

I am a small ship cruiser. I do not need or want bingo, shows, casinos, big crowds, multiple choices for everything. I am there to relax, to get personalized service, go to smaller ports, enjoy the outdoor space, etc. If I wanted all of the things you seem to think are missing, I would cruise on a larger ship. While you may enjoy that experience, it is not what small /luxury ship cruisers are looking for.

The other point, I think you’re missing Gary is the fact that smaller ships like Seaborn can pull in closer to port, such as the case in Sweden or other big cruise ships were parked way out at the main big ship terminal. Copenhagen was the same way small ship park up close. The other thing that the smaller cruise ships offer is intimacy, privacy, greater staff guest ratio, no lines, no crowds, more relaxing. I’ll gladly pay for that.

Gary, I love your videos, I would gladly change the experience to go on Seaborn to avoid the crowds everywhere

Worst Cruise???
Virgin Voyages😡

Gary, I noticed the pouring of syrup on the pancake, and it was very runny. This tells me that even though you are paying 4-5 times the price of a regular balcony on a premium line, you are still not getting real maple syrup. The difference is chalk and cheese. Thx for this, well done,

Everybody is old as hell on those super luxury lines. I'll never do it even in 30 years when I'm in my 60s

Superlative point late in this video
- if you're sailing the ports to which nearly all lines go such as the generic cruise destinations in the Caribbean & Mediterranean (AND, I might add, you have no issues sailing on a ship with 1000's of passengers), value for the dollar and shipboard experiences are going to be best on a "regular" line.
- however, if you're sailing for more of the "expedition" or "discovery" aspect of travel, seeking ports less travelled, the smaller ships of the ultra-luxury lines are definitely worth the money when it comes to such "enrichment" experiences - the onboard lectures and the excursions ashore will be more astutely led and with far lower numbers akin to a small 300-level college course.

Here's an example of what I mentioned regarding ultra-luxury "enrichment." This is from a western European sailing last August aboard Regent Seven Seas Voyager. The entire enrichment series was built around a "Spotlight on PBS" with specific focus on two PBS' series: a) Ken Burns' series "The War" (about WWII) & b) the American Experience Series "The Great War" (about WWI). Our excursion to the Normandy beaches was led by a retired Army Lt General (3-star) whose final career posting was Superintendent of West Point. Onboard lectures were given by not only the Lt General, but also two men who'd worked with Ken Burns (one for his entire 32 year career) on "The War." Tying the two series together, one of the General's most fascinating lectures followed the career experiences of the six most prominent WWII Army generals leading up to their roles in WWII (Eisenhower, MacArthur, Bradley, Patton, Hap Arnold & George Marshall - only two of whom had actual combat experience in WWI). Both PBS series were available to watch on the ship's closed-circuit TV in your room throughout the sailing. Each lecturer hosted tables at dinner for which you could sign up. And, finally, as an added bonus, the enrichment series also previewed for the passengers a new Ken Burns series on Youth Mental Illness that was scheduled to air that Fall - we were able to see this series a month before its public PBS debut.

One question Gary - I have noted that your Regent sailing was aboard their oldest & smallest ship, Seven Seas Navigator. Have you sailed either of their newer ships - Explorer or Splendor (or have plans for their new flagship Grandeur set for a Fall maiden voyage)? I'd be interested in your insights on those ships (full disclosure - my wife & I have sailed them both, but have nothing compared to the broader experiences you have, hence our interest in your insights).

Another informative episode Gary. I find your channel really interesting, particularly as i haven't yet had the chance to go on a cruise. I am a recent amputee and single (which is worse.?). I am hoping in the future to do my first cruise for my 6oth birthday and have decided that a cruise like this one would be perfect for me. Your advice is always appreciated as is that of any other cruise people. Particularly the elder gays. ( not putting Gary in that).
Cheers.

Watching and listening 👂🏽

Gary is the Rick Steves of cruise ships!

I can’t walk very far, so a small ship is great for me!

I'll be honest I like the way you share your experience. A lot of comparisons. It is only a second clip but I really see that I get a lot! Thank you.

When it comes to "Luxury" cruises, there is the "Old" money, and the "New" money cruises. Dinner Suit versus Modern Bling.

I am still watching your videos forgot to make a post about my first cruise ever but had a ball! However, I agree with the destination. I want my second cruise to be an Italy trip that goes to ports all around the "Boot" and very few lines I have found an itinerary im happy with except Silversea, yet again. I do think you are right the shows onboard can be mediocre at best and or just small as well rooms can be smaller but amenities the same but as you point service, atmosphere, no lines and busy-ness, I too enjoy those things and am working very hard to continue my new love of cruising in that style! Thank you for continuing to post, I thoroughly enjoy watching you!