Japan 3/30/26 Nova Canceled

[Gourmet Gal]

Just received a notice that this cruise is canceled and there is a replacement cruise offered at 15% discount but the original cruise had a huge fare increase after we booked.  Of course the details are not presented in the notification so am awaiting more info.  All I know now is the replacement cruise is one day shorter with a similar itinerary on the same ship.  We’re just off the Spirit and after that experience we were considering canceling the Japan cruise anyway and would have lost our deposit.  Now if we opt for the refund we lose nothing.  It’s tempting to take the money and run but I want to have all the details.  Will follow up here if anyone is interested. 

[drron29]

There was a thread recently about all the Australia/ New zealand cruises being waitlisted in 2026.

I thought then that means they would be Cancelled. She was due to come through the Panama canal before sailing across the Pacific.

I also thought this meant that the Southern hemisphere Summer season was going to be changed And I suspect staying in the Caribbean or sailing South America as substitutes.

On the Silversea website they are still all just listed as waitlist.

[drron29]

Finally found the other thread.

 

[Gourmet Gal]

The new replacement cruise has not yet been posted but all the others in that general time frame are now waitlisted.  The replacement cruise is still planned for Japan Cherry Blossom time so the entire region has not be eliminated.  I had booked a hard-to-get aft suite because of booking early but now, even if I wanted to rebook the choices may be limited.

 

Anyway, we may just book a private tour of some new-to-us Japanese cities and sites.  There are nice options that don’t include cruising.

[jollyjones]

 

They must be doing a major change to Nova itineraries.

I was booked on the Nova for two weeks late Aug/early Sep 2025 and SS has just (yesterday) informed me it is cancelled.

Full refund or FCC, 15% off a new cruise if booked by Jul 31st 2024.

 

I'm not bothered about this as when I was on the Nova in April, I booked a different cruise in a similar timeframe on the Dawn - my much preferred ship - and was planning to cancel anyway.

The Nova cruise was in Alaska and I think she is better suited to warmer itineraries. That's not my only reason for changing to the Dawn - the different dates suited me better - but it certainly played in to the consideration.

 

Edited May 29 by jollyjones

[mchell810]

Seems SS is redesigning lots of itineraries for 2026.  I received the email notice today the 2026 Whisper South America sailings have been cancelled bc SS has changed the sailings from 22 days to 18 day trips.  Ofc, no details on the new options.  As others have noted I've been offered a full refund or 15% off a new cruise.  I find it frustrating for SS to mention the new plans without revealing them.

[canderson]

The 15% option off current prices is not much of an offer for those that have had their cruises booked for a while.  I'd be concerned that the 15% wouldn't cover the increase in prices that may well have occurred since the original booking!

 

A fair deal would be a 19% discount to make up for the missing 4 days, applied against the original fare.

Edited May 29 by canderson

[JSR]

All Nova cruises from August 21, 2025 - April 2026 except for the Australia GV are cancelled while they figure it all out. The GV is available for waitlisting. I had 3 cruises canceled and we are on the GV. Excited to see the new itineraries though having a hard time being patient. 

[MsCrystalina]

As per a friend's email, Australia on the Nova for 30 days beginning 14 Dec 2025 has been cancelled.  If not in Australia, a slow cruise from Cape Town up the western coast of Africa would be welcomed.

[jjs217]

This is interesting.  I'm concerned as I have a SS Cloud Kimberly Coast D2D, Business Class upgrade cruise for Aug/Sep 2025.  I looked yesterday and the same cruise is over $13,000 more (for 2 people) with Economy Air.  I'm wondering if they could cancel this cruise, adjust the itinerary a little bit and then offer it at a higher price. Hmmmm................I guess time will tell. 

[Gourmet Gal]

Yes, as mentioned it is frustrating there is an offer to book another “similar” itinerary but no details.  I booked before a more than 30% increase on my Japan cruise and the 15% “discount” is not an incentive to rebook.  In fact it is yet another incentive to delete SS from all my future travel plans. They promote cruises by encouraging to book before fares increase, cancel said cruise and then squeeze out a higher fare anyway if you choose to rebook.  Original fares should be honored and prorated if the replacement cruise is shorter or longer.

[Port Power]

You should just be swapped to the “similar” cruise, if that is what you want, with no extra charge at all!

[Gourmet Gal]

Well, the decision has been made now that my DH has tested positive for Covid.  This is the second cruise he’s contracted Covid and luckily he’s not very sick this time. He developed a cough in the last few days of the cruise - there were more and more coughing people onboard as the cruise progressed, unmasked and not even covering their coughs.  There were some people who clearly embarked with some sort of illness and obviously were not truthful on the health questionnaire.  We masked when concerned about the amount of sick people around us and we both had Covid boosters several weeks before.  Disappointing.  I think we’re done with cruising.

