LAL Cruiser

This will be very very stressful - why end your vacation under such pressure? A 700AM arrival does not mean that the ship will be cleared at 700AM; it could talk 30 to 60 minutes for the agents to come aboard and then formalities need to be completed. CPH is a ride from the cruise ship terminal and, if I remember, the taxi must go through the downtown in order to reach the airport (its not a highway drive). And, European airports are going to be super busy this summer - just look at the number of flights being added. I would look for other options. A long line at immigration or security could cause a missed flight. Rebooking during the peak travel periods can be so difficult - finding 2 biz class seats at the last minute could be a big challenge. I do understand that later flight options our of CPH are limited (most of the Star Alliance flights leave their respective hubs by noon requiring an early connecting fight) - why not spend a night in Copenhagen and fly out the next morning?

There is no update or new concerning the Silver Dawn November 17 and Dec 4 cruises, or various cruises on the Whisper and Spirit for the November and December 2024 periods. Believe me, I have tried with Silversea, using contacts, and working with our Travel Agent. The bottom line is that there is still no definite plan in place with respect to moving these THREE ships from the Med (Athens) to the Indian Ocean. And, there are many operational and logistical challenges and revenue matters to consider. I will keep trying - the last I heard is that the Dawn cruises being discussed and now showing as Waitlist only are not likely to operate, The Whisper cruise on Dec 4 out of Mumbai probably will operate but maybe with a modified itinerary, and a bunch of Dawn, Whisper and Spirit cruises out of Athens to the Greek Isles planned for Nov and Dec 2024 could be cancelled. I have nothing smart to say, our trip is in jeopardy and, as mentioned above, we have airline plus pre and post cruise arrangements planned and (partially) paid for, which payments are not refundable in whole. I am concerned, and we all need time to revise our plans and/or look for alternatives.

If Silver Ray follows the same path that Silver Nova took last year....when sea trials are complete, the next stop will be Amsterdam for deliveries of furniture, supplies and equipment. Nova spent many days docked just outside of Amsterdam centre accepting deliveries. THANK YOU for the pictures!

Mumcat, please take the time to read the posts above; the posts set forth what is going on.

Monday Update from Europe - no update but I was promised further information tomorrow. It was confirmed that this is all about the Suez Canal/Red Sea transit, insurance and risk - but we already figured that out.

Hi again, Late, They will get the Whisper to Mumbai in time - it works. It is tight and they will have to push the ship at 17/18 knots and keep provisioning and fuel stops between Athens and Mumbai to a minimum, but Whisper can make it to Mumbai in 27 day time frame for a 04 Dec on schedule departure. As of this moment, the Whisper does not seem very full with Suites available in all different categories on all different decks; the Dawn did not seem heavily booked either when it went to the dreaded Waitlist status. Aside from all of the other issues being discussed, the weeks leading up to Christmas are usually not very high demand periods so there could be flexibility; remember, both Whisper and Dawn concluded on 22 December which is very very close to Christmas. My GUESS (only a guess), is that with effort, most Dawn passengers that want to stay with the itinerary can be accommodated on Whisper, we shall see what Silversea can do and what compensation is offered (they will offer something)....BUT I HOPE THEY DO IT SOON!! I was telling Scott in the Roll Call thread that I discussed this situation with our friends that are travelling with us (we are 3 couples in total) - none of them had any problem with going on the Whisper instead of the Dawn (all have many cruises on Silversea); this is what they said and it is funny: who cares about SALT and we can eat sushi at the Buffet at Lunch....lets just go! My partner and I are the difficult ones who are bitching and moaning over the change of vessel. We do not want to miss out on this trip - both the pre-cruise India adventure and a terrific 18 day itinerary. The good news is that Whisper just completed a dry dock and hopefully she is freshened up and in top shape. I look forward to meeting all of you on whatever ship we end up on!!!

Scott, I would like to send you a private email......what is your address??

I am making some calls tomorrow and will update. I agree that we need to know one way or the other at this point; both time and money are involved. Silversea does have a lot to deal with: DAWN, WHISPER and SPIRIT all need to move from Europe (Athens) to the Indian Ocean; decisions need to be made - will all 3 of these ships travel from Athens and around Africa empty to pick up their planned schedules?? Is there any real choice? Passengers who had cruises cancelled for similar reasons last year/earlier this year had all monies paid to date re the cancelled cruise refunded, pre/post arrangements booked via Silversea credited, were reimbursed for non-refundable costs (up to $500.00 p/p but rumor has it that this amount was negotiable) and received a 20% credit against any newly booked cruise - the thing is that fares have increased since we booked our 04 December DAWN cruise (we booked port to port last February and utilized the port to port prepaid promotion) so, even if this type of deal is offered to us, we will be lucky to come out even when using the 20% credit. Yes, I am being serious. It seems that the Whisper 04 Dec Mumbai to Singapore 18 day cruise will be operated as planned; I am curious to see how Silversea handles this, ie, will DAWN pax be rebooked onto the WHISPER with some minor incentive? As stated above, we selected the DAWN because we preferred the larger/newer vessel. (We have about 30 cruises on Silversea and been on all ships except Dawn and Endeavour.) As we have overseas airline flights booked and paid (expensive), India domestic flights booked and paid, 8 days and 7 nights of touring/hotels in India confirmed and partially paid for, plus even arrangements in Singapore locked in and paid, all of which we booked independently, I guess we will do the WHISPER if that is what is offered to us (with some incentives.) Stay tuned.

