Encore Suez Transit April

[texanaust]

Is the Dubai-Athens cruise April 3rd likely to go ahead??  What sort of compensation can we expect if they cancel the cruise and sail empty or alternatively reroute around Africa?  Do you think routing around Africa is even a consideration for SB?  I wouldn't mind the reroute if it took in a few interesting ports along the way.

[cruising kirby]

Unfortunately no one outside Seabourn knows the answers to your questions at this time.  The reservations teams are maintaining that no changes are envisaged, even against the background of the very recent escalations in the Red Sea.  Its not a problem of their making, but Seabourn must take action to protect its guests and crew so it seems unlikely that the Dubai to Athens sector will proceed exactly as currently planned.  I guess we can't rule out that the Singapore to Dubai sector immediately prior won't change either, particularly given a potential diversion via Africa will take longer than the 18 days of the Dubai to Athens sector.

 

As for compensation, refunds might be on the table but I think Future Cruise Credits and On Board Credit might be more likely.

 

Lets hope that we don't have to wait too much longer to hear what Seabourn has planned for us.

[Tallante]

There are more comments re this cruise on the relevant roll call where various options have been mooted.

[CalTexCruiser]

US and British forces are currently bombing the Houtis in Yemen, so things are about to get a whole lot uglier.

 

I’m also not too comfortable with the Oman/Qatar/UAE portion of this cruise at this point.  Hope Seabourn just cancels the entire Singapore to Athens sailing, but that’s wishful thinking.

[christraveller]

This may not be viable.
 

IIRC most insurance (personal and for a cruise line) will not cover us when we enter war zones knowingly and  willingly.  
 

Beautiful  azure seas, Seabourn legendary service, gourmet meals, delightful fellow passengers… best enjoyed elsewhere!  
 

stay safe, everyone. 

[fudge]

We have a cruise booked Jeddah to Athens 1st June, we fully accept this will be cancelled!  We have already had one cruise cancelled two days ago with SS, Doha to Muscat sailing 1st February. 

SS offered a full refund AND 20% off a future cruise if taken in 2024.

Edited January 16 by fudge

[babydrum]

We are on the Sojourn May 2nd for the last part of their WC that begins in January.  It is supposed to transit the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.  I wonder it if is likely to be cancelled or if they will choose to go around the Cape of Good Hope.  We would have enough sea days with the cancelled Egyptian ports to do it.  I'd be okay with that if we got to go to some interesting stops in Africa.

Edited January 16 by babydrum

[Tallante]

 Have just read an article saying that MSC have cancelled 3 ships due to sail through the Red Sea.  One is in April but it didn’t mention the dates of the other 2.  I realise MSC sail a different class of ship and have many more passengers but they stressed the most important thing was the safety of the passengers and crew,  Maybe Seabourn will soon follow suit and clarify their position.

 

[cruising kirby]

1 hour ago, Tallante said:

 Have just read an article saying that MSC have cancelled 3 ships due to sail through the Red Sea.  One is in April but it didn’t mention the dates of the other 2.  I realise MSC sail a different class of ship and have many more passengers but they stressed the most important thing was the safety of the passengers and crew,  Maybe Seabourn will soon follow suit and clarify their position.

 

Lets hope the Seabourn announcements are imminent.  There is no way a cruise ship can risk the Red Sea for the foreseeable future with continuing escalation of hostilities.

[CalTexCruiser]

The Silver Moon (which was supposed to have transited the Red Sea) is now on its way to Cape Town, South Africa, scheduled to arrive on Feb 2 (no passengers).  

 

(1) They have scheduled 15 days from Malta to Cape Town. 

(2) It took them 1 day to go from Athens to Malta.

(3) The anticipated travel time from Cape Town to Mumbai is 11 days.

 

The total trip time is estimated to be 27 days between Mumbai and Athens.

 

The currently scheduled Seabourn Encore Singapore - Athens sailing is 36 days, and is made up of two segments: 18-day Singapore-Dubai and 18-day Dubai-Athens. 

 

It is pretty certain that the Dubai-Athens segment through the Red Sea will have to be cancelled, and there appears to be a lot of cabins available on this segment.

