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Questionnaire from Silversea


Emtbsam
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I received a questionnaire from Silversea today which asked, among other things, how much I would be willing to pay for a variety of "upgrades" such as free luggage shipping, premium wi-fi, fruit and canapes in the suite, logo items, private dinners with the captain and officers, special tours on land, special enrichment on shipboard, free laundry, etc. I am greatly disappointed to see that they are considering creating a 2 class system where passengers are treated quite differently depending on how much extra they are willing to pay. The only thing of interest to me is the luggage shipping, and I would not be willing to pay SS more than I could pay to do it myself. I fear this is yet another way they are trying to downgrade the basic experience.

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I received a questionnaire from Silversea today which asked, among other things, how much I would be willing to pay for a variety of "upgrades" such as free luggage shipping, premium wi-fi, fruit and canapes in the suite, logo items, private dinners with the captain and officers, special tours on land, special enrichment on shipboard, free laundry, etc. I am greatly disappointed to see that they are considering creating a 2 class system where passengers are treated quite differently depending on how much extra they are willing to pay. The only thing of interest to me is the luggage shipping, and I would not be willing to pay SS more than I could pay to do it myself. I fear this is yet another way they are trying to downgrade the basic experience.

 

I agree that I would not want to see "classes" of travel on Silversea. But I do not see that these items are so threatening. I believe that people in suites get daily canapés. Others don't. Some people pay for laundry service (if they don't have 100 days and are not in suites), buy special tours, are invited to Captain's table on formal nights, use Luggage Forward or some other service, etc. I have not received the survey, but it appears this is simply a proposal to possibly offer packages where one can pre-buy these services. I don't see that it would necessarily lead to a "class" system any more than the suite/standard cabin arrangement (with special perks for suite guests) now implies a "class" system.

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I have only done expedition cruising with Silversea and I did receive the survey. I wrote at the end that I thought that these ideas would be a poor choice for expedition cruising where everyone is equal, no matter their cabin choice, in their activity interests. We always pay for the 2nd least expensive cabin but have had canapes in our cabin, meals with staff members, etc. We do have to do our own laundry! The large cruise lines do offer completely different amenities depending on the cabin choice. We would not like that at all.

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It's about the questionnaire!

 

YES, agree with Spins, the question is all about what Silversea seeks with this research. They started well in testing our past cruise history, future general travel interests, etc. Having worked professionally with many top survey experts nationally, I have had much questionnaire development and analysis experience. It, however, became very easy to see as to where they were really headed with this "research". Their main "game" was money!! And how to get more out of our wallets and from my credit card. That's Business 101. Understand that normal objective/goal.

 

But, they could and should have asked more and much better questions about what customers really want and value. Why be so balatantly obvious about only seeking justifications for trying to "pick our pockets" deeper and deeper with various twists and turns?

 

At the end, there was, fortunately, an open-ended opportunity for me to make any added comments. Here is what I posted back to them: "Stick to the luxury 'basics' and doing these important services very well. Many of these ideas being tested seem like a 'money grub' seeking to hide and justify higher charges/fees for many things that are of limited value and use for most customers. Why not ask about stopping your group bookings of drunk sales groups being recruited by Silversea? Those types of rude groups can and do become disruptive to a quality experience that is totally against the SS 'culture' and contrary for normal, expected passenger enjoyment?"

 

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I recall that several years ago a survey was circulated about Venetian Society benefits. I did not receive it. :) There was apparently zero change. The same may well happen here.

 

I am quite pleased with current arrangements, but it is worth remarking that Regent and Viking have apparently not suffered greatly by rolling tours, etc., into their base fares. I hope that Silversea does not follow their example.

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I can’t see there is an issue with with exploring opinions. A number of things are already extra charge anyway. Premium WiFi is chargeable, unless you have 100 days or are prepared to use the laundrette, then laundry is chargeable. If you wish to have a premium wine tasting, then this is chargeable, as is the ‘lunch and learn’ programme.

 

This would only worry me is there was a move to charging for things that were currently included for everyone.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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And thanks to whomever for keeping this thread on topic.

It's about the questionnaire!

I agree! And, thanks to Emtbsam for starting this forum topic.
...I do not see that these items are so threatening.
I can’t see there is an issue with with exploring opinions.
Totally agree. There is no harm in seeking input into these matters from their passengers.
But, they could and should have asked more and much better questions about what customers really want and value. Why be so balatantly obvious about only seeking justifications for trying to "pick our pockets" deeper and deeper with various twists and turns?
While I can understand your frustration, I don't believe your desire was the intent of the survey. It's clear the company is seeking measurable input into ideas they are currently contemplating, and therefore, the survey delivers on that goal.

 

I am quite pleased with current arrangements, but it is worth remarking that Regent and Viking have apparently not suffered greatly by rolling tours, etc., into their base fares. I hope that Silversea does not follow their example.
This would only worry me is there was a move to charging for things that were currently included for everyone.
This is probably my biggest fear too. The reason I don't sail Regent is because their all-inclusive prices tend to be much, much greater than Silversea. I much prefer the à la carte method of pricing.

 

For those interested in what the survey asks, I have posted the questions posed to me below and in the next posts.

I imagine the survey questions deviate based on the responses entered.

