An opinion piece by Patti Covello Pietschmann with photos by Richard J. Pietschmann
First of all is comfort.On small luxury lines such as Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, Silversea, Windstar and Sea Dream there is more personalized service, often better food (with exceptions of the alternative, big name chef dining venues on bigger ships), often larger staterooms unless you book a suite on a big boat, shorter lines to disembark or for shore excursions, no crowds on board and usually more free stuff such as WiFi, paid gratuities, everything you can drink except premium labeled wines, full room service options, cushy robes and slippers, better toiletries, and on Regent Seven Seas you get a large selection of shore excursions too, and well more.
Folks who like the behemoths don't seem to care about the extras that are written into the fares because those ships often offer competitively-priced fares that sound cheaper but often are not when you factor high-prices for wine, spirits, bottled water and even specialty coffees or ice cream--which are all complimentary on those little luxury lines listed above. Families tend to pick the larger ships because often they have more child-friendly amenities including game rooms, children's program of which notable ones are offered on Princess, Holland America and Carnival along with some others.
I have sailed on ships of every size and price and those big guys just aren't my speed.
The most acceptable large vessels are the Crystal Serenity and Symphony that carry around 1000 passengers and provide all the amenities of the small luxury lines plus butlers in Penthouse Decks (Silversea provides a butler for all suites).
| Dining on Seabourn |
| Regent Seven Seas Mariner |
Photos of Patti and Richard's past cruises by Richard J. Pietschmann
| This is Martin the lively ace barkeep on Seabourn Quest |
| Add caption |
| Free wines etc. on Silversea |
