Asia Cruising

[ronrick1943]

Just got word that “CELEBRITY CRUIES” just cancelled all Asia cruises until April 2023 because of uncertainly in the region.  One can only

hope that other lines like Silversea will be making a statement so customers can make plans.  So well it be a go or a cancel Silversea?

[mari10]

We are scheduled(again)  for November Hong Kong to Singapore. 
I read that as well about Celebrity and  other cruise lines pulling out of Asia sailings.  Someone mentioned Silversea would still sail but minus Hong Kong, which for me  would ruin the itinerary. 
I hope we know soon enough.

[ronrick1943]

3 minutes ago, mari10 said:

We are scheduled(again)  for November Hong Kong to Singapore. 
I read that as well about Celebrity and  other cruise lines pulling out of Asia sailings.  Someone mentioned Silversea would still sail but minus Hong Kong, which for me  would ruin the itinerary. 
I hope we know soon enough.

Us too, we have Singapore to Hong Kong in January —also got go air fair out of Hong Kong.

[Stumblefoot]

38 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

One can only hope that other lines like Silversea will be making a statement so customers can make plans.  So well it be a go or a cancel Silversea?

Based on prior cancellations by Silversea, the earliest Silversea cancelled any 2022 Asian voyages was about five months in advance (Hong Kong, Singapore, India).  This was when Silversea decided to delay the launch of Silver Dawn and substitute Silver Moon for the itineraries.  And, as I'm sure you know from reading this forum extensively, Silversea didn't cancel this spring's Japan voyages until roughly six to eight weeks before their embarkation.

[ronrick1943]

53 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

Based on prior cancellations by Silversea, the earliest Silversea cancelled any 2022 Asian voyages was about five months in advance (Hong Kong, Singapore, India).  This was when Silversea decided to delay the launch of Silver Dawn and substitute Silver Moon for the itineraries.  And, as I'm sure you know from reading this forum extensively, Silversea didn't cancel this spring's Japan voyages until roughly six to eight weeks before their embarkation.

I know, and you have good information—I’m just hoping Silversea can step up and decide what they want to do——Celebrity made a hard decision, and gave their customers time.  No I don’t want to cruise Celebrity, I want to stay with Silversea, as I keep reading these post - Silversea seems right for us.

[gwesq]

Royal Caribbean has cancelled its Hong Kong cruises for the rest of 2022, and will be cruising out of Singapore instead, doing short trips in SE Asia..  As RCL owns Silversea, I don't think it bodes will for trips to Japan this year.  We have to make our deposit this week for Osaka-Osaka. Love the itinerary (BTB with Anchorage to Osaka).  Looked at 2023, and itinerary is a bit different and not as interested.    What I can't get a straight answer from SS on it whether they give a full refund (or at least a FCC) if they change their itinerary.  All I get is "we give you options."  

[goldengatecruisers]

This new thread is very timely as we consider booking Asia on Silver Spirit at the end of this year.  I will be following along closely.

[Azulann]

4 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

Just got word that “CELEBRITY CRUIES” just cancelled all Asia cruises until April 2023 because of uncertainly in the region.  One can only

hope that other lines like Silversea will be making a statement so customers can make plans.  So well it be a go or a cancel Silversea?

WOW , my friends have a Celebrity cruise  around Japan. in Sept 2022 It had been cancelled three times.  Now a fourth. They will take  their cash refund and call it a day. 

[ronrick1943]

With all this and RCL decision to cancel, maybe Barbara Muckermann will give us an answer to Silversea decision Asia cruise’s.  

[cruiseej]

1 hour ago, ronrick1943 said:

With all this and RCL decision to cancel, maybe Barbara Muckermann will give us an answer to Silversea decision Asia cruise’s.  

 

She doesn't post here, and I doubt they have a decision yet; if so, they would contact booked passengers first.

[ronrick1943]

2 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

She doesn't post here, and I doubt they have a decision yet; if so, they would contact booked passengers first.

