Crystal Symphony, Mumbai to Athens - or is it?

[Dog-man]

Ten weeks to go,  but…….

 

I’m wondering how many of you, like us are booked on the Crystal Symphony cruise from Mumbai to Athens sailing at the end of March? As the itinerary is scheduled as sailing into the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal are we now likely to be on a Mumbai to Horn of Africa (and beyond) cruise?

 

I know a number of other lines have cancelled / are in the process of cancelling cruises in that area so with not long to go, and flights already booked what will be the plan? As the two chairmen were getting on halfway through the seventeen day cruise for a short Chairman’s cruise what is happening to that?

 

Early information from Crystal would be very useful especially because of the flights situation.

[Cruisecyp]

The cruise / nautical press are reporting that there will be no sailings through the Red Sea for the foreseeable future. 
 

If a cruise ship does attempt to sail through the Red Sea and is attacked resulting in casualties it would almost certainly face legal repercussions that could bankrupt the cruise line.

 

We sailed through the Red Sea on Symphony in October and as Crystal thought it necessary not to risk passengers and crew to the threat of pirates that they employed specialist security staff to patrol the ship it’s highly unlikely they would now take a much greater risk having the ship being hit by drones and missiles.  
 

 

[TER777]

https://maritime-executive.com/article/more-cruises-cancel-red-sea-electing-to-deadhead-around-africa

[USCAdventurer]

tracie,

will our May cruise on Symphony from Rome to Lisbon be affected?

 

 

[TER777]

12 minutes ago, USC Adventurer said:

tracie,

will our May cruise on Symphony from Rome to Lisbon be affected?

 

 

No idea, David. 

[Toot and Common]

Not just symph. How does this affect the world cruise and its segments?

[TER777]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/these-two-cruise-lines-canceled-sailings-to-avoid-the-red-sea-amid-attacks/ar-AA1n8ZtV?cvid=f37b0865a46c4eef95c0c61f9fd0df16&ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&ei=9

[Whipsnade]

Both MSC and Silversea have canceled Red Sea area cruises. Some will dead head around Africa to get ready from Spring in the Med. 
We will board Symphony on 1/21 for 68 days to Mumbai. I am sure this will be a big topic of fact and scuttlebutt. 
Will report. 

[Cruisecyp]

The only voyage that could be affected, if the situation remains the same, is Symphony Mumbai to Piraeus starting 27 March 2024.   
 

Symphony needs to be in Piraeus to start its summer sailing season.

 

Crystal will have to make a decision fairly soon to redirect Symphony around the Cape and up the west coast of Africa, possibly starting from Singapore.

 

 

[TER777]

3 minutes ago, Cruisecyp said:

The only voyage that could be affected, if the situation remains the same, is Symphony Mumbai to Piraeus starting 27 March 2024.   
 

Symphony needs to be in Piraeus to start its summer sailing season.

 

Crystal will have to make a decision fairly soon to redirect Symphony around the Cape and up the west coast of Africa, possibly starting from Singapore.

 

 

The Symphony leaves Mumbai March 27, the Serenity April 14. Thus both ships, the later 2+ weeks behind and on the World Cruise. 

[Cruisecyp]

9 minutes ago, TER777 said:

The Symphony leaves Mumbai March 27, the Serenity April 14. Thus both ships, the later 2+ weeks behind and on the World Cruise. 

Yes, absolutely correct.  
 

According to USA TODAY, MSC has cancelled sailings including Dubai to Southampton departing 30 March three days after Symphony should have departed Mumbai. 
 

I wonder whether there will now be available repositioning cruises from Mumbai and Singapore to Europe (not via the Red Sea !).

[TER777]

12 minutes ago, Cruisecyp said:

Yes, absolutely correct.  
 

According to USA TODAY, MSC has cancelled sailings including Dubai to Southampton departing 30 March three days after Symphony should have departed Mumbai. 
 

I wonder whether there will now be available repositioning cruises from Mumbai and Singapore to Europe (not via the Red Sea !).

Or maybe they will go the SS route which is sail empty from Athens to Mumbai or wherever the Moon is actually going. 

[Stickman1990]

1 hour ago, TER777 said:

Or maybe they will go the SS route which is sail empty from Athens to Mumbai or wherever the Moon is actually going. 

Why would they do that and forgo the revenue?

 

The Silver Moon decision was taken in very quick time as they had to exit the Red Sea very quickly and head to Athens to drop off guests and then depart that same day I believe, in order to get to Mumbai for a scheduled cruise. There was simply no time to offer the new itinerary to anyone and thus they had little choice to sail without guests 

 

One would hope that Crystal are able to announce this and offer the new cruise to guests so they can get wine revenue from that voyage 

[Theobald]

14 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

Why would they do that and forgo the revenue?

