Automatic charity charge?

[Keith1010]

Debbie, there will be a fair number of people who will resent this for all of the reasons we have mentioned. Some will resent it and not say anything but will be bothered by being put in such awkward position. Others will resent it and will say something. It's not the amount of money. It's the way it's being handled.

 

As I said from the very beginning Silversea is doing something that is very nice but is doing it in the wrong manner. They are not the first cruise line to do things for charity and certainly won't be the last one. But, I have never heard of anyone doing it this way.

 

They could easily place a nice one page document in each of the guests rooms that discuss this charity and then note that if a guest wants to participate all they have to do is to turn in the form. And they could follow this up with some type of insert in one of the daily programs.

 

This to me is the right approach.

 

In the end, everyone who contrbutes should feel good about this rather than feeling coerced into doing this and having a bad taste for the way it was done.

 

It is not often that there is so much consenus on an item as there is on this one. And I do believe that the folks on this board are reacting very similar to the ways all guests would react.

 

Again, I have never heard of any cruise line taking this approach and Silversea is certainly not the only criuse line that is doing something for a charity.

 

Keith

[WinWin]

Very well said, Keith. I agree completely! Along with many others, I dislike the idea of spending my vacation time removing the Silversea charity charge, and would prefer to choose whether or not I want to donate!

[amgrumpy]

Just got our docs for our upcoming cruise. There is a notification that we will automatically be charged a few dollars for a charity that Silversea is involved with. Though, I'm all for donating to charity, I thought it was odd that we were told our contribution is automatically added to our shipboard account and we can remove the charge by visiting Reception during our voyage. Is this something new? I have not encountered it on any other cruiseline that we've sailed on. The name of the charity is Maruzza Lefebvre D'Ovidio Foundation.

At least you were told. MSC added 1 euro per person for UNICEF to our bill but I did not read anything about this prior to seeing it there. I could have missed it but it seems this is cruise lines new way of doing this. Wonder about other ones.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Wow, sure hope they have the sense to rescind this pronto!

 

This "awareness bracelet" idea seems to add insult to injury. Talk about peer pressure, this is nuts.

[Oceans&Rivers]

At least you were told. MSC added 1 euro per person for UNICEF to our bill but I did not read anything about this prior to seeing it there. I could have missed it but it seems this is cruise lines new way of doing this. Wonder about other ones.

 

I wonder if they also passed along your private information to UNICEF and/or the charity "consolidator"?

 

That is the worst part, in my opinion. In fact, I had to call and talk to a PBS station manager of a station that I absolutely love (and had regularly donated to over the years) and complain about their sharing of our personal data. We were bombarded by every charity out there and so many times that the postage alone had to cost a fortune, negating much of our donation.

 

In the past, before that incident, whenever I made a donation, my request to not have information shared with other organizations had been honored, but the last time I donated, it ended up everywhere. So I said that I would regrettably not be donating again until I was absolutely certain that there would be no sharing of our data, whatsoever. So far, so good, but it's only because I reached someone who could and would do something about it and who understood that I meant what I said.

 

It is sad that trying to do the right thing has turned into such a business. :mad:

[Emtbsam]

I suggest that anyone who feels strongly about this issue call Silversea and their travel agent. I spoke not only with the reservationist, but with a supervisor when none of the big wigs were "available". Let's bombard them with phone calls and see if we can get this policy reversed quickly.

 

As I said before, I would hate to spend any time on board dealing with this, and even more, I would hate to spend any time talking about it with other passengers. This issue can turn into a cancer (pardon the word) and spread quickly among the passengers.

 

Take action, please don't just post on CC.

[xplrcrzn]

A charitable contribution should be voluntary, not an additional charge on a cruise invoice that requires an affirmative action on the part of the passenger to have it removed. Where's the "voluntary" in that sort of process. This may be a very worthy charity but I think this type of "fund raising" certainly cheapens it and the cruise line. Based on very preliminary and casual research, it doesn't appear to qualify as a U.S. 501c(3) recognized charity at this point.