[Gourmet Gal]

We did not rebook and have requested a refund.

[MamaFej]

On 5/31/2024 at 1:24 PM, Gourmet Gal said:

Well, the decision has been made now that my DH has tested positive for Covid.  This is the second cruise he’s contracted Covid and luckily he’s not very sick this time. He developed a cough in the last few days of the cruise - there were more and more coughing people onboard as the cruise progressed, unmasked and not even covering their coughs.  There were some people who clearly embarked with some sort of illness and obviously were not truthful on the health questionnaire.  We masked when concerned about the amount of sick people around us and we both had Covid boosters several weeks before.  Disappointing.  I think we’re done with cruising.

I'm so sorry.

 

On some of our recent cruises, we've noticed a number of people who seem extremely determined to make others as sick as they clearly are, instead of resting away from others and getting better faster. I absolutely cannot understand that mindset, but it seems pretty common. 

[RetiredandTravel]

We were on a Regent cruise to Japan and Korea.  We weren’t happy with the Regent cruise but we felt cruising was a good way to see Japan.

 

 

[Gourmet Gal]

14 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

We were on a Regent cruise to Japan and Korea.  We weren’t happy with the Regent cruise but we felt cruising was a good way to see Japan.

 

 

That’s nice.  We’ve already used Kensington for an extensive private tour of Kyoto, Tokyo, Takayama and Hakone.  We were quite pleased and will probably create another itinerary with them.  It’s fully customizable.

[RetiredandTravel]

Probably a better way to see Kyoto.  We are looking at a Tauck tour in the US.  We’ve always done this trips on our own.  Do you select the restaurants and how many people are there?

[Gourmet Gal]

9 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

Probably a better way to see Kyoto.  We are looking at a Tauck tour in the US.  We’ve always done this trips on our own.  Do you select the restaurants and how many people are there?

It’s completely private but they also do small group tours.  I do my own research and vetting of restaurants but in Japan it’s tricky getting reservations at some - you literally have to know someone who has been to the restaurant and they have to book it!  Sometimes the hotel concierge can do it but not all restaurants allow that.  I believe it’s to reduce no-shows.

[MamaFej]

1 hour ago, Gourmet Gal said:

That’s nice.  We’ve already used Kensington for an extensive private tour of Kyoto, Tokyo, Takayama and Hakone.  We were quite pleased and will probably create another itinerary with them.  It’s fully customizable.

We used Kensington in India. They did a fantastic job.

 

[les37b]

On 5/31/2024 at 6:43 PM, Gourmet Gal said:

Yes, as mentioned it is frustrating there is an offer to book another “similar” itinerary but no details.  I booked before a more than 30% increase on my Japan cruise and the 15% “discount” is not an incentive to rebook.  In fact it is yet another incentive to delete SS from all my future travel plans. They promote cruises by encouraging to book before fares increase, cancel said cruise and then squeeze out a higher fare anyway if you choose to rebook.  Original fares should be honored and prorated if the replacement cruise is shorter or longer.

Historically, I’ve done pretty well when SS cancelled my bookings and managed to negotiate a better deal than offered, but have to agree with your feelings on the “new SS”. Fond memories but zero intention of any further bookings unless something changes, which I’m not holding my breath for.

 

My future plans now revolve around DIY tours. My first is next January in Singapore and Malaysia for 3 weeks, with the one after set to be a Bullet train bonanza in Japan for 3 weeks. I know with 100% certainty I will see far more than on a cruise and a significant saving. Sure, it means lots of planning and decision making, but that’s part of the fun. 

 

[toolworker]

We had a January 2026 New Zealand cruise on Nova cancelled, and I'm really unhappy with Silversea's treatment. It's inconsiderate and manipulative.

 

We paid $1300 for trip insurance on the deposit in order to get the pre-existing condition waiver. If we take our deposit back we lose that.

 

Or we could book a replacement cruise. But we're not 100% sure we wanted to cruise those waters, so were counting on the deposit being refundable for the next year and more, and now it wouldn't be. We cruise on Regent, Seabourn and Viking, in addition to Silversea, so having an FCC restricts our choices.

 

The 15% discount isn't that great, but it's something. But they should have given it to us just for cancelling the cruise, without using it to suck us into taking an FCC.

 

Instead, the message from Silversea is "We're cancelling your cruise, and if that's costing you money it's not our problem. But we'd rather manipulate you into letting us keep your deposit, because we've calculated that it's in our business interest, not because we think you deserve any consideration from us."

 

Why would I want to cruise on this line?