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Silver Spirit Nightmare. Do they care?


Daveywavey70
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I am fascinated by this exhaustive discussion of consumer protection law and cannot wait to hear how this saga ends. Please let us know how much is eventually recovered and which of the many processes discussed resulted in your recovery.

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In following up my own post, I think a new dimension emerges that I certainly had not thought of before.

 

When a UK consumer books a cruise on board and gets the on board discount, then even if an exact cruise isn't specified, and then subsequently a cruise is chosen and then the booking is transferred and adopted by a travel agent, it seems to me that as a part of the transaction was direct with the cruise line then the whole transaction gets the full Section 75 protection. As you know, under Section 75 you need a part of the payment for the CC to be responsible for the whole transaction.

 

If customers use that route the get the benefit of the on board discount, the advice and any further consideration or discount from the TA and they get full Section 75 protection.

 

Interesting point here especially with regard to making an open booking on board which is what I always do.

Thanks for this.

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I've started following Crystal and Regent threads, since both have the itinerary that I need for next year, and I was delighted to read that this thread has been mentioned several times regarding unresolved issues. Very informative for all!

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I've started following Crystal and Regent threads, since both have the itinerary that I need for next year, and I was delighted to read that this thread has been mentioned several times regarding unresolved issues. Very informative for all!

 

Thanks for the pointer. That is the nature of the interweb ......

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I have read all the posts regarding Davy issues.We were on the same cruise and I was witness to his issues and ours.

We also were not informed about the stretch and when our travel agent called and then spoke face to face with her rep she was informed that the ship was finished and no major issues were to be seen.Well the rep lied to her and to us.The ship was not finished. Davy suffered more than most.We had electrical issues , no air and numerous other minor issuesHe had no lights for 3 days etc.When he asked to be moved he was informed that the ship was booked. Another lie 2 rooms were vacant on our floor.I do not know why all the lies so much could have been resolved with honestly.This was our 4th and last SS cruise.

The staff on board had no clue what to do they were overwhelmed and pretty useless.

My agent is also hitting a brick wall with SS,we will get the 25% but nothing else.I hope Davy gets everything that he deserves we will just not ever sail with SS again.

They lied and that is the bottom line.

Good luck.

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I’m so sorry you’ve met the same brick wall that we have Capri. Is your TA still trying or just given up?

I Feel so strongly that passengers complaints should have been dealt with individually, especially the passengers who have told them they will never return to Silversea. Some form of redress should be available under these circumstances.

SS have contradicted themselves several times. Reception on the ship claimed that they didn’t have a single spare cabin. When I told them a fellow passenger had told me that they did, they told me that was incorrect. The London office kept telling us that they didn’t keep spare cabins because they didn’t anticipate any problems. The latest version from a higher source is that they did keep spare cabins but couldn’t use them because they were effected by the electrical problems too. It’s been very difficult to get a consistent story from them.

BTW, I Wonder if the room attendant that was arguing with you after waking you up an hour early ever found out who that breakfast belonged to?

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I cant help thinking SS took what they considered to be the easy option of give everyone the same as it would have been impossible to look at every individual case. For our part we were without a safe but a new battery resolved this on the first night. We were also without some sockets, tv, door bell and phone and these were resolved by the evening of day 3. So nowhere near the problems that Davey had yet we are treated the same.

It was on either the evening of day 5 or 6 that I was talking to a couple of ladies who were both saying how excellent the cruise had been in all respects. One was a first timer and the other had over 250 days but I do not know what part of the ship they were in. I was very close to the cut.

I wonder what the ladies thought when they received the letter advising of the credit.

I have over 250 days and had my cabin been to the usual standard I would have only found fault in a couple of areas as a result of the refit. The decks were left with far too many splashes of paint especially in all the aft deck areas and the masking tape round the balcony light had not been removed. Some fittings were still lashed to the deck round the jogging area and were still there at the end of the cruise. So individually there were quite a few niggles but collectively not good enough so some recompense was due.

For me the low point of the cruise was the private tender fiasco for Roberto Martinelli and his sidekick which was quite inexcusable and irked me far more that the defects in the cabin. I think Davey was very kind to them when he said only 25 people suffered as a result of this which to my mind shows he is not prone to exaggerate in his complaint. When the peasants tender finally left it was the fullest I have ever been on.

I just hope that Davey receives the higher level of compensation he is certainly due but I do know from past experience SS management do not give a fig for customer relations. My TA also thinks that they are the worst in the market to deal with when things go wrong. I have long held the view that SS sucess is not due to the management ashore but the crew on board.

