Silversea Moon Canceled

[Not a Georgia Peach]

We just received word from our TA that the inaugural cruise season for the Moon has been canceled.  We were to be on her in September for a back to back Mediterranean.  The information was that Silversea does not know when the ship will be ready for cruising.

[Observer]

It would be good to see confirmation and clarification of meaning of "the inaugural cruise season."  Moon cruises still appear on website (though that fact may not be dispositive).   Nonetheless, moving Moon directly to cold layup may make a lot of sense and save a lot of money.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Observer

[les37b]

Whilst the build schedule has definitely put the first 3 maybe 4 cruises off the table (they lost about 5 weeks due to the virus) but the yard has reopened and the build continues.

 

I was a bit alarmed by your title because Silver Moon hasn't been cancelled. That i am 100% certain of unless huge unrevealed decisions have been made.

 

Did you agent offer you a refund on what you'd booked? When I spoke with SS direct 2 weeks ago, the rep acknowledged the first 2 or 3 cruises wouldnt go ahead because of this but adamant, it would be completed in time for the final couple of Med cruises and then on to the US and Sth American cruises.

 

I appreciate things do and can change and the virus and government intervention means all of this is still fraught with further unknowns, but I"d certainly doubt things have changed much more in the past couple of weeks to suggest that Silver Moon wont be sailing because of the ship building problems.

 

Will be watching with interest as mine is booked for the end of November. Im not expecting it will happen, but not because its not ready for cruising.

Edited May 18, 2020 by les37b

[DCCruiser57]

Barbara Muckermann posted the following on the Silversea Passengers facebook page.

 

We had to cancel the first cruises but we are hopeful that Fincantieri will manage to make up some of the lost time and give her to us early fall

[les37b]

1 minute ago, DCCruiser57 said:

Barbara Muckermann posted the following on the Silversea Passengers facebook page.

 

We had to cancel the first cruises but we are hopeful that Fincantieri will manage to make up some of the lost time and give her to us early fall

 

Thanks DCC. That's exactly what I'd been told.

 

Obviously it remains to be seen what happens, but i think the suggestion the Moon was scuppered didn't sound right.

[DCCruiser57]

Agreed!

[Not a Georgia Peach]

I apologize for the misleading topic heading.  Is there a way to edit it?  I don't wish to alarm people.

[Not a Georgia Peach]

We were to be on back to back September 12 Barcelona to Greece and then Greece to Venice.  We were offered the 125% future cruise credit or the 100% of money paid.

[Stumblefoot]

Based on Not a Georgia Peach's reporting, it looks like Silversea may to try to launch the ship on what would have been the 7th voyage since it departs from Venice which is just across the way from Trieste.

[Silver Spectre]

2 hours ago, les37b said:

Whilst the build schedule has definitely put the first 3 maybe 4 cruises off the table (they lost about 5 weeks due to the virus) but the yard has reopened and the build continues.

 

I was a bit alarmed by your title because Silver Moon hasn't been cancelled. That i am 100% certain of unless huge unrevealed decisions have been made.

 

Did you agent offer you a refund on what you'd booked? When I spoke with SS direct 2 weeks ago, the rep acknowledged the first 2 or 3 cruises wouldnt go ahead because of this but adamant, it would be completed in time for the final couple of Med cruises and then on to the US and Sth American cruises.

 

I appreciate things do and can change and the virus and government intervention means all of this is still fraught with further unknowns, but I"d certainly doubt things have changed much more in the past couple of weeks to suggest that Silver Moon wont be sailing because of the ship building problems.

 

Will be watching with interest as mine is booked for the end of November. Im not expecting it will happen, but not because its not ready for cruising.

I have been trying to get information today, but ‘our SS guy’ isn’t responding to emails or phone calls, maybe tomorrow.

[les37b]

1 hour ago, Silver Spectre said:

I have been trying to get information today, but ‘our SS guy’ isn’t responding to emails or phone calls, maybe tomorrow.

 

Funnily enough I also called today about something unrelated and got the answerphone recording he was on another call. I'll also try to call later. Must be a bit depressing for him at the moment.

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, Not a Georgia Peach said:

I apologize for the misleading topic heading.  Is there a way to edit it?  I don't wish to alarm people.

 

I think you can ask the forum hosts to modify the title for you. Try sending an email to our host, Dan, at HostDan@cruisecritic.com

Edited May 18, 2020 by jpalbny

[NJ Cruiserman]

29 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

I think you can ask the forum hosts to modify the title for you. Try sending an email to our host, Dan, at HostDan@cruisecritic.com

I flagged the OP for the mods. 

[beaujolais]

I see The Shadow, due 20th., The Whisper, due 21st and The Wind, also due 21st. are all in their way to Marseille

A lot of work to be done I expect.

I hope that they still have some of their money for my refunds

 

[DCCruiser57]

SS updated their website and the first cruise on the Moon is now Oct 2nd.  Thus, they cancelled the first 6 scheduled cruises.

[Silver Spectre]

35 minutes ago, DCCruiser57 said:

SS updated their website and the first cruise on the Moon is now Oct 2nd.  Thus, they cancelled the first 6 scheduled cruises.

Had the call this morning with the news. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet is just where is SS going to get somewhere in the in region of an additional 400 crew from to staff the Moon.

 

At present the Philippine crew from the Whisper, Shadow, Wind and Spirit are still sitting in Southampton on the Spirit waiting for a charter flight to get them home. The crew of the the Muse and Explorer are still stuck outside Panama City, where they have been since the 23rd April, and with no idea where and when they can be disembarked to get home.

 

Even if the ship is ready by the beginning of September that only leaves 3 months to sort the crewing out, assuming that some international travel has returned before then.

 

IMHO it looks like a pipe dream.

[Georgia_Peaches]

6 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

Even if the ship is ready by the beginning of September that only leaves 3 months to sort the crewing out, assuming that some international travel has returned before then.

 

Yes, the stars will really need to align in just the right way for a September sailing.  

[Silver Spectre]

28 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Yes, the stars will really need to align in just the right way for a September sailing.  

Actually the first cruise is now 2nd October, I was thinking of staff training and familiarity with new features prior to having any guests.

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 minute ago, Silver Spectre said:

Actually the first cruise is now 2nd October, I was thinking of staff training and familiarity with new features prior to having any guests.

Yes, I completely agree.  Hopefully, they have a plan in place to give the crew the proper training they will need.  In my experience with new ships, pre-pandemic, of course, even the crew who have had time to properly train have a learning curve during these initial voyages.  But for the most part, passengers tend to be quite forgiving.  

[les37b]

1 minute ago, Silver Spectre said:

Actually the first cruise is now 2nd October, I was thinking of staff training and familiarity with new features prior to having any guests.

 

Its ok, daveywavey will have them in shape on his 2 Oct sailing! lol

 

i can’t say I’m optimistic for my 23 Nov sailing, but I’m more optimistic than I have been. I can’t wait for the mask faced photos! Haha