No more silver boxes

[eastwoodboy]

Just received an email from SS advising that silver boxes will be no more. I know some people treat the arrival of these as a special moment.

 

In the future the travel journal will be sent out 100 days prior to sailing so long as final payment and passenger information completed on mysilversea. All very well but not so convenient for easy reference as the printed form. This will be followed 50 days prior to sailing with electronic documents which the passengers have to print off for themselves.

 

Is this another example of Hutbers law - improvement means deterioration?

[jpalbny]

I may have misinterpreted the e-mail, but I thought that we'd still get a printed copy of the travel journal as a keepsake. Copied this text from my email (emphasis mine):

 

"In addition to the Electronic Documents, we will still be sending the Travel Journal to you as a keepsake....The Travel Journal will be sent in advance starting 100 days prior to sailing once the Guest Information form (GIF) has been completed and the booking is paid in full and will remain a personalised document featuring voyage and destination highlights."

 

Did your email say something more definitive about the journal being an electronic version? Or do you think I'm too oprimistic? I won't know for sure until my next SS cruise, which isn't booked yet... :(

Edited February 19, 2016 by jpalbny

[eastwoodboy]

No, my wording was the same and having had another look I think you may be correct. As I am 113 days from my next sailing I should find out very soon if this is the case.

 

I do wonder how we shall be able to label luggage. How do we print out the suite number onto paper sufficiently strong enough to survive all the handling?

Edited February 19, 2016 by eastwoodboy

[nfcu]

We just received the Silver Box today via UPS for our 31 March cruise. I guess we just got in under the wire and got one of the last boxes. We will miss them.

[Keith1010]

We received the e mail as well and I interpreted the same way that the box will still come.

 

Keith

[mw8811]

I asked our rep at Silversea and he said yes the journal will still come in a silver box. Just the tickets will be electronic.

 

Mary

[wripro]

The current silver boxes is nothing like the original ones anyway. It wan't the box that enticed, it was what was inside, a lovely presentation of documents. Now it's a journal and I couldn't care less what color the container is.

[spinnaker2]

Now it's likely that those silver boxes will come up for purchase on eBay.

Remember the leatherette folio? Little by little, these are going bye bye. I really don't mind as long as the quality of shipboard life doesn't suffer as well.

 

I do like the new luggage tags with the wire. They are less likely to be inadvertently ripped off.

Edited February 19, 2016 by spinnaker2

[Keith1010]

I think it's great that the tickets will come electronically.

 

One of the few suggestions I had in my review was separating them from the book because we ended up taking the book with us as we were concerned we would tear the tickets if we tried to remove them from the book. Also if you are traveling there is no pressure to wait for your ticket.

 

Keith

[brimary]

We have many friends who have been regular SS supporters for up to twenty years who do not possess a computer out of choice.How many similar clients are SS prepared to sacrifice for yet another cost cutting excercise? Sad development imho.

[Keith1010]

We have many friends who have been regular SS supporters for up to twenty years who do not possess a computer out of choice.How many similar clients are SS prepared to sacrifice for yet another cost cutting excercise? Sad development imho.

 

It's not cost cutting.

 

It's convenience.

 

For those who can't print them out, just have your TA print them out for you.

 

Keith

[Portolan]

and nothing received. I'm guessing we are in the old silver box a few weeks before the cruise mode.

[Tothesunset]

As far as I can see from the email we will still get the journal but the ticket will no longer be bound into the book but will arrive electronically. Quite why a copy cannot be sent in the same package as the journal beats me.

[canyonman]

As far as I can see from the email we will still get the journal but the ticket will no longer be bound into the book but will arrive electronically. Quite why a copy cannot be sent in the same package as the journal beats me.

