Silver Wind re-fit (conversion)

[les37b]

 

oooh! I was expecting Blue to match the Cloud.

[Stumblefoot]

20 hours ago, les37b said:

 

oooh! I was expecting Blue to match the Cloud.

Nope.  They’ve gone back to one standard color scheme for the entire fleet.

[cruiseej]

@mspjerry The link you posted was gobbled up by Cruise Critic. Can you name the site without a full URL? Or was there any information other than the picture? Is the ship being floated out? Renovations complete? 

[mspjerry]

4 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

@mspjerry The link you posted was gobbled up by Cruise Critic. Can you name the site without a full URL? Or was there any information other than the picture? Is the ship being floated out? Renovations complete? 

Silversea Passengers on Facebook posted by Barbara Muckermann

[PaulMCO]

Here is the complete set

 

[carefreecruise]

She looks good. I heard on Friday that the Wind will be out a little early and have already planned for voyages in May or June 2022. They Don't appear on the website yet but should start showing in the next 30 days. 

[daddyo]

Good news. We were notified that our 6/11 Lisbon to Reykjavik voyage has been changed from the Cloud to the Wind. 

[gnld]

On 11/1/2021 at 4:59 PM, carefreecruise said:

She looks good. I heard on Friday that the Wind will be out a little early and have already planned for voyages in May or June 2022. They Don't appear on the website yet but should start showing in the next 30 days. 

First Wind voyage now shown on SS website is 28 May 2022, Athens to Lisbon.

[cruiseej]

I noticed that the Wind has left the shipyard in Gdansk. I'm not sure when that happened, but I think within the past week. She's sitting anchored off the coast of Poland, about 2 miles north of Gdansk. I don' know there are sea trials to go through, or if the work is done and it's now just a matter of waiting until spring to re-enter service.

 

Sad... we were supposed to be boarding her in a week for our holiday Antarctica expedition. 😢

[cruiseej]

And today she's underway, at pretty high speed, leaving Poland enroute to Gibraltar. Perhaps going to lay up somewhere in the Mediterranean for the winter? Its first cruise is May 28 from Athens. 

 

Renovations were apparently completed in mid-November, as confirmed by Seatrade Cruise News.  So Silversea could have had the ship cross the Atlantic and running cruises from December through the end of the Antartica season, missing only its first few scheduled cruises. It's therefore clearer than ever that Silversea canceled the Wind's winter and spring season not so much because of delays with the renovation, but because the Cloud's world cruise starting in January was canceled, and they could use the Cloud to pick up the Wind's cruises from late January on. Unfortunately, those of us who were booked on Wind cruises in December and January got dumped in order for Silversea to solve its problem with the Cloud having nowhere to go after January. They blamed it on delays in the renovation of the Wind due to global supply chain issues, but it's now clear that was mostly untrue; the renovation was a little late, but not so late they couldn't have been sailing to Antartica in December and beyond with only one or two missed cruises.

 

I understand from their point of view why they did what they did, but I'm disappointed they weren't more honest about it, and didn't do more for passengers who were booked on the cruises there canceled for operational efficiency. (We've rebooked for next December because that's the only time that worked for us to do one of the few cruises to South Georgia Island; unfortunately, that trip next year is on the Cloud, so we don't even get the benefit of sailing on the newly-renovated ship we waited two years for.)

 

Best wishes to all who were able to rebook their Wind trips this winter over to the Cloud so you'll get to travel this season. We'll be reading your reports with envy. 😉

Edited December 13, 2021 by cruiseej

[WesW]

Thanks Eric; we will b on the Cloud for the Holiday Antarctica voyage next Tuesday.  However, would have preferred the Wind Solar Eclipse voyage late last month, that included South Georgia.  We look forward to boarding the Cloud again (last time on board was last March 22) but don't look forward to multiple Covid tests--but this is reality so we will deal with it.

