Silver Discoverer Delayed

Here we are, holed up in our hotel in Otaru, waiting to join Silver Discoverer for the Russian Far East cruise due to depart today Saturday June 14th. We have received a message that the ship is behind schedule due to refueling delays and bad weather and will now depart tomorrow Sunday 15th. Silversea has arranged for us to stay on in our hotel at their cost for the extra day. The itinerary has been revised and we will no longer visit the Shantar Islands. However, the revised itinerary shows that we will debark one day later on July 3rd instead of July 2nd, which means we will have to unscramble and rebook our return plans :( No news yet on what Silversea proposes to do about that! Stay tuned.

If they are landing a day late then why are they missing any ports???

This is not good obviously- hope SS takes responsibility for dealing with it all. If we were to arrive a day late it would be a real mess! Several plane flights, hotels, cars, etc etc.

Best of luck- keep us in touch!

That's the first question we asked. No response yet.

Any news yet?

Hopefully tomorrow will dawn bright and beautiful and the ship will be there waiting for you.

Despite seeing something that says the cruise will essentially be extended for one day, how can SS accomplish that? It would then snowball every cruise to follow by a day. I can't imagine they want to revise schedules for the remainder of the season. Rather, they will likely inconvenience the current cruisers, who will lose a day and then SS will be back on schedule.

Interesting- although in September they have a 5 day space in Taipei. But that does mean the next 5 outings could be thrown off by a day- that is a lot of shifting of flights, etc. Hope there is further information on this.

That's the first question we asked. No response yet.

Perhaps the last day of your cruise is in a hotel.

Interesting- although in September they have a 5 day space in Taipei. But that does mean the next 5 outings could be thrown off by a day- that is a lot of shifting of flights, etc. Hope there is further information on this.

OK, flap over! The revised itinerary giving July 3rd as the debark date has been withdrawn and a new itinerary issued. Debark is back to July 2. Lucky I hadn't unscrambled return plans!

So, we're aboard and steaming north. First impressions of the Discoverer are that it's a step down from the Explorer... but we'll see how we settle in.

We're join in Otaru on July 2nd. Looking forward to hearing how the trip and Russian Far East is.

Please keep up the good reporting. Looking forward to it!

OK, flap over! The revised itinerary giving July 3rd as the debark date has been withdrawn and a new itinerary issued. Debark is back to July 2. Lucky I hadn't unscrambled return plans!

 

So, we're aboard and steaming north. First impressions of the Discoverer are that it's a step down from the Explorer... but we'll see how we settle in.

When did they let you know that the changes were changed? That seems like it could have been even more of a disaster than the original change. I mean- what were you expected to do with the first news- wait to make your changes until you were onboard? Or did they indicate in any way that the first revised itinerary was just a potential? Oh well- at least for you (and hopefully everyone else) all's well that ends well.

Looking forward to your reports and have a wonderful time!

When did they let you know that the changes were changed? That seems like it could have been even more of a disaster than the original change. I mean- what were you expected to do with the first news- wait to make your changes until you were onboard? Or did they indicate in any way that the first revised itinerary was just a potential? Oh well- at least for you (and hopefully everyone else) all's well that ends well.

 

Looking forward to your reports and have a wonderful time!

At the first briefing on board, the mistakes were acknowledged and attributed to typos by local agents! Hm! There was an indication that if anyone had made revised return arrangements based on the bad information, Silversea would work with them "to make it right".

After the initial delay and confusion about the return date, we have settled in to a most enjoyable cruise routine. In one respect we are very lucky: we number only 35 passengers! We have 96 crew members looking after us. So, as you can imagine, the level and quality of service is spectacular. There is a splendid camaraderie on board. Many of us are repeat expedition cruisers. The Team Leader is Juan Carlos Restrepo whom we remember from our Greenland cruise last year; he is truly excellent!

As our first impressions indicated, we would rate the Discoverer itself about B minus. The cabins and public areas are smaller than on the Explorer and we have a few niggles. For example, we have only tepid water from the “hot” basin & shower faucets and the air conditioning is temperamental. They are working on this! There are few windows in the main dining room which with low ceilings makes it feel a tad claustrophobic. On the other hand, the pool deck area is very pleasant and the arrangements for boarding the Zodiacs – from a platform at the rear end of the ship – beat the Explorer hands down. There has been a slight swell which, in our cabin on deck 6, gives us more movement than we would have expected from similar conditions on the Explorer. Food so far has been good but perhaps less varied than elsewhere on Silversea.

Our weather so far has been overcast and showery and quite cool. Today is foggy – visibility about 100 meters. This didn’t interfere with our visit to tiny Tyuleniy Island, a rocky outcrop covered with fur seals, Stellar sea lions, guillemots, kittiwakes and crested auklets. However, there was just a moment on the return Zodiac trip, out of sight of land and ship, with Bruno’s GPS malfunctioning, when we double-checked our lifejackets!

At the first briefing on board, the mistakes were acknowledged and attributed to typos by local agents! Hm! There was an indication that if anyone had made revised return arrangements based on the bad information, Silversea would work with them "to make it right".

....

That would have sent me right round the bend! Just me, but first to spend a day rearranging everything instead of sailing, or wandering about, only to board and be told that I was going to have to spend more of my time rearranging my rearrangements. It gives me chills just to think about it.

Anyway, other than that sounds like things are going reasonably well. Am mildly concerned that you are finding the deck six cabins are a bit small- I was surprised to see the size of the deck 3-5 cabins. Oh well- we will be in outside country when we wail.

Anyway, other than that sounds like things are going reasonably well. Am mildly concerned that you are finding the deck six cabins are a bit small- I was surprised to see the size of the deck 3-5 cabins. Oh well- we will be in outside country when we wail.

Oh - waldo -- was that a typo or intentional? Either way -- hilarious and appropriate.

Anyway, other than that sounds like things are going reasonably well. Am mildly concerned that you are finding the deck six cabins are a bit small- I was surprised to see the size of the deck 3-5 cabins. Oh well- we will be in outside country when we wail.

Oh - waldo -- was that a typo or intentional? Either way -- hilarious and appropriate.

I have to agree. I was crying with laughter when I read it.

Sorry waldo if it was a genuine typo, but thanks for the laugh.

Genuine typo- and glad it gave you a laugh. Gave me one too and honestly I have NO idea what it was supposed to be.

Oh wait-yes it is all clear now.

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Thanks for the report! Hopefully things will get going soon.