[Jaffa]

I agree with most of what has been said here.

I applaud the intent, but dissagree with the process.

 

Silversea needs to revisit this as a matter of priority.

[wripro]

Keith, as always you are the epitome of diplomacy and tact. However, I am not so sure that this is a matter of doing the right thing the wrong way. What guarantee do we have that donating to an Italian charity (not at American one) will ensure that the money goes to do these children any good? The cynic in me thinks its nothing more than a ploy to fill Silversea's underfunded coffers a bit more. I hope I am wrong on this, btw. Frankly, whatever the reasoning it's turning out to be a PR nightmare for SS.

[Jade13]

I think this is a bit presumptuous on SiverSeas part? No?

 

Host Dan

 

Yes.

[oregon50]

Keith, as always you are the epitome of diplomacy and tact. However, I am not so sure that this is a matter of doing the right thing the wrong way. What guarantee do we have that donating to an Italian charity (not at American one) will ensure that the money goes to do these children any good? The cynic in me thinks its nothing more than a ploy to fill Silversea's underfunded coffers a bit more. I hope I am wrong on this, btw. Frankly, whatever the reasoning it's turning out to be a PR nightmare for SS.

 

Agree with your first and second sentence. The rest is rubbish. Starwood did this a few years ago and probably extracted a million dollars before calling it quits for the same reason SS will pull the plug within a few months.

[MM9U]

It's not just a question of annoying SS's current passengers. It's also a problem with marketing. I can, next year, possibly, come up with the time to take one real vacation. I spend my time this year looking for that vacation.

 

Silversea has two strikes against it: processing charges overseas for US denominated expenses (I'm already paying for the cost of getting my money into the US: i don't need to pay it again so you can save on the processing charges,) and now adding random charities to my expected bill. I have no problem with charity, but I also have no intention of doing business with a company that pushes donations at me.

 

I don't stay at hotels with "resort fees," I don't do business with airlines with "booking charges," and I don't intend to reserve with a cruise line that feels they can spend my money to improve their image.

 

Silversea 0, Crystal 1

 

Mark

[jland]

<P>Our next cruise is 46 days, starting in September. We do not want to donate to this charity. Like everybody else we have our favourite charities and object to Silversea assuming we would like to donate to theirs. </P>

<P>On the other hand we do not want to go to reception and ask for the charge to be removed. We do not want to appear "mean" in front of other passengers. So what to do?</P>

<P>We have decided to type a letter now, while we are at home, expressing our feelings on this matter. We will then hand this letter over when we board.</P>

<P>That should end the matter without causing us any problems at reception.  </P>

[jland]

<P>Our next cruise is 46 days, starting in September. We do not want to donate to this charity. Like everybody else we have our favourite charities and object to Silversea assuming we would like to donate to theirs. </P>

<P>On the other hand we do not want to go to reception and ask for the charge to be removed. We do not want to appear "mean" in front of other passengers. So what to do?</P>

<P>We have decided to type a letter now, while we are at home, expressing our feelings on this matter. We will then hand this letter over when we board.</P>

<P>That should end the matter without causing us any problems at reception.  </P>

[jland]

Sorry folks, not sure why my post has all those P and nbsp icons! I cannot see how to edit it either!

[Paint Horse]

Those are html tags.

[CanadianKate]

I, too, am cruising in September and if this program is still in place, will do what jland is doing. My cruise is paid for. But my next SilverSea cruise in not yet booked, nor will it be until this policy is changed. Yes, I feel that strongly about it.

 

Our family happens to tithe in general (i.e. 10% of our pre-tax income is given to assorted charities, not all linked to our church) and I give 12 hours a week to volunteer work (on top of my tithing.) My husband gives another 15 hours a week in volunteer work (for international organizations as well as for our local church.) We don't flaunt this, we just do this.

