Venture delayed at least 5 months

[dgannett]

Received this email yesterday.  I know that this has been mentioned in another string, but wanted to provide more detail for Venture specifically.  My wife and I had been booked for the February 2022 Antarctica, South Georgia, and Falkland Islands trip.  We will very likely keep our reservation for 2023.  Yes, this trip is expensive, but with the pandemic, we are saving a lot of money this year with reduced travel, meals out, etc.  I also agree that the compensation offered should have been more than $500 considering the cost of this trip.  Here is the message:

 

August 31, 2020

Dear Seabourn Guest,

The entire Seabourn team extends our well-wishes. We are all looking forward to the time when we will again be able to help you explore our world.

Since you are a valued guest booked on Seabourn Venture’s inaugural season, we are writing to inform you of some changes to her delivery schedule that affect your voyage (booking #------).

Due to the global health situation, earlier this year there were closures at the T. Mariotti shipyard and disruptions to the overall construction and finishing process for the ship. As a result, Seabourn Venture’s debut is now scheduled for December 2021, rather than July 2021 as originally planned. We regret that means we must reschedule your upcoming voyage.

You will be automatically rebooked to the same itinerary sailing one year later, in the same suite at the same rate as your current booking. As a gesture of our appreciation, an Onboard Credit will be applied to your new booking of $500USD per suite.

A new booking number and confirmation will be sent to you within 4 to 6 weeks. While we know you are eager to learn more about your new booking, we ask for your patience as we go through the process of building replacement voyages and rebooking your cruise. We will reach out to you with additional information once your new booking has been created.

When Seabourn Venture joins our fleet in December 2021, she will sail a series of first-ever “Norwegian Winter” voyages where guests may be able to see the Northern Lights. If you would prefer to move your booking to one of these voyages, we are pleased to offer you priority booking before they are open for sale to the general public. They will be available to book in mid-October, and waitlist requests are now being accepted. You will also receive the Onboard Credit referenced above.

Should you have any questions, please reach out to your travel advisor or contact us at the appropriate office:

Seattle Office (USD/CAD Currency):
Contact us at 800-929-9391 or 206-626-9190 (local)
We are available:
Monday – Friday: 7:00am to 5:00pm PST
Saturday: 7:00am to 3:30pm PST

Southampton Office (GBP Currency):
Contact us at 0344 338 8615
We are available Monday – Friday 9:00am to 5:30pm

Rotterdam Office (EUR Currency):
Contact us at 00800 1872 1872
We are available Monday – Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm

Sydney Office (AUD Currency):
Contact us at 13 24 02
We are available Monday – Friday 8:30am to 7:00pm

We extend our most sincere apologies for any inconvenience or disappointment this may cause. Please know that we truly appreciate your patience and understanding of these ongoing circumstances. We cannot wait to welcome you back on board.

Kind regards,

Josh Leibowitz
President, Seabourn

[rkacruiser]

I wonder what the itinerary might be for the "Norwegian Winter" voyages.  Sounds interesting.  

[gary705]

Sounds COLD

 

WE WERE On August of this year, I’ll guess we will wait a year...

 

Gary, Sue form Denver 

[Joc123]

We are booked on inaugural which is now December 11th - 23rd.

 

This means there is no way we can get home for Christmas (very important family time for us). In fact we would be flying Christmas Day even if we leave the ship and go straight to airport.

Not quite sure what to do (did suggest family could join us in London for Christmas but that didn’t go down too well) but we have time to come up with a solution.

 We are disappointed but it’s nobody’s fault and completely out of our hands - there maybe a lovely panorama veranda suite available.

 

[galeforce9]

On 9/1/2020 at 10:05 PM, rkacruiser said:

I wonder what the itinerary might be for the "Norwegian Winter" voyages.  Sounds interesting.  

Been the last two years to Alta, Tromso etc on

a Northern Loghts cruise.  Fantastic! 

[SwankPooch]

I intend to postpone my Holiday Cruise to 2022 instead of requesting a refund.

