Herman The Cat

Oh my — you were in one of those cabins in the stretched area! I remember hearing about that and the fact that there was a wiring issue behind the headboards that took awhile to discover. You certainly have had your share of unexpected circumstances! Weren’t you also on the last sailing of Crystal and dropped off in Freeport, Bahamas? Unfortunately your description of contempt may be true. Definitely passive-aggressive. And they do assume the guests do not see their maneuvering. I think we all recognize how challenging it is to change itineraries but can they really not make a decision??? OR they want guests to be in the 100% penalty phase before they announce it?

Maybe we should all start emailing Barbara Muckerman. It’s disgraceful. Reminds me of when they notified us that they were removing a port we really want to go to one day after cancellation penalties started.

And another week passes and still no news on these sailings. Crystal cancelled their May Med voyages a month ago. It is absolutely egregious that Silversea is sitting on this and doing nothing. I had suspected at the 60 day mark something might happen and all we got are the voyages listed as “waitlist.” What’s the next milestone, 45 days or 30 days prior? It’s ridiculous to ask passengers to amend plans at that late date. Why are they dragging this out? Where’s the leadership???

Well, is your TA a Silversea expert or has he/she cruised with them? Usually if they are going to make an itinerary change they go to “waitlist” for all the cabins (assuming the cruise is not sold out). This cruise went all waitlist at 60 days prior to departure. If she is just talking to a phone rep they basically don’t have any info. It may not be cancelled but there could be a major itinerary change. And of course the one after will be cancelled because it is supposed to sail thru the Red Sea. My TA spoke to someone today who said it went waitlist because there will probably be an itinerary change but they couldn’t say when. I suspect if the cruise sails it will eliminate a bunch of ports and make its way from Sri Lanka to maybe the Seychelles, Madagascar and then Cape Town before heading up the coast of West Africa. At least they could keep some passengers onboard for some of the cruise and get some revenue. It wouldn’t be a bad change. Just a hassle. It doesn’t make sense to sail empty but they need to get to Athens.

Case Study: “How to Turn a PR Event into a PR Disaster.” You know someone was going to leak/get this to the media. Barbara M has been remarkably silent. How are they going to spin this? Perhaps they’ll throw a FCC or SBC at affected passengers in addition to reimbursement for additional expenses.

Yes, both voyages have gone all wait list. Looks like they got the message, thankfully. Now we just have to wait for the “Dear Esteemed. Guest” letter. 😉

Absolutely absurd. Some Instagram influencer’s idea of a great photo op without consideration for guests. It is ridiculous that they would inconvenience thousands of people, with this self-serving gesture, not to mention incur a useless expense. Such poor judgment without considering the repercussions of the action.

Yes, one would hope they are reading these posts. It makes them and the organization look incompetent and oblivious, and like they can’t make a decision. It is abundantly clear the situation in the Red Sea will not improve in time for these voyages to sail thru it. Unfortunately whatever their process is, it’s not a good one as they wait until the last minute to announce changes. Perhaps the poster who said they are just trying to hang onto the money as long as possible is correct. There is no reason for these voyage changes to not be announced now. They are only hurting themselves financially by waiting and significantly eroding customer and crew goodwill. They should be ashamed of themselves and embarrassed. For all of Barbara Muckerman’s PR and approachable persona, this is really poor management and decision-making. It may not be her decision since it’s fleet operations, but if affects their customers, finances, employees etc. and she’s in charge.

What happened in Aqaba?

Exactly! It doesn’t matter how they word the “Dear Esteemed Guest” email, it erodes customer confidence and loyalty. Every cruise line has figured this out and cancelled — and as Texanaust mentioned, “but yes, they’re sailing!” Why hasn’t Silversea cancelled? It makes their management team look bad.

Yes, with the prices of airfare these days, any change is going to be a fortune. Why are they waiting on this??? Odds are pretty small that the situation would improve so dramatically in the next two months that they would be able to go thru the Suez.

😂 Perhaps…but they certainly have much more advance notice about what is going on and have already re-routed other cruises. If they don’t cancel and change the disembarkation port, they need to give their air department as much time as possible to re-book…and also passengers who have done their own air (which I suspect they will not compensate). I suppose they could eliminate one of the days in Sri Lanka, skip India and head to Mahe (Seychelles), Madagascar and disembark in CapeTown. Quite a different flight routing home from CPT….

Always bittersweet to pack up! Thanks for taking us along on your journey and helping with all the questions. The pictures have been fantastic. Fingers crossed they figure out the logistics with the cruises over the next few weeks and Singapore to Mumbai on May 5, which is the same itinerary as yours! It’s a great one. Safe travels.

Yeah, they really need to decide and inform people. I know it’s a lot for them to re-arrange etc. I still see the cruise after to Jeddah is for sale as is the following one. Makes you wonder if someone called and wanted to book Jeddah to Athens if they would sell it to you and take the payment?!?! There is no way that one is happening! The 60 day mark is coming up so perhaps at that a point.

Thanks DRRON29. Trying to hold off as long as possible. I was under the impression the Whisper situation was a bit different because it has to get to dry dock so it cancelled voyages and is deadheading to the Med for the most part. (Though I haven't followed it that closely so I could be wrong.) The Moon is not due in Athens until June 9. The cruise is May 5-23 from Singapore to Mumbai. Not sure what they would do because the ship needs to get to the Med for the summer season. Cancel the cruise and go straight from Singapore to the Med? It's a mess but Silversea needs to decide and let passengers know asap.