Silver Dawn - 17 November cruise will cancel. And, our 4 December cruise will cancel. Silver Whisper - 7 November and 17 November cruises will cancel. Silver Whisper will have a ten day head start out of Athens when compared to the Dawn. Silver Whisper will thus have more time to get to Mumbai - 27/28 days and they will need every moment. Silver Dawn will head directly to Singapore - they have 35/36 days and they will again need every moment.

Hi John117, Your cruise, like ours, is now showing as WAITLISTED on the Silversea website meaning both cruises are pretty much gone - the only question is when the official cancellation will be sent to us by Silversea? The November 17 Silver Whisper Athens to Athens also will llikely cancel; when you try to book that cruise the search engine tells you to GO AWAY. (LOL) (See my research above.) There is still a Silver Spirit 7 day Athens to Athens on November 16 that can be booked. (Silver Spiit will also have issues getting from Athens to Mahe, so who knows what will happen.) Some Silver Spirit cruises are also now NOT unbookable on the website. That there were 3 ships doing 7 night Greek Isles itineraries in Mid November never made much sense. And now,, due to the continued unsettled sitaution in the Middle East affecting Suez Canal/Red Sea transits, Silversea needs to rehthink many voyages. I GUESS that Silversea cannot get insurance to take the ships through the Suez Canal and Red Sea even if the ships are operating without passengers - that is trigggering the new uncertainty as to which cruises will ooperate and which cruises will be scrapped. As said, this is just a guess Stay tuned - I will share what I learn about our DAWN itinerary here as what happens to us will probably impact you. I THINK Silver Dawn shall be departing Athens on 17 November EMPTY and headed directly to Singapore for the Chistmas cruise. We are in the same boat....pun intended.

I had some tme on my hands and figured out what is going on...Play with the booking engine and you can confirm what I deternined....the cruises that I suggest below as canclled show odd messages on the site (Too Busy, come back, etc) when attempting to book. The Dawn voyages now show waitlist only (and the voyages per my info were not heavily booked a few days ago.) DAWN - Nov 17 and Dec 4 cruises will likely be cancelled. The DAWN will have about 36 days to make its way from Athens to Singapore, probably empty via Cape of Good Hope. That is roughly the amount of days needed with a stop here and there to fuel and provision. The Dawn needs to be in Singapore for the Christmas/New Years journey and then the world Cruise out of Tokyo, WHISPER - Nov 7 and Nov 17 cruises likley to be cancelled. The WHISPER will have about 28 days to make it from Athens to Mumbai via the Cape again probably empty. This should be enough time for Whisper to make it to Mumbai depart Mumbai per schedule. It is time for SIlversea to let us know what is going on, I will call again after the weekend.

My partner and I, with some friends, are booked on the 4th December 2024 voyage of the Silver Dawn (18 nights Mumbai to Singapore); the trip is booked, set and locked in - not only the cruise but a week of pre-cruise travel in India, airline tickets (booked independently) and other land arrangements. I check the Silversea site from time to time and play with the booking engine to check availability: when I checked yesterday, the booking engine on the Silversea site kicked me out for this cruise (Site busy - come back later) and did the same for the prior cruise. I knew something was up. Today, our Cruise and the prior cruise are showing as WAITLISTED (there was a lot of availability last week so this is not making sense.) To me, it seems like our Cruise is about to be CANCELLED. (The journey after ours is still open for booking.) We then called our travel advisor and she reached out to Silversea and got the standard non-answer: we are reviewing our itineraries and operations and will update shortly. Our travel advisor is too smart to accept that nonsense and went further and she spoke with someone who could confirm that our cruise will be cancelled or modified. Uuugh... Note that the prior cruise of the Dawn is an Athens roundtrip in late November, there were then 11 ""unscheduled"" days, and then our cruise was to depart Mumbai on December 4. This all is related to the situation with the Suez Canal and the tensions in the Middle East. Curiously, the Silver Whisper has the exact same schedule yet the cruises on that ship are so far unaffected. Does anyone know anything further? When Silversea officially cancels our cruise (and from reading some posts here, who knows when that will happen?) I assume that we will be offered a refund/credit/other compensation, but our concern is our (expensive) airline tickets and India land arrangements which are not all entirely refundable. How accommodating will Silversea be? Plan B would be to take the similar cruise on the Whisper that is scheduled on the exact same dates - if that operates - and I assume Silversea will make us an offer to go on that voyage. That said, we prefer the Dawn to the Whisper (even if she is getting a face-lift in drydock as I write this) especially for such a long voyage. I accept that these are luxurious problems - but we are not happy? I am curious as to what the experts here at Cruise Critic think!

