Voyages #2534 and #2535 What happened?

We have been considering booking one of these sailings. This morning, both have disappeared from the Silversea website. Could it be a last minute dry dock or charter?

Does anyone know?

We were looking at these pre Christmas cruise,strange time to dry dock.Guess we shall have to look for a warm weather alternative.Not aware of the Wind being fully chartered in the past but may be wrong.

they have done drydocks in the past in early December once the ships get to FLL. Sometimes they block off the time for either a drydock or a charter. Keep an eye on that time period...sometimes they hold the dates and by the time they figure out the schedule/charter makes a commitment, they change the length of the cruises during that time period that are available etc., they put it back on the schedule and it's a great deal...i.e., December 2014 on the Spirit and May 2015 on the Spirit. That is, the charter ends up booking perhaps 5 days instead of 7, and instead of two 7 day BTB cruises it ends up a 5 day charter and a 9 day cruise for sale at a great price. We call these the "pop up" cruises!

Thanks Herman the Cat for the useful info which we shall bear in mind in endeavouring to avoid charters in the future.

they have done drydocks in the past in early December once the ships get to FLL. Sometimes they block off the time for either a drydock or a charter. Keep an eye on that time period...sometimes they hold the dates and by the time they figure out the schedule/charter makes a commitment, they change the length of the cruises during that time period that are available etc., they put it back on the schedule and it's a great deal...i.e., December 2014 on the Spirit and May 2015 on the Spirit. That is, the charter ends up booking perhaps 5 days instead of 7, and instead of two 7 day BTB cruises it ends up a 5 day charter and a 9 day cruise for sale at a great price. We call these the "pop up" cruises!

Thank you Herman. Any idea how long ahead of the original cruising date they might come up with a new booking?

Herman, we are booked on the May 31-June 10 cruise in the Adriatic...is this one of the "pop-up" cruises, you think? Thought the price was good (prior to Jan 15, of course) and now see many cabin types waitlisted. A charter, perhaps? Oh well, we'll enjoy it anyway.

Greetings,

Sorry if I was confusing.

When I say charter, I mean something different as opposed to groups. Charters book the entire ship typically. For example, there is a cruise on the Spirit that is 9 days from May 18 to 27 (Barcelona to Civitavecchia). Then a block of a few days with nothing...and the May 31 cruise from Civitavecchia. Silversea seems to work to accomodate the charter bookings and will adjust one of the "bookend" cruises accordingly. In this case, it seemed like May 31 cruise was adjusted. Because it's late to the game so to speak, Silversea has to play catch up with bookings so when they release it is it very reasonable. Then bookings probably get to a certain level and the prices increase accordingly.

That being said, you don't have to really worry about being on a charter because the cabins won't be available to the general public as the entire ship is booked.

This is different from a group booking...where a large number of cabins are reserved for a group. For example, the TA on the Whisper in May from Fort Lauderdale starts May 1 and ends May 16 in Southampton. It stops in NY. We received the brochure from the Harvard University Alumni Association awhile ago with the feature that they will be hosting a group from May 4 - 16. They will board in NY. That being said, they will have their own lecturers, dinners etc., and most of the time these groups keep to themselves...at least in our experience.

We have been on board with groups and while they are all different, sometimes they get a bad rap. We were very concerned on a B2B when we had a group of 60 boarding. But they were the nicest, most delightful and appreciative people you could meet. They for the most part kept to themselves (except in the Panorama Lounge in the evening) and were certainly the life of the party. We have been on board with some smaller groups and have been pleasantly surprised.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for clarifying, Herman; I guess I meant "groups", and I'm sure all will be fine. Hope that Harvard and Cornell get to toast to each other in a cruise some time! (Please check that I didn't say "toast each other"...)

Greetings,

 

This is different from a group booking...where a large number of cabins are reserved for a group. For example, the TA on the Whisper in May from Fort Lauderdale starts May 1 and ends May 16 in Southampton. It stops in NY. We received the brochure from the Harvard University Alumni Association awhile ago with the feature that they will be hosting a group from May 4 - 16. They will board in NY. That being said, they will have their own lecturers, dinners etc., and most of the time these groups keep to themselves...at least in our experience.

Thanks for the info. We are booked on this cruise and I was aware of a significant number of guests boarding in NY, but no one at SS had been prepared to say that this was because of a group booking. I do 'love' the way that SS keeps info like this away from guests.

Back to my question about voyages 2534 and 2535, does anyone know why they disappeared from the schedule? Is it dry dock, or private charter?

Back to my question about voyages 2534 and 2535, does anyone know why they disappeared from the schedule? Is it dry dock, or private charter?

Silversea will probably tell you if a ship is in drydock since that is typically scheduled way in advance--they may not tell you if it is a charter. You might as well call them directly and ask if the ship will be in drydock or if it is chartered during the time period in question. They could tell you it is chartered, but they may not reveal who has chartered it.

Thank you Herman. Any idea how long ahead of the original cruising date they might come up with a new booking?

We booked May 2015 when we were onboard in December 2014, and booked December 2014 when we were onboard in March 2014. Both were relatively new cruises at that point...so I would probably say about 6-8 months in advance.

Thanks for the info. We are booked on this cruise and I was aware of a significant number of guests boarding in NY, but no one at SS had been prepared to say that this was because of a group booking. I do 'love' the way that SS keeps info like this away from guests.

You are quite welcome. Well, if you are booked on the Transpacific (Anchorage to Tokyo) from Sept. 17 to Oct. 2, 2015, they will also be onboard! Not sure, but I think this may be the first time Harvard is using Silversea. I don't recall seeing Silversea on other trips. Hard to say how big the group will be...I can't imagine it will be very large.