Silver Moon 3 Jan 2022 it's finally here! Feedback.... And any Questions, fire away.

[Tothesunset]

 

Following the saga unfolding on Moon with great sympathy. I shouldn't be surprised if today's testing doesn't lead to a membership increase of the Moon Corona Club. 

 

I've noticed that the reports of positive tests on other ships has concentrated on the number of positives and the quarantine measures yet no mention of anyone taken seriously ill. 

 

Are we at the point where the "cure" is worse than the disease? 

[Trailcreek]

Hey Les, so glad things are improving. Hard to believe the number of passengers that will be on the Moon going to BA. Wonder how many have decided to stay on until Chile, which is also not the friendliest place to get stuck and have to quarantine. I have checked with SS and the BA port website and both still list the Moon arriving on 9 February and departing on the 10th. Do you know for certain the ship is not going to Argentina. We are one of the brave few who has not cancelled and will be arriving tomorrow and boarding in Guayaquil, if all goes according to plan.  It will feel very strange to be on a ship that is so empty. Just hope there are enough people around to make the cruise fun. Meeting new people and sharing the experience is half the enjoyment of cruising.
if you are still on board it would be great to meet up for a drink and thank you personally for all your updates. Until then, stay safe and may the only thing negative in your life be your COVID test. 

 

[CrusinPaul]

Unfortunately Argentina is not allowing cruise ships to dock and therefore I do believe officially you will not stop in BA. That’s why Antarctica trips have  switched to chile . 
Your turn around port will probably be Montevideo urguay. 

[Trailcreek]

Curious on where you read or heard that Argentina has closed it boarders to cruise ships. Both SS and the the port authority in BA list ships arriving in February. I know that flights are still flying in and out of Argentina. Could you please send me the link that shows that ports in Argentina have closed their boarders. Thanks. 

[RetiredandTravel]

Les great to hear things are turning around some

 

Out of curiosity are the Grand Voyage folks that shelled out $100+k for 2 getting any sort of refund or future credit?

[les37b]

3 hours ago, Trailcreek said:

Hey Les, so glad things are improving. Hard to believe the number of passengers that will be on the Moon going to BA. Wonder how many have decided to stay on until Chile, which is also not the friendliest place to get stuck and have to quarantine. I have checked with SS and the BA port website and both still list the Moon arriving on 9 February and departing on the 10th. Do you know for certain the ship is not going to Argentina. We are one of the brave few who has not cancelled and will be arriving tomorrow and boarding in Guayaquil, if all goes according to plan.  It will feel very strange to be on a ship that is so empty. Just hope there are enough people around to make the cruise fun. Meeting new people and sharing the experience is half the enjoyment of cruising.
if you are still on board it would be great to meet up for a drink and thank you personally for all your updates. Until then, stay safe and may the only thing negative in your life be your COVID test. 

 

 

Amen to the last bit!

 

Yes I am sure BA is closed. Once the ship has left Chile, next stop I've just been told is Uruguay on 8 (or 9) of Feb. Head in a bit of spin for reasons I'll explain.

 

The ladies have continued to be in good health and have east other as company to speak over the balcony which makes a huge difference. It's been mental torture for them. The food has continued to be hot which we are grateful for.

 

Yesterday was the "Biggie" PCR test. Unfortunately their results remained positive. I thought "no news was good news", but now know they have been getting the results back prioritising for those on a tour. I'm pleased to say the other husband is still negative. My result still hasn't come in, so my confidence just deflated. We shall see.

 

GS called this morning before we got that info and thought "oh no this is it".... It was a little confusing as I could hear a secondary conversation mentioning the other guest name and thought it's either a positive or close contact call. The phone got hung up before I could speak, so went to the desk and asked to sit.

 

I met with the GSM and HD who explained our wives were still positive and what our options were. Phew, it wasn't what I'd feared, though even as I type I still don't know my result.

 

We were optioned the option of quarantine in guiyaquil in the 5* hotel you are probably staying. We (the other guy was there by now) declined and opted for option B and that was stay on the ship. Because we had already said that's what we would prefer, our names were already down on the wild card passes to be on the ship until our mobility pass comes through. Until that does, we have permission from Chile to be onboard but not leave the ship. In the event it's declined or doesn't come in time, we have to remain on board until Montevideo arriving on the 8th Feb. Hence the reason I wasn't sure.my head was spinning.

