Silver Explorer 7816, Nome to Nome disappointment

We also have one forward booking that we expect will be our last on SS.

I opine that SS is reflecting the "new way" of expedition cruising, more cruising and less expedition.

As the number of expedition ships grows , the hot spot slots will become tighter and the cruise lines will have to meet tighter local guidelines.

Russian corruption is not new, and blaming this fact of life simply reflects a wishin' and hopin' mindset.

Add to this an increasingly risk averse sailing schedule and there will likely be more sail by's and near misses than in the past.

If they show you a polar bear, it may suffice as meeting their expedition adverts.. the fact that it was two miles away is less relevant.

More ships, more people, less adventure… not for this black duck.. the good days are probably gone.

Is the sale of the line completed yet? A question for those of you experienced with buying and selling a company, wouldn’t Silversea have to maintain their earlier performance and sales or risk the deal not going through?

Generally speaking, prior to a sale the selling company will incentivize their sales force to sell as much as possible in order to get the gross sales numbers up as much as possible, while simultaneously lowering costs as much possible. Definitely a 'short term' thinking situation, as the sale price is generally based on recent 'earnings' (income minus outgo). 10 or 15 times earnings is a typical number, depending on how much 'fat' the purchaser perceives exists in the operation that they can trim in order to maximize return on investment. A few savings here and there, a few extra sales due to incentives will be recouped 10 times.

Generally speaking, when a sale is agreed to by the seller and the purchaser, there is a period of discovery to make sure the seller didn't misinform the purchaser on any salient financial matters, and occasionally the current directors will be retained in order to ensure continuity (with a bonus paid if performance objectives are met). However, no large corporation ever buys a smaller one thinking that they are going to make less money. They will see opportunity to make a better return on their investment, and hope the short term actions of the seller during the 'let's make our net and screw the customers' phase don't negatively affect their long term ROI.

Jeff is correct in his analysis of customer service - a company wants to spend its money where it will have net benefit to the company. So if someone has stated that they will never deal with a specific company again, then that company has less incentive to try to placate that customer. Bad press? Part of the analysis.

I think many continue to overlook two factors.

Firstly there is a reason why Royal Caribbean hasn't swallowed Silversea in a single bite. It could certainly have done so if it had wished. Persumably the current owner didn't insist on "Yes you can buy the company but only the majority of it leaving me a minority shareholder and in a weak non-controlling position". That makes little sense to the current owner. It is most likely instead that Royal Caribbean simply wishes to ensure and incentivate that the transition is managed as seamlessley and smoothly as possible and that profit projections during due diligence were real and is actually achieved. The price for the final shares may be on a sliding scale based on profit over an agreed period and the remaining shares may well already be contracted with the purchase line left blank until a specified future date and dependant on performance. This is certainly the approach that any sensible organisation might take. This places enormous pressure on current owners as they now have a shareholding level that has little value to anyone other than Royal Caribbean and a price for the final shares that depends on them spending as little as possible and filling the ships as much and as early after refit as possible. Why would current Silversea management care two hoots if customers are so upset they "jump ship". Not their problem.

Secondly, many overlook that it is highly probable that the customers sailing Silversea in a couple of years may be an entirely different "type" to the current typical customer and the product might have undergo many changes under new ownership - some good and some not so. Royal Caribbean have bought Silversea to make more profit and not less.

:)

Very interesting observations, Jeff and MLeh. I’ll try digest these discussions.

Was anyone able to talk Silversea into using their 40% FCC against a currently booked cruise? Was anyone able to get more than 40%?

thanks,

Marc

Agree that Silversea needs to stop using Al Gore as their weather consultant. But I am very happy they did not cancel the Nome to Seward cruise in August because George and I were just saying last night that it was one of our best expedition cruises ever. We had no missed stops, and almost every one of them was a winner. We would happily do the same itinerary again. Food onboard could have been More Wow, but that was our only complaint.

RachelG,

Had the rest of us been on the Nome to Seward cruise, we too would probably have been happy. But we weren't. Not that you are to blame, but the smooth run of the Nome-Seward cruise came in part from the frustration of the one we were on and the extra 1,000 miles we sailed to refuel for you. Made worse by the shabby treatment we've received from SS since then.

Marq,

We didn't try to apply the credit to a next cruise, as we have no interest in setting foot on a SS deck ever again. Added to that, our next, and now cancelled, cruise would have been on the very same vessel, an added affront. If anyone has gotten an offer of more than 40%, we haven't heard about it.

RachelG,

 

 

Had the rest of us been on the Nome to Seward cruise, we too would probably have been happy. But we weren't. Not that you are to blame, but the smooth run of the Nome-Seward cruise came in part from the frustration of the one we were on and the extra 1,000 miles we sailed to refuel for you. Made worse by the shabby treatment we've received from SS since then.

 

Totally understand, and it is ridiculous to sail 1000 extra miles to refuel. If we had been on the Nome -Nome cruise, we would probably be in the no more Silversea camp as well. George would not do well with 10 straight sea days.

Marq

Totally agree with you. I had the misfortune to be on the Nome-to-Nome cruise too and will never set foot on another SS ship again. I asked for a full refund and was told that it would not be fair for the other passengers??? I was asking for everyone. What SS offered is a true slap in the face. All SS wants is to get us to cough up more money with its discount on future travel with no compensation for the disastrous trip to nowhere. Ridiculous. Never once has SS acknowledged any responsibility for what happened to us. The company knew we would never land on Wrangell, yet kept leading us on that we would. I'm still fuming. MPSO

That was the line they kept using on us too MPSO after our recent disaster on the Spirit despite our situation being much worse than other passengers. They have dealt with your situation disgracefully and dishonestly just as they did ours. Since returning, it sounds like you have been shown the same contempt as we have.

Looks like SS are developing quite a pattern of behaviour here.

Oh, and it gets worse. We contacted our travel agent about the cancellation of the would-have-been upcoming SS cruise. What he told us was this: the cancellation was noted and accepted in August 30th, but "the refund process has not yet been started."

So, in addition to all of the above, SS seems more than willing to hold onto our money for the future cruise until they good and ready to send it back.

Typical SS nonsense. The bottom line is its mantra and its passengers are at most a tertiary concern. So sad. I hope you'll eventually get your refund, but I'm sure there will be no interest added for not having paid sooner.

Back again. You'd think that Silversea, having dropped the ball on the previous cruise, would be interested in getting us back, and showing us how it was a one-off, and they can be the place we all want to be.

Oh, you optimist.

Trying to get a hold of anyone is an ordeal. You can call and get someone who will gladly book you a cruise, but if you have questions, or need Guest Relations, or want to find out simple answers like "How much extra is the business class flight upgrade cost?" you'd think you were asking for the launch codes. That is, if you can get someone on the phone.

Once we're done with Silversea, we're done.