Just announced! 3 new ships for Silversea

[TLCOhio]

18 hours ago, RachelG said:

Terry, we have been to the Galapagos on the celebrity xpedition and on Silversea Galapagos.  We would go again in an instant on Silversea, but never on Celebrity, even with the newer ship as the food was just not good on the Celebrity ship.  Silversea has the same restrictions about using local, but apparently have either better suppliers or better chefs or both.  Naturalists on Silversea were more friendly as well.  With one exception, the Celebrity ones had an attitude.

 

Appreciate, Rachel, these great comments, insights and follow-up.  YES, very helpful!!  The new Celebrity Flora ship looks very cool, hip and nice.  Has a style like one of those billionaire luxury yacht!!!  BUT, the price is really jacked up significantly for this newer Celebrity ship offering.  Need to keep researching, saving up money, etc.  Good to reading these various inputs and experiences.  Keep it coming!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

AFRICA?!!?: Fun, interesting visuals, plus travel details from this early 2016 live/blog. At 42,964 views. Featuring Cape Town, South Africa’s coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310337

[les37b]

5 hours ago, jollyjones said:

And given the costs of actually designing a new ship, and ironing out the wrinkles that only appear when in service, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the new ships are actually based on the Muse design. It is not uncommon for cruise lines to build half a dozen or more new ships once they are satisfied with the design.

I hope so - after initial steep resistance, I have come to enjoy the Muse, to the point where I wonder if the Wind will feel a little lacking in options ...

 

...... but unable to sail under Tower Bridge or through the Corinth Canal......

 

i do share your views views on the Muse though.... but hope they’ve sorted out the art work now! lol

[wripro]

On 10/23/2018 at 4:33 AM, Tothesunset said:

I suppose as long as the Wind, Whisper, Shadow, Spirit and Muse remain unadulterated SS will merely be extending their appeal. My fear is that even the smaller ships may lose the intimacy that makes them so attractive. 

My fear is that they'll get rid of the smaller ships the more they age and SS will be left with on;large Musified vessels.

[Rocchi]

Agreed WRIPRO,

 

Estimated. Wind and maybe Cloud gone in about three years, then Shadow and Whisper gone in four to five years. As these ships are now quite old and no longer wanted in the new version of Silversea. They will not be replaced by new similar sized small ships to the classic fleet. This will leave the big ships Muse, Moon and Dawn and added to by even bigger ships of 800 passengers from 2023. Silver Spirit may well be retained as she will then be in their small ship size.

 

The new company is stomping ahead with big tackity boots.

 

We received an e-mail today to let us know that our March 2020 BGI - Lisbon TA cruise on the Wind has turned into a Caribbean Cuba cruise.

[jollyjones]

1 hour ago, Rocchi said:

 

 

We received an e-mail today to let us know that our March 2020 BGI - Lisbon TA cruise on the Wind has turned into a Caribbean Cuba cruise.

And my April 2019 Western Caribbean is now Cuban - OK with that, but the rest of the itinerary is Bahamas and Port Canaveral which I don’t like (Nassau?!! Really?!! ). 

I’m still going though, staying aboard in port is better than staying home. 

[Tothesunset]

We've been rebooked to the Cuba 7-nighter too and are actually quite pleased. 16-23  March if I recall correctly. 

[les37b]

1 hour ago, jollyjones said:

And my April 2019 Western Caribbean is now Cuban - OK with that, but the rest of the itinerary is Bahamas and Port Canaveral which I don’t like (Nassau?!! Really?!! ). 

 

You must be on the one prior to ours which isnt affected. I would have preferred Cuba on ours if I'm honest as most are repeats.

 

 

11 minutes ago, Tothesunset said:

We've been rebooked to the Cuba 7-nighter too and are actually quite pleased. 16-23  March if I recall correctly. 

 

I got sent that email also saying "An important itinerary change regarding your upcoming voyage" 

I couldnt work out why as our 2019 mentioned above is unaffected (I think).... and then realised its probably because theyve not cancelled out the TA in their bookings. (They have as its no longer in mysilversea - but must be a glitch somewhere. Gutted now as that would have represented a great deal on what we were paying..... and if they'd not picked up..... an absolute steal for your booking! Which we hadn't cancelled now and gone on both!

 

[jollyjones]

9 minutes ago, les37b said:

 

You must be on the one prior to ours which isnt affected. I would have preferred Cuba on ours if I'm honest as most are repeats.

 

 

 

I'm staying on b2b for the next (Eastern Caribbean) cruise - that and the fact that I've bought my plane tickets is why I'm sticking with the changed itinerary. But Nassau ... Port Canaveral ... ugh, ugh, ugh.

