Newest Silversea Post on Facebook

[Merriem]

They must be getting really worried, put this additional post on their facebook page

 

Some Questions Answered:

 

- Some of our Facebook followers have raised specific concerns which we have addressed below:

 

Q. What is Silversea going to do to ensure standards are regularly met and that this practice is not used on ships within the fleet?

 

A. Silversea Cruises has fully investigated this matter and the accusations of a previous crew member. We take this infraction extremely seriously and wish to reassure all guests on our cruises that from all our investigations we believe this to be an extremely uncommon occurrence on Silversea vessels. Our record of inspections with the VSP shows that we maintain extremely high standards of hygiene on our vessels. As a result of this inspection, we have taken this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the highest possible standards of food hygiene and focused all our attentions on actions to ensure nothing like this can ever happen again.

 

Q. What specific actions have you taken?

 

A. We have assigned an external sanitation specialist consultant to travel on-board Silver Shadow. Together with our own managers, the consultant has worked through every aspect of the USPHS inspection report to ensure full compliance.

-Our Fleet Executive Chef spent one month on-board the Silver Shadow retraining the Galley management Team through policies and procedures.

-Additional training was provided for all food handlers and supervisors, butlers, cooks, waiters and bar staff to reinforce company procedures, with particular emphasis on food sanitation.

-All equipment that does not meet the requirements of the CDC inspection has been discarded and replaced.

-CCTV is being placed in appropriate corridors at the next dry-docking to ensure no foodstuffs or other equipment is brought into crew accommodation areas.

-A procedure in which any member of staff can inform management, anonymously, of any failures to follow procedures involving food handling and preparation is being introduced immediately.

-Finally, a zero tolerance policy has been instituted in relation to improper food handling at all times, including USPHS inspections.

 

Q. Have people been held accountable for these actions?

 

A. Yes, the individuals responsible for this situation are no longer with Silversea. We will not identify the crew members’ names or positions. In addition, we realize that Silversea management has to take its share of a responsibility and ensure that this does not happen again.

 

Q. Has Silversea management ever pressured crew to hide violations from health authorities?

 

A. Silversea Cruises management directs staff to be transparent with USPHS/CDC inspectors. Our investigation indicates that, in the Silver Shadow situation, some of our staff made an impulsive decision, and we need to look at what happened, who found it necessary to authorise such activity and how we can avoid having this situation happen again. Our Executive Chef, external sanitation expert and other managers have spent much time on-board since the inspection re training and briefing teams on what is expected of them in the full understanding that the chefs and their staffs have to provide some of the finest food available anywhere in the world to our guests in the safest manner possible.

[geekonacruise]

They must be getting really worried, put this additional post on their facebook page

 

Thank you for forwarding this! I am glad they are communicating further. Action is clearly necessary.

[wripro]

I love how they say the individual responsible are no longer working for Silversea when, in fact, the true individuals responsible probably sit in the executive offices.

[WendyG]

I love how they say the individual responsible are no longer working for Silversea when, in fact, the true individuals responsible probably sit in the executive offices.

 

Sad but true no doubt!

 

My first Silversea cruise is in April and I'm assuming things will be in tip top shape by then and better than ever! Silversea has alot of damage control to do now in order to keep their currrent clientele and attract newbies as well.

 

Their pricing may be better than ever too! :D

 

I'm still going on my SS cruise, and very much looking forward to it!

 

I'm sure all cruiselines have skeletons in their closets, SS just got caught!

What you don't know won't hurt you comes to mind....

[flag fan]

This is a much better (more reassuring) response than prior public statements.

[jackson bernard]

What kind of training are they getting. Do they really have yo be taught that its not okay to store food in their cabins? Isn't it common sense? Pathetic excuse.

 

I bet the crew laughs their butts off while serving this rancid food to the passengers who think the crew are their new found friends. Ha ha ha the jokes on you! Just remember that the next time you think the crew actually thinks of you a friend. They only see ys as paychecks and I dont blame them.

 

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[billcrooz]

What kind of training are they getting. Do they really have yo be taught that its not okay to store food in their cabins? Isn't it common sense? Pathetic excuse.

 

I bet the crew laughs their butts off while serving this rancid food to the passengers who think the crew are their new found friends. Ha ha ha the jokes on you! Just remember that the next time you think the crew actually thinks of you a friend. They only see ys as paychecks and I dont blame them.

 

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To me what is amazing is all the replies being voiced on this subject ,the vast majority are coming from people who have never responded on this website before .we can discount UK Jeff and his 4000 responses and still have so many it might make us ponder where and who they may be ...just wondering!

[Josette03]

Billcrooz- take a look at the Jackson's posting history. Look at the ships he's been on and you'll understand why he has such contempt for the crew members serving him food.

[jackson bernard]

Billcrooz- take a look at the Jackson's posting history. Look at the ships he's been on and you'll understand why he has such contempt for the crew members serving him

Clearly josette you must be better than me. You must feel real important when you have your friends from third world countries tend to your every whim. Your attitude is disgusting, just as disgusting as your high brow ship

 

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[Josette03]

Thank you. I rest my case.