 

Nothing would please me more than be on the plane home tomorrow, but it's not to be and just unfortunate.

 

We can tell you we are certainly happy with the response by SS to our plight.

 

Finally learned..., Negative again.... JP sign me up! (Private joke!)

 

We've finally been given clearance and good to leave the ship. The shuttle bus is great. First one I've thought that.

 

All guests photographed on leaving. No idea what that was about.

 

Aware that one of the 7 positives is an Irish couple who would also have been on our flight home. Husband tested negative but elected to keep her company in the red zone.

 

Trailbreak. I don't have a link and even grand voyagers were not conversant about the change but know now. We got told if the mobility pass doesn't come through we will be on until the next stop..... Uruguay.

 

Retired and travel.  No idea. I won't be asking. I'm happy enough they have let us stay on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[schnapperin]

3 hours ago, Paul 8718 said:

Unfortunately Argentina is not allowing cruise ships to dock and therefore I do believe officially you will not stop in BA. That’s why Antarctica trips have  switched to chile . 
Your turn around port will probably be Montevideo urguay. 

Argentina is allowing cruise ships to arrive (see current ship activities in Usuhaia) but they have strict requirements in case of positive cases on board, that’s why Argentina might be skipped. 
 

a few Antartica cruises were re-located this season because it wasn’t sure if travel restrictions in Argentina would be lifted in time compared to Chile

[jpalbny]

1 hour ago, les37b said:

Finally learned..., Negative again.... JP sign me up! (Private joke!)

 

A regular Rasputin, you are! Congratulations and hope Mrs. Les is sprung free of her cage soon. 

[Trailcreek]

Correct just got the email from SS. My TA is trying to cancel our cruise, currently at airport getting ready to fly to Guayaquil. SS is being difficult, still trying to work out an agreement. The numbers in Chile is rising and it could close as well, a bad situation all around.  My husband is saying he will not go. So it looks like we will not be having that drink. 😔

[les37b]

31 minutes ago, Trailcreek said:

Correct just got the email from SS. My TA is trying to cancel our cruise, currently at airport getting ready to fly to Guayaquil. SS is being difficult, still trying to work out an agreement. The numbers in Chile is rising and it could close as well, a bad situation all around.  My husband is saying he will not go. So it looks like we will not be having that drink. 😔

 

Oh my days..... Well if that is the case, the FLL reversal could well be on. 

 

I guess a 20 days at sea cruise doesn't sound like much fun. It's not something the ship has shared with us.....I will go sleuthing. I wouldn't blame anyone for from dropping 20 days at sea,. We have our mobility passes for Chile which might not be needed. I've a friend meant to be on Explorer on about the 26.... This won't go down well

 

 

 

[Lois R]

Hi Les,  I think I need to go back and re-read your plight from the beginning.......but before I do that, did you just post that you are going to have to stay on board until FEB 8th?.and I know you sailed on Jan 3rd............I can understand your head may be spinning........I have gotten a bit confused reading this all too.

[jimmajimma]

The itinerary (Guayaquil to BA) was officially changed about a week ago. It has been know for quite some time time by Silversea that Argentina was a no go.

 

I was supposed to go on this segment (Guayaquil to Buenos Aires)  but was fortunate enough to be informed by an anonymous source of the new itinerary last Thursday. When I found out that the revised sailing only included Chile (maybe/depending on Covid results) and disembarkation was in Montevideo, that was enough for me to make decision to not proceed.

 

Unfortunately, SIlversea has chosen not to be transparent and sent out letters a few hours ago (24 hours before embarkation) to give passengers the revised itinerary. It was exactly the same itinerary as the one I saw last Thursday - so what were they waiting for?? 

 

I assume they did this because everyone would have had to be in transit by now in order to reach Guayaquil to board the ship tomorrow unless you actually live in Ecuador.

 

Since I had info from an anonymous source and I promised her/him I wouldn't post anything, I haven't until now. But now the letters have been sent out and the new itinerary is out there, I feel that everyone should know how this really transpired.  It was NOT a last minute change.