Best of luck Davey.

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I Feel so strongly that passengers complaints should have been dealt with individually, especially the passengers who have told them they will never return to Silversea.

 

 

For me this is the crux of the issue.

 

As for the Robert Martinelli incident, I think that would have been a dealbreaker for me even if everything else about the cruise had been good. There's no way for me to get past that sort of attitude towards paying customers.

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I’m so sorry you’ve met the same brick wall that we have Capri. Is your TA still trying or just given up?

I Feel so strongly that passengers complaints should have been dealt with individually, especially the passengers who have told them they will never return to Silversea. Some form of redress should be available under these circumstances.

SS have contradicted themselves several times. Reception on the ship claimed that they didn’t have a single spare cabin. When I told them a fellow passenger had told me that they did, they told me that was incorrect. The London office kept telling us that they didn’t keep spare cabins because they didn’t anticipate any problems. The latest version from a higher source is that they did keep spare cabins but couldn’t use them because they were effected by the electrical problems too. It’s been very difficult to get a consistent story from them.

BTW, I Wonder if the room attendant that was arguing with you after waking you up an hour early ever found out who that breakfast belonged to?

It belonged to the two gals across from us.They never got their breakfast. We ran into them that morning.Agent still trying but we have no hope we hope you win.

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  • 1 year later...

It would appear that Affluent Journeys is a travel agency that has been having a squabble with Silversea.  To take it public like this and urge a boycott would be reason enough for me to avoid an agency like this.  Add to that the oft-repeated statements in their Facebook posts, etc., that they will entertain "serious inquiries only."  I also have limited respect for people who put such credit on awards like Conde Nast.  Such "competitions" are so easily manipulated by providers.  I was on another luxury line that provided inducements of real value to onboard guests who participated in the survey.  It was assumed they would vote for the cruise line.   

Edited by Observer
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48 minutes ago, Observer said:

It would appear that Affluent Journeys is a travel agency that has been having a squabble with Silversea.  To take it public like this and urge a boycott would be reason enough for me to avoid an agency like this.  Add to that the oft-repeated statements in their Facebook posts, etc., that they will entertain "serious inquiries only."  I also have limited respect for people who put such credit on awards like Conde Nast.  Such "competitions" are so easily manipulated by providers.  I was on another luxury line that provided inducements of real value to onboard guests who participated in the survey.  It was assumed they would vote for the cruise line.   

You obviously were not on the spirit sailing that was the first after dry dock. This was meant for those people that experienced the nightmare called silver sea  plus silver sea  customer service!

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5 minutes ago, 737swapilot said:

You obviously were not on the spirit sailing that was the first after dry dock. This was meant for those people that experienced the nightmare called silver sea  plus silver sea  customer service!

 

You are dead right: I was not on that sailing.  And I appreciate that there were challenges for guests on that sailing.  However, the Facebook post does not reference that sailing.  It is a screed against Silversea in general, urging a boycott.  It's unclear how the Facebook post "was meant for those people that experienced" the post-drydock sailing.  In addition, I believe that the person who launched this thread more than a year ago has had further sailings on Silversea and has written generally appreciative posts regarding his experience.  He has not to the best of my knowledge proposed any boycott. 

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15 minutes ago, Daveywavey70 said:

I Looked up the aforementioned on facebook after reading the above. What a vile little man. I've never known such an unprofessional "professional" in all my life. I Really can't see how he has any customers carrying on like that.

I have no affiliation with him and thought I would share this with the people that went through the nightmare that was silversea spirit right after the dry dock. By chance were you on this cruise  

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17 minutes ago, Daveywavey70 said:

I Looked up the aforementioned on facebook after reading the above. What a vile little man. I've never known such an unprofessional "professional" in all my life. I Really can't see how he has any customers carrying on like that.

I did the same. He rips anybody who does not agree with him. Maybe when he grows up he will act more professional. 

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On 5/23/2018 at 1:51 PM, Daveywavey70 said:

 

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?

I guess people think the FB TA is out of line?

hiw about silversea I guess you think this is how a ultra premium cruise line should behave?

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3 hours ago, 737swapilot said:

I guess people think the FB TA is out of line?

hiw about silversea I guess you think this is how a ultra premium cruise line should behave?

 

Silversea let the OP down, I'm not sure why you're asking if members think it's ok, because clearly it wasn't and I don't think anyone suggests otherwise. Or have I missed something?

 

This thread was posted 16 months ago about a first voyage after a refit. I can confirm firsthand that I saw electrical problems being fixed. It happens. No CL is immune, particularly after a major refit.

