Silver Nova Port Times Changed on Holiday Cruise

[LAL Cruiser]

We are looking forward to our Christmas/New Years Holiday cruise on Silver Nova, we are cruising from Lima to Port Everglades via the Panama Canal.  I just checked mysilversea.com as we are approaching the Restaurant Reservations date, we still have a few days to go, but then accidently discovered that our port times in at least 4 ports of call have been shortened.  Very strange!  We lost 3 hours of time in Guayaquil and Cartagena (both overnight stays so not such a big deal) but also one hour in Salaverry and 3 hours in Kingston, Jamacia. (This makes for a very short 700am to 100pm stay in Kingston, the most curious/unexpected port on the cruise.)  In some cases, our Silversea booked shore excursions conclude after the Silver Nova has departed, making for a very funny graphic on the mysilversea.com Activities page.  (I understand that the excursions and timing will be adjusted and am not complaining, it is just bizarre.)

 

I must say that I find this very very odd - to have timings changed (shortened) for so many ports on one cruise itinerary is unusual and something that we have not previously encountered (and we have cruised often over the past 30 years and mostly on Silversea.)  What's up?  Has anyone else noticed this with respect to their Silver Nova itineraries - have other itineraries been modified?  I am guessing these changes are related to the Silver Nova itself and being a newly introduced vessel.  Is Silver Nova's cruising speed a bit slower than projected?  Is it something else?  

 

The bad joke is that No va, in Spanish, means doesn't go!  😀  

[Qaqortoq]

It's not the Nova.

 

It's all of the Silversea itineraries (maybe not expedition) at least through the end of 2023. I was on the Shadow last month and the new reduced  in port schedule was given to us when we embarked.   The shore excursion team were unfortunately unfairly informed the same time we were.

 

I'm due to go on the Dawn in November and December and all port times have been shortened - some by several hours as you mentioned.

 

On the Shadow we were told it was a fleet-wide decision. Didn't realize at the time that this going to extend to all sailings. So far 2024 sailings have not been changed but they probably will be. Saving money on fuel by going slower? I don't know but it's frustrating when you think you had a late evening or a good part of a day in a port and that has completely evaporated now with no notifications from Silversea.

 

I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on this yet.

[Lonedaddy]

It should be like when airlines change the flight schedule more that a certain amount you can cancel and get a full refund.  While I understand their desire to same money, they set the times when we booked so any significant change should be fully refundable, especially if it impacts shore excursions.

[Host Jazzbeau]

46 minutes ago, Qaqortoq said:

It's not the Nova.

 

It's all of the Silversea itineraries (maybe not expedition) at least through the end of 2023. I was on the Shadow last month and the new reduced  in port schedule was given to us when we embarked.   The shore excursion team were unfortunately unfairly informed the same time we were.

 

I'm due to go on the Dawn in November and December and all port times have been shortened - some by several hours as you mentioned.

 

On the Shadow we were told it was a fleet-wide decision. Didn't realize at the time that this going to extend to all sailings. So far 2024 sailings have not been changed but they probably will be. Saving money on fuel by going slower? I don't know but it's frustrating when you think you had a late evening or a good part of a day in a port and that has completely evaporated now with no notifications from Silversea.

 

I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on this yet.

This sounds like what Oceania has been doing lately – usually announcing the changes after final payment too!  [And since they don't break out port charges, they don't refund for missed ports.]  

[sea bright]

Our late September Dawn and January Nova itineraries don't appear to have been changed.

[LAL Cruiser]

1 minute ago, sea bright said:

Our late September Dawn and January Nova itineraries don't appear to have been changed.

Keep an eye on yourJanuary itinerary: the websites may not be updated as of yet.  

The Nova is doing the exact same itinerary that we are doing in Dec 2023 (our cruise) and March 2024 - the December cruise has the updated port times listed while the later cruise still shows the original port times,

6 hours ago, Qaqortoq said:

On the Shadow we were told it was a fleet-wide decision. Didn't realize at the time that this going to extend to all sailings. So far 2024 sailings have not been changed but they probably will be. .

 

I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on this yet.

Keep us updated, it seems that the port timing issue is something that could be impacting many cruises; especially those that are covering longer distances.

[Mayflower1]

This appears to be a new ' Enhancement ' to the Luxury experience but one that is not being trumpeted to Guests !!!. This combined with the cancellation of Afternoon Excursions, long after they have been booked, seems to indicate that The Bean Counters at RCL are really getting their teeth into Silversea in a big way.

Whilst clearly Silversea are not alone on these Issues it does make one wonder the merit of Booking early as the confidence of receiving what was originally advertised is evaporating fast.

[John117]

I put a post on yesterday about our 29th September cruise on Nova. Three changes of itinerary so far and little or no communication. First change involved only the start and finish port being the same. Changed again yesterday with a completely new port and a later arrival at the next port (14.00). The planner now show us having a morning tour whilst at sea?? I have emailed a complaint and suggested they thought about their customers/bill payers occasionally!!

[AusMum]

I thought I was imagining things when I looked at the shore times for our cruise next year, but it probably has changed!

[jollyjones]

Interesting, I have just checked the cruise (on the Moon) that I am embarking shortly, and most port departures are an hour or more earlier than they were.

 

And I checked all my other booked cruises - one has a major port time change such that my tour is now scheduled 5pm - 7.30pm.

I never take afternoon tours and this is cocktail/into dinner time. Are they joking?!!

[Dolcevita Diva]

26 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

Interesting, I have just checked the cruise (on the Moon) that I am embarking shortly, and most port departures are an hour or more earlier than they were.

 

And I checked all my other booked cruises - one has a major port time change such that my tour is now scheduled 5pm - 7.30pm.

I never take afternoon tours and this is cocktail/into dinner time. Are they joking?!!

Heh - sending guests on tours at cocktail/dinner time would save them money? 😎

[CJANDH]

On 8/14/2023 at 3:42 AM, Mayflower1 said:

The Bean Counters at RCL are really getting their teeth into Silversea in a big way.

Unfortunately, I think this is a sound observation. All these changes, along with the outrageous rise in the prices of top tier suites certainly look like moves from corporate. I don't think Barbara M is strong enough to resist the takeover of her business by the bean counters.