New itineraries include Russia?

[cruiseej]

I was looking at the 2023-24 expedition voyages Seabourn just emailed about today, and I was surprised to see they start with a September 2023 trip with 6 days in far east Russia, including a flight from Japan to Petropavlovsk to start the trip. Does Seabourn really think travel to and within Russia will be back to "normal" next year? I understand they had previously published a trip from Alaska to Japan traversing that region, but I would have expected them to figure out an alternate itinerary by now. I was surprised to see them promoting new and multiple trips in the area. Am I misreading the situation? It seems tone deaf, as well as impractical.

[SLSD]

19 hours ago, cruiseej said:

I was looking at the 2023-24 expedition voyages Seabourn just emailed about today, and I was surprised to see they start with a September 2023 trip with 6 days in far east Russia, including a flight from Japan to Petropavlovsk to start the trip. Does Seabourn really think travel to and within Russia will be back to "normal" next year? I understand they had previously published a trip from Alaska to Japan traversing that region, but I would have expected them to figure out an alternate itinerary by now. I was surprised to see them promoting new and multiple trips in the area. Am I misreading the situation? It seems tone deaf, as well as impractical.

It seems very done deaf to me.  It may be that they just plugged in an already planned itinerary--not paying attention to the details.  

[Fletcher]

Yes, the Kiril Islands/Russia were probably scheduled well before the current war in Ukraine (sorry, special military operation).  I'm sure the brochures were printed long ago but the email version could have been amended.  

 

However, there are some brilliant itineraries here, especially the SW Pacific. I could easily climb on board in Kobe and sail all the way to Papeete, except that the ship does a few turnarounds within this route.  I see that Pitcairn Island is, at the moment, just scenic cruising as the island is closed for Covid reasons to everyone except supply vessels. That will probably change.

 

Also, I can highly recommend the South Atlantic run with Falklands, South Georgia, Tristan and Ascension.

 

These ships just look fabulous.  Game-changers.

 

I might sell my house and just live aboard.  Think of the saving on energy bills!

 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Fletcher

[highplanesdrifters]

I'm eyeing that SW Pacific from Kobe also.  Have something else booked but might have to swap it out. And if you live onboard you'll never have chores to do. 

[cruiseej]

17 hours ago, SLSD said:

It seems very done deaf to me.  It may be that they just plugged in an already planned itinerary--not paying attention to the details.  

 

We were on the Odyssey at the beginning of March, and one of the expedition staff was onboard talking about expedition cruises. He said that the new itineraries had been scheduled to be released, but were on hold due to the world events; we all assumed they would modify the itineraries to avoid Russia. So now it's two months later, and they released the itineraries, apparently unchanged from what they had previously planned. So I'm confused why the y delayed, and still went ahead with cruises gong to Russia. And I don't think they get a pass for "not paying attention to details"; the isolation of Russia due to their war in Ukraine is not a minor detail which could have been overlooked. 

 

We were hoping they'd keep one of the expedition ships in the north Atlantic, as we'd very much like to do a cruise around the west coast of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, similar to an itinerary they have for September of this year. They even allowed us to put a "furtureborn" deposit on such a cruise if it materialized. But now it's clear neither Venture nor Pursuit will be doing such a trip in 2023. I guess we'll sit back and wait to see if they do that itinerary in 2024. 

[SLSD]

4 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

We were on the Odyssey at the beginning of March, and one of the expedition staff was onboard talking about expedition cruises. He said that the new itineraries had been scheduled to be released, but were on hold due to the world events; we all assumed they would modify the itineraries to avoid Russia. So now it's two months later, and they released the itineraries, apparently unchanged from what they had previously planned. So I'm confused why the y delayed, and still went ahead with cruises gong to Russia. And I don't think they get a pass for "not paying attention to details"; the isolation of Russia due to their war in Ukraine is not a minor detail which could have been overlooked. 

 

We were hoping they'd keep one of the expedition ships in the north Atlantic, as we'd very much like to do a cruise around the west coast of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, similar to an itinerary they have for September of this year. They even allowed us to put a "furtureborn" deposit on such a cruise if it materialized. But now it's clear neither Venture nor Pursuit will be doing such a trip in 2023. I guess we'll sit back and wait to see if they do that itinerary in 2024. 

My comment "not paying attention to details" does not mean that the war on Ukraine is a detail.  It means that SB did not notice what they were posting.  Or did not think it important to omit Russia at this time.  VERY tone deaf or very careless.  Take your pick.

 

I can't imagine anyone thinking it is a good idea to book a cruise with Russian ports right now.  Does SB really think that kind of posted itinerary is a winner?  I am disappointed that either through carelessness or tone deafness they posted these itineraries online.  Does not inspire confidence.  (And I am a real lover of SB cruises).   

Edited May 8, 2022 by SLSD

[Asquare]

This was a dinner conversation last night on the Encore.  Our group consensus was it might be upwards of 8-10 years before anyone goes to Russia.  It was not on my list before the current events and I doubt that it will be on my list in the future but still sad that these places will not be seen for a long while.  Why get one’s hope up by sending out the literature.

[fudge]

We are SS and SB cheer leaders however, we have booked a great cruise with Regent in October 2023, we had one stop in Russia which was cancelled four weeks ago, quite rightly in my opinion.

Edited May 9, 2022 by fudge