[les37b]

4 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

I'm staying on b2b for the next (Eastern Caribbean) cruise - that and the fact that I've bought my plane tickets is why I'm sticking with the changed itinerary. But Nassau ... Port Canaveral ... ugh, ugh, ugh.

 

We were looking at your first at one point, but decided the extra days on the second was what clinched our decision, though not sure about the 2 x 2 sea days. I love waking up in a new port each morning!

 

TTS -just looked up - the TA doesnt seem to be affected. Did you end up changing your booking or have i completely confused myself?

[nfcu]

17 hours ago, Rocchi said:

Agreed WRIPRO,

 

Estimated. Wind and maybe Cloud gone in about three years, then Shadow and Whisper gone in four to five years. As these ships are now quite old and no longer wanted in the new version of Silversea. They will not be replaced by new similar sized small ships to the classic fleet. This will leave the big ships Muse, Moon and Dawn and added to by even bigger ships of 800 passengers from 2023. Silver Spirit may well be retained as she will then be in their small ship size.

 

The new company is stomping ahead with big tackity boots.

 

We received an e-mail today to let us know that our March 2020 BGI - Lisbon TA cruise on the Wind has turned into a Caribbean Cuba cruise.

 

Actually, Silver Spirit now has a larger capacity (608 guests) than Silver Muse (596 guests), so it will not be the smallest ship.

[jollyjones]

14 hours ago, les37b said:

 

You must be on the one prior to ours which isnt affected. I would have preferred Cuba on ours if I'm honest as most are repeats.

 

 

 

I got sent that email also saying "An important itinerary change regarding your upcoming voyage" 

I couldnt work out why as our 2019 mentioned above is unaffected (I think).... and then realised its probably because theyve not cancelled out the TA in their bookings. (They have as its no longer in mysilversea - but must be a glitch somewhere. Gutted now as that would have represented a great deal on what we were paying..... and if they'd not picked up..... an absolute steal for your booking! Which we hadn't cancelled now and gone on both!

 

They're playing silly games with the Wind March 2020 cruises - they're still showing the old itineraries simultaneously with a series of 7 day Cuba cruises.

I haven't received an email about this, and I'm booked on SJU-BGI-LIS at a good price, was going to make final payment today - an email to my TA must be forthcoming!

Thank goodness for the info to be found here.

[Tothesunset]

14 hours ago, les37b said:

 

 

TTS -just looked up - the TA doesnt seem to be affected. Did you end up changing your booking or have i completely confused myself?

I've just looked and the TA shows on the US site. But our 16-23 March shows as FLL-FLL yet there is a cruise from San Juan  to Lisbon on the same ship leaving on 18 mar. 

 

Clearly there is some idiosyncratic going on the the schedules. 

 

We shall be calling our agent next week when we get home but are hoping that this change we have agreed to (FLL-FLL rather than the TA) doesn't itself change! 

Edited October 25, 2018 by Tothesunset

[les37b]

3 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

They're playing silly games with the Wind March 2020 cruises - they're still showing the old itineraries simultaneously with a series of 7 day Cuba cruises.

I haven't received an email about this, and I'm booked on SJU-BGI-LIS at a good price, was going to make final payment today - an email to my TA must be forthcoming!

Thank goodness for the info to be found here.

 

If you'd like, I can forward the email with the full content of what they said.

 

Just ping an email to my silversea junk email address silversea@mail.co.uk and I'll copy it over.

 

[les37b]

1 minute ago, Tothesunset said:

I've just looked and the TA shows on the US site. But our 16-23 March shows as FLL-FLL yet there is a cruise from San Juan  to Lisbon on the same ship. 

 

Clearly there is some idiosyncratic going on the the schedules. 

 

We shall be calling our agent next week when we get home but are hoping that this change we have agreed to (FLL-FLL rather than the TA) doesn't itself change! 

 

I'm confident the changes are real. The UK site definitely shows them and they tie up with the email that was sent out. IT has never been a strong point with SS so I guess the US site still hasnt been updated yet. Poor show either way.

[jollyjones]

2 minutes ago, les37b said:

 

If you'd like, I can forward the email with the full content of what they said.

 

Just ping an email to my silversea junk email address silversea@mail.co.uk and I'll copy it over.

 

Thanks for the offer but I'm not in the UK and my TA will deal with the Miami office - she was going to call them today to make the payment anyway.

