Bear with me here – I know it’s not an obvious comparison. Silversea is a “super” luxury line, and would normally be compared to Seabourn and Regent.
So why am I comparing them with Virgin Voyages?
Allow me to explain by telling your our cruise story. Until a few years ago, we were like many people – we’d decided cruising wasn’t for us. Then I won a cruise in a raffle! We learned two things from that freebie cruise – the first was that we didn’t like the cruise line at all, and the second was that we actually loved the whole concept of cruising – being able to unpack once, to visit a new interesting place every day, and come back to your own floating hotel was right up our street.
So we decided to work our way through a few cruise lines to see if we could find one that gave us what we were looking for. We tried several, but none of them were exactly right for us. Until Virgin Voyages launched. We went on one of their very early cruises and we absolutely loved it – smaller ships, about half the size of the behemoths, adults only and no buffets – a la carte restaurants and just brilliant crews and entertainment, with that slightly edgy Virgin brand sauce running through their veins. We’ve done a few with Virgin, and we have two more booked in our pipeline. We were so happy with every aspect, and the story could so easily have ended there with us cruising around the world for the rest of our lives, as often as we could afford to, in their iconic ships.
And then we spotted an offer to cruise with Silversea – a line we knew all about, but one we had always perceived as being out of our price range. We also had a worry that our fellow passengers would be out of our league.
We were wrong on both counts – Silversea is genuinely all inclusive, so the price you see is the price you pay, and by the time you account for excursions, drinks, meal upgrades and more, the price is broadly in line with Virgin’s “Rockstar” level, albeit in Silversea’s most basic suite. And the people we met on our Silversea cruise were just fine. Like us, most were hard working business people, enjoying an amazing experience.
So there we are – we now have two favourite cruise lines, and we have forward bookings with both over the next two years, and beyond that we’ll select which, based on the itinerary and the price.
But they are quite different, and here’s how they compare in key areas:
Boarding Experience
The boarding experience with Virgin reflects the brand, it’s sort of hip and cool, with entertainers greeting you aboard, a slick check in and luggage process, especially if you’re in a Rock Star suite and it feels like the start of an adventure.
And they’ve nailed the pre boarding process too, via their app, which gives you regular reminders of things you need to do, letting you know when you can book excursions and more.
Silversea’s boarding process is much more subdued, but it works very well, and they benefit from having many fewer passengers to deal with. But there’s no razzmatazz, and we arrived on the ship wondering where to go and what to do next. It was fine, and we simply made out way to our suite, checked our cases had arrived and set about exploring the ship.
Where Silversea fall down for me is in the pre boarding, which is a little chaotic. Everything is done on their website, and it would be easy to miss things, or misunderstand them. It feels like their IT department is stuck in 2010.
A win for Virgin.
Suites
For this article, I’m comparing our usual suite on Virgin, a sweet aft suite, which is one of their best, with the most basic on Silversea, a Vista Suite. That’s because price wise, it’s the closest comparison and we know both well.
The Virgin suites are super modern, with lots of glass and chrome, record decks, full tablet control of lighting and entertainment and large comfortable beds. They look amazing, but they’re not overly practical, and they are a little short on storage space.
Silversea’s Vista suites are actually smaller, but they feel much more luxurious, and above all, everything is just so well thought through and very, very comfortable. The desk works perfectly, as a place to get work done, there’s tons of wardrobe space, the sitting area has it’s own TV and is super comfortable. The materials throughout just reek “class.”
A win for Silversea
Crew
There’s a huge contrast here.
Virgin provide a “Concierge” for rockstars, whose job is to be on hand for whatever you need. Silversea, instead, have a butler, who essentially does the same job, but is more hands on. If you order room service, your butler will bring it, whereas the concierge is someone who facilitates things rather than actually doing them.
The rest of the Virgin crew are amazing – very, very diverse, and they’ve obviously been empowered to both be themselves and to interact with customers in any way they like. There’s not a hint of stuffiness or formality about them, even their informs are comfortable and modern. We love it, but some perhaps wouldn’t.
Silversea’s crew are much more traditional, but their service is impeccable, and their memory for names and drinks or preferences is hard to believe. Towards the end of our 11 night cruise, they became more relaxed with us, and we had some banter, but it isn’t their natural style. Where Silversea wins hands down is in crew to passenger ratio, which is almost one to one. You simply never have to wait for anything – someone is always there to get you whatever you need. Their uniforms are traditional – white shirts with black trousers and waistcoats, and the butlers even wear tails and white gloves.
It’s hard to score this, because of the differences. We loved both, but they are very different, and I suspect many would prefer the more traditional service.
Let’s call it a draw.
Fellow Passengers
Interestingly, not as different as you would think. We saw generally similar types of people on both lines.
On Virgin, they were more diverse, with quite a few LGBT + passengers, a little younger, and of course, because it’s adults only, no families.
Silversea’s passengers were a little older, and we had some families with teenage children aboard. The other difference was that there were more obviously wealthy people on board.
But on both lines we met loads of really interesting people we were very happy to spend time with.
Another draw.
