Cruise Types
Luxury Cruises Compared: What All-Inclusive Actually Means
Short answer
Is this style of cruising right for you?
Luxury cruise lines include drinks, dining and gratuities in the fare. Regent adds flights and every shore excursion, Silversea adds butler service in every suite, Seabourn has the best food, and Oceania is the upper-premium option at half the price. Compare on total cost, not headline fare.
Key takeaways
- Every luxury line includes drinks, all restaurants and gratuities; the differences are flights and excursions.
- Regent is the only line including return airfare and every shore excursion in the fare.
- Silversea is the only line with butler service in every suite category.
- On a port-heavy itinerary, the most expensive headline fare is frequently the lowest total cost.
- Oceania sits below the luxury tier at roughly half the fare and 80 percent of the food quality.
Luxury cruising is the one segment where comparing headline fares actively misleads you. A Regent sailing at $690 per person per night looks more expensive than a Silversea sailing at $560, and once you add the flights and seven excursions that Regent includes and Silversea does not, the ranking frequently reverses.
The right method is to build a total-cost comparison for your specific itinerary. A port-heavy Mediterranean route where you would take a tour every day favours Regent decisively. A sea-day-heavy transatlantic favours whichever line has the best ship, because the inclusions go unused.
This page sets out what each line actually includes and runs that comparison for two representative itineraries.
What each line actually includes
All five lines below include every restaurant, all drinks including premium spirits, and gratuities. That is the baseline and it removes most onboard decision-making, which is a large part of what you are paying for.
Beyond that they diverge. Regent includes return flights and every published shore excursion. Silversea's Door-to-Door fares include flights, transfers, a hotel night and most excursions, while its Port-to-Port fares include none of those. Seabourn includes neither flights nor excursions. Oceania sits below the tier and includes drinks only with lunch and dinner.
| Inclusion | Regent | Silversea | Seabourn | Oceania |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All restaurants | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| All drinks, all day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Lunch and dinner only |
| Gratuities | Yes | Yes | Yes | On some fares |
| Butler service | Penthouse and above | Every suite | Penthouse and above | Penthouse and above |
| Shore excursions | All included | On Door-to-Door fares | No | Credit of $400 to $1,200 |
| Return flights | Yes | On Door-to-Door fares | No | No |
| Typical veranda, per night | $690 to $960 | $560 to $780 | $620 to $890 | $310 to $420 |
The total-cost comparison that actually decides it
Below is the same seven-night Mediterranean itinerary, flying from New York, taking one excursion in each of seven ports. This is the calculation to run for your own trip.
The result is counter-intuitive: Regent, with the highest headline fare, produces the lowest total among the true luxury lines, because seven excursions and a transatlantic flight are worth more than the fare gap.
| Line | Fare | Flights | Excursions | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regent Seven Seas | $4,830 | Included | Included | About $4,830 |
| Silversea, Door-to-Door | $5,180 | Included | Mostly included | About $5,180 |
| Silversea, Port-to-Port | $3,920 | About $850 | About $1,260 | About $6,030 |
| Seabourn | $4,340 | About $850 | About $1,260 | About $6,450 |
| Oceania, Simply More | $2,170 | About $850 | About $860 after credit | About $4,090 |
Ship size and what it buys you
Luxury ships carry 100 to 750 guests, which is a large range at this level. Smaller means more intimate service and access to ports that bigger ships cannot reach; larger means more restaurants, a proper theatre and more space to move.
Seabourn's classic ships at 458 and 600 guests are the sweet spot for most travellers: small enough to anchor off a Greek island and go ashore in twenty minutes, large enough to have five restaurants.
Regent's Explorer class at 750 guests is the largest and has the strongest entertainment of the three true luxury lines, which is a low bar cleared comfortably.
- 100 to 264 guests: expedition ships and Silver Origin in the Galapagos.
- 458 to 600 guests: Seabourn classic ships, the intimacy sweet spot.
- 596 to 728 guests: Silversea Muse and Nova class.
- 744 to 750 guests: Regent Explorer class, the most facilities.
- 1,200 to 1,250 guests: Oceania, upper-premium rather than luxury.
Who luxury cruising genuinely suits
The honest answer is experienced cruisers. A first-time cruiser on Regent will not appreciate what the fare removes, because they have never queued for a tender, argued about a bar bill or eaten a mediocre main dining room dinner.
It also suits travellers who dislike making spending decisions on holiday. The genuine luxury of an all-inclusive fare is not the caviar, it is that nobody hands you a bill for eleven days.
It does not suit families, travellers who want entertainment, or anyone comparing on headline fare without running the total-cost calculation.
- Experienced cruisers moving up from premium lines.
- Travellers who want to stop making spending decisions.