[TERubacky]

On 12/13/2021 at 3:37 PM, cruiseej said:

 

 

Renovations were apparently completed in mid-November, as confirmed by Seatrade Cruise News.

to be accurate, Seatrade reported that she left the shipyard. Nowhere did they or anyone else say the refit was completed. My understanding is that the physical/structural work was completed by the shipyard but there remain an abundance of finishing items such as furniture, light fixtures, etc that have yet to be delivered and installed.

[WesW]

Thanks Tim.  This may explain why Silversea canceled the Wind's Antarctica season this winter.

[cruiseej]

4 hours ago, TERubacky said:

My understanding is that the physical/structural work was completed by the shipyard but there remain an abundance of finishing items such as furniture, light fixtures, etc that have yet to be delivered and installed.

 

So she's sailing back to a different shipyard in Italy or Malta for the finishing work on the hotel side? And they re-routed shipment of all those parts and supplies to the other side of Europe? I guess that's the global economy at work (or not).

[jpalbny]

2 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

So she's sailing back to a different shipyard in Italy or Malta for the finishing work on the hotel side? And they re-routed shipment of all those parts and supplies to the other side of Europe? I guess that's the global economy at work (or not).

 

If they could manage to do that, they'd be pretty good (or lucky; either will probably work at this point). My parts guy at the local Audi dealership had to jump through a lot of hoops just to get me a set of winter wheels and tires for my car this winter, before the snow hits in earnest. He said that the global supply chain is a complete mess.

 

So I can only imagine how complicated it would be to procure enough supplies to outfit a cruise ship, and arrange for them to be where you need them to be in order to install them. Kudos to SS if they can manage to pull this off!

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

…Audi dealership had to jump through a lot of hoops just to get me a set of winter wheels and tires for my car this winter, before the snow hits in earnest.

Hakkapeliittas?

[jpalbny]

42 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

Hakkapeliittas?

 

LOL! They would be apropos for our upcoming trip I suppose. But no, they were Pirelli Sottozero. Haven't had a chance to try them in real snow yet.

[cruiseej]

6 hours ago, jpalbny said:

I can only imagine how complicated it would be to procure enough supplies to outfit a cruise ship, and arrange for them to be where you need them to be in order to install them.

 

Keep in mind that this renovation was originally supposed to be done in Malta starting in August 2020, so many parts and supplies would have already been ordered before the pandemic. Then the dry dock was pushed to spring 2021, still in Malta. Then pushed to fall 2021, still in Malta. But then transplanted to Gdansk in June. So presumably any materials and supplies sent to Malta had to be shipped or re-routed to Poland. And now to... wherever she's headed for more work? 

 

Here's why I've said things don't add up to simply being supply chain fixture problems. The original renovation in Malta was scheduled for two months. After the ship had been at the Poland shipyard for three months, starting June 2, Silversea announced on September 8 -- with fanfare and press releases -- that the Wind and Cloud would both be sailing to Antarctica from Punta Arenas, Chile this winter. Since the first cruise from South America was scheduled for mid-November, Silversea clearly thought in early September that the ship was within about 6 weeks of completion of the work. Yet just four weeks later, on October 7, they announced not just a small delay causing the cancellation of the first cruise or two, but the cancellation of the Wind's entire winter and spring cruises. How could things have been on schedule -- or close enough to announce on September 8 that the cruises were going ahead -- and yet within a month be so far behind schedule to cancel months of cruises and to need to send the ship elsewhere to complete the renovation? 

[taxatty]

11 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

Keep in mind that this renovation was originally supposed to be done in Malta starting in August 2020, so many parts and supplies would have already been ordered before the pandemic. Then the dry dock was pushed to spring 2021, still in Malta. Then pushed to fall 2021, still in Malta. But then transplanted to Gdansk in June. So presumably any materials and supplies sent to Malta had to be shipped or re-routed to Poland. And now to... wherever she's headed for more work? 

