Silver Origin Sails for Ecuador

[Carol From California]

We are booked on the Origin Galapagos December 5, 2020 cruise. The cruise is paid in full. We can cancel by August 6 without penalty other than the $100 pp fee.  Ecuador currently has a 14 day quarantine requirement and the news says there is a recent surge in Covid cases. Was really looking forward to this trip but it looks like we will cancel.  

Edited August 1, 2020 by Carol From California

[57 varieties]

Silver Origin arrived in Bridgetown, Barbados this morning. She is tied up alongside Vision of the Seas and Rhaposdy of the Seas, more RCI vessels.  I bet she looks minute alongside those two.

[Stumblefoot]

27 minutes ago, 57 varieties said:

I bet she looks minute alongside those two.

I’d love to see that.  Probably looks like a quaint little yacht or fishing vessel.

[DCCruiser57]

Silver Origin has sailed from Bridgetown and is now enroute to Willemstad.

[gui218]

Silver origin at Gatum locks on way through Panama canal.

Destination is Manta, soon to be in Pacific ocean on way to Galapagos.

Ship tracker time in Panama is 4:23 pm.

[TLCOhio]

16 hours ago, gui218 said:

Silver origin at Gatum locks on way through Panama canal.  Destination is Manta, soon to be in Pacific ocean on way to Galapagos.  Ship tracker time in Panama is 4:23 pm.

 

Great to see this update as to the progress for the new Silver Origin.  It is fascinating that the ship is going through the Panama Canal.  We enjoyed in 2017 seeing those 110+ year old locks and the process connected with this historic site.  Keep up the great sharing.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Panama Canal? Early 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through Panama Canal.  Our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Now at 29,991 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

[cruiseej]

Origin has passed through the canal and is headed south to Manta, Ecuador. At its current 7 knot speed, it should arrive there Wednesday afternoon. That gives them about a month to complete any finishing touches, load provisions, start bringing on crew, and sail the 600 nautical miles to the Galapagos to prepare to welcome passengers in mid-September -- if cruising in the Galapagos in September is somehow possible.

[TLCOhio]

21 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

Origin has passed through the canal and is headed south to Manta, Ecuador. At its current 7 knot speed, it should arrive there Wednesday afternoon. That gives them about a month to complete any finishing touches, load provisions, start bringing on crew, and sail the 600 nautical miles to the Galapagos to prepare to welcome passengers in mid-September -- if cruising in the Galapagos in September is somehow possible.

 

Wonderful update, details and hopes that operations can commence in mid-September.  As I posted previously, we'll see if and how they work around the current challenges with getting flights from mainland Ecuador out to the Galapagos Island.  And, back??

 

Plus, how much of a capacity that can and will be filed on these ships??  Is being half full good enough economically?  Look forward to hearing from any Silversea customers who are booked in September and early October as to what the cruise line is telling them.  Your use of "IF" is an important aspect connected with this future process.

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Live/blog, June 2017 from Portugal to France along scenic Atlantic Coast.  Now at 30,960 views.  Many interesting pictures, details for history, food, culture, etc.:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

[Carol From California]

We cancelled our December 5 Galapagos cruise a few days ago before the penalty would be imposed.  We will get a full refund less $200.  There appears to be a high rate of Covid in Quito and there is also a 14 day quarantine. While things may get better in December we did not want to take the risk.  We'll rebook later when things become more normalized.  Look forward to sailing on the new Origin ship at another time.

[philipb]

13 hours ago, Carol From California said:

We cancelled our December 5 Galapagos cruise a few days ago before the penalty would be imposed.  We will get a full refund less $200.  There appears to be a high rate of Covid in Quito and there is also a 14 day quarantine. While things may get better in December we did not want to take the risk.  We'll rebook later when things become more normalized.  Look forward to sailing on the new Origin ship at another time.

 

Carol, I would have done exactly the same. It's way too early to consider travel to Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. We are booked on the Origin in September 2021, but I m not holding my breath, even that far out!

[grandmaR]

I am booked for Sept 2, 2021.  I am hoping that things will be resolved by then.

[DCCruiser57]

The Origin is now docked in Manta.

[gui218]

Silversea website has first Origin cruise in Galapagos islands Sept 19 2020!!

I hope it sails and if so a review would be great for many who are looking forward to this Origin Expedition Voyage.