 

It’s funny, they haven’t even collected my tickets the last four cruises I’ve been on. I just show them my ID and off I go. So not sure if you really need the electronic one. :confused:

[RachelG]

It’s funny, they haven’t even collected my tickets the last four cruises I’ve been on. I just show them my ID and off I go. So not sure if you really need the electronic one. :confused:

 

I was getting ready to say the same thing. They just ask for your id. You don't even need to cruise tickets,

[oregon50]

Cunard, Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea....haven't presented a ticket the past three years. I decline whatever docs the TA offers. Exception for Hapag-Lloydbecause the luggage tags are cool.

 

And yes, eliminating the silver box is a cost cutting move. Of the 68 things they have cut, this move bothers me least.

Edited February 20, 2016 by oregon50

[Tothesunset]

It’s funny, they haven’t even collected my tickets the last four cruises I’ve been on. I just show them my ID and off I go. So not sure if you really need the electronic one. :confused:

 

The only time we have been asked to show our tickets was to enter the Cruise Terminal in Bridgetown, Barbados in a private taxi. It was quite a panic actually because that was the first time we realised that the ticket was in the booklet - we were searching frantically through all our paperwork expecting to find a separate ticket. Thankfully, another pair of passengers rolled up at the security gate for the same cruise and it was from them that we learned that the ticket was part of the journal.

 

''That's why you should read all the paperwork'' Said OH.

 

''Why? Have you lost the power of reading'' came my not very helpful reply.

 

Good start to the cruise!

[spinnaker2]

The ticket and the acceptance of same creates agreement to be bound to a contract of passage. That contract briefly explains your rights and responsibilities and those of Silversea. I will be surprised if they stop providing the ticket or access to it.

If there was a mishap aboard and one chose to sue, and had not been given the contract, there may be a legal argument about its absence, the implications of the consumer not being given it and not being given notice of the fact that it is binding upon the passenger.

I wonder how many passengers actually read it or pay it any attention.

[gacruisergal]

Last week we received the Silverseas booklet, luggage tags with wire rings, leather luggage name tags, and straps to trolly luggage in a silver cardboard box along with a 8"x 10" x 1"padded zipped portfolio from our travel agent with room for passports and air tickets for our March 16th cruise on the Cloud. All will fit nicely in my tote. We were impressed.

[Randyk47]

Last week we received the Silverseas booklet, luggage tags with wire rings, leather luggage name tags, and straps to trolly luggage in a silver cardboard box along with a 8"x 10" x 1"padded zipped portfolio from our travel agent with room for passports and air tickets for our March 16th cruise on the Cloud. All will fit nicely in my tote. We were impressed.

 

We got basically the same from our TA. I will say the leather luggage name tags were not from Silversea but from the TA. Last time we got the Silversea leather luggage name tags was for our 2012 cruise but none since.

[Silver Spectre]

For those who can't print them out, just have your TA print them out for you.

 

Keith

 

Not exactly helpful for those who book direct with Silversea and do not have or wish to use a TA, and there are still a large number of them.

[brimary]

Not exactly helpful for those who book direct with Silversea and do not have or wish to use a TA, and there are still a large number of them.

 

 

Quite right and many fall within the type of cruiser you describe.

[Mayflower1]

Good Morning Brimary - At least you will not have to worry too much about the Luggage Tags needing to stand up to the rigours of Air Travel for the 27th June Sailing on the Wind !!!!!. Looking forward to seeing you again at Tower Bridge.

I don't care too much about the Silver Box as it always caused problems with the Postman - however yet another example of ' Dumbing Down '.

[badgerdee]

We opted out of the silver box and luggage tags years ago, so we're okay with this development. It probably saves a heap of money but, more importantly, there's less waste ending up in landfill.

 

Although this initiative is doubtless borne from financial considerations from Silversea's perspective, from our perspective, the ethics of cruising continue to test us.

[Mark_K]

Not exactly helpful for those who book direct with Silversea and do not have or wish to use a TA, and there are still a large number of them.

 

 

If you book directly with Silversea, then they are your TA. Do you really think they would refuse to assist a computer-less person wishing to book with them?