Food
Both lines avoid large buffet restaurants and prefer to offer à la carte service in several restaurants, which is all included in the price. The exception is that Silversea uses one of it’s restaurants as a buffet for breakfast and lunch, so if buffets are your thing, you can use them, or choose one of the à la carte venues.
Virgin’s food offer is really international, with a total of 20 places on board where you can get food, ranging from Korean to Mexican, Italian and French. Even on a longer cruise, you’ll never get bored, and there’s also a kind of food court where you can get food 24 hours a day.
Silversea ships, as befits their size, have fewer restaurants and eateries, but we loved their SALT concept, where there’s a new menu every day, inspired by dishes from that day’s port. But Silversea also offers 24 hour room service – you can have a full meal, served by your butler, from any of the restaurants, or you can simply order Champagne and Caviar to your room, completely free of charge, anytime you want! Two of the restaurants have an additional charge, so don’t forget to budget for that.
A narrow win for Silversea
Drinks
Virgin does not include drinks in their cruise packages, but the bars are very well stocked. When you travel as a Rockstar, you get a few bottles of spirits of your choice in your suite, and Virgin have a place on the ship which can only be accessed by Rock Stars, called Richard’s Rooftop, and there’s a free cocktail hour there each day.
Silversea win this section comfortably, partly because all the drinks are included, even bottles of spirits in your suite, and also because they have brilliant bar tenders and sommeliers who are very knowledgeable and seem to be able to produce any drink you can think of.
A win for Silversea
Dress Code
There’s a real difference between the two lines – Virgin are all about “Cruising your way,” so there are no rules at all regarding what you wear. You’ll see everything from cool casual to super glamorous at any time and any venue.
Silversea insist on long trousers in the evenings, and no jeans, with ladies wearing slacks or dresses. For the men jackets are described as “optional” on most nights. And once or twice a cruise, there is a “formal optional” night, where many wear dinner jackets and cocktail jackets, and men are expected to wear at least a jacket and tie.
I’m calling this a draw, because it really depends what you like. I know many people will enjoy dressing up in the evenings, and some will hate it.
OPINION: We’ve sailed quite a lot of nights on Virgin, and I honestly can’t recall ever seeing anyone dressed “inappropriately,” so giving people the freedom to do what they want doesn’t mean people rock up in vests and flip flops in a nice restaurant.
Silversea’s dress code is a bit of a mess – they’re trying to give people some options, hence “formal optional,” but as a result, they have to publish each day’s dress code so everyone knows what to wear, and frankly, in 2024, not being able to wear nice tailored shorts, or even good jeans, on a hot summer evening is a bit bizarre. At the end of the day, passengers who are paying £10k or more for a cruise are more than capable of choosing appropriate outfits.
Excursions
Silversea include excursions in every port with your cruise. We went on several and they ranged from pretty poor to excellent. On an 11 night cruise, we felt they were a little staid – in fact several passengers joked that we never wanted to see another old church again! One issue for us is that Silversea’s excursions are tailored to older clients, so the pace was too slow for us.
Virgin’s excursions are a little more edgy, and seem to cover much more ground. We loved spending time with some of their excellent local guides. The choice is more interesting, with plenty of foodie stuff, but you do have to pay for them.
A win for Virgin, despite having to pay. BUT, Silversea do offer paid excursions as well, which have an additional charge. We didn’t do one, but it could be they are much better than the included excursions.
Entertainment
SIlversea’s entertainment is very staid and old school. There’s usually a pianist tinkling away in the main bar, a jazz duo in one of the restaurants, and a show most evenings in the theatre, delivered by a team of five singers and dancers, with a quartet of musicians.
Virgin’s entertainment is simply epic. There are shows most nights that would grace the west end. The musicians and performers are world class, and the Scarlet Night party is superb. At pretty much any time of day, there will be music somewhere on the ship, and there are also impromptu performances that aren’t announced.
A win for Virgin
Ships
This is hard. The Virgin ships are all the same, and they look amazing, both inside and out. They’re mid sized, and hold about 2,500 passengers. We sailed on Silver Moon, which is one of Silversea’s larger ships, but it only holds 600 passengers. Both have the benefit of being able to get into ports the really large ships can’t.
In terms of comfort, Silversea wins – think the deepest pile carpets, incredible art everywhere, impeccable furnishings. But when it comes to space, Virgin wins – the spaces are simply larger, the theatre, spa, pool area, bars, gym, running track and restaurants have much more room. And there’s a funky coolness to the decor and public areas.
I’m going to have to call this a draw. I love them both for different reasons!
Summary
I promise you I didn’t plan this! But the results are in, and there are 3 wins each for Virgin and Silversea and 4 draws. That is an accurate reflection of my feelings. I’d happily sail with either tomorrow.
But that’s where I am, and each matches my needs in certain, different ways. What about you? If the suite, the food and the drink are your main priorities, then Silversea is the one for you. Conversely, if entertainment and excursions is more your thing, you should pick Virgin.
One thing I’m sure of is that either one will provide you with a cruise you’ll never forget, and one which is streets ahead of any of the conventional cruise lines.
Have we inspired you to try either? Get in touch and we’ll work some magic for you.
