Refit schedules

[Pies4u]

Just wondering - is there a published schedule for Silversea refits/refurbs?

 

We are looking at a 2026 cruise on Spirit, which was obviously ‘stretched” and refitted in 2018 but I don’t think any significant refurb has occurred since. Is it known if it’s due a refit before March 2026?

 

Any assistance would be appreciated, thanks.

[Pies4u]

Just wondered……. anyone able to advise?

[drron29]

I try to work it out by looking at the ship I am interested in and looking at the voyages. I will look at a year and tick every month. If 2 months are grayed out it is likely to be a refit 

[Pies4u]

Fair point - thanks.

[Lois R]

On 1/5/2024 at 11:44 AM, Pies4u said:

Just wondering - is there a published schedule for Silversea refits/refurbs?

 

We are looking at a 2026 cruise on Spirit, which was obviously ‘stretched” and refitted in 2018 but I don’t think any significant refurb has occurred since. Is it known if it’s due a refit before March 2026?

 

Any assistance would be appreciated, thanks.

Good morning, I have never seen a refit schedule anywhere. I agree with drron and would just scroll through Spirit on the website and go month by month. 

[Pies4u]

Well, that exercise appears to demonstrate that there is nothing scheduled, even a mini one, which is a slight concern.

 

Hopefully, given some recent comments, any minor concerns with either public areas or individual suites will be addressed in transit where necessary.

 

Thanks to drron29 & Lois R.

[Host Jazzbeau]

There are rules that require dry-docks on a regular basis:

 

"For a passenger vessel, the inspection of the ship’s bottom is to be done annually. Two of such inspections in a period of five years must be carried in dry dock and the maximum intervals between these inspections should be 3 years."

https://www.marineinsight.com/guidelines/dry-dock-types-of-dry-docks-requirements-for-dry-dock/#Requirements_for_Dry_Docking

 

This is about hull inspections, safety checks, and mandated operational upgrades.    

 

Refurbishing cabins and other hotel items is usually done during a mandated dry dock since the ship is out of service anyway, or on a more limited basis during regular service.

 

I believe a routine dry dock takes about two weeks, so you should find such a 'hole' in the schedule every two to three years.

[chrism23]

Some help then please.  I am booked on a Greece/Eastern Europe tour (back to back about 30 days) on the Whisper, in August (stupid, yes I know).  I read here, someone quoting Barbra Muckerman,/that the Whisper is do for a major retrofit this starting this April.  I have looked at the schedule for the Whisper and can't really figure it out.  Or is 2 weeks too short?  The Whisper is the last SS ship to get redone, last time 2018. 

 

Is all this in fact true?  And if so how extensive will be refurbishment take and what will it consist of.?  Thanks in advance.

[sea bright]

There was a prior thread about the re-furbishment of the Whisper and people posted notifications from Silversea of a cruise cancellation and dry dock scheduled for late April to early May 2024. The posts were from February (# 3 and 4 of the thread titled Silver Whisper Drydock....) Not sure if anything has changed - did you look at the April/May schedule?

[mchell810]

9 hours ago, chrism23 said:

Some help then please.  I am booked on a Greece/Eastern Europe tour (back to back about 30 days) on the Whisper, in August (stupid, yes I know).  I read here, someone quoting Barbra Muckerman,/that the Whisper is do for a major retrofit this starting this April.  I have looked at the schedule for the Whisper and can't really figure it out.  Or is 2 weeks too short?  The Whisper is the last SS ship to get redone, last time 2018. 

 

Is all this in fact true?  And if so how extensive will be refurbishment take and what will it consist of.?  Thanks in advance.

 

Whisper has a cruise ending in Athens on April 6th; her next cruise shows leaving Civitavecchia on May 10th.  So it's a month for the the renovation/dry dock.  There is a little information on intended changes on the thread mentioned above.

 

[Easterncommand]

On 1/8/2024 at 6:24 PM, mchell810 said:

 

Whisper has a cruise ending in Athens on April 6th; her next cruise shows leaving Civitavecchia on May 10th.  So it's a month for the the renovation/dry dock.  There is a little information on intended changes on the thread mentioned above.

 

Hi, 

we are booked on the 10th May cruise which is leaving from ‘Venice’ With regard to the refit other than providing a small arts cafe in the library/ connoisseur area it is generally just fixtures and fittings in public areas. I am not sure if this is going to include suite areas. The only issue I have is being the first sailing after a dry dock and will all work be finished.

[Gourmet Gal]

On 1/5/2024 at 8:44 AM, Pies4u said:

Just wondering - is there a published schedule for Silversea refits/refurbs?

 

We are looking at a 2026 cruise on Spirit, which was obviously ‘stretched” and refitted in 2018 but I don’t think any significant refurb has occurred since. Is it known if it’s due a refit before March 2026?

 

Any assistance would be appreciated, thanks.

I’m sort of interested as well.  We’ll be onboard this May and have been reading some pretty bad reviews of this ship from the condition to service to food to excursions.  Mostly negative.  There was mention of pretty obvious leaks in the corridors and tattered looking staterooms.  Does anyone recall if there have been any refits or updates in the last few months?

[MBP&O2/O]

On 1/7/2024 at 6:54 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

There are rules that require dry-docks on a regular basis:

 

"For a passenger vessel, the inspection of the ship’s bottom is to be done annually. Two of such inspections in a period of five years must be carried in dry dock and the maximum intervals between these inspections should be 3 years."

https://www.marineinsight.com/guidelines/dry-dock-types-of-dry-docks-requirements-for-dry-dock/#Requirements_for_Dry_Docking

 

This is about hull inspections, safety checks, and mandated operational upgrades.    

