Silver Spirit Nightmare. Do they care?

[Emtbsam]

My God, this is outrageous.

 

After being loyal patrons and defenders of Silversea for years (see my other posts on this forum), we had a disastrous experience which included being served by an intoxicated waitress at dinner, then separately, a female in our party being the object of a sexual comment by a staff member, and many, many other issues (mostly all service related).

 

descartes1

If you were on the 2016 South America cruise on the Whisper, that waitress was fired!

[Daveywavey70]

Most interesting. I Was discussing this with a Barrister yesterday who pointed me towards the package travel regulations 1992.

 

Under this UK legislation, Silversea were required to inform us of any “building works” that they were aware of that could possibly impact on our enjoyment of our holiday. Were any of the post stretch cruisers on here informed of the stretch by SS? They were also required to this this under the ABTA code of conduct which they are bound by.

 

In addition to this the requirement that we need to spend thousands of pounds more with the company in order to gain any recompense whatsoever is entirely inadequate and will not be viewed as a fair offer of compensation by a judge.

Edited June 6, 2018 by Daveywavey70

[UKCruiseJeff]

Hi Dave,

 

Did your SS cruise include travel or did you make travel arrangements yourself?

 

Your barrister is more knowledgeable than I but the regulations he referred to I believe to be the “Package Travel Refulations 1992”. To be subject to those regulations they must be a “package” as defined below and not simply a “cruise only” purchase.

 

The Regulations define a 'package' as the pre-arranged combination of at least two of the following components:

• transport
  
• accommodation
  
• other tourist services that make up a significant proportion of the package. For example a spa service on a spa break, or a guided safari tour on a safari holiday.
  

In any event this argument is moot because you have already told them that you were aware of it, but,based on their reassurances proceeded. It is the reassurances that is your issue not the lack of giving you notice. Edited June 6, 2018 by UKCruiseJeff

[Daveywavey70]

Hi Dave,

 

Did your SS cruise include travel or did you make travel arrangements yourself?

 

Your barrister is more knowledgeable than I but the regulations he referred to I believe to be the “Package Travel Refulations 1992”. To be subject to those regulations they must be a “package” as defined below and not simply a “cruise only” purchase.

 

In any event this argument is moot because you have already told them that you were aware of it, but,based on their reassurances proceeded. It is the reassurances that is your issue not the lack of giving you notice.

His view was that the cruise itself falls under transportation particularly as it was a different embarkation and disembarkation port along with accommodation food etc. He came up with a lot of the same points you have already suggested too Jeff.

 

As you suggested earlier, I’m going to issue a letter before claim to SS this week and then take it through the small claims process.

[UKCruiseJeff]

He came up with a lot of the same points you have already suggested too Jeff.

 

As you suggested earlier, I’m going to issue a letter before claim to SS this week and then take it through the small claims process.

 

Good to know!

 

Good luck and ask for anything you think I may help with. Write the letter without any superlatives, keep it crisp, factual and number the paragraphs ........ I get the impression you know the drill. :)

[descartes1]

descartes1

If you were on the 2016 South America cruise on the Whisper, that waitress was fired!

 

No, this was a different voyage. The waitress on ours was also fired.

 

So, that makes 2 drunk waitresses. :rolleyes:

[geric26]

Good to know!

 

Good luck and ask for anything you think I may help with. Write the letter without any superlatives, keep it crisp, factual and number the paragraphs ........ I get the impression you know the drill. :)

 

After following the correspondence on this subject I am appalled at Silverseas attitude but mainly amazed and impressed by the knowledge and assistance given by UKCruiseJeff. Try and put that into dollars....

[UKCruiseJeff]

After following the correspondence on this subject I am appalled at Silverseas attitude but mainly amazed and impressed by the knowledge and assistance given by UKCruiseJeff. Try and put that into dollars....

 

Many thanks for the kind words. :)

[mrscrab]

Keep on batting Daveywavey- you need to keep on going on this one- stressful as it is.

 

When the a/c packed up on our cruise Tower Bridge to Barbados we were given $2000 towards the next cruise. I don't know the Italian for REFUND but its not in the Italian dictionary. Very naughty on Silverseas part and they always look forward to repeat passengers but the loyalty is getting ???

 

I am 25 days August 31st Stockholm to London and a T/A ending in New York. I am hoping I don't get the treatment that you experienced. PLUS worried re the menus if they don't change as often as they used to.

I wish you luck in your campaign, do keep us informed.

 

From Mrs Crab in a very wet and cold Western Australia

[Daveywavey70]

Keep on batting Daveywavey- you need to keep on going on this one- stressful as it is.

 

When the a/c packed up on our cruise Tower Bridge to Barbados we were given $2000 towards the next cruise. I don't know the Italian for REFUND but its not in the Italian dictionary. Very naughty on Silverseas part and they always look forward to repeat passengers but the loyalty is getting ???

 

I am 25 days August 31st Stockholm to London and a T/A ending in New York. I am hoping I don't get the treatment that you experienced. PLUS worried re the menus if they don't change as often as they used to.

I wish you luck in your campaign, do keep us informed.

 

From Mrs Crab in a very wet and cold Western Australia

 

Thank you Mrs Crab.