Well, have a wonderful trip - where are you headed?? Make it work with the suite (take the jacket and pants) and the beige khaki like pants. Mix and match - the grey pants with a suit jacket is also an option. Maybe you will get lucky at one of the ports and find a shop with something that fits? Bon voyage....

The first pair looks like khakis which would be OK, the second photo are jeans and could be an issue. Go out and buy a pair of "dressier" pants for the cruise, my partner and I have logged about 30 cruises on Silversea and, in the evening, passengers tend to dress up. Why be uncomfortable or have to deal with such a ""non-issue"" - you are on a vacation and should be able to relax and enjoy!

My suggestion, stay with the TWO vehicles and that will guaranty comfort and enough room for baggage and carry-ons. Simple is good - I would not want to fuss with the reservations or Blacklane vouchers for a potential small refund.

The dress code on all Silversea ships has now changed. Casual/Elegant with optional formal nights is the new standard. Check the website. I copied the updated information below. A jacket is required for the Formal Optional evenings and La Dame - not a big deal. Bringing one sport coat along on cruise should not be a problem. Silver Dawn, Silver Spirit, Silver Muse, Silver Moon, and Silver Whisper, effective for sailings departing on or after the 21st of April 2024 Silver Shadow, effective for sailings departing on or after the 26th of May 2024. Silversea operates an onboard dress code after 6 pm. During the day, casual wear, similar to five-star resort sportswear, is suitable for daytime activities. It is recommended to wear flat or low-heeled shoes for deck activities. Evening wear falls into two categories: Elegant Casual: On casual evenings, ladies may opt for trousers, a blouse, a skirt, or a casual dress, while gentlemen may wear an open-collar shirt and slacks. A jacket is optional. Formal Optional: May choose a more formal attire, such as an evening gown or cocktail dress for ladies and a tuxedo, dinner jacket, or dark suit with a tie for gentlemen. Alternatively, adhering to Elegant Casual dress code is welcomed, but a jacket is still required for gentlemen in all indoor spaces. Regardless of the daily dress code: After 6 pm, indoor spaces prohibit jeans, shorts, sneakers, or flip-flop-type footwear. Casual wear is always suitable in outdoor venues. Gentlemen dining at La Dame restaurants are required to wear a jacket. The number of formal evenings depends on the length of the voyage. A guideline for reference is below: On sailings of 7 days or fewer, Elegant Casual nights throughout. On sailings of 8-14 days, expect between 1 to 2 Formal Optional nights. On sailings of 15 days or more, expect 2 or more Formal Optional nights.

WE were on the Nova over Christmas and everyone dressed beautifully - I was impressed. Actually, on our Christmas/New years cruise most passengers dressed as nicely as they did (or even nicer) than on our many, many Silversea cruises where the more traditional dress code was in force. The new guidelines are easier and more appropriate in this day and age, but Silversea is an elegant product and dressing up a bit in the evening is expected and appropriate. Yes, no jeans means no jeans - so simple is it. Also, in the evening, wear a collared shirt that has sleeves. At La Dame, passengers do dress up and the jacket rule is enforced (as it should be); it a special evening in a special restaurant, so wear something stylish and attractive and enjoy it.

Yes, it will be a mix of longer term Silversea team members with a lot of new faces. Silversea faces the same challenges that many cruise lines (and travel firms in general) are dealing with in the post COVID world; Silversea has grown (see discussion above), so much long-term staffing was lost and did not return post pandemic, and demand for travel is sky-rocketing. All at the same time!!! We were on the Nova over Christmas and the service was good, not great, and improving. Our Butler for example was lovely but clueless. The Dining staff was good and much better than our first post COVID Silversea cruise (May 2022); on that cruise everyone was trying hard but service was below average. (The best service we ever had on Silversea was our ''COVID Cruise" - we cruised on the Moon through the Greek isles when the ship was brand new during August 2021 and the service was sublime.) I do think that the Silver Ray introduction will go easier than the Nova - there is now once again a large enough pool of seasoned staff to get the ship running and a lot has been learned from the introduction of the Nova. The Nova was a challenge, new ship, new design ship, larger ship and entirely different systems, limited staff - all at once. I am sure it will be fine - enjoy your journey.