 

Because they will also forgo costs and, without port stops along the way, Crystal will be able to save more cruises in the Med. The time saving is not just the time in ports, but also the shorter distance and avoiding the go-slows to hit typical morning and evening arrival and departure times. Also, Crystal will probably make an effort to save on customer-facing crew, even if it is just voluntary unpaid or partially-paid time off.

 

Then there is the problem of organizing and marketing a relatively unattractive itinerary on very short notice. The paucity of West African cruises (I looked a few months ago; there aren't many) probably says something about the difficulty of marketing, even with a year or two of lead time. South Africa from Asia is also a rare routing that probably will not fill quickly.

[Whipsnade]

Theobald 100% correct. I have been on cruises in West Africa which had been marketed two years in advance and only 40% occupancy. 
 Cutting out late winter Indian Ocean cruises and sailing full steam around Africa only having to stop for fuel and getting to the Med in time to make all full and lucrative spring and summer cruises makes a lot of sense. 
We will be on Singapore to Mumbai on Symphony but I  am betting they will kick us off in Singapore and head straight for the Cape. So we will get some $$ back and a nice cruise credit. Sure won’t be the end of the world. 

[Stickman1990]

7 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

Theobald 100% correct. I have been on cruises in West Africa which had been marketed two years in advance and only 40% occupancy. 

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see - hey 40% occupancy - they’d kill for that on Symphony these days….

 

The World Cruisers are a captive market - if they want to stay onboard that is, so there’s another challenge of what they’ll do with that routing - lots to speculate on for them 

 

Time will tell 😂😂😂😉

Edited January 19 by Stickman1990

[TRIPACIAN]

We are onboard now and we asked this question and the answer is “it is being discussed and possible plans are being made.”  The logical date and departure date is March 12, departing from Singapore non stop to Athens.  More than likely the nonessential crew will be sent home and no passengers will be on the ship.  
 

[Whipsnade]

That is pretty much what I would guess looking at the map. 

[Jayayeff]

40 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

That is pretty much what I would guess looking at the map. 

Me too….

[Dog-man]

I don’t disagree. I think they will sail around Africa and get Symphony into the Mediterranean as quickly as possible to pick up the rest of the season. From a passenger perspective Crystal need to tell their passengers now that the cruises are cancelled so that the flights, accommodation etc that have been booked can be cancelled, then people can also make alternative arrangements. At the moment the communication strategy is woeful.

[Dog-man]

Apparently Aida cruises announced today the cancellation of Red Sea Cruises for March and April. That will probably mean all lines under the Carnival Brand will be following suit. 

[Whipsnade]

For sure Carnival will not be sailing any of its ships this route anytime soon. Remember the Arrisons are Israeli. That means Queens, HAL, Seabourn will not be taking this route. 
I was checking on War Marine Insurance. Apparently the pirates in London who control this have jacked the rates for Red Sea passage to 1% of the value of the ship. This is for commercial cargo vessels. I have no idea what it would be for passenger vessels but suspect a lot more. This calculation alone means highly unlikely Symphony will be sailing west of Singapore Mar 12. Same for Serenity a month later. Symphony calculations of alternative pretty easy to calculate. Serenity on WC a lot more complex. 
 

[mogilevk9]

Crystal has just announced a series of themed cruises for 2024, one of which is the last couple of weeks in February on Symphony as she continues on her current journey from Asia to the Red Sea and thence the Mediterranean.

 

I would rather know what is happening to Symphony in March when she, and we, are supposed to be transiting the Gulf of Aden / Bab El Mandab Strait and then sailing the Red Sea.
Considering the latest developments regarding the missile attacks in this area, I can’t believe that a decision to cancel sailings in this area has still to be made. The lack of communication to current passengers and those on the upcoming March sailings is woeful.

 

 

 

 

 

[ctjon]

Always been somewhat of a scary area to me  Back in 1995, I think, we took a Crystal cruise that stopped in Egypt.   From the moment we docked we were surrounded by armed guards - at the dock, buses to Cairo, boats on the Nile, etc.  we had armed guards to protect us.  Scary.

Also, back then you couldn't stop in Israel before you went to Egypt.  Not that it made much difference to us but was a fact of country politics back then.

[Whipsnade]

On board Symphony now. No news yet on Red Sea. No way they will be carrying pax there next month. We expected to get news here in Bali but nothing yet.