SPIRIT Treatment

[e.h. beach bum]

My wife and I had the most unpleasant experience aboard the Spirit perpetrated by the ship's hotel manager and the staff back at company headquarters in Fla.

We had been promised a shipboard credit by the travel agent and was relayed to us via e mail. Upon boarding the Spirit i asked why it didn't appear on the booking. Enzo, the concierge said he'd check with the travel agency. After 3 days he still didn't have an answer as the agent was away for a few days. I was promised an answer within 2 more days. In the meanwhile I rec'd a phone call from SS offices in Fla saying they were looking into the matter. After 8 days of no answers I complained to the hotel mgr. Hubert. He told me to just go ahead and spend the shipboard credit amount and he would see to it that it was placed on my bill. He never did. After repeated requests he said he would and not to worry. Bottom line....he never did and he left SS for another cruise line the next week. I was informed the next to last day of the 15 day cruise that the travel agency never agreed to the shipboard credit, as reported to me by SS Fla. office

When I arrived home I sent the e mail with the shipboard credit as promised to me to SS. I was totally embarrassed as I was made out to be a liar. As passengers with over 100 days on SS you'd think they'd want to please me over such a trivial amount. My wife and I were thoroughly disgusted with what they put us through, phone calls, messages from concierge, hotel mgr. etc. The handling of this was disgraceful. By the way the amount in question was $500.00

[cruzemaven]

My wife and I had the most unpleasant experience aboard the Spirit perpetrated by the ship's hotel manager and the staff back at company headquarters in Fla.

We had been promised a shipboard credit by the travel agent and was relayed to us via e mail. Upon boarding the Spirit i asked why it didn't appear on the booking. Enzo, the concierge said he'd check with the travel agency. After 3 days he still didn't have an answer as the agent was away for a few days. I was promised an answer within 2 more days. In the meanwhile I rec'd a phone call from SS offices in Fla saying they were looking into the matter. After 8 days of no answers I complained to the hotel mgr. Hubert. He told me to just go ahead and spend the shipboard credit amount and he would see to it that it was placed on my bill. He never did. After repeated requests he said he would and not to worry. Bottom line....he never did and he left SS for another cruise line the next week. I was informed the next to last day of the 15 day cruise that the travel agency never agreed to the shipboard credit, as reported to me by SS Fla. office

When I arrived home I sent the e mail with the shipboard credit as promised to me to SS. I was totally embarrassed as I was made out to be a liar. As passengers with over 100 days on SS you'd think they'd want to please me over such a trivial amount. My wife and I were thoroughly disgusted with what they put us through, phone calls, messages from concierge, hotel mgr. etc. The handling of this was disgraceful. By the way the amount in question was $500.00

 

If you have an email from your travel agent stating that you have a shipboard credit, how can the travel agency not make good on that? Have you used this agency before?

[e.h. beach bum]

If you have an email from your travel agent stating that you have a shipboard credit, how can the travel agency not make good on that? Have you used this agency before?

The T/A did make good. The issue however was the unwillingness of SS to do the right thing with a loyal customer. They made me out to be a liar re: the o.b.c.

[Goldens4]

eh beach bum, so sorry that you had to go through all that nonsense. Did you have a copy of the email with you? Whenever we have been promised OBC, I bring the confirmation email with me. So far, our OBC card has always been in our suite, but you ever know. There is always a 1st time. I just can't understand the attitude towards you on the Spirit. After 100 nights, you sure aren't going to "nickel and dime" them. I would write a letter to corporate.

[duct tape]

I agree with Marcie.

[dougburns]

While I sympathize with your situation, this is clearly a T/A issue. Whenever we have had a shipboard credit, it has been on our invoice. An e-mail doesn't cut it. I'd change to a different T/A.

[Louise D]

I had the same problem as the O.P. in 2009, arising from a particular onboard credit offer with a major credit card company. Silverseas had only noted half the amount of credit on my bill. I was told by the Admin Dept on board that this mix-up happened with several other passengers at the same time, and Silverseas had refused to allow the full credit to them. However, being a suspicious person, I came on board with a letter from the credit card company, and I gave a copy to the Admin Dept on board. They arranged the correct on board credit two days later after contact with the credit card company. But, I understand that I was the only one who got the credit, as the other passengers were told there was nothing that could be done as they had no written proof of their entitlement.

 

Louise

[Keith1010]

I am sorry to hear what the OP went through.

 

I guess my take on this is to have made my TA do the work on this from the get go.

One time I had a situation like this on another cruise line and I just got a hold of my Travel Specialist and she worked with the corporate office to get this one straightened out. Because in the end, it is the Travel Specialist and/or the Travel Consortium who in conjuction with the corporate office who must get this figured out. Sometimes the problem can be on the travel consortium/travel specialist end and sometimes it can be on the Cruise Lines end. But in the end, this is one of the reasons we have a travel specialist to get in the middle of this for us.

 

What we do is the same as Louise does. Since that time each and everytime we cruise we bring a letter that we are given from the Travel Specialist through her Travel Consortium that notes what we are supposed to receive in terms of any amenities such as On Board Credit. We also have our Travel Specialist followup with the cruise lines corporate office one or two weeks before the cruise to try to verify from their end that all is in place.

 

Again, e.h. Beach Bum, I am sorry this all happened to you. In the end though I would have had the Travel Specialist jump on this. And at this point since you were owed the OBC of $500.00 you should not use anymore of your time to write letters to SS or to call them. If this was me I would just tell my travel specialist that I look to her/him to resolve this matter for me and that I expect a credit to my credit card for the $500.00 whether that comes from SS, from her/him personally or from the Travel Consortium if there is a consortium involved.

 

Keith

[wripro]

I agree one hundred percent, Keith. I think too many people who post on these boards look for answers and solution here rather than from the professional people who make a living by solving clients' problems.