 

Scenario 1:

(1) Reduce the Singapore-Dubai segment to a 12-day Singapore-Mumbai sailing.

(2) This will given them 18 + 6 = 24 days.

(3) Then cancel the first 7-day Athens-Venice sailing, and start the Med season from Venice.

 

Scenario 2:

(A) cancel the entire Singapore-Athens.  But Singapore-Dubai is fully booked so this will be quite expensive for Seabourn.

[cruising kirby]

4 hours ago, CalTexCruiser said:

The Silver Moon (which was supposed to have transited the Red Sea) is now on its way to Cape Town, South Africa, scheduled to arrive on Feb 2 (no passengers).  

 

(1) They have scheduled 15 days from Malta to Cape Town. 

(2) It took them 1 day to go from Athens to Malta.

(3) The anticipated travel time from Cape Town to Mumbai is 11 days.

 

The total trip time is estimated to be 27 days between Mumbai and Athens.

 

The currently scheduled Seabourn Encore Singapore - Athens sailing is 36 days, and is made up of two segments: 18-day Singapore-Dubai and 18-day Dubai-Athens. 

 

It is pretty certain that the Dubai-Athens segment through the Red Sea will have to be cancelled, and there appears to be a lot of cabins available on this segment.

 

Scenario 1:

(1) Reduce the Singapore-Dubai segment to a 12-day Singapore-Mumbai sailing.

(2) This will given them 18 + 6 = 24 days.

(3) Then cancel the first 7-day Athens-Venice sailing, and start the Med season from Venice.

 

Scenario 2:

(A) cancel the entire Singapore-Athens.  But Singapore-Dubai is fully booked so this will be quite expensive for Seabourn.

There is another scenario............................Cunard has a Singapore to Southampton cruise in March April that consists of a 17 night segment to Cape Town and a 16 night segment to Southampton.  Its has 7 stops including an overnight in Cape Town and obviously a lot of sea days.  So I guess its possible for Seabourn to take passengers from Singapore to Athens in the 36 nights it has available, even though the Encore won't travel as fast as the Cunard ship. It would mean a completely new itinerary but it might be preferable to taking an empty ship most of the way (and refunding pax most/all of their fare)?

[CalTexCruiser]

2 hours ago, cruising kirby said:

There is another scenario............................Cunard has a Singapore to Southampton cruise in March April that consists of a 17 night segment to Cape Town and a 16 night segment to Southampton.  Its has 7 stops including an overnight in Cape Town and obviously a lot of sea days.  So I guess its possible for Seabourn to take passengers from Singapore to Athens in the 36 nights it has available, even though the Encore won't travel as fast as the Cunard ship. It would mean a completely new itinerary but it might be preferable to taking an empty ship most of the way (and refunding pax most/all of their fare)?

 

Although possible, remember that while Singapore-Dubai is sold out, Dubai-Athens has a substantial number of cabins available.  That means a lot of folks (including us) end their trip in Dubai.  If they were to swap the itinerary to a 36-day Singapore-Athens around the cape, what happens to those folks?  Will they have to fork over more money for the extra 18 days, assuming they are even interested?

 

Assuming all the Singapore-Dubai passengers cancel if presented this option, Seabourn will still end up losing a lot of money. 

 

There is no slam dunk solution here.

[cruising kirby]

30 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

Although possible, remember that while Singapore-Dubai is sold out, Dubai-Athens has a substantial number of cabins available.  That means a lot of folks (including us) end their trip in Dubai.  If they were to swap the itinerary to a 36-day Singapore-Athens around the cape, what happens to those folks?  Will they have to fork over more money for the extra 18 days, assuming they are even interested?

 

Assuming all the Singapore-Dubai passengers cancel if presented this option, Seabourn will still end up losing a lot of money. 

 

There is no slam dunk solution here.

There appears no cheap solution unfortunately. The compensation for guests in each scenario looks to be significant for Seabourn (shortened or cancelled cruises, vastly changed itineraries, reimbursement of hotel/flight/visa costs etc). We just have to keep waiting (and worrying) until Seabourn decides to tell us what they have planned.