Sept is the Dry season, enjoy as we did in sept 2019.

[iMarco46]

Silver Origin is now moored at Manta, Ecuador.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:5864551/zoom:14

 

Edit: Ooops - I see that DCCruiser57 had already posted.

Edited August 15, 2020 by iMarco46

[TLCOhio]

On 8/13/2020 at 5:20 PM, gui218 said:

Silversea website has first Origin cruise in Galapagos islands Sept 19 2020!!  I hope it sails and if so a review would be great for many who are looking forward to this Origin Expedition Voyage.  Sept is the Dry season, enjoy as we did in sept 2019.

 

Great to see this update that the Silver Origin is now docked at Manta, Ecuador.  Plus, that some are very hopeful that this nice, new ship will start sailing on Sept. 19.  BUT, sadly, my info says . . .  that start-up date is not very realistic.  Sorry!  Right now, if you arrive in Ecuador, you must first go through a 14-day, stay-in-place quarantine.   No certainty now as to when that quarantine will be removed by Ecuador's government. Plus, getting air flights from mainland Ecuador out to the Galapagos continues as near "Mission Impossible"!!  And, having decent flights from key airports such as Miami in red-hot South Florida are limited and somewhat less than attractive to those older who do not want too much for health/safety risks.  You could summarize . . . "other than those little details, everything is fine".  Right?  

 

Am I missing something or being unfair with that summary and background?  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 240,150 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[Fletcher]

17 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

Am I missing something or being unfair with that summary and background?  

 

 

 

Don't think so Terry.  I can't see the Origin taking on any passengers until deep into 2021.   

 

The mainland is one thing.  Island groups are especially vulnerable.  Pitcairn, for instance, has recently announced a total ban on all cruise ships until April 2021.  

[cruiseej]

It's unusual, though, for Silversea not to have cancelled a cruise that's just a month away, isn't it? Most of the cancellations have been about two months out. I wonder why they're leaving the passengers on the September Origin cruises hanging so close to their trips? Unless they really feel they have a chance to sail??

[clo]

On 8/10/2020 at 12:41 AM, philipb said:

 

Carol, I would have done exactly the same. It's way too early to consider travel to Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. We are booked on the Origin in September 2021, but I m not holding my breath, even that far out!

We're booked for October 2021 and can cancel with no penalty by early June. A solid vaccine is going to be our prerequisite and I'm not optimistic.

[iMarco46]

Inaugural cruise now rescheduled to Oct 3 2020.

https://www.silversea.com/ships/silver-origin.html

[cruiseej]

I wonder why they cancelled just two weeks of cruises? Are there finishing details on the ship they believe they cannot complete in the next couple weeks, or furniture that will be late in arriving? It seems unlikely the coronavirus situation will change appreciably in just two weeks, so if this is coronavirus-related, I would have though they'd cancel at least a month at a time.

[iMarco46]

The Sept 19 and 26 voyages are back up on the web site.

https://www.silversea.com/ships/silver-origin.html

 

 

 

[TLCOhio]

2 hours ago, iMarco46 said:

The Sept 19 and 26 voyages are back up on the web site.

https://www.silversea.com/ships/silver-origin.html

 

Confusing??!!  Under the Aug. 20 update linked at the top of the Silversea website, they clearly have "Silver Origin: OR201003007 - From October 3, 2020, Silver Origin will resume sailing".  With a more limited number of Silversea tech/IT people and/or those working now doing these tasks from home, clearly somebody goofed.  Am sure they will get it corrected during the coming week.   My view/guess is that maybe December or January will be the earliest, if and if, when this new ship will be able to start taking passengers to do sailings in the Galapagos Islands.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 230,846 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

[iMarco46]

It's crazy, TLCOhio (let's be mindful of our commas 😉)

 

https://www.silversea.com/information-on-itinerary-changes.html

 

https://www.silversea.com/ships/silver-origin.html

 

 

 

These are certainly not the only exemplars of the chaos abundant across the travel industry.

 

 

 

[Fletcher]

As the Silver Origin has never undertaken a cruise sailing, how can it 'resume'?  

[philipb]

Who are they kidding?

Sadly, we have this week cancelled our September 2021 b2b on the Origin. The prospect of travelling to South America even 12 months ahead is not appealing, and we would have to start thinking about flight bookings before long which is much too soon. (We go everywhere using 'miles'!)