Silver Spirit now cruising......in Saudi Arabia

[longton]

Silver Spirit is now doing mini cruises from Saudi Arabia. The company obviously needs some money. See this article:

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/silver-spirit-chartered-red-sea-cruises-saudi-summer-campaign

 

Since the cruises are in Saudi waters only I assume the ship will operate in accordance with Saudi religious and social norms: call to prayer through the public address system 5 times a day,  segregated pools and dining, no alcohol, no casino, no live entertainment, no dancing, no nightclub, halal food.

 

A cruise I would definitely NOT like to be on!

 

[Unibok]

43 minutes ago, longton said:

 

Since the cruises are in Saudi waters only I assume the ship will operate in accordance with Saudi religious and social norms: call to prayer through the public address system 5 times a day,  segregated pools and dining, no alcohol, no casino, no live entertainment, no dancing, no nightclub, halal food.

 

A cruise I would definitely NOT like to be on!

 

 

Fortunately for you, it is unlikely you would be invited. If what you say is true, kudos to Silversea for respecting values, beliefs, and norms that are different from their own.

[greykitty]

And returned to port....at least every sailing on every line provides info for regulators and all the lines.

 

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/coronavirus/2020/08/29/Coronavirus-Cruise-ship-in-Saudi-Arabia-returns-after-suspected-COVID-19-case

[Silver Spectre]

4 hours ago, Unibok said:

 

Fortunately for you, it is unlikely you would be invited. If what you say is true, kudos to Silversea for respecting values, beliefs, and norms that are different from their own.

This has been widely reported on other threads over the last two weeks. It is dry though.

[Silver Spectre]

36 minutes ago, greykitty said:

And returned to port....at least every sailing on every line provides info for regulators and all the lines.

 

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/coronavirus/2020/08/29/Coronavirus-Cruise-ship-in-Saudi-Arabia-returns-after-suspected-COVID-19-case

Thanks for the update. It doesn’t say whether it’s a guest or crew though. Not sure if it was a special contract term but some staff are banned from using social media for the duration of the contract.

Edited August 29, 2020 by Silver Spectre

[Emtbsam]

Does anyone know who the senior officers are?

[MBP&O2/O]

In my early years at sea I visited more ‘Arabian Gulf’ ports than you could shake a stick at [emoji849] and most of them insisted that any booze on board was placed in the bonded store ... even if it was a private stash in your cabin. They even refused to allow you to pack it is a suitcase if you were leaving the ship to go to the airport.
Failure to comply was not an option.
Quite strange how the berthing pilots used to manage to leave the ship with a bottle in their bag!? Along with the cartons of fags etc [emoji849]

[Tothesunset]

6 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

berthing pilots used to manage to leave the ship... with the cartons of fags etc

For American readers: don't be shocked. That's the British shorthand for cigarettes. 

[TLCOhio]

9 minutes ago, Tothesunset said:

For American readers: don't be shocked. That's the British shorthand for cigarettes. 

 

Appreciate this great clarification from Tothesunset and the other helpful follow-ups.  Agree that the term "fags" can be very negative-viewed by most on this side of the Atlantic.  Excellent '"educational" effort by our UK friend!!

 

Having this infection and the need to return early are not good signs for Silversea and/or having cruising return at the earliest date.  Much to find out and determine from these types of current sailing attempts. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

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[MBP&O2/O]

For American readers: don't be shocked. That's the British shorthand for cigarettes. 

 

You hope [emoji23]

I may have been referring to the old Public School system [emoji3] Buckshees come in many shapes and forms[emoji4]

[longton]

45 minutes ago, MBP&O2/O said:

 

You hope

I may have been referring to the old Public School system Buckshees come in many shapes and forms

 

And for American readers Public Schools in the UK mean private schools in the US!

Edited August 30, 2020 by longton

[MBP&O2/O]

I wonder if the below has anything to do with it?


https://www.cruiseandferry.net/articles/silverseas-silver-spirit-receives-cip-m-certification-from-dnv-gl-1

[philipb]

On 8/29/2020 at 7:41 PM, greykitty said:

And returned to port....at least every sailing on every line provides info for regulators and all the lines.

 

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/coronavirus/2020/08/29/Coronavirus-Cruise-ship-in-Saudi-Arabia-returns-after-suspected-COVID-19-case

 

Not a good start. I hope the passengers on these cruises treat the crew with the civility they are used to from Westerners. 

[greykitty]

Eh, to be fair, in my mind, no one culture has a monopoly on either being civil, or being rude. 

 

But, yes, I agree I hope all passengers on every ship everywhere treat the crew with the respect they deserve.