 

I have a lot more detail about how the past 6 days have gone for me personally regarding this but I think you will all get the general idea from what I have written.

 

I'm sure the changed itinerary would not have affected some passenger's decision on whether to go or not. But the revised itinerary should have been communicated a week ago so that anyone on this segment could have made an informed decision on whether to proceed. Now it is too late as most people are probably reading this email upon arrival in Guayaquil.

 

I will be cancelling future bookings with SIlversea based on the horrific lack of information and obvious calculated lack of transparency.

 

[Focused1]

We were also scheduled to be on the Jan 19 cruise from Ecuador to BA and cancelled about 10 days ago when we heard the same thing. Silversea has done its loyal customers a great disservice.  I feel terrible for those brave folks who ventured out and now will learn the truth. It is not Silversea’s fault that these countries are closing to cruise ships, but it is their fault for not conveying information quickly and decisively. 

[Silver Spectre]

6 hours ago, Trailcreek said:

Curious on where you read or heard that Argentina has closed it boarders to cruise ships. Both SS and the the port authority in BA list ships arriving in February. I know that flights are still flying in and out of Argentina. Could you please send me the link that shows that ports in Argentina have closed their boarders. Thanks. 

BM posted on FB that Argentina was being difficult last week, which was why they moved from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas for their Antarctic voyages. I posted this on one of the CC threads last week to give people a heads up. 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Silver Spectre

[Silver Spectre]

4 hours ago, les37b said:

 

Amen to the last bit!

 

Yes I am sure BA is closed. Once the ship has left Chile, next stop I've just been told is Uruguay on 8 (or 9) of Feb. Head in a bit of spin for reasons I'll explain.

 

The ladies have continued to be in good health and have east other as company to speak over the balcony which makes a huge difference. It's been mental torture for them. The food has continued to be hot which we are grateful for.

 

Yesterday was the "Biggie" PCR test. Unfortunately their results remained positive. I thought "no news was good news", but now know they have been getting the results back prioritising for those on a tour. I'm pleased to say the other husband is still negative. My result still hasn't come in, so my confidence just deflated. We shall see.

 

GS called this morning before we got that info and thought "oh no this is it".... It was a little confusing as I could hear a secondary conversation mentioning the other guest name and thought it's either a positive or close contact call. The phone got hung up before I could speak, so went to the desk and asked to sit.

 

I met with the GSM and HD who explained our wives were still positive and what our options were. Phew, it wasn't what I'd feared, though even as I type I still don't know my result.

 

We were optioned the option of quarantine in guiyaquil in the 5* hotel you are probably staying. We (the other guy was there by now) declined and opted for option B and that was stay on the ship. Because we had already said that's what we would prefer, our names were already down on the wild card passes to be on the ship until our mobility pass comes through. Until that does, we have permission from Chile to be onboard but not leave the ship. In the event it's declined or doesn't come in time, we have to remain on board until Montevideo arriving on the 8th Feb. Hence the reason I wasn't sure.my head was spinning.

 

Nothing would please me more than be on the plane home tomorrow, but it's not to be and just unfortunate.

 

We can tell you we are certainly happy with the response by SS to our plight.

 

Finally learned..., Negative again.... JP sign me up! (Private joke!)

 

We've finally been given clearance and good to leave the ship. The shuttle bus is great. First one I've thought that.

 

All guests photographed on leaving. No idea what that was about.

 

Aware that one of the 7 positives is an Irish couple who would also have been on our flight home. Husband tested negative but elected to keep her company in the red zone.

 

Trailbreak. I don't have a link and even grand voyagers were not conversant about the change but know now. We got told if the mobility pass doesn't come through we will be on until the next stop..... Uruguay.

 

Retired and travel.  No idea. I won't be asking. I'm happy enough they have let us stay on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glad to hear you are still negative Les, is that 4 PCR’s and 6 days now.

[Silver Spectre]

3 hours ago, Trailcreek said:

Correct just got the email from SS. My TA is trying to cancel our cruise, currently at airport getting ready to fly to Guayaquil. SS is being difficult, still trying to work out an agreement. The numbers in Chile is rising and it could close as well, a bad situation all around.  My husband is saying he will not go. So it looks like we will not be having that drink. 😔

Very sad to hear that, did the SS letter give you an option to cancel and get a refund.