[5waldos]

What you don't know won't hurt you comes to mind....

 

But seriously- isn't that why we have things like the CDC program? So that, in this case guests, don't have to ferret these things out for themselves? And in this case- what you didn't know, food poorly handled, could in fact hurt you a lot. And in some cases, could kill you.

[5waldos]

-Our Fleet Executive Chef spent one month on-board the Silver Shadow retraining the Galley management Team through policies and procedures.

 

They needed a month's training to learn that food and dirty dishes don't get hidden in crew cabins to avoid inspectors? Really?

[wripro]

Where do you suppose they would have hidden the food without that month's training???

[Boreus]

Q. Have people been held accountable for these actions?

 

A. Yes, the individuals responsible for this situation are no longer with Silversea. We will not identify the crew members’ names or positions.

 

Q. Has Silversea management ever pressured crew to hide violations from health authorities?

 

A. Our investigation indicates that, in the Silver Shadow situation, some of our staff made an impulsive decision, and we need to look at what happened, who found it necessary to authorise such activity and how we can avoid having this situation happen again.

 

I see a disconnect here. If the individuals responsible for this situation are no longer with Silversea, why is the company looking for who found it necessary to authorize the activity? Surely, they would be among those responsible for the situation and thus no longer with Silversea. This, plus Silversea's failure to give out minimal data such as the number of people that have been let go, causes me to be skeptical of this announcement. And thank you Merriem for posting it.

[UKCruiseJeff]

I see a disconnect here. If the individuals responsible for this situation are no longer with Silversea, why is the company looking for who found it necessary to authorize the activity? Surely, they would be among those responsible for the situation and thus no longer with Silversea. This, plus Silversea's failure to give out minimal data such as the number of people that have been let go, causes me to be skeptical of this announcement. And thank you Merriem for posting it.

 

What genuinely concerns me - and I don't know - is the thought that the poor guys wheeling the trollies down to their cabins under instruction had lost their livelihoods. I wish they had been clearer.

[5waldos]

A. Yes, the individuals responsible for this situation are no longer with Silversea. We will not identify the crew members’ names or positions.

 

Wonder if he really is referring to the pastry chef who reported this? I mean- he could be seen as the individual responsible for the situation. If he hadn't ratted on them they would probably be boasting of the 97 point inspection.

[Mr Luxury]

What genuinely concerns me - and I don't know - is the thought that the poor guys wheeling the trollies down to their cabins under instruction had lost their livelihoods. I wish they had been clearer.

 

Lets us hope that some of them might become vocal about the situation and bring those really responsible to the table..

[UKCruiseJeff]

Lets us hope that some of them might become vocal about the situation and bring those really responsible to the table..

 

 

Just picture some of those people we sometimes only glimpse. They work hard - oceans away from their families - all they wish to do is to make ends meet and to send a little cash back to their families who are all immensely proud of their son or brother or father who is on the Silversea ship. They do what they are told in order not to be fired. They do it with a smile. At the moment Silversea have not given me a single reason to give them the benefit of any doubt. Quite the reverse. I wonder what else they are doing that is wrong. I hear the other claims of people who were "front of house". Each to their own, but I believe it and I believe we don't know the half of it.

 

I fear for the decent people. And before the sneery people sneer and post bile, I firmly believe that there but for the grace of nature any one of us could have been born elsewhere and find ourselves in their place. That is why we must not forget them. We owe it to our own good fortune and therefore to them.

 

Forgive me because I am an emotional and difficult git. :)

[Mr Luxury]

 

Forgive me because I am an emotional and difficult git. :)

 

You'll be starting a fund next to help all those crew who were just obeying orders.:)

 

We could have a whip round and offer a reward to anyone that will spill the beans on the subject.

[wripro]

Silversea says: "The individuals responsible for this situation are no longer with Silversea."

 

I wonder which situation they are referring to; the violations or letting the CDC know about them?

[Mr Luxury]

Silversea says: "The individuals responsible for this situation are no longer with Silversea."

 

I wonder which situation they are referring to; the violations or letting the CDC know about them?

 

If anyone has been let go and I doubt it,I bet that they are lower in the pecking order than the F&B manager on the Shadow.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Silversea says: "The individuals responsible for this situation are no longer with Silversea."

 

I wonder which situation they are referring to; the violations or letting the CDC know about them?

 

Spot on. I fear we know the answer to that ....

[connlach]

Spot on. I fear we know the answer to that ....

 

But actually we don't know the answer. Perhaps it was management. There is as much chance as anyone else. Don't let facts get in the way of a good story though.

[wripro]

This is not a good story. It is a horrible story for everyone concerned.

[5waldos]

I wonder why they wouldn't announce who had been fired? Or t least their position. Why would they want to protect the person responsible for this? If, as they suggest, the person was truly being fired for massive incompetence.