 

Here's why I've said things don't add up to simply being supply chain fixture problems. The original renovation in Malta was scheduled for two months. After the ship had been at the Poland shipyard for three months, starting June 2, Silversea announced on September 8 -- with fanfare and press releases -- that the Wind and Cloud would both be sailing to Antarctica from Punta Arenas, Chile this winter. Since the first cruise from South America was scheduled for mid-November, Silversea clearly thought in early September that the ship was within about 6 weeks of completion of the work. Yet just four weeks later, on October 7, they announced not just a small delay causing the cancellation of the first cruise or two, but the cancellation of the Wind's entire winter and spring cruises. How could things have been on schedule -- or close enough to announce on September 8 that the cruises were going ahead -- and yet within a month be so far behind schedule to cancel months of cruises and to need to send the ship elsewhere to complete the renovation? 

It's also conceivable that in early October, after delaying the decision for as long as practically possible, SS finally decided that given the continuing pandemic issues, it couldn't fill with passengers and/or handle logistically (with crew, chartered or scheduled flights, hotels, provisioning, local government red tape or whatever) three ships for the 2021-2022 Antarctica season.

[cruiseej]

2 hours ago, taxatty said:

It's also conceivable that in early October, after delaying the decision for as long as practically possible, SS finally decided that given the continuing pandemic issues, it couldn't fill with passengers and/or handle logistically (with crew, chartered or scheduled flights, hotels, provisioning, local government red tape or whatever) three ships for the 2021-2022 Antarctica season.

 

Well, if those reasons were true, then they outright lied to those of us booked to cruises this winter. I hope that's not the case. But I really don't think it was an issue with Chile, where they are successfully sailing two ships, nor airlines or hotels, since everyone's tickets and rooms were booked. And while it's possible they were unable to hire enough crew to staff the ship, since they had been planning for this all through the spring, summer and into the fall, that seems unlikely to me as well.

 

The part that still puzzles me is what changed so significantly in the renovation between September 8, when they said "all systems go!", and October 7, when they canceled the Wind's season. The answer, it seems, is that shortly before canceling the Wind cruises, Silversea canceled the Cloud's world cruise which was to start in late January. As I've written before, I think this is the key to the cancelation of the Wind. They blamed supply chain issues delaying the renovation -- and I have no doubt that there were delays and that the ship was likely going to be a little late being finished. But remember that as of September 8, they stated with proud press releases the Wind would be sailing this winter, presumably heading from Poland to South America within 5 or 6 weeks of the announcement. But when they decided to cancel the Cloud's cruises from late January into July, that left them with an empty ship at the tip of South America with nowhere to go. So they decided it was more expedient and saved them money to move all the Wind's scheduled cruises from late January on over to the Cloud, and to just cancel the Wind's November through January cruises (the first one or two of which likely would have been canceled anyway due to delays in the renovation). Those of us on the Wind in December and January were, it seems, collateral damage from the cancellation of the Cloud's world cruise. I just wish they would have been more transparent that this was a money-saving decision, not that it was impossible to sail the Wind this winter.

 

And if the Wind renovation is actually several months behind, and truly could not have been completed until January, then how is it possible that Silversea management did not know this when they announced on September 8 that the Wind would be sailing within weeks for its winter season in Antarctica?

 

[PINEY10]

I kind of agree with you.  SS was not at all prepared or have considered options sufficiently in advance. We switched to the 11/14 cloud sailing.  Many of us call it the Guinea pig sailing as it was the first time it sailed since march 2020.  Not to mention taking on a group of passengers who were exposed to COVID through others traveling in the same group. Two were unable to board due to positive tests, but the other gang of 5 who travelled with them were allowed on. Contact tracing?  Not done and unknown why other than this group chartered their own jet to arrive, were frequent SS cruisers, and billionaires.  Need I say more. Group was luckily quarantined from beginning but due to even allowing them on they ultimately had to be airlifted out of Antarctica as one was really sick and ultimately passed away .  A fatal mistake by SS in many of our minds and potentially exposed passengers and crew to COVID. Our butler was “in training” for 5 days as his roommate worked for the gang of 5. That mistake catapulted into others, most importantly passengers all missing air connections due to extraordinary delay in disembarking which caused an incredibly chaotic experience at Punta arenas where we all had to get our own flights back to Santiago.  
 