You should be off by 800AM; let the Front Desk Team know your situation early on in the cruise - we had a similar circumstance a few years ago (arriving into Southampton and transferring to Heathrow) and the Front Desk Manager made sure that we (with a few others) were the absolute first passengers through formalities and the first passengers to leave the ship. Communication is key. They only issue that can arise is if the local authorities are a bit late in clearing the ship which is out of everyone's control. If you can manage you baggage, you can possibly save some time by walking off with it yourself on the disembarkation morning instead of leaving it out the night before - discuss this with the Front Desk Manager and determine what makes sense. I am not sure how ""tight"" your schedule is. Suggestion re the airport transfer, why not book a taxi online so that you are sure that there is a taxi waiting for you the moment you get off the ship? See www.booktaxibcn.com for example. Knowing that a car is waiting for you could reduce the stress level. Good luck!!!

You will not be moved unless there is an operational extraordinary event. I did not mean to worry you, you will be just fine.

I agree 100% - the website (when it works - our booking has disappeared from time to time) is a disaster and it makes a terrible first impression. And, calling the Cruise Ambassadors (Explora lingo) is time consuming and many times they share incorrect information. After three calls, I could confirm a couple of restaurant reservations (each call takes a while as you need to confirm booking numbers, etc with the agent.) Booking shore excursions (or whatever Explora calls them) was a complete fiasco: after a couple of calls, I confirmed the excursions we desired but then we received an invoice requiring advance payment for said shore excursions (ridiculous); the Ambassador never mentioned this to me. Our intent was/is to use our onboard credit to cover the cost of said excursions (isn't that the purpose of an onboard credit?). After three more calls, and more misinformation, we were finally advised that the onboard credit can only be used once onboard and not for any type of advance bookings - sorry, but that policy does not sound like luxury to me and we have never had any such issues with Silversea or Regent. The end result of this silly story - we cancelled the shore excursions and will re-book them once onboard the vessel so we can use the onboard credit. What a waste of everyone's time. I understand that Explora is a new line and still figuring things out - but they are part of the huge MSC group. An operational website and a practical shore excursions booking procedure should not be challenges.

Your research confirms that the Nova is not fully booked - but will 58 suites really be open on your cruise? - probably not and the ship will be (very) close to capacity. First, we dont know how many GUARANTY cabins were sold: each guaranty booking in various categories will need to get to get suite assignments and some passengers will be moved around a bit. Next, Silversea will clear provisional reservations from travel professionals, employees, and others who travel on discounted rates when space is available (there are a multitude of programs that I cannot talk about) and, last, about 10 days out there is an internal procedure where the Silversea Teams (both landside and on the ship) go through a procedure called "doing the ship". Think an audit: a last minute check that everyone has a cabin, no cabins are double booked, the correct cabins have been assigned to the correct passengers and so on and so on. Also, for technical or other reasons, suites may be put out of service for a variety of reasons on a specific cruise and these issues are addressed. There are so many issues, mistakes really do happen and passengers cannot arrive at the dock only to find out that the ship is overbooked or their cabin has been assigned to another party. It is a process. There are many cases where passengers are having a good time and decide to stay on.....yes, really. It happens more often than you think. Those passengers need accommodation and efforts are made to keep them in their current suite. If the Nova was sold out, it would so state on the website. As for upgrades, I have logged over 30 cruises with Silversea and have never seen or heard of low-cost upgrades close in to the date of departure. You can ask your travel advisor to enquire prior to departure, or politely ask at the Front Desk (well, the Nova does not really have a front desk...LOL) but manage your expectations. I enjoyed the Nova and still cannot decide if I like the new-style Nova more or less than the traditional style Muse/Moon/Dawn! A luxurious problem. Have a wonderful journey.

Is the ship fully booked on the Cartagena to Lima segment?

Sounds lovely, and I will be standing on a street corner in a so-so neighborhood of Lima looking for a run-down hot bus that will take me on a 25 minute ride into the port while loaded down with luggage. Can't wait!! Yes, see you onboard. Project packing complete, 3 mega cases, one rollerboard, one lap top carrier plus brief case. Done. Bon Voyage.....

I do have the Lima instructions, thank you!!! I also contacted the port authority in Lima requesting access to the port for our group of 5 and they actually responded today. (I honestly never expected to hear back from them.) Their email stated that as of tomorrow, the Port Authority will know the exact position of the Silver Nova in the Callao port and, depending on that position, they may be able to arrange port access. I will keep you updated.