[jollyjones]

2 hours ago, greykitty said:

Eh, to be fair, in my mind, no one culture has a monopoly on either being civil, or being rude. 

 

But, yes, I agree I hope all passengers on every ship everywhere treat the crew with the respect they deserve.

Definitely. 
 

Westerners civil, Arabs not - bit of an unjustified leap perhaps?

Edited August 31, 2020 by jollyjones

[Tothesunset]

2 hours ago, philipb said:

 

Not a good start. I hope the passengers on these cruises treat the crew with the civility they are used to from Westerners. 

Casual racism is offensive. This doesn't come into that category. There's nothing casual about it. 

[Randyk47]

The Marine Traffic website shows the Silver Spirit still moored in port so if correct she hasn’t apparently resumed the charter cruises.   Wonder what the plan is now?   Have they cancelled the rest of the charter cruises?

[TLCOhio]

54 minutes ago, Randyk47 said:

The Marine Traffic website shows the Silver Spirit still moored in port so if correct she hasn’t apparently resumed the charter cruises.   Wonder what the plan is now?   Have they cancelled the rest of the charter cruises?

 

Great info and serious questions by Randy.  Agree that "inquiring minds" seek to learn much more.  If the Silver Spirit is still stuck in this Saudi port, then this is not good news for Silversea and others. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

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[Randyk47]

25 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Great info and serious questions by Randy.  Agree that "inquiring minds" seek to learn much more.  If the Silver Spirit is still stuck in this Saudi port, then this is not good news for Silversea and others. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!  Is one of your future desires or past favorites? See these many visual samples for its great history and architecture.  This posting is now at 88,573 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226

I so wanted this to go well.   Kind of a proof of concept or model for getting cruises up and running again.   I’m hoping this is just a pause to reset and apply lessons learned.  This seemed relatively easy and safe.   You sure don’t want to embark 400 +/- passengers first cruise out of the shutdown and find out two days later you have an issue.   Quite frankly it’s what worries me a bit about being on any cruise any time soon and certainly not one of the early ones.   

[spinnaker2]

On 8/29/2020 at 3:39 PM, Emtbsam said:

Does anyone know who the senior officers are?

Mino is captain.

 

I have seen the ship referred to as the Red Sea Spirit.

 

Not sure what is happening but my heart goes out to the crew and pax.

 

I believe there was great exuberance for sailing again. Excitement and anticipation for work by the crew who were taking extreme precautions.

 

 

Perhaps someone here has verified info.

[turtlemichael]

It appears that Silver Spirit is laid up in Saudi with the intention of resuming cruising on September 13 after cancelling a number of the short cruises a day or so into the first one. That would indicate that the suspected Covid-19 case, a passenger, was indeed positive. I imagine they are following Saudi health/quarantine protocols because it would not take 2 weeks to clean the ship.  In the absence of information from Silversea, a good source appears to be "Red Sea Spirit" on Twitter. 

[TLCOhio]

On 9/2/2020 at 12:43 AM, turtlemichael said:

It appears that Silver Spirit is laid up in Saudi with the intention of resuming cruising on September 13 after cancelling a number of the short cruises a day or so into the first one. That would indicate that the suspected Covid-19 case, a passenger, was indeed positive. I imagine they are following Saudi health/quarantine protocols because it would not take 2 weeks to clean the ship.  In the absence of information from Silversea, a good source appears to be "Red Sea Spirit" on Twitter. 

 

Great info and follow-up.  Makes sense that that this Silversea ship could now be limited in port under a 14-day quarantine.  Below is a link and graphic for where in this port the Silver Spirit is now located. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

From this website address: 

https://www.*****/cruise-ship-tracker/silversea-cruises/silver-spirit/

 

[Randyk47]

22 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Great info and follow-up.  Makes sense that that this Silversea ship could now be limited in port under a 14-day quarantine.  Below is a link and graphic for where in this port the Silver Spirit is now located. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

From this website address: 

https://www.*****/cruise-ship-tracker/silversea-cruises/silver-spirit/

 

I just looked at Google Earth to see what King Abdullah Port was like.   Pretty stark and barren.  Interesting they picked that port though it’s not exactly like Saudi Arabia is a big cruise destination with the typical infrastructure for cruise ships.   

[philipb]

I feel so sorry for the poor crew. Are they confined to the ship? I cannot imagine that shore leave will be possible for them. Or am I wrong?

[Randyk47]

16 hours ago, philipb said:

I feel so sorry for the poor crew. Are they confined to the ship? I cannot imagine that shore leave will be possible for them. Or am I wrong?

I’d imagine they are confined to the ship.  I don’t recall any direct messages from the ship about their status.  As I said above there don’t appear to be many if any shoreside facilities in the immediate area.