Confused by luxury all-inclusive offerings? Here’s how to work out what you need

• More lines than ever are claiming to be “all inclusive”
• But as their marketing becomes more complex, how can you really tell?
• Here is our guide to who is offering what – and what all inclusive actually means.

For those who opt for high-end, luxury cruises, the devil is in the detail. Being taken care of from the moment you step on the ship, or sometimes even before, until the moment you step off, is all part of the experience.

While with all high-end cruise lines you can expect intimate service, fine-dining, elegant cabins and more, each have their own unique touches that draw in their customer base. 

For example, while both Regent Seven Seas and Scenic are five-star luxury but they have their important differences. 

It’s Regent Seven Seas proud boast that you can leave your wallet in the safe throughout your journey. And you can.

These cruises are generally all-inclusive, but all-inclusive can b nuanced, or have a slightly different meaning. Some cruise lines, even luxury lines, have specialty restaurants that incur an extra fee, and others are truly all-inclusive. 

It’s also important to note that the luxury on a cruise like this goes far beyond just the listed inclusions. Each line has its own unique events, service style, exclusive spaces and more.

For a true idea, it’s best to chat with a CLIA trained cruise agent and even the cruise lines themselves, to get a full idea of if the line is what you’re looking for. While some will value the butler service of Silversea, others will want the included transfers of Scenic. 

However, there a few considerations to have, and then breaking down a comparison between some of the main luxury lines like Regent Seven Seas, Silversea, Scenic, Crystal and Seabourn and some of their unique inclusions, can help give you an idea of which line might be the one for you. 

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Are you looking for expedition or traditional luxury?

While Regent Seven Seas offers traditional luxury, a line like Seabourn is offering an expedition experience, focused around adventure, with included and planned excursions, generally into wilderness areas. Other lines like Scenic can offer both on different types of cruises.

If pampering, dining, spa treatments and more is what’s calling you to luxury cruises, then look for more traditional luxury like Regent Seven Seas or Crystal Cruises. If you’re looking for an expedition, you might want to look more towards Seabourn or Scenic. 

Silversea, like Scenic, can also offer both, but is generally more commended for its luxury offerings..

Expedition cruises will generally have a slightly more casual and fun atmosphere, whereas purely luxury cruises will be more elegant and service focused. In saying this, luxury cruises still have magnificent destinations and excursions, and expedition cruises still have great dining and inclusions, these are only minimal differences. 

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Package options

These days, luxury lines generally let you choose just how inclusive you want your experience to be. Most lines offer ‘door-to-door’ options that include flights, hotels, transfers and everything beyond. This will mean that you’re accounted for literally from the moment you step outside of your house, until you have returned a few weeks later. 

But recently, lines have started to break this down to attract a newer, younger, savvier cruiser who doens’t mean dealing with some of the areas of a holiday themselves. So flights, hotels and airport pick ups can be excluded to create a slightly cheaper package.

You also often have the option to add pre or post cruise land travel and other experiences. 

A large part of what all-inclusive means is what it means to you and how many add-ons you want to buy, but if you’re just purchasing a base fare, you are unlikely to receive that door-to-door treatment. 

Once it was all about “top shelf” drinks. Today, alcoholic beverages and complimentary wifi shoud be a given. Intimate service, no extra gratuities or charges are important parts of the package.

Beyond this is where inclusions can change a little bit and the definition of all-inclusive shifts with each cruise line. 

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Dining

Regent Seven Seas

• All dining is included on Regent Seven Seas.

Scenic

• Scenic includes nearly all dining, apart from a few limited availability experiences. 

Crystal Cruises

• Crystal has specialty dining that incurs an extra cost. However, most venues are included.

Silversea 

• Silversea has a few restaurants that require a special reservation fee, apart from this the dining is mostly all-inclusive.

Seabourn

• Seabourn includes all dining in its base fare.

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Transfers

• Most luxury lines will offer transfers when you’ve also booked flights or hotels as part of your cruise package.

Regent Seven Seas

• While Regent has fares that offer transfers, their base fares don’t include transfers.

Scenic

• Scenic sometimes offers transfers, depending on how exactly your voyage was booked. Most expedition cruises tend to include transfers.

Crystal Cruises

• Crystal’s base bare does not include transfers, but some of their package options do. 

Silversea 

• Silversea offers transfers with a flight or hotel booking.

Seabourn

• Seabourn also offers transfers with a flight or hotel booking.

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Excursions 

Regent Seven Seas

• Regent Seven Seas includes unlimited shore excursions.

Scenic

• Scenic includes excursions across all types of cruises. There are certain expedition activities, such as submarine trips, that incur extra charges.

Crystal Cruises

• Crystal Cruises generally do not include shore excursions.

Silversea 

• Silversea includes some excursions depending on your type of cruise. Expedition cruises include excursions, and ocean voyages have shore excursion credits, but you may have to pay depending on what you want.

Seabourn

• On expedition cruises, excursions are planned and included, on ocean cruises they are not.

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Spa facilities and treatments

Regent Seven Seas

• Regent includes complimentary access to its spa and sauna, as well as a range of included treatments, including some massages and facials.

Scenic

• Some spa and wellness facilities are included, but there’s an extra cost for spa treatments. 

Crystal Cruises

• Scenic offers access to spa and wellness facilities, but treatments come at an extra cost. 

Silversea 

• Spa treatments come at an extra cost with Silversea. 

Seabourn

• Accessing Seabourn’s range of spa treatments requires an extra fee. 

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Butler service 

Regent Seven Seas

• Regent offers Butler services for those in Penthouse Suites and higher. 

Scenic

• Scenic offers butler service across all suites .

Crystal Cruises

• Crystal Cruises offers butler service for every guest room and suite.

Silversea 

• Silversea offers butler service in every room onboard.

Seabourn

• Seabourn does not offer butler service.

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What to consider

While the listed inclusions and perks above offer a general idea of what it will be like cruising with each particular line, the list is far from exhaustive and each line adds its own unique touches, that they or agent can explain to you in more detail.

Inclusions can also change from cruise to cruise, so make sure to carefully read any promotions or deals.

Getting as much information as you can will help you make an informed decision over which line to go with. For example, based on the above, if your prime concern is pure luxury dining and pampering, Regent would probably be the way to go.

For a mix of expedition excursions and dining, it might be Seabourn, who has all dining included, as well as expedition excursions. 

Whereas others might opt for Scenic, which doesn’t offer the spa treatments but do offer butler services, as well as expedition excursions. 

Someone who wants a traditional luxury experience but slightly below the Regent price tag would likely opt for Crystal, and someone wanting a smaller-ship, luxury-focused experience might go for Silversea.

Luxury cruising is a big investment and if you make the right considerations, it’ll be a worthwhile one.