I Am not the type for giving up! I Suppose i’ll Never find out what a “normal” Silversea cruise is like. They could have made SS regulars of us If they’d have handled the whole thing proffessionally. We’re currently looking at alternatives for this Autumn. Any suggestions?

 

l’m sure your cruise will be great. They should have fixed the problems by then I would hope.

 

Here’s hoping you have a great time.

 

From an absolutely glorious and hotter than Madrid sunny Wales. 😀

[Emtbsam]

Daveywavey70

 

While I am sure you are fed up with Silversea, rather than leave the future cruise credit, whatever it ends up being, on the table, why don't you consider the Whisper transatlantic cruise at the end of October. The Whisper is an older ship and only has 380 passengers on board. The transatlantic cruise is a particularly inexpensive one, and with your significant discount, you might just find that it isn't so bad. If you do go, there will be a good contingent of SS regulars on board.

[Daveywavey70]

Thanks for the suggestion Emtbsam but I feel so badly treated by SS I really don’t like the idea of having to hand them another £5k+ of my hard earned money to redeem the 25% that they should have refunded in the first place. What if that one goes wrong? I’d rather give my money to someone that appreciates it. I’ve been looking this week at Uniworld as I’ve never been on a river cruise and they seem quite nice. Also like the look of Azamara.

I’m not sure I’d enjoy a TA as I tend to keep my holidays quite action packed and think I would get quite cooky if I was at sea for several days. I’d rather pay more to get the cruise I wanted with a port nearly every day.

[jpalbny]

Oh, Uniworld has been great to us (x4). I hesitate to make the comparison, but we find them to be a lot like Silversea (well, when the SS experience is excellent). If you do like an action-packed vacation they might seem a little slow, but that's river cruising in general I think. We do river cruises to make ourselves slow down. I did picture reviews on three different Uniworld European river cruises if you want more detail about what they're like.

[Daveywavey70]

I’d love to see those thanks jp.

Where did you go to?

I tend to find quite good things to do ashore and not many of the ships tours.

This past 7 day cruise involved...

Private limo tour of Rome

Snorkelling in Corsica

Full day tour of Florence (ships tour)

Segway tour of Cannes

Semi private tour of Eze, Monte Carlo/Monaco

Speed boat rental in Portofino

Tour of Marseilles

Flyboarding in Barcelona.

 

Not all went to plan the speedboat and the flyboarding didn’t work out but the rest of it was great. So we enjoy being out all day and relaxing in the evening. I’m not really one for sitting round a pool.

[jpalbny]

Sounds fun, Davey.

 

Links to the reviews are buried in my signature. You'll have to expand it to see them. We did the Rhine in spring 2014, Rhône in March 2015, and the Danube in April 2016. In 2017 we went to India with Uniworld but that's a bit different.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

[Daveywavey70]

Many thanks JP, I’ll have a look at those over the weekend.

 

The Indian one did catch my eye and seems very different.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Daveywavey70

[les37b]

Many thanks JP, I’ll have a look at those over the weekend.

 

The Indian one did catch my eye and seems very different.

 

I thought of you when putting this together.......and then later when a long line of lights were flashing on and off!

 

[Daveywavey70]

Excellent video les.

Many thanks for putting that together. Shame the electrics still arent sorted a month later. I wonder if they’ve fixed the lights in Dolce Vita yet? Anyone suffering from epilepsy could have gone off at any time with the strobing in there.

[SEEKER1]

I'm finding these comments very disconcerting. I organized a trip for 4 of us on Aug 3 in the Baltic Sea. I had to convince the group that the price wasn't too high for the kind of luxury small boat cruise we would experience. I'm getting a bad feeling that I led them astray. I've already experienced almost a complete lack of response from the Silversea travel agent that booked us. I've travelled on the QE2 and Disney ships and was hoping for the same level of excellent service.

[Capri73]

Same here. Will never return.

[2travel4life]

Wow. I am so sorry for the experiences described here. Ironic, because we have always sailed "suite class" (butler, special dining, private lounge with drinks at no cost, as well as many other special amenities) on Celebrity. I was hoping for an experience that "wowed" and wooed us. Uncertain whether that will be the case, other than the smaller ship. Since the trip is 1 month away, I will remain optimistic....?

[Daveywavey70]

I feel so sorry for people lthat have booked with Silversea after believing their “gumph” like ourselves. our holiday was so important to us. We were duped. One thing I’ve learnt in business... if you set yourself up as charging for and providing the best but fail, then god help you. If your honest about what you will provide and then exceed expectations you’ll thrive. If you fail to provide what you have charged a huge premium for then please just put your hands up and put it right.

[Zenblue100]

Just to put the others mind at rest I have had nothing but fantastic holidays and service from SS. I also have another cruise booked in August on the Spirit. However I am not taking away the terrible way that the OP has been treated I cannot believe that they have not responded it is very disappointing. I had a similar experience on another line and they also sent me a future credit of £200 which was laughable I should have taken it further.

[turtlemichael]

Just to put the others mind at rest I have had nothing but fantastic holidays and service from SS. I also have another cruise booked in August on the Spirit. However I am not taking away the terrible way that the OP has been treated I cannot believe that they have not responded it is very disappointing. I had a similar experience on another line and they also sent me a future credit of £200 which was laughable I should have taken it further.

 

I tend to agree. I've got about 300 days on cruise ships under my belt - Celebrity, Regent, Seabourn and Silversea. That is