 

Silversea acknowledged the voyage wasn't up to their expected standards and compensation was given. Most CL would not have been so generous. 

 

The OP has since travelled on a further SS cruise and has I believe posted he had a thoroughly good time. No one can change the unfortunate events of a maiden voyage, but the OP has now moved on and fairly confident if he still felt the same way it would have been him making the reminder comments he'd previously posted, not you.

 

I have no idea who the Facebook rant Travel Agents are, but can confirm after reading further I won't be using them. I can also confirm I have 42 days booked on future cruises and today will be adding a further cruise, so my confidence in SS is certainly different to yours. 

 

I'm pleased this forum allows exchanges of views and experiences, good and bad, but unsure what the purpose of introducing to a "dead thread" an unrelated rant on Facebook from a TA who appears unable to behave in an appropriate way, so thank you for bringing them to my attention.

 

 

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4 hours ago, 737swapilot said:

I have no affiliation with him and thought I would share this with the people that went through the nightmare that was silversea spirit right after the dry dock. By chance were you on this cruise  

 

By chance he was the OP, so yeh, he was.

 

 

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3 hours ago, les37b said:

 

Silversea let the OP down, I'm not sure why you're asking if members think it's ok, because clearly it wasn't and I don't think anyone suggests otherwise. Or have I missed something?

 

This thread was posted 16 months ago about a first voyage after a refit. I can confirm firsthand that I saw electrical problems being fixed. It happens. No CL is immune, particularly after a major refit.

 

Silversea acknowledged the voyage wasn't up to their expected standards and compensation was given. Most CL would not have been so generous. 

 

The OP has since travelled on a further SS cruise and has I believe posted he had a thoroughly good time. No one can change the unfortunate events of a maiden voyage, but the OP has now moved on and fairly confident if he still felt the same way it would have been him making the reminder comments he'd previously posted, not you.

 

I have no idea who the Facebook rant Travel Agents are, but can confirm after reading further I won't be using them. I can also confirm I have 42 days booked on future cruises and today will be adding a further cruise, so my confidence in SS is certainly different to yours. 

 

I'm pleased this forum allows exchanges of views and experiences, good and bad, but unsure what the purpose of introducing to a "dead thread" an unrelated rant on Facebook from a TA who appears unable to behave in an appropriate way, so thank you for bringing them to my attention.

 

 

I’m glad you chose to sail again on cruise line that had their CEO walk past an entire group of seniors standing in the heat to board a empty tender to take him the ship. Also if you think offering a 25% future cruise certificate is enough it is not! Lastly there are members on this forum in this group that were threatened by silversea as I’m sure you have seen their posts. All this paints a picture of the mgmt of silversea that is not to pretty! If you want to keep defending them be my guest, I on the other hand will sail with a company that actually values its guests. Take care, I’m out!

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36 minutes ago, 737swapilot said:

I’m glad you chose to sail again on cruise line that had their CEO walk past an entire group of seniors standing in the heat to board a empty tender to take him the ship. Also if you think offering a 25% future cruise certificate is enough it is not! Lastly there are members on this forum in this group that were threatened by silversea as I’m sure you have seen their posts. All this paints a picture of the mgmt of silversea that is not to pretty! If you want to keep defending them be my guest, I on the other hand will sail with a company that actually values its guests. Take care, I’m out!

 

I think your agenda is pretty obvious now and continually quoting other people instead of what your personal beef is making that crystal clear. I'm aware you were on the cruise, and your own threats about posting comments on FB. Maybe that wasn't a sensible thing to do?

 

BTW, the tender incident was actually the worst thing mentioned (IMHO) in that it was completely and willfully wrong. However, if SS would like to take a tender I had been waiting for and give me 25% in compensation on a future cruise, I'd be more than gratified. I'd certainly be interested in which CL you think is more generous.

 

 

 

Edited by les37b
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33 minutes ago, 737swapilot said:

I’m glad you chose to sail again on cruise line that had their CEO walk past an entire group of seniors standing in the heat to board a empty tender to take him the ship. Also if you think offering a 25% future cruise certificate is enough it is not! Lastly there are members on this forum in this group that were threatened by silversea as I’m sure you have seen their posts. All this paints a picture of the mgmt of silversea that is not to pretty! If you want to keep defending them be my guest, I on the other hand will sail with a company that actually values its guests. Take care, I’m out!

Just curious    were you on that cruise so do you have first hand knowledge ..... or is this fluff and banter

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