Silver Spirit, Feb into March

[PaulaJK]

We depart early Feb for CPT where we board Spirit which sails the Indian Ocean

into Mahe for a second leg into Dubai. Not in the canal or Red Sea but visiting

Oman, Qatar and UAE. We are concerned whether this leg will sail ..the

following leg out of Dubai goes to Athens via the Suez Canal. I can’t imagine

that that leg will sail. Does anyone have any information or

thoughts about our leg? SS is silent.

 

Edited January 26 by PaulaJK

[drron29]

There is hope as it has been reported that China is trying to pressure Iran into calling off the Houthis.

China is probably the most affected by ships sailing via the Cape instead of through the Suez. a\Already seeing huge increases sending containers to Europe. On top of that China buys 90% of Iran's oil so they have a bit of clout.

 

"Basically, China says: 'If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran. So tell the Houthis to show restraint'," said one Iranian official briefed on the talks, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/china-presses-iran-rein-houthi-attacks-red-sea-sources-say-2024-01-26/

Edited January 27 by drron29

[ging466]

I'm doing the same @PaulaJK, Cape Town through to Dubai. I did wonder about the Persian Gulf part of our trip but decided it wasn't worth worrying about. We can all give it to Iran when we sail past them🖕🏻🤣

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[PaulaJK]

Jennifer,

See you onboard….will be the person with thd worried expression! Paula

 

[MrsWaldo]

Seabourn have just cancelled all their cruises that go to Dubai.  Ship is sailing empty around the Horn 

[PaulaJK]

What was their routing? Any resemblance to ours? I cannot imagine the cruise

after ours to proceed, for sure.

[jollyjones]

5 hours ago, MrsWaldo said:

Seabourn have just cancelled all their cruises that go to Dubai.  Ship is sailing empty around the Horn 

Oh dear, please can we get this straight. 
The Horn of Africa is Somalia. No cruise ships anywhere near. 
The Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa near Cape Town. 
Cape Horn is the southern tip of South America. 

 

[drron29]

51 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

Oh dear, please can we get this straight. 
The Horn of Africa is Somalia. No cruise ships anywhere near. 
The Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa near Cape Town. 
Cape Horn is the southern tip of South America. 

 

But what a voyage that would make. three Trans Oceanic crossings in a row!. And enough sea days so that you may never go back to cruising again.😉😃

[mrlevin]

RCL announcing earnings tomorrow morning; I am sure the cancellations/reroutings will be a topic at the earnings call.  

[bucketsrose]

I am on the Spirit Grand Voyage Capetown to Athens right now. Silversea has not announced anything yet concerning changes to the itinerary. However, considering it needs to get to Athens by March 29 for its Mediterranean cruises and since it is unsafe to go through the Red Sea, I think it is very likely that the cruise will end at Seychelles so that there is time for the Spirit to go back around the Cape if Good Hope to get to Athens on time. I hope we hear soon what the plans are.

[MrsWaldo]

That’s interesting because the rumour I heard was it would make it to Dubai and an Athens cruise cancelled as they are not part of the GV. The other driving factor being getting people off Seychelles. 

 

It’s all guess work atm anyway… and it would be nice to know sooner rather than later.  I’m in the unfortunate situation of not wanting to go anywhere if this cruise doesn’t happen, but I have leave booked and the cancellation window is closing 

 

[drron29]

According to our TA no final decision on the Spirit has been made yet but should be very soon. She is on the SS Travel experts group.

[MrsWaldo]

33 minutes ago, drron29 said:

According to our TA no final decision on the Spirit has been made yet but should be very soon. She is on the SS Travel experts group.

But how long is very soon. 
 

initially I was told 31 Jan at the latest….🤷‍♀️

[ging466]

I wonder how they are going to get all the people off the ship in the Seychelles and get flights back home.

 

It will be extremely disappointing if the cruise doesn't go to Dubai and I don't want to miss La Digue but it's beginning to be a real possibility.

 

Instead of going to Dubai, what about sailing around the Seychelles and going back to Cape Town. Easier for people to then fly home.

 

Oh well, I'm leaving on Friday so hopefully will embark on Sunday and will go somewhere!

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[MrsWaldo]

Initially I was told there were 2 alternatives 

1 was to Mumbai or Singapore and Moon would stay Med.    We now know that won’t happen

 

 

The second was back to Cape Town…

 

possible ports 

 

Dar Es Salaam  Zanzibar  Mombasa Djibouti Beira 

 

who knows ….????

 

 

 

 

[ging466]

5 minutes ago, MrsWaldo said:

Initially I was told there were 2 alternatives 

1 was to Mumbai or Singapore and Moon would stay Med.    We now know that won’t happen

 

The second was back to Cape Town…

 

possible ports 

 

Dar Es Salaam  Zanzibar  Mombasa Djibouti Beira 

 

who knows ….????