I presume I'll just have to cancel since I'm not interested in substituting a 19 day Transatlantic with a 7 day Cuba, particularly since I'll have done the Cuba itinerary on the Wind in April 2019 - that email I did get. Depends what SS say - it's so far out in the future that it'll probably just be a take it or leave it response.

[Tothesunset]

Just tried to log on to my home VPN but the ships WiFi isn't up to it. Would like to see what the UK website shows. 

 

I expect there are going to be a few confused agents and fed up customers out there. 

[les37b]

Checking again, I was looking at the link from within the email - seems theyve really messed it up! The image below shows the Wind on a TA AND cuba cruise! Ive also posted the contents of the email

 

Seems I cancelled a Trans Atlantic I wasnt sure about and could have got a better deal like Im sure TSS has received.

 

TTS below is the UK site showing both destinations....

 

Dear Les37b

We are writing to you to provide you with an important update regarding a modification to your upcoming Silversea voyage. Silversea recently announced the opening of 5 voyages that connect you with the authentic beauty of Cuba. We want you to fall in love with the vibrant culture and history of the pearl of the Caribbean so we are including the destination in your voyage itinerary. 

Your revised itinerary is available to view below. 

We understand this is a change from the original itinerary you reserved, we have the following options for you:
 

• Should you wish to switch your voyage to another Caribbean voyage in 2019 of the same length or up to 2 days longer than the original, we will change your voyage and honor the fare you paid
• In the event you wish to switch your voyage to another Caribbean voyage in 2019 that is longer in length by more than 2 days compared to your original voyage, we will charge a per diem rate after the third day based on the per diem rate paid on your original voyage
• Should you wish to switch your voyage to another Caribbean voyage in 2019 that is shorter in length than your original voyage, we will refund the difference based on the per diem rate paid on your original voyage
• In the event you wish to switch to another Silversea voyage in any other destination in 2019 or 2020, we will allow you switch to the voyage at today’s current rate and offer an additional 5% discount
  
   

 

We are notifying your travel professional about these options and they will be in contact to discuss your options. Please feel free to reach out to them with any further questions.

Silversea is committed to making your voyage unforgettable by taking you to the most beautiful destinations on the planet. We are pleased to set sail to Cuba and we look forward to welcoming you on board.

 

REVISED VOYAGE ITINERARY:

DAY	PORT	ARRIVAL	DEPARTURE

Mon, 16 Mar, 2020	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	–	18:00

Tue, 17 Mar, 2020	Havana	10:00	–

Wed, 18 Mar, 2020	Havana	–	18:00

Thu, 19 Mar, 2020	Day at Sea	–	–

Fri, 20 Mar, 2020	Santiago de Cuba	12:00	18:00

Sat, 21 Mar, 2020	Day at Sea	–	–

Sun, 22 Mar, 2020	Bimini	09:00	23:00

Mon, 23 Mar, 2020	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	07:00	–

 

 

 

 

https://www.silversea.com/cuba-cruises.destination_all.date_all.ship_all.duration_all.cruisetype_all.port_all.page_2.html

 

 

 

 

 

Seems to be another site bug.... I copied the second image into the post twice accidently - and cant remove the second!... Hmmm... It seems now to have gone! Very strange..... and then appeared at the top of the page..... Apologies if the format has gone awol!

 

 

Edited October 25, 2018 by les37b

[Tothesunset]

Thanks for that, Les. It seems that, as you say, the new itineraries have been entered but the previous ones haven't been removed. Interesting, too, to see the Sterling prices. Assuming a £1k each air credit the new itinerary would be £2420. Safe to say we have paid a LOT less than that. Return upper class flights with air miles are also considerably cheaper than the SS economy fares. 

 

For us this change has worked out well but I am sure there are others whose plans will have taken quite a knock. I suppose that's the danger in booking so far ahead. 

Edited October 25, 2018 by Tothesunset

[jollyjones]

My TA called the SS office in Miami today to make my final payment for the SJU-LIS  cruise (showing 'waitlist' now) and the agent couldn't even pull it up on her system so I suspect it no longer exists. The agent suggested calling back tomorrow or Monday to try and find out what's happening since she didn't know.

I haven't had any email or offer from SS but since they can't seriously expect me to take a 7 day Cuba instead of a 19 day TA, they probably think I'll cancel. Which I will, but an extra 5% off to book something else wouldn't hurt, particularly since I got such a good deal on this cruise - solo occ. verandah deck 5, below $400 per diem. That doesn't come along too often.

Edited October 26, 2018 by jollyjones

[Stumblefoot]

18 hours ago, jollyjones said:

Verandah deck 5, below $400 per diem. That doesn't come along too often.

I call that a very, very good price indeed and would want something comparable.