I agree, they hasn’t made that decision yet—I’m hoping they do make a decision so people can plan.  They have to be thinking about it—one would hope Silversea is a leader in the industry.  Someone else posted this on Silversea Facebook page, she reads that……………

Edited April 14, 2022 by ronrick1943

[cruiseej]

Of course Silversea is closely following the situation in Japan and the rest of southeast Asia. Over the past year, they have time and again waited as long as possible before canceling cruises. For instance, when a few other cruise lines canceled their Antartica season, Silversea kept their cruises planned until protocols in Chile eased just enough to allow them to sail. (Seabourn customers on Antarctica cruises which were canceled were annoyed Seabourn pulled the plug too early.)

 

Barbara Muckermann has said they don't want to cancel far in advance and then find out they could have actually sailed; the downside of this is customers who believe cruises will eventually be canceled but are kept in limbo until it's too late to plan an alternative for the same time period. It also potentially hurst Silversea too, because if they cancel a number of cruises shortly before they were to sail, whatever alternative cruises they announce have only a short time to be on sale. So it's a complicated equation about when to cancel. But you can be sure they are planning various contingencies if they are unable to visit certain regions. 

[markham]

Now that we all have perfect hindsight, did Seabourn cancel the late 2021-2022 Antarctic cruises too early? For that season did Silversea cancel too late and/or go ahead? How did that work out?

 

In my opinion, it is most important for cruise lines to exercise caution and do whatever is necessary to educate prospective and booked passengers about Covid and local regulations so that these passengers retain options to go or forego, even at the risk of losing bookings. I am not sure that Silversea made the right call. And Seabourn did better by canceling and suggesting that the late 2022-2023 season would be a better option.
 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[scottjeanne]

We did the Antarctic/ South Georgia cruise with Silverseas this winter and it was wonderful.  I think the decision to go ahead was very good.  Covid is not going away.  We just have to adjust to the changing regulations.

[cruiseej]

15 hours ago, scottjeanne said:

We did the Antarctic/ South Georgia cruise with Silverseas this winter and it was wonderful.  I think the decision to go ahead was very good.  Covid is not going away.  We just have to adjust to the changing regulations.

 

Yes, but for a different Silversea Antarctica cruise this past winer, "adjusting" meant missing several days in Antarctica, missing most landings and zodiac tours, days with some restaurants closed and the others offering only a buffet. I'd guess that most people on that cruise would say they wish Silversea had canceled rather than plowing ahead and delivering a poor experience. You were lucky; some weren't. Not everyone is willing to roll the dice to gamble on a $50,000+ cruise.

[ronrick1943]

15 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

Yes, but for a different Silversea Antarctica cruise this past winer, "adjusting" meant missing several days in Antarctica, missing most landings and zodiac tours, days with some restaurants closed and the others offering only a buffet. I'd guess that most people on that cruise would say they wish Silversea had canceled rather than plowing ahead and delivering a poor experience. You were lucky; some weren't. Not everyone is willing to roll the dice to gamble on a $50,000+ cruise.

Right—and Silversea should know people have to make plans to be on Silversea in the first place.  Doesn’t make a different if your retired or not.

[silkismom]

We were supposed to be on a RT Tokyo in 2021, then 2022 and now we shifted to 2023, if that doesn't go, we'll just get our money back--enough!! We paid in 2020, could have been using all that money for something else.

[cruiseej]

17 minutes ago, silkismom said:

We were supposed to be on a RT Tokyo in 2021, then 2022 and now we shifted to 2023, if that doesn't go, we'll just get our money back--enough!! We paid in 2020, could have been using all that money for something else.

 

Not to discourage you, but depending how you rolled over these cruses, you may find it's no longer refundable for cash. For instance, if you received a 110% (or higher) credit for a canceled cruise and then applied it to a new cruise, you can probably only get your future cruise credit back, not cash, if you cancel. If instead you rolled your payment to a new booking, without taking a FCC, then it may still be refundable for cash. (We're in the same situation with a cruise to Antarctica which was paid for in 2019 for December 2020, then rolled to a December 2021 cruise, and now to a December 2022 cruise. We're hoping the third times the charm! 😉  ). Hopefully your 2023 cruise will sail, and you won't have to dig into the gory details of refunds!

[silkismom]

We paid completely on booking and rolled it each time it canceled--not sure where we stand.

[cruiseej]

4 hours ago, silkismom said:

We paid completely on booking and rolled it each time it canceled--not sure where we stand.

 

And hopefully you won't have any need to find out! 😉 🤞