 

Refurbishing cabins and other hotel items is usually done during a mandated dry dock since the ship is out of service anyway, or on a more limited basis during regular service.

 

I believe a routine dry dock takes about two weeks, so you should find such a 'hole' in the schedule every two to three years.

For what it is worth, the last time I was seriously involved in a dry dock it was on an oil tanker.

 

 The following surveys were made: 
(a) 3rd Special Survey of the hull with thickness determination. 
(b) Docking Survey. 
(c) Annual Survey. 
(d) Safety Equipment Survey. 
(e) Safety Construction Survey. 
(f) Load Line Survey. 
(g) Completion of Continuous Machinery Survey. 
(h) Tailshaft Survey. 
 

The reason I was involved, was that the DD was in April and the ship sank the following January. I was2/O at the time. The reason was suspected metal fatigue on a cooling pipe. Just to prove that even a DD isn't perfect 🤣

[Pies4u]

We booked 27 nights in 2026 (2 x 7 nights in the Caribbean and a 13 night crossing to Lisbon) - and it would appear now that several months of Spirit cruises between April & Dec 2025 have all been “waitlisted”. Something is going on, but nobody seems to know, precisely, what is happening with this ship.

[jollyjones]

Since all the waitlisted cruises follow a Doha to Athens cruise, my guess is that dates and itineraries may be changing.

The Doha one through the Red Sea is still showing available but I can’t think who in their right mind would book it. 

 

[Roborab]

We had our trip cancelled by Silversea a couple of weeks ago. Was due to sail 24th Nov 2025. After the cancellation came through I noticed all  Silver Spirit cruises had gone waitlisted. Check out the thread I posted.

[MJfromCA]

On 1/14/2024 at 2:08 AM, Easterncommand said:

Hi, 

we are booked on the 10th May cruise which is leaving from ‘Venice’ With regard to the refit other than providing a small arts cafe in the library/ connoisseur area it is generally just fixtures and fittings in public areas. I am not sure if this is going to include suite areas. The only issue I have is being the first sailing after a dry dock and will all work be finished.

 Easterncommand,

 

We are sailing on Whisper on June 6th, so we are very interested in this refurbishment. I hope it all is finished on time for you. If possible, could you post your impression of the changes/upgrades? Also, how you find the service levels and experience of the crew, since I assume they all are starting new contracts? Thanks!

 

-- MJ

[drron29]

The crew might all be starting new contracts but for most it is unlikely to be their first contract therefore not inexperienced crew.

[MJfromCA]

15 hours ago, drron29 said:

The crew might all be starting new contracts but for most it is unlikely to be their first contract therefore not inexperienced crew.

 

Yes, thx, that is my hope too. But with Silver Ray's debut right around the corner, some of Whisper's experienced staff from before the dry dock might be transferred to Ray, meaning more newbies than usual might start with the new Whisper contracts. Another thread raised that possibility.

 

This is our first Silversea cruise and our last cruise was on Seabourn, so I was just trying to correctly set our expectations. In any case, we plan to enjoy the ports and the newly-refurbished ship!

[drron29]

Well apart from the Ray SS has 7 other classic fleet ships. Their total crew is 2792.

The Ray will have 544 crew so if they have 80% experienced crew that will be 435 of them. That is 16% of the total. Which means if an even distribution that would be 48 from the Whisper.

However I believe it will be less as we talked to quite a few of the Experienced staff on the Muse and many told us that their next contract is longer. So when the Ray commences there will be less experienced crew between contracts than usual so more available than usual.

[MJfromCA]

Good to know. It seemed like the Whisper contracts would have ended before the dry dock, so more of their experienced crew would have been available for Ray in June. It sounds like from what you heard, they may have signed up for new longer-term Whisper contracts instead in May, is that right? If so, great!

Edited May 6 by MJfromCA

[les37b]

On 1/5/2024 at 4:44 PM, Pies4u said:

Just wondering - is there a published schedule for Silversea refits/refurbs?

 

We are looking at a 2026 cruise on Spirit, which was obviously ‘stretched” and refitted in 2018 but I don’t think any significant refurb has occurred since. Is it known if it’s due a refit before March 2026?

 

Any assistance would be appreciated, thanks.

That refit wasn’t decided until about 6 months before scheduled, leaving booking cancelled and guests on CC finding out before officially being told. Something at the time I was more than annoyed about, but thankfully the booking was converted into a decent exchange.

 

Maintenance schedules should be something they’d be aware of, but where you’d get the info from I’m not sure.

[dawntrdr]

While we are speaking about Whisper, I noticed the following information in the RCCL quarterly financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission:

 

What do you suppose they mean by a "bargain purchase option for the Silver Whisper" (footnote 4)?

 

 

[drron29]

Very interesting @dawntrdr.

Why would they have needed a bargain purchase of the Whisper?

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I’m wondering when they use the term bargain in the financial disclosure if the meaning isn’t more akin to “negotiated”.

 

Not sure how ship ownership was structured when RCCL completed the acquisition of Silversea but it is possible that Whisper had previously been sold to a 3rd party and leased back in a long term agreement to raise capital. If that were the case then perhaps this represent the buyout/buyback of the vessel to being wholly owned by RCG.