I have travelled on four previous Silversea cruises (Shadow and Spirit) and was keen to try Seabourn (Odyssey). It always seemed that people had a preference for one or the other, so I wanted to try first hand. I think that was my mistake. If I had never travelled on the Silversea class of cruising, I am certain that I would have felt that Seabourn was outstanding, but given that they compete in the same market, there are shortcomings with Seabourn compared to Silversea. That is not to say that it is all negative, there are some aspects of Seabourn that I enjoyed very much, but the things that were lacking, I missed even more.

Let me start with the positives. (Seabourn) have a much more casual style, nowhere near as formal as Silversea. The main example of that is the evening attire. On Silversea, they have a mix of Formal, Informal (Elegantly Casual) and Casual evenings (Resort Casual), but it is probably on a scale of 2/3/1. On Seabourn, it is the other way around and even on Formal evenings, jacket and open collared shirt is accepted. On Silversea, if you don't follow the dress code, you can't access the main dining venues. The Seabourn approach suits my personal style, although I am sure many guests enjoy the formal aspect of Silversea. Seabourn Odyssey also has an informal cocktail bar right at the front of the ship, which has a pianist providing entertainment. That was a great venue for pre and post dinner drinks. Silversea provide a selection of printed newspapers daily in the library to read. Seabourn have this really smart system where iPads are set up in Seabourn Square with electronic copies of just about every newspaper on the globe, updated daily.

I would point out a few other differences in style and approach. The Seabourn Odyssey has a much more modern, clinical feel to it than Silversea. It felt more like you were staying in a luxury five star hotel, with lots of glass, chrome and marble. Silversea have a more classical style, more warmth, with teak and formal wall coverings. The staff on board Seabourn are mostly westerners from all parts of the globe. Silversea have a stronger bias to Asian staff. Both sets of staff are great, I have a slight preference for Silversea, where they just seem that little more eager to go the extra mile. The dining on Seabourn fits the more casual style. The main dining venue is The Restaurant which has a very similar approach to Silversea, with a constant menu which is always available and a daily menu which varies daily. Seabourn has a casual brasserie with different evening theme dinners and Silversea have La Terrazza, which is Italian cuisine in the evening, but offers a great buffet lunch daily. The buffet on Silversea offers much more choice than Seabourn, especially for salads. Both have other specialty restaurants that I did not frequent. Seabourn Odyssey has a great Show Lounge on the 6th Floor. What makes it somewhat unique is that the stage/performance area stretches out into the seating area, so you get up quite close with the performers. It also seems to be Seabourn style to get the entertainers to interact with the guests. The very first night on board, we were invited to a table with one of the male singers (and this was repeated with two of the female singers) and consequently got to know the performing group, which was a nice touch on the cruise. The standard of entertainment on Seabourn was exceptional throughout the cruise. Read more