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Silver Spirit Nightmare. Do they care?


Daveywavey70
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Has anybody else managed to get any sort of response from Silversea to their complaints regarding problems on the inaugural Silver Spirit voyage following the stretch?

 

While thankfully most passengers were only affected with minor issues, many of us had more serious problems. Our cruise turned into a nightmare.

 

I won’t bore you with the details here i’ll Save them for a full and frank review, a review that I have refrained from writing so far as I wanted Silversea to have the opportunity to put things right.

 

Firstly on the ship I was promised a call within a couple of days of returning home. Nothing.

 

Last Wednesday I spoke to Guest relations London and was promised a response within 48 hours. Nothing.

 

Monday I spoke to them again and was promised a response within 48 hours. Nothing.

 

Monday I also emailed Frank Sansone outlining our main problems. Nothing.

 

Tuesday our TA contacted Guest Services and was told they would respond by today. Nothing.

 

Today called Miami Office. They’ll pass it on.

 

For a luxury line I would expect a little better than this.

 

I understand that there were going to be problems following the stretch but the way they have been dealt with have made it much worse.

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Many thanks guys,

I did see that you can contact him here but didn't want to share all of my grievances publicly.

Within an hour of coming off the phone to Miami a response came through from London Guest Relations even though id been told just before calling Miami that the guy was out of the office all day!

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I understand that your situation may be different from and more grave than that of many other guests on the first post-stretch/dry dock cruise. But am I correct in recalling that all passengers on that cruise, in (partial?) compensation for the disruptions on the inaugural sailing, were offered a discount of 25% on a future cruise?

 

I hope you hear from HQ shortly.

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I understand that your situation may be different from and more grave than that of many other guests on the first post-stretch/dry dock cruise. But am I correct in recalling that all passengers on that cruise, in (partial?) compensation for the disruptions on the inaugural sailing, were offered a discount of 25% on a future cruise?

 

I hope you hear from HQ shortly.

 

Yes we were offered a 25% discount against a future cruise. The same 25% as the people that were not inconvenienced in any way at all.

 

Considering that this was my first holiday in over 10 years and we wern't told when we booked about the stretch.

 

Considering that as soon as I found out about the stretch and called Silversea and we were reassured that the ship wouldn't sail if she wasn't perfect.

 

Considering that we had no lights in our bathroom, closet or passageway for the first 3 days.

 

Considering that it took 2 days to even get a flashlight in order to use our bathroom (The batteries ran out after 5 minutes).

 

Considering that we had no phone to report problems, no tv and no safe.

 

Considering that it took 18 hours each time to send an electrician.

 

Considering that we were given 2 led tealights to shave by.

 

Considering that our 4th day was completely messed up due to incompetence with the tenders.

 

Considering that our 2 spa appointments were completely messed up and we were then overcharged for both, one by over $100.

 

Considering we couldn't get any answers to when our problems would be solved.

 

Considering that Guest Relations Shoreside is even worse than onboard.

 

Do you really believe that I'll be using that voucher any time soon?

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Hi

We were on the same cruise as you and spoke to you quite often about the issues.

We also were not told about the stretch and when our agent called them she was assured that the ship was finished. Small issues were expected but not the total mess that many of us not all experienced.

My agent had us write a letter to SS and she is now doing the work for us. She is forwarding the letter to the proper person..Calling is a waste you need a letter and pictures if you have them

Good luck hope this helps.

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Hi

We were on the same cruise as you and spoke to you quite often about the issues.

We also were not told about the stretch and when our agent called them she was assured that the ship was finished. Small issues were expected but not the total mess that many of us not all experienced.

My agent had us write a letter to SS and she is now doing the work for us. She is forwarding the letter to the proper person..Calling is a waste you need a letter and pictures if you have them

Good luck hope this helps.

 

Hi There,

It was lovely to meet you and It's so nice to hear from you. Hope you've recovered from your ordeal. We have had a response from London Guest Relations basically saying that they will offer us nothing other than the worthless future cruise voucher that we will never use and a VIP experience on our next cruise that we will never use either. Hope you have more luck than we have.

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Yes we were offered a 25% discount against a future cruise. The same 25% as the people that were not inconvenienced in any way at all.

 

Considering that this was my first holiday in over 10 years and we wern't told when we booked about the stretch.

 

Considering that as soon as I found out about the stretch and called Silversea and we were reassured that the ship wouldn't sail if she wasn't perfect.

 

Considering that we had no lights in our bathroom, closet or passageway for the first 3 days.

 

Considering that it took 2 days to even get a flashlight in order to use our bathroom (The batteries ran out after 5 minutes).

 

Considering that we had no phone to report problems, no tv and no safe.

 

Considering that it took 18 hours each time to send an electrician.

 

Considering that we were given 2 led tealights to shave by.

 

Considering that our 4th day was completely messed up due to incompetence with the tenders.

 

Considering that our 2 spa appointments were completely messed up and we were then overcharged for both, one by over $100.

 

Considering we couldn't get any answers to when our problems would be solved.

 

Considering that Guest Relations Shoreside is even worse than onboard.

 

Do you really believe that I'll be using that voucher any time soon?

 

Wow if this is your first holiday in ten years, you sure got your moneys worth. Your 25% discount will be worth a lot on your next cruise in 2028.