 

 

 

 

 

I don't mind any of them except Djbouti - it's too close to Yemen, way too dangerous.

 

Does anyone want to take bets on what we will do? 🤣🤣🤣

[PaulaJK]

“Sooner” is a moot point as we fly out to CPT on Wed. I could live w itinerary remaining

in Indian Ocean and a return to CPT, albeit disappointing. Difficult to imagine a luxury

cruise where many are upset, rescheduling,etc. or feel at risk. Since there is no hope

that the regional issues will evaporate, at this juncture I find SS self serving and rude

and inconsiderate re: pax. Hardly the feeling to board with.

[bucketsrose]

6 hours ago, MrsWaldo said:

Initially I was told there were 2 alternatives 

1 was to Mumbai or Singapore and Moon would stay Med.    We now know that won’t happen

 

 

The second was back to Cape Town…

 

possible ports 

 

Dar Es Salaam  Zanzibar  Mombasa Djibouti Beira 

 

who knows ….????

 

 

 

 

I wouldnt mind back to Capetown with those ports, but I would be unhappy if it was back to Capetown with only sea days or a repetition of the ports we take from Capetown to Seychelles 

[PaulaJK]

+1 …..a cancellation after flying ( almost 24 hrs) to CPT would be rough. I would prefer sailing, more so with some ports than not. I do not respect how SS is treating its passengers.

[ging466]

I'm really not that upset about it. Sure there's a little disappointment but I feel sorry for the people who were getting on in Dubai and going through to Athens, they won't be going anywhere.

 

I'll be embarking on Sunday and will enjoy every moment that I have on board. I haven't been on the Spirit since 2010 and am really looking forward to it.

 

I booked this cruise in 2021 when I was sitting at home during a COVID lockdown and have been waiting ever since. TBH, I can't believe I'm actually going😃

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[MrsWaldo]

7 hours ago, ging466 said:

I'm really not that upset about it. Sure there's a little disappointment but I feel sorry for the people who were getting on in Dubai and going through to Athens, they won't be going anywhere.

 

I'll be embarking on Sunday and will enjoy every moment that I have on board. I haven't been on the Spirit since 2010 and am really looking forward to it.

 

I booked this cruise in 2021 when I was sitting at home during a COVID lockdown and have been waiting ever since. TBH, I can't believe I'm actually going😃

 

Cheers

Jennifer

I booked when it was first released too!  It was my about to be cancelled, after another about to be cancelled. After I had done an onboard booking in Jan 2020.

 

if it is cancelled, I suspect my Silversea days are over, unless of course they can move me to another cruise similar dates and no extra outlay.  I do not have the freedom of choosing when I travel so this last minute is not a good look for taking risks in the future.

 

 

[texanaust]

Silver Spirit no longer showing for sale/itineraries from 26 Feb to 29 March.  Silver Whisper no longer for sale from 3 March to 10 May.  Maybe they are about to announce something. 

 

Silver Moon however is still listed for sale including Suez trips...

[MrsWaldo]

Shows waitlist in Australia 

 

[drron29]

So for the Whisper the Singapore to Mumbai Cruise is the first on Waitlist. Due to depart March 3. The voyage through the canal was to end in Athens on the 6th April. The time between arriving in Singapore and arriving in Athens is 34 days.

The Moon will take 29 days from Athens to Mumbai. Singapore is further from Athens via the Capetown than Mumbai. The Whispers top speed like the Moon is 21 knots. So that gap is consistent with the time to reach Athens and go into dry dock.

 

For the Spirit the first Waitlist is the Mahe to Dubai 32 days before the Athens cruise meaning it would comfortably get to Athens. If It went on to Dubai only 16 days which would be impossible.

[Grand Duchess]

17 hours ago, drron29 said:

So for the Whisper the Singapore to Mumbai Cruise is the first on Waitlist. Due to depart March 3. The voyage through the canal was to end in Athens on the 6th April. The time between arriving in Singapore and arriving in Athens is 34 days.

The Moon will take 29 days from Athens to Mumbai. Singapore is further from Athens via the Capetown than Mumbai. The Whispers top speed like the Moon is 21 knots. So that gap is consistent with the time to reach Athens and go into dry dock.

 

For the Spirit the first Waitlist is the Mahe to Dubai 32 days before the Athens cruise meaning it would comfortably get to Athens. If It went on to Dubai only 16 days which would be impossible.

Agree, so they must have made decisions by now, but still no information coming through. I'm on the GV right now, so far fabulous, still I would highly appreciate if they could let us know future plan so we could rearrange things.