[dgannett]

Here is the latest email sent out last week:

 

September 14, 2020

 

Dear Seabourn Guest,

 

As previously advised, your 2021/2022 Seabourn Venture booking is being moved to the same itinerary one year later. We are still in the process of building these replacement voyages and rebooking guests’ cruises. We anticipate that you will receive your new booking information by October 14, and thank you for your patience, but are aware that some guests are ready to let us know their choices now.

 

We know that some of our guests may not want to delay their next Seabourn cruise until 2022 or 2023, and have heard from many of you who are interested in moving their booking to Seabourn Venture’s newly announced Norwegian Winter season from December 2021 to April 2022. We are still accepting waitlist requests for priority confirmation on these voyages, which will open for sale to the general public in mid-October.

 

You also have the option of moving your booking to Seabourn Quest, which will now sail South America and Antarctica from November 2021 to April 2022. You can view all of these voyages on our website and advise us of your choice so that we can begin the transfer process now rather than rebooking you to your new Seabourn Venture voyage.

 

When your original booking is transferred to a new Seabourn Venture or Seabourn Quest sailing, as a gesture of our appreciation, we will apply an Onboard Credit of $500 per suite.

 

If you know you do not want to accept the new booking and have not yet chosen a replacement cruise, we will issue you a Future Cruise Credit for the amount paid to Seabourn, up to your base cruise fare, as well as the Onboard Credit referenced above. These credits may be used on any sailing booked within 12 months of the issue date and departing by December 31, 2022.

 

In determining this offer, our team wanted to show our appreciation and provide a gesture of goodwill for choosing to sail with Seabourn. If you prefer not to keep your new booking or transfer to another voyage, and prefer not to receive the Future Cruise Credit and Onboard Credit, you may request a 100% refund of all monies paid to Seabourn to be reimbursed to the original form of payment.

 

All of these options will still be available to you when you receive your new Seabourn Venture booking, but if you have already made up your mind and wish to expedite the process, please complete the form at https://book2.seabourn.com/cp/ before September 28, 2020. The full terms and conditions can be found there.

 

Funds received by Seabourn above the amount used to calculate your Future Cruise Credit may be transferred to your new booking upon request or will be automatically refunded to the method of payment used for the original purchase. This includes Seabourn FlightEase®, Seabourn pre- or post-cruise hotel packages or transfers, prepaid shore excursions and amenities purchased through Seabourn, and taxes, fees, and port expenses.

 

To help you capture your sense of wanderlust for your next trip, we have a variety of offers to help you take advantage of your Future Cruise Credit, including reduced deposits, suite upgrades, and more. Specific terms and details on these programs are available on the Seabourn website.

 

If any portion of your travel was not booked through Seabourn, other booking and cancellation conditions and policies may apply. Most airlines and other travel-related services such as hotels, transportation, and tours are allowing refunds or waiving change fees due to COVID-19; please work directly with those operators regarding their charges.

 

Please note that due to the unprecedented volume of bookings impacted by cancellations, we ask for your continued patience in affording us the time to work through processing these refunds and Future Cruise Credits. We are working hard to make sure every booking is handled accurately and efficiently. You are encouraged to use the online resources we have available as you may experience potential long on-hold wait times when calling the Reservations Call Center.

 

Should you have any questions, please contact your travel advisor or reach out to us at the appropriate office:

 

Seattle Office (USD/CAD currency):
Contact us at 800-929-9391 or 206-626-9190 (local)

We are available:

Monday – Friday 7:00am to 5:00pm PT

Saturday 7:00am - 3:30pm PT

 

Rotterdam Office (EUR Currency):

Contact us at 00800 1872 1872

We are available Monday – Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm

 

Southampton Office (GBP Currency):

Contact us at 0344 338 8615

We are available Monday –Thursday 9:00am to 5:30pm

 

Sydney Office (AUD Currency):

Contact us at 13 24 02

We are available Monday – Friday 8:30am to 7:00pm

 

Thank you again for choosing Seabourn. We look forward to welcoming you on board.

 

Warm Regards,

 

Seabourn