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Whatever you do make sure you stop by the pursers desk and remove the daily charge to SS owner's wife's charity which is automatically added to your account. It would truly be adding insult to injury to unwillingly support the charity of a company that has treated you so badly.

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Whatever you do make sure you stop by the pursers desk and remove the daily charge to SS owner's wife's charity which is automatically added to your account. It would truly be adding insult to injury to unwillingly support the charity of a company that has treated you so badly.

 

Oh, oh... now some idiot will post -

"That's punishing the wrong people for something that's not their fault."

 

The OP put a rhetorical question in the thread title. I think we (should) all know the answer. :(

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To answer the original question, yes but only to a point. This point was a 25% off of a future trip. Is that really a refund, not in my book. Customer service is not what it used to be and luxery has a very wide open interpretation. On our last trip on the Muse I felt much of the service and product was the same as I got on a mass market trip ten years ago so things have been going down all around. To be honest I hade better room service on NCL only a few years ago and far better steak and seafood. My advice is remember all the great times you had and let it go. As for the wife's charity, if I remember it was 1$ a day so come on, at 1000$ + a day do you really think a dollar makes a point?

 

Sent from my SM-T320 using Forums mobile app

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As for the wife's charity, if I remember it was 1$ a day so come on, at 1000$ + a day do you really think a dollar makes a point?

 

It might (if there's a message attached).

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I'm due on my first Silversea, and first proper cruise in September and I have to say that the negative things I'm hearing on this board are beginning to concern me. Surely in a situation like that which Daveywavey70 experienced, where no warning about the state of the vessel was given, there should be a more appropriate form of redress than a discount on the (very expensive) fare for another cruise... once bitten, twice shy is an expression that many people recognise and live by. I'm assuming that the OP is based in the UK because the initial complaint was to the London office so is it not possible to a calculate a sum that would offer fair recompense for the shortcomings of the voyage and then make a claim via the Small Claims Court?

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To answer the original question, yes but only to a point. This point was a 25% off of a future trip. Is that really a refund, not in my book. Customer service is not what it used to be and luxery has a very wide open interpretation. On our last trip on the Muse I felt much of the service and product was the same as I got on a mass market trip ten years ago so things have been going down all around. To be honest I hade better room service on NCL only a few years ago and far better steak and seafood. My advice is remember all the great times you had and let it go. As for the wife's charity, if I remember it was 1$ a day so come on, at 1000$ + a day do you really think a dollar makes a point?

 

Sent from my SM-T320 using Forums mobile app

 

I most certainly do. Who i contribute to, even if ten cents a day, is my business, not that of the owner's wife.

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Our last SS trip was 13 days so we have 26 dollars to the charity. I inquired at the front desk as to what it was and I believe it was a program to feed people. The money wasn't going to the owners wife or him. I didn't feel 26$ on a 13000+$ trip was out of line or going to a bad cause. If anyone feels it's out of line it can be removed however if you feel SS is a bad line or service was poor I recommend not using them again. Canceling this will not fix your problem. I use them because I like more space and no lines and they fit that bill. At some point food is food, service is service.

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I'm due on my first Silversea, and first proper cruise in September and I have to say that the negative things I'm hearing on this board are beginning to concern me.

 

I think you need to take all CC posts (including mine!) with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, I think/hope that your cruise experience is a good one. IMHO the posts re Silversea are generally quite positive -- notwithstanding critical remarks about this or that. The Spirit issues are nearly unique. There are often issues after a longish dry dock. One has to expect them, and a good TA or reading of CC will reveal this. The Spirit dry dock was extraordinary in that it was a lengthening of the ship, a total redo of spaces, etc. Such projects occur rarely in a ship's life.

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http://www.fondazionemaruzza.org/en/

The mission statement is palliative care.

The issue isn’t with the concept of charitable giving, per se. It’s the ‘automatic’ opt in (and having to ‘opt out’) and the lack of transparency regarding the percentage of donations that are consumed by administration and overhead. This could just be a way of paying relatives and other hanger’s on tremendous salaries while having the less diligent passengers paying for it. One dollar a day may not seem much to you, but if you have every one paying on numerous full ships, even the small size of the SS fleet, it adds up to a lot very quickly.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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I'm due on my first Silversea, and first proper cruise in September and I have to say that the negative things I'm hearing on this board are beginning to concern me.

 

Twigalina, I felt the same way before I sailed last spring: buyer's remorse, omg what have I done, etc. But then my SS cruise was nearly perfect -- so much so that I signed on for 2 more.

 

This particular board sometimes has an overwhelmingly negative tone that I do not find mirrored on the actual cruises. Some posters offer a balance of praise and blame, others simply report their experiences good and not-so-good, some nitpick and document every perceived imperfection, some problem-solve when there is an egregious and unusual situation (like this thread), and others seem to stir the pot with something negative if the tone is too positive for a while. It's interesting to watch, and I find I do get a lot of great information here. However, I take the full-on SS-bashing with a hunk of salt now.

 

Wishing you a delightful cruise in September,

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We were just on the Stretch Spirit.They no longer add this fee to your account.We had a brochure in the room explaining the cause and asking for us to donate.

 

Could others confirm this from very recent sailings on other ships? If they have moved from opt-out to opt-in, it will remove an unnecessary irritant for many guests. I always went to Reception, opted out, and then contributed (much greater sums) to the Crew Welfare Fund.

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