- Couples on port-heavy itineraries where excursion inclusions pay off.
- Not suitable for families; none of these lines has meaningful children's facilities.
- Not suitable for anyone who wants a theatre and a full entertainment programme.
Terms worth knowing
- All-inclusive
- A fare covering drinks, dining and gratuities as a minimum. Regent extends this to flights and all shore excursions; other lines do not.
- Upper-premium
- The tier between premium lines such as Celebrity and true luxury lines. Oceania is the main example: more included than premium, less than luxury.
- Crew-to-guest ratio
- The number of crew per passenger. Luxury lines run close to one to one, against roughly one to three on contemporary lines.
- Door-to-Door fare
- Silversea's flight-inclusive fare covering return airfare, transfers, a pre-cruise hotel night and most excursions, distinct from its Port-to-Port cruise-only fare.
| Line | Guests per ship | Best at | Weakest at | Veranda per night |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regent Seven Seas | 490 to 750 | Total inclusiveness, flights and excursions | Ship intimacy | $690 to $960 |
| Silversea | 100 to 728 | Butler service, expedition reach | Confusing fare structures | $560 to $780 |
| Seabourn | 264 to 600 | Food and sociable atmosphere | No excursions included | $620 to $890 |
| Oceania | 670 to 1,250 | Food quality for the money | Entertainment | $310 to $420 |
| Virgin Voyages | 2,770 | Value inclusions, adults only | Not a luxury line despite inclusions | $200 to $250 |
Which luxury cruise line should you book?
Run the total-cost calculation first, then use these to break the tie.
Regent Seven Seas
Choose it when: Your itinerary is port-heavy and you would take an excursion in every port. Flights and all tours included frequently make it the cheapest total.
Silversea
Choose it when: You want butler service without buying a top-tier suite, or you want an expedition itinerary such as the Galapagos or Antarctica.
Seabourn
Choose it when: Food and a sociable, intimate ship matter most, and you prefer arranging your own touring.
Oceania
Choose it when: You want most of the food quality at roughly half the fare and are content to pay for drinks outside meals.
Stay with a premium line
Choose it when: This would be your first or second cruise. The value of what luxury lines remove is only visible once you have experienced it.
Put this research to work
Compare current fares against the numbers on this page, and check the related guides below before adding packages or excursions.
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Frequently asked questions
What is included on a luxury cruise?
Every luxury line includes all restaurants, all drinks including premium spirits, and gratuities. Beyond that they differ: Regent includes return flights and every shore excursion, Silversea includes butler service in every suite plus flights and excursions on Door-to-Door fares, and Seabourn includes neither flights nor excursions.
Which luxury cruise line is the most inclusive?
Regent Seven Seas, clearly. Its fare covers return economy flights, transfers, a pre-cruise hotel night, every published shore excursion in every port, all dining, all drinks, gratuities and unlimited WiFi. On a port-heavy itinerary where you would take a tour daily, it frequently produces the lowest total cost despite the highest headline fare.
How much does a luxury cruise cost?
Veranda suites run $560 to $960 per person per night depending on the line, so $3,920 to $6,720 for a seven-night Mediterranean sailing. Once flights and excursions are added on the lines that exclude them, realistic totals converge at $4,800 to $6,500 per person. Oceania, at $310 to $420 per night, sits below the tier.
Is a luxury cruise worth it?
For experienced cruisers, often yes, because the value lies in what is removed rather than added: no bar bills, no tender queues, no mediocre main dining room. For a first or second cruise it is usually not, because you have no reference point for what the fare is solving. Run a total-cost comparison against a premium line with a drinks package before deciding.
Do luxury cruise lines allow children?
Technically yes on most, from six months to one year depending on the line, but none provides meaningful facilities. Seabourn, Silversea and Oceania have no children's programme at all. Regent runs a limited Club Mariner programme on selected school-holiday sailings only. Families should look at Disney, Royal Caribbean or MSC instead.
Oceania or Regent, which is better value?
It depends on your itinerary. Oceania costs roughly half per night and includes a shore excursion credit of $400 to $1,200. Regent includes flights and every excursion. On a seven-port Mediterranean itinerary flying from New York, Oceania totals about $4,090 and Regent about $4,830, so Oceania wins on cost while Regent wins on simplicity and drinks outside meal times.
About the author
Senior Cruise Editor
Mara Vance has been writing about cruise travel since 2011, first for a regional newspaper travel desk and, since 2019, as the senior editor at BestCruiseDeals.us. She sets the review framework every cruise line page on this site is scored against.
71 sailings logged across 10 cruise lines.
This page was fact-checked by Captain Alberto Ruiz, marine and operations reviewer, on . Prices and policies are re-checked against cruise line sources at least every 90 days. Read our editorial policy.