Thye've cancelled my cruise

[MrsWaldo]

They are no longer taking prince Albert through Tahiti after June. Instead they are doing the Arctic.

 

Despite the offers og 20% off an alternate cruise there is nothing that even comes close to the itinerary which was why we booked in the first place.

 

I suppose I should be pleased to not have any extras booked which were in the pipleine for the next few weeks..

[beechwood]

They have cancelled all cruises in the area from the Easter Island sailing in March, which we were on.

[wripro]

Anybody know why? Were they not selling?

[beechwood]

Apparently not- a new itinerary goes on sale on 20 November with the Arctic from June but no idea on what's happening between March and June.

[canadagal]

Oh dear! That's a shame. I was very interested in the Easter Island to Tahiti itinerary on the Prince Albert but I didn't want to be on the first few voyages. I was hoping to book after they had done this itinerary a few times and had a little experience doing it. The fact that they use zodiacs almost guaranteed a way of actually getting to these places when the cruiseships can't always make it. That's really disappointing. Perhaps when the economy turns around they will re-introduce it. I sure hope so. I feel for you that had already booked.

Pat

[gemhk]

Extremely disappointed with Silversea right now as just cancelled our back to back and our friends back to back Tahitian cruise which we have spent weeks and weeks getting our flights finally booked and confirmed and paid for....

 

This puts a very bad taste in our mouth for Silversea being a long time "loyal" customers . We are now thinking about future bookings and what to do...

 

Also the piles of brochures on my desk from recent Silverseas mailing promoting Prince Albert II to Tahiti that have been sent to us in the past weeks...

 

Also ARTIC in JULY... It is dark all day long in the summer so something is up with Silverseas. Only in September the sun will start shining again at the Artic. Poor excuse.

 

Boarding SilverWhisper for Christmas/New Years annual cruise and going with troubled faces our whole group.

 

Not good for Silversea PR at all... Extrememly disappointed with them.

 

GEMHK

[gemhk]

So leaving Prince Albert 2 at the North Pole Artic ( Not Antarctica) all 2009 summer season... Still disappointed and wish Silverseas would get their act together.

 

GemHK

[nowornever]

Also ARTIC in JULY... It is dark all day long in the summer so something is up with Silverseas. Only in September the sun will start shining again at the Artic. Poor excuse.

 

Isn't it light all the time in the Arctic in July? Should be the best time go go UP there.

[duct tape]

They cancelled us too. According to our TA the bookings were minimal...hey, the economy sucks!! Don't shoot the messenger.

[cruiseyguy]

It's the Arctic Summer-Land of the Midnight Sun and all that. At the opposite pole, it's the Antarctic Winter--virtually no sun. So "sun-wise" the Arctic is a good choice (if you like light and warmth).

[Coastside]

I had booked an Austral Islands expedition on a solo fare after my friend said he couldn't go because he was

hit by the financial markets--he is ten years closer to retirement than I am. So I agree with ducttape--don't shoot the messenger.

I feel sorry for myself to miss this fun trip. I sympathize with the frustrations of gemhk who even had air travel booked that now must be cancelled. And I feel sorriest of all for Silversea--to us it is a vacation, to them it is their livelihood--they obviously had the highest hopes. And I can't help wondering if there are more Silversea clients like canadagal who says she was interested in a Prince Albert II itinerary but "didn't want to be on the first few voyages." An expedition ship depends upon a spirit of adventure; a willingness to forge ahead into new territory.

[Host Dan]

So leaving Prince Albert 2 at the North Pole Artic ( Not Antarctica) all 2009 summer season... Still disappointed and wish Silverseas would get their act together.

 

GemHK

I know you are disappointed, as would I, but Silversea getting their act together? I'm sure this is certaintly not what they wanted or planned to do, but in this horrible economic time... Lets stand behind the cruise line so they can KEEP their act together!

 

Host Dan

[AndreaRH]

Oh. What bad news for cruisers and for Silversea. My husband and I were thinking of booking one of their French Polynesia cruises this summer but we were still researching the options.

 

We weren't as interested in the Paul Gauguin, but now we'll need to take a second look.

 

The other options we were considering were Nomade Yaching (formerly Bora Bora Cruises) http://www.boraboracruises.com and Haumana Cruises http://www.tahiti-haumana-cruises.com/

 

Princess isn't sailing during the time period we want to travel and I'm not sure if the staterooms aboard Star Clippers' Star Flyer are large enough for us.

 

What is everyone else going to do? Are you rebooking a different cruise with Silversea and going elsewhere or are you going to switch to a different Tahitian cruise?

 

Andrea

[duct tape]

Thanx Coastside and Dan for the support. More than anything I want SS to stay in business! Yes, I am disappointed also but maybe next year. We are now off to the Wind as she comes out of drydock.. Very exciting.

[MrsWaldo]

Well I'm not rebooking with SS,

 

they have nothing on offer that fits what I want and the start destinations now involve LONG flights or are mostly days at sea cruises if they don't.

 

I have no intention of shooting the messenger but it will be interesting to see how many take up the Arctic cruises or whether SS have cancelled one end of the world and get no better take up rate in the other. I know of 3 other couples who were waiting till after we had cruised to make a decision on a Tahiti with SS, possibly later in the same season if availability was there. Sometimes when launching a new product, which this essentially is, you need to tough it out and take a loss for a short period.

 

There are no other cruiselines offering anything near the itinerary PA had.

 

Paul Gaugin misses the key attractions, the tiny islands between Fiji and Tahiti.

