Herman The Cat

Oh my — you were in one of those cabins in the stretched area! I remember hearing about that and the fact that there was a wiring issue behind the headboards that took awhile to discover. You certainly have had your share of unexpected circumstances! Weren’t you also on the last sailing of Crystal and dropped off in Freeport, Bahamas? Unfortunately your description of contempt may be true. Definitely passive-aggressive. And they do assume the guests do not see their maneuvering. I think we all recognize how challenging it is to change itineraries but can they really not make a decision??? OR they want guests to be in the 100% penalty phase before they announce it?

Maybe we should all start emailing Barbara Muckerman. It’s disgraceful. Reminds me of when they notified us that they were removing a port we really want to go to one day after cancellation penalties started.

And another week passes and still no news on these sailings. Crystal cancelled their May Med voyages a month ago. It is absolutely egregious that Silversea is sitting on this and doing nothing. I had suspected at the 60 day mark something might happen and all we got are the voyages listed as “waitlist.” What’s the next milestone, 45 days or 30 days prior? It’s ridiculous to ask passengers to amend plans at that late date. Why are they dragging this out? Where’s the leadership???

Well, is your TA a Silversea expert or has he/she cruised with them? Usually if they are going to make an itinerary change they go to “waitlist” for all the cabins (assuming the cruise is not sold out). This cruise went all waitlist at 60 days prior to departure. If she is just talking to a phone rep they basically don’t have any info. It may not be cancelled but there could be a major itinerary change. And of course the one after will be cancelled because it is supposed to sail thru the Red Sea. My TA spoke to someone today who said it went waitlist because there will probably be an itinerary change but they couldn’t say when. I suspect if the cruise sails it will eliminate a bunch of ports and make its way from Sri Lanka to maybe the Seychelles, Madagascar and then Cape Town before heading up the coast of West Africa. At least they could keep some passengers onboard for some of the cruise and get some revenue. It wouldn’t be a bad change. Just a hassle. It doesn’t make sense to sail empty but they need to get to Athens.

Case Study: “How to Turn a PR Event into a PR Disaster.” You know someone was going to leak/get this to the media. Barbara M has been remarkably silent. How are they going to spin this? Perhaps they’ll throw a FCC or SBC at affected passengers in addition to reimbursement for additional expenses.

Yes, both voyages have gone all wait list. Looks like they got the message, thankfully. Now we just have to wait for the “Dear Esteemed. Guest” letter. 😉

Absolutely absurd. Some Instagram influencer’s idea of a great photo op without consideration for guests. It is ridiculous that they would inconvenience thousands of people, with this self-serving gesture, not to mention incur a useless expense. Such poor judgment without considering the repercussions of the action.

Yes, one would hope they are reading these posts. It makes them and the organization look incompetent and oblivious, and like they can’t make a decision. It is abundantly clear the situation in the Red Sea will not improve in time for these voyages to sail thru it. Unfortunately whatever their process is, it’s not a good one as they wait until the last minute to announce changes. Perhaps the poster who said they are just trying to hang onto the money as long as possible is correct. There is no reason for these voyage changes to not be announced now. They are only hurting themselves financially by waiting and significantly eroding customer and crew goodwill. They should be ashamed of themselves and embarrassed. For all of Barbara Muckerman’s PR and approachable persona, this is really poor management and decision-making. It may not be her decision since it’s fleet operations, but if affects their customers, finances, employees etc. and she’s in charge.

What happened in Aqaba?

Exactly! It doesn’t matter how they word the “Dear Esteemed Guest” email, it erodes customer confidence and loyalty. Every cruise line has figured this out and cancelled — and as Texanaust mentioned, “but yes, they’re sailing!” Why hasn’t Silversea cancelled? It makes their management team look bad.

Yes, with the prices of airfare these days, any change is going to be a fortune. Why are they waiting on this??? Odds are pretty small that the situation would improve so dramatically in the next two months that they would be able to go thru the Suez.

😂 Perhaps…but they certainly have much more advance notice about what is going on and have already re-routed other cruises. If they don’t cancel and change the disembarkation port, they need to give their air department as much time as possible to re-book…and also passengers who have done their own air (which I suspect they will not compensate). I suppose they could eliminate one of the days in Sri Lanka, skip India and head to Mahe (Seychelles), Madagascar and disembark in CapeTown. Quite a different flight routing home from CPT….