 

For them to assume that I am too lazy to act charitably is an insult and for them to 'save me' inconvenience is patronizing. And to be insulted and patronized by anyone or any company is not on my list of things to do.

 

If they truly believe in their cause, then it is simply a matter of providing an opt-in card and if they want to give additional incentive, offer to match the donation dollar for dollar. That way, they are showing their commitment with their money, rather than my money.

[CruisinPashmina]

I commented on this subject several days ago,and I had hoped that my fierce opposition would dissipate, but the more posts I read the more out raged I become. We have over 350 days on SS with 50 more booked within the next year. I would say that proves our love and loyalty Now this deeply insulting new policy has us rethinking what kind of a business would strong arm customers,make them feel cheap,embarrassed, and probably angry. With this crazy PR decision now in effect, you have to wonder what kind of other company decisions are these people making. Who feels happy and comfortable about taking a luxury voyage which appears to be a turning into a shake down cruise? We'd certainly like to hear more from the management.......or Seaborne here we come.

[oregon50]

Try not to pop a blood vessel. Nobody at reception is going to make you feel cheap for not participating in their scheme. It will be a minor inconvienience to reverse a charge that should not be there. The decision to auto bill for the charity will be reversed within six months.

 

A question for Kate from Canada. Did I just read on another thread that you would NEVER give up SS?

[CanadianKate]

A question for Kate from Canada. Did I just read on another thread that you would NEVER give up SS?

 

Yup! I haven't been to the forum for about 4 months and read the threads in the following order:

 

1. Luggage surcharges

2. Formal night change

3. Seabourn review (which made me less nervous to try Seabourn except for the lack of official formal nights.)

4. This thread

5. Then started a thread on River Cruises to see what line most SilverSea customers are happy with in that style of cruising.

 

Like you, I figure this policy will be reversed quickly. Since my next (unbooked so far) cruise will be a River Cruise, I know I won't have to eat my words as far as staying away from SilverSea for at least 18 months. So that gives them lots of time to fix the policy.

 

We are awaiting a new passport before filling in the passenger information for this upcoming cruise. At that point, I'll request that the charge be removed from my account. That may solve the issue entirely.

[dusababy]

I commented on this subject several days ago,and I had hoped that my fierce opposition would dissipate, but the more posts I read the more out raged I become. We have over 350 days on SS with 50 more booked within the next year. I would say that proves our love and loyalty Now this deeply insulting new policy has us rethinking what kind of a business would strong arm customers,make them feel cheap,embarrassed, and probably angry. With this crazy PR decision now in effect, you have to wonder what kind of other company decisions are these people making. Who feels happy and comfortable about taking a luxury voyage which appears to be a turning into a shake down cruise? We'd certainly like to hear more from the management.......or Seaborne here we come.

 

Talk about unintended consequences......:o

 

At first, I tended to give Silversea the benefit of the doubt. If someone had bothered with a little market research they might have recognized that Americans (the majority of guests on voyages) are the most generous people on earth, and a gentle suggestion (a note in the suite calling attention to the opportunity to donate) might have achieved their goal. Steve's explanation dashed that hope. Like CruisinPashmina, the more posts I read the more insulted I felt about the arrogance of this ill-conceived policy.

 

I'm booked on the Wind for September, and I sincerely hope that before I board, Silversea will find a way to save face and rescind this tacky decision.

[wripro]

If SS has any sense they'll repeal it immediately!

[lord of the seas]

If SS has any sense they'll repeal it immediately!

 

There are now board members at Silversea that do not have that gift.

Guests deserve more from the company at present.

[cruzemaven]

We will be boarding in less than two weeks. As I mentioned before, we are traveling with 16 friends...some are determined to go immediately to reception and wipe out the charity charge and others say it is not worth their time to negate such a small amount from their account (and that is exactly what Silversea is betting on).

[duct tape]

The gracious staff at the Rreception Desk have no problem removing the charge from your account! They are also the ones, besides the guests, who have been put in an awkward position!