[les37b]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Hi Les,  I think I need to go back and re-read your plight from the beginning.......but before I do that, did you just post that you are going to have to stay on board until FEB 8th?.and I know you sailed on Jan 3rd............I can understand your head may be spinning........I have gotten a bit confused reading this all too.

 

No it's not an option. Rather a possibility we remain captive if the Chilean Mobility Pass didn't come through. But it has, so all things equal (ie Chile doesn't close borders, test positive or some other oddity) we remain in the care of SS until the 27 Jan. 

 

It's not much fun when you're in quarantine, or your partner is, so whilst we are very happy SS were able to be accomodating, I would much prefer to be leaving tomorrow and fly home. By tomorrow it will be 6 days seperated. It's not much fun - particularly when you continue to soft isolate.

 

The alternative was 14 nights in Guiyaquil and risk of not passing their PCR. We will leave the ship with a doctor's certificate stating COVID recovered.

 

No one seems to have heard the Chile cancelled rumour, so today we are still all systems go.

 

If I hadn't mentioned, the total number of cases is 9, which is actually remarkable. I'm amazed. Some of the grand voyagers were not aware of the change to miss out Argentina, but I trust most now are. Certainly the lady I've spoken with just literally fount out.

 

 

 

[Silver Spectre]

There’s a FB post from one of the positive guests from the Explorer who is currently in the Santiago Ritz Carlton, courtesy of SS and has just found out that Chile are ignoring their shipboard isolation days and they will have to be isolated in Chile for between 7 and 10 more days.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Silver Spectre

[jimmajimma]

3 hours ago, Trailcreek said:

Correct just got the email from SS. My TA is trying to cancel our cruise, currently at airport getting ready to fly to Guayaquil. SS is being difficult, still trying to work out an agreement. The numbers in Chile is rising and it could close as well, a bad situation all around.  My husband is saying he will not go. So it looks like we will not be having that drink. 😔

Trailcreek - Please see my post from about an hour ago.  If you would like to know more about the outcome I had with Silversea regarding my cancellation saga over the past 6 days, please feel free to include your email or any other way of contacting you in a post. I want to remain as anonymous as possible but will share more details as needed on a one to one basis.

[jimmajimma]

1 hour ago, les37b said:

 

No it's not an option. Rather a possibility we remain captive if the Chilean Mobility Pass didn't come through. But it has, so all things equal (ie Chile doesn't close borders, test positive or some other oddity) we remain in the care of SS until the 27 Jan. 

 

It's not much fun when you're in quarantine, or your partner is, so whilst we are very happy SS were able to be accomodating, I would much prefer to be leaving tomorrow and fly home. By tomorrow it will be 6 days seperated. It's not much fun - particularly when you continue to soft isolate.

 

The alternative was 14 nights in Guiyaquil and risk of not passing their PCR. We will leave the ship with a doctor's certificate stating COVID recovered.

 

No one seems to have heard the Chile cancelled rumour, so today we are still all systems go.

 

If I hadn't mentioned, the total number of cases is 9, which is actually remarkable. I'm amazed. Some of the grand voyagers were not aware of the change to miss out Argentina, but I trust most now are. Certainly the lady I've spoken with just literally fount out.

 

 

 

Les - take a look at how things transpired for me with the Guayaquil to BA segment in my post above.

[cece50]

2 hours ago, jimmajimma said:

The itinerary (Guayaquil to BA) was officially changed about a week ago. It has been know for quite some time time by Silversea that Argentina was a no go.

 

I was supposed to go on this segment (Guayaquil to Buenos Aires)  but was fortunate enough to be informed by an anonymous source of the new itinerary last Thursday. When I found out that the revised sailing only included Chile (maybe/depending on Covid results) and disembarkation was in Montevideo, that was enough for me to make decision to not proceed.

 

Unfortunately, SIlversea has chosen not to be transparent and sent out letters a few hours ago (24 hours before embarkation) to give passengers the revised itinerary. It was exactly the same itinerary as the one I saw last Thursday - so what were they waiting for?? 

 

I assume they did this because everyone would have had to be in transit by now in order to reach Guayaquil to board the ship tomorrow unless you actually live in Ecuador.