 

Andrea,

 

Don't even think about Star Flyer if you were considering SS. We did one of the Greek Sailings on her. Had a great time but food was very blah and deck space limited. We had a cabin roster for getting ready for dinner because there was insuffucient space for 2 to get ready at the same time. We had a larger Cat 2 (despite being same Cats, cabins vary in size, we had 2 and one was much larger than the other, cat is determined by size and location from Cat 2 down)

 

 

 

Looks like we'll do our bit for the local economy and either do Lizard Island twice instead of just once, Wilson Island or go with a Broome Kimberley Cruise.

[beechwood]

MrsWaldo, you say that you have been offered a 20% discount on an alternative cruise. I'm from the UK and received my letter from SS this morning with an offer of a 10% discount on any other cruise or 20% off Siver Shadow voyages 3907 and 3908. Was this the same as your offer?

 

I will also lose money on the air fares I've already booked. Does anyone with previous experience of Silverseas know whether I stand any chance of recouping this from Silverseas- it's a claim of about £500 as the airline will refund the greater part of the fares.

[MrsWaldo]

MrsWaldo, you say that you have been offered a 20% discount on an alternative cruise. I'm from the UK and received my letter from SS this morning with an offer of a 10% discount on any other cruise or 20% off Siver Shadow voyages 3907 and 3908. Was this the same as your offer?

.

 

 

I haven't actually seen the offer, only spoke to our TA very quickly late friday afternoon as this was when he got the email. He just mentioned 20% off another cruise...so maybe it was only 3907 and 3908 at any rate these will be around $8000pp (US) vs the $6000pp on PA (but we have to add 30% becuase of the drop in the AUD...our in our case around $10400 vs $7,800) and are mostly sea days or in the case of the into Sydney places we can visit easily anyway...

 

Not sure how the airfares will work, i remember a thread saome time aga and the gist was basically...claim on your insurance

[wripro]

I just checked SS's website and there are no cruises listed for PA for several months until November 2009.

[meow!]

We are now off to the Wind as she comes out of drydock.. Very exciting.

Out of curiosity, would you be so kind as to tell us what they have done at drydock after you board? Thank you.

[duct tape]

I shall. I will start a new thread.

[AndreaRH]

Andrea,

 

Don't even think about Star Flyer if you were considering SS. We did one of the Greek Sailings on her. Had a great time but food was very blah and deck space limited. We had a cabin roster for getting ready for dinner because there was insuffucient space for 2 to get ready at the same time. We had a larger Cat 2 (despite being same Cats, cabins vary in size, we had 2 and one was much larger than the other, cat is determined by size and location from Cat 2 down)

 

 

Thanks so much for your candid advice on the Star Flyer. The space and food would be two deciding factors for us.

 

We had originally looked at Silversea's Seychelles itinerary and in the end decided that it would be easier/cheaper to get to Tahiti. Maybe the Seychelles go back into the picture.

 

Andrea

[duct tape]

The Seychelles are definitely worth looking...lovely.

[Wilcoam]

Andrea..

 

My wife and I are sailing the Prince Albert in the Antartica n Jan 29th - Then we were looking at Tahiti next

We'd like to combine a 7 day sailing with 4 nights on Bora Bora

 

However it's frustrating - The R7S PG never has the 7 day when we are available (only the 10 n 11) - Princess (9-10 day only) does not sail there year round - now SS is out and the PG is no longer with R7S come Jan 2010

 

We are also looking at Star Flyer and Nomade (bora bora cruises) - Problem is we cannot find any reviews whatsoever on the Nomade though the website looks marvy

 

If you do find out any 3rd party indep reviws on them - please sne dthe link my way

 

Thx

jc

Toronto

[editor@cruisecritic]

Have to say -- I've seen Prince Albert II and was fairly mystified that Silversea planned to use that ship for S. Pacific itineraries in the first place. It's a soft-adventure ship. Not a lot out of outdoor spaces, few private balconies. Bizarre ship for S. Pacific and I would have chosen otherwise.

 

Haven't been on Paul Gauguin (still operated by Regent Seven Seas for another year) in three or four years but it was one of my best cruises ever then. Beyond that, it's a marvelous, marvelous ship, light and airy, a fair amount of balconies, lovely food, a watersports platform off the back, and, oh, yes, the ship was built and designed to cruise in the region. I'd suggest y'all take a look.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

Oh. What bad news for cruisers and for Silversea. My husband and I were thinking of booking one of their French Polynesia cruises this summer but we were still researching the options.

 

We weren't as interested in the Paul Gauguin, but now we'll need to take a second look.

 

The other options we were considering were Nomade Yaching (formerly Bora Bora Cruises) http://www.boraboracruises.com and Haumana Cruises http://www.tahiti-haumana-cruises.com/

 

Princess isn't sailing during the time period we want to travel and I'm not sure if the staterooms aboard Star Clippers' Star Flyer are large enough for us.

 

What is everyone else going to do? Are you rebooking a different cruise with Silversea and going elsewhere or are you going to switch to a different Tahitian cruise?

 

Andrea

[editor@cruisecritic]

We have a very recent review of Star Flyer; it's here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=97. The ship is definitely interesting and offers a rather exotic Polynesian experience but by no means could you qualify it as luxury. Mrs Waldo's right on that one!

 

Carolyn

 

 

Thanks so much for your candid advice on the Star Flyer. The space and food would be two deciding factors for us.

 

We had originally looked at Silversea's Seychelles itinerary and in the end decided that it would be easier/cheaper to get to Tahiti. Maybe the Seychelles go back into the picture.

 

Andrea