 

Survey Start

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Question 1

enhance

 

Question 2

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Question 3

enhance

Question 4

enhance

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I can’t see there is an issue with with exploring opinions. A number of things are already extra charge anyway. Premium WiFi is chargeable, unless you have 100 days or are prepared to use the laundrette, then laundry is chargeable. If you wish to have a premium wine tasting, then this is chargeable, as is the ‘lunch and learn’ programme.

 

This would only worry me is there was a move to charging for things that were currently included for everyone.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I agree. No harm in exploring. But please don't include such "extras" into the base fare. I have 100+ days on Regent but cruise with them no longer because I do not want their tours (no opt out with refund possible) and their single supplements have gone up greatly.

 

It may be worth noting again that Silversea (along among luxury lines?) folds port charges/taxes into base fare and does not add it on later. So the fares one sees advertised are real and not subject to increase for port fees.

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The type of survey being described is conjoint analyis. it is intended to understand the maximum prices that can be charged for a range of services or products to maximise profit through optimising demand and price.

 

 

Conjoint analysis' is a survey-based statistical technique used in market research that helps determine how people value different attributes (feature, function, benefits) that make up an individual product or service.

Conjoint analysis is an advanced market research technique that gets under the skin of how people make decisions and what they really value in products and services (it also known as Discrete Choice Estimation, or stated preference research).

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The analysis model is from sawtooth.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

You have no idea how much I had to pay for our Sawtooth package when it first came out. It broke my heart and was as user friendly as a cornered rabid dog. It didn’t even work under Windows but was DOS based. It did however help dozens of clients understand how to package and price hundreds of products and services.

 

I pretended I understood it and people believed me. :)

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The rabid dog comment was hilarious, but DOS-based? Wow. Did it run on ENIAC? Makes me miss SAS (not the airline).

 

I'll chine in here to say that I chose the expedition cruise side of the survey. All of the subsequent questions were the same. Benefits, added price points ($500-$2500), etc all as above...except the hypothetical voyage was an expedition from Trømso to Reykjavik, with stops in Svalbard and Greenland.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

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JP,

 

It came on old fashioned floppy disks and was launched from the traditional DOS “autoexec.bat” command .. with several thick binders that explained everything to a qualified and experienced statistician. That put me at a very slight disadvantage.

 

In the end it generated web surveys and generated revenue for us and clients thought we were very clever. I was lucky in that one of our original clients was a statistician and she twigged that I needed help and that I was originally clueless so the client became the expert and the expert became the client for a while and she tutored me in stats and conjoint. It was initially a collaborative effort and for example one major computer company worked with us to price point features and street prices for their products in each country they operated in.

 

Thinking of Sawtooth even after all this time sends a cold chill down my spine. :D

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At the end, there was, fortunately, an open-ended opportunity for me to make any added comments. Here is what I posted back to them: "Stick to the luxury 'basics' and doing these important services very well. Many of these ideas being tested seem like a 'money grub' seeking to hide and justify higher charges/fees for many things that are of limited value and use for most customers. Why not ask about stopping your group bookings of drunk sales groups being recruited by Silversea? Those types of rude groups can and do become disruptive to a quality experience that is totally against the SS 'culture' and contrary for normal, expected passenger enjoyment?"

 

HEAR HEAR

 

I used the open part of the comments section to tell them after our experience in the Med last month, under no circumstances would we fork over $8,000 per person, not including flights, for another crack at a similar experience.

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HEAR HEAR

 

I used the open part of the comments section to tell them after our experience in the Med last month, under no circumstances would we fork over $8,000 per person, not including flights, for another crack at a similar experience.

I wrote the same thing.

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Thanks for posting the survey HappyCamper777.
You bet!
I'll chine in here to say that I chose the expedition cruise side of the survey. All of the subsequent questions were the same. Benefits, added price points ($500-$2500), etc all as above...except the hypothetical voyage was an expedition from Trømso to Reykjavik, with stops in Svalbard and Greenland.
Well, that is a shame and not overly helpful to a marketing analyst. So it appears the only customization was to serve the survey from a respondent's last general voyage destination and cruise type preference, rather than measuring different benefits at different price points.
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What I find interesting are two things:

  1. The primary objective of the survey seems to be measurement of the perceived value of the combined package of six amenities listed in question 5 and secondarily how passengers rank the importance of each amenity.
  2. Of the 14 options provided in question 7, all 6 amenities listed in question 5 have been aggregated into 3 of the options:

    1. Transfers and travel services to facilitate logistics
      • Early check-in and late check-out
      • Private transfer airport-pier and back
      • Luggage shipment home-ship and back

[*]Free phone calls / Premium Wi-Fi

  • Premium Wi-Fi fast connections
  • Unlimited worldwide phone calls onboard

[*]Premium food and drinks in suite throughout the voyage.

  • VIP food & beverage setup in suite

  • Therefore, of the remaining 11 options, all are presently available on select voyages for a price other than the "Action camera" option. Does this mean Les won't have to bring his GoPro any longer? ;)

Like others have stated here, I'm not interested paying extra for what SS may deem as an amenity, especially since the listed amenities hold no value to me. The same holds true for me over at Regent as I don't cruise with them because they include the cost of tours in the cruise fare.

 

So, I sincerely hope SS doesn't try and package these amenities as part of the basic cruise fare. Providing them as an add-option is just fine though in my opinion. For example, for those who would like to get into their suite at noon instead of 2:00p would incur an up charge of $XXX. Or, for those would would like to stay in their suite until 10:30a would incur an up charge of $XXX.

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