Always bittersweet to pack up! Thanks for taking us along on your journey and helping with all the questions. The pictures have been fantastic. Fingers crossed they figure out the logistics with the cruises over the next few weeks and Singapore to Mumbai on May 5, which is the same itinerary as yours! It’s a great one. Safe travels.

Yeah, they really need to decide and inform people. I know it’s a lot for them to re-arrange etc. I still see the cruise after to Jeddah is for sale as is the following one. Makes you wonder if someone called and wanted to book Jeddah to Athens if they would sell it to you and take the payment?!?! There is no way that one is happening! The 60 day mark is coming up so perhaps at that a point.

Thanks DRRON29. Trying to hold off as long as possible. I was under the impression the Whisper situation was a bit different because it has to get to dry dock so it cancelled voyages and is deadheading to the Med for the most part. (Though I haven't followed it that closely so I could be wrong.) The Moon is not due in Athens until June 9. The cruise is May 5-23 from Singapore to Mumbai. Not sure what they would do because the ship needs to get to the Med for the summer season. Cancel the cruise and go straight from Singapore to the Med? It's a mess but Silversea needs to decide and let passengers know asap.

Hi Terry, great visuals!! Are you still onboard? Wondering if you might be able to ask guest services a question. The Silver Moon will be docked in Mumbai the night of May 22nd. If you have a flight at 4:30am or 6:30am and need to disembark at 1:30am or 3:30am, can you disembark at that time??? Can the ship accommodate people getting off at that departure time? I suspect we may have to drag our own luggage but before booking a flight want to make sure they can handle it. Very grateful if you might be able to ask that question. Tried Silversea reservations but of course they don't know. I know security is manned 24 hours a day when in port.

Hmmm...but here's the question -- does anyone know? If the ship is docked in Mumbai the night of the 22nd, and you have a flight at 4:30am on the morning of the 23rd, can you disembark at 1am??? Can the ship accommodate that departure time?

And...any feeling from the Captain/crew if these voyages will be continuing? I have friends on May 5-23, Singapore to Mumbai and they are concerned it's going to get cancelled due to the Red Sea mess.

Terry, great commentary and photos! Do you remember the name of the Goa excursion? Looked interesting.

This is an interesting question...especially since the flights leave Mumbai at all kinds of odd hours 24 hours a day (like 4:30AM). The ship is overnighting on 5/22 and disembarkation is on 5/23. Will they let you depart/check out in the middle of the night before disembarkation time, and will there be taxis there between 1 and 4am? I know Silversea will most likely be able to arrange a private transfer once onboard but I'm sure it will be many times what could be arranged independently. I have been to India and the drivers are very good and very reliable. Not sure if I want to wing it with a taxi. And while there may be lots of taxis waiting, you don't want to get swarmed which is what can happen....

Yes, it was eerily reminiscent of Crystal in January 2022. The other thing I wonder is perhaps there was a permit problem since it affected all three ships.... Or as Shawncar said, they were being extra cautious given what happened in late November. They should offer some sort of compensation.

It's shocking that they gave no explanation whatsoever? Usually in a situation like this you receive a letter from the Captain in your cabin with some sort of explanation. Did they offer any compensation or future cruise credit? It's also quite odd that it affected only Atlas ships. Hard to believe it was weather because these ships are expedition ships...and it didn't affect any other ships. Pure speculation but...could it be some sort of a financial issue? I thought Atlas had pretty deep pockets but it is not owned by a mega cruise line.

Could that be the World Cruise and that’s why there are no itineraries?

My TA was told directly by Crystal that they bought the customer database. I guess we’ll eventually see what that means/implies.

My TA was told by Crystal that they bought the database so they have the info on who the members are.whether they honor the past status is an interesting question. Their issue to sort out and we’ll see what they need. But they did email former Crystal Society members with different dates so they must have some data. I think it will be interesting if they honor your status in other cruise loyalty programs, I.e., if you have 100 days with Silversea do you get free laundry on Crystal LOL!!! Yes, the 5% discount will be a nice perk. Let’s see if it happens! g