 

Since I had info from an anonymous source and I promised her/him I wouldn't post anything, I haven't until now. But now the letters have been sent out and the new itinerary is out there, I feel that everyone should know how this really transpired.  It was NOT a last minute change.

 

I have a lot more detail about how the past 6 days have gone for me personally regarding this but I think you will all get the general idea from what I have written.

 

I'm sure the changed itinerary would not have affected some passenger's decision on whether to go or not. But the revised itinerary should have been communicated a week ago so that anyone on this segment could have made an informed decision on whether to proceed. Now it is too late as most people are probably reading this email upon arrival in Guayaquil.

 

I will be cancelling future bookings with SIlversea based on the horrific lack of information and obvious calculated lack of transparency.

 

That’s is just awful.  I don’t think

I could trust Silversea on just about anything at this point in time.  What a fall from grace as perception is everything.   We had an early inkling of Silversea not being upfront way back when we booked the original inaugural of the Dawn.  Was assured over & over that it was a go, to only find out from people we know in Italy near the shipyard that it was never on schedule. Fortunately, Barbara worked with our TA to get a timely refund. People respect communication that is timely & honest, even if it’s not what we want to hear. For us, that trust must be earned back. 

Edited January 19, 2022 by cece50

[les37b]

7 hours ago, Trailcreek said:

Correct just got the email from SS. My TA is trying to cancel our cruise, currently at airport getting ready to fly to Guayaquil. SS is being difficult, still trying to work out an agreement. The numbers in Chile is rising and it could close as well, a bad situation all around.  My husband is saying he will not go. So it looks like we will not be having that drink. 😔

 

I'd love to have that drink but respect wherever decision you take..

 

Salt bar makes the best... 

 

[les37b]

Those disembarking today were offered a free antigen test to fly yesterday. I think most have had s great time unless they were directly affected with a positive test or contact isolation. I have to say with that in place I'd be wary going forward particularly if in distant lands.

 

 

This morning, everyone must be out of the rooms by 8am so all rooms can be cleaned. Breakfast available as usual. Those disembarking need to be off the ship by 9.30 Those remaining need to go to Panarama (unless I'm a tour) A ship wide clean takes place at this time. No leaving the ship to go ashore unless on a trip. With only one port between now and disembarkation for us, staying on the ship is a feature now for guests who once leaving Chile only have one stop in Uraguay to look forward too before Bridgetown.

 

It's been a valiant effort, but the uncertainly of itinerary and quarantine / self isolation make it too risky in my book unless you have the time on your hands and except it's probably not quite going to go as expected. That's my view anyway.

 

It's been mostly fun.

 

 

[seaver]

Les, What your guess-estimate for how many will be aboard by the time we board in Bridgetown?

[Trailcreek]

Thanks everyone. We were all packed up and waiting for our driver to pick us up and take us to the airport to fly to Lima and then catch a plane to Guayaquil when my husband got the email from SS. We had jumped through all the hoops required to go on this trip. Health insurance, a negative PCR test, QR codes, forms, etc. I have a folder an inch thick of documents that were required. What distresses me the most is my TA and I have been in contact with SS operations about schedule changes since Friday. They kept assuring us that there were no changes. We even called yesterday morning and asked them again if their was ANY rumblings about Argentina. They said there no foreseeable itinerary changes. This was yesterday morning. My husband said he was not going even if it could not get a dime back because he could no longer trust SS. He felt their practices were deceptive and they were giving out disinformation.  We immediately called our TA, who never received the information about the schedule change. She called SS and told them we wanted to cancel because this was not the cruise we had purchased and they were going to leave us in Montevideo with no plans of how we were going to get to Buenos Aires to catch our plane back home since we did not purchase their air. SS told her they need to talk to a supervisor to get a FCC. They did not call her back and when she called back they did not answer the phone. Finally after 4 hours and many attempts she was able to get someone to issue us a credit. We have been loyal SS customers and felt this was inexcusable. This is corporate not a reflection on the individuals who work for SS and seem to have a done a wonderful job aboard the Moon.  Sorry for the long story. Yes thank you and we will contact you for the real story.

ekfastow@gmail.com