ido think there was a staffing issue as well as many of the housekeeping staff were new and not well trained although there were some extraordinary standouts.  Boutique was not stocked with anything and spa was closed for a few days due to soft quarantine. IMHO there was insufficient planning all around as it did not appear SS anticipated issues even though they would be clear to anyone.  The expedition leader didn’t know his own team (the ship was in port for 3 weeks) and may not have been the best for this venture as I understand he is leaving SS to go elsewhere. However, the expedition team was simply awesome.  Best part of the cruise, reception staff great and food excellent. 
 

The trip was awesome, no question about it, but hiccups took away, particularly with chaos at airport in Punta Arenas. Weather we were very lucky with. 

Edited December 16, 2021 by PINEY10

[Stumblefoot]

6 hours ago, PINEY10 said:

…due to extraordinary delay in disembarking which caused an incredibly chaotic experience at Punta arenas where we all had to get our own flights back to Santiago.

This may be a really stupid question, but why did all passengers have to make their own arrangements back to Santiago?  I thought SS chartered an aircraft for all of their Antarctica voyages?  At least they did pre-pandemic when we sailed SS to South Georgia and Antarctica.

 

Based on what you experienced throughout your voyage, I would have been ticked off, especially when one considers the cost of Antarctic voyages.

[PINEY10]

On disembarkation day, Actually we could not disembark the ship or even go into port.  We were required to leave our room at 8 and we’re stuck in common areas until 3.  We were awaiting results from the pcr tests required to get back into Chile.  An antigen test usually what was required but because of the gang of 5 COVID exposure Chile required pcr tests which were taken in the early evening the night before.  Took way too long, of course no explanation or plans a, b, c, etc for this anticipated issue.  So . . . Charter flight was cancelled. Obviously SS knew the minute we were leaving ship as it was cancelled before then and no plan was articulated to us nor was there a PLAN to deal with the situation  Once we got go ahead to start leaving ship at 3, we were never notified the charter to Santiago was cancelled.  Only after about 30 minutes sitting in buses at airport were we told. Again, in all that time, no plan by SS.  We all missed our scheduled connecting flights that evening if leaving that day.  The airport was sheer pandemonium with man against man trying to get on flight. SS ground staff inept, disorganized, a total disaster.  Really left a bad stench for many of us and largely all due to SS mistake in allowing the gang of 5 to go on cruise. Plus, maybe should have gotten to Chile sooner to get tests completed in time   

Edited December 17, 2021 by PINEY10

[cruiseej]

Since our Wind cruise in December 2021 was canceled, and we re-booked on the Cloud for December 2022, I shouldn't care about the fate of the Wind — but I can't keep following what's happening with the ship. 😉

And I haven't seen anything in a few months. After leaving the shipyard in Gdansk, Poland in late November, the Wind sailed to the Mediterranean, where she's currently docked in Souda, Greece (on the island of Crete). A close-up Google satellite image of where the ship is docked shows it's a commercial dock, not a shipyard where construction would be taking place. So is the renovation now 100% complete, and she's just tied up awaiting the resumption of cruising in two months?  Or is there a further delay in finishing the renovation? I would think Silversea would make a big announcement of the completion of the work, but perhaps not until it's scheduled to resume service in May.  Just curious if anyone seen anything about the status of the Wind… 

[FauxNom]

58 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

So is the renovation now 100% complete, and she's just tied up awaiting the resumption of cruising in two months?

Gosh, I hope so because I have a tentative booking on the first voyage, May 28. I know everyone says to avoid the shakedown cruise, but the itinerary is amazing and the price is nicely discounted if you can live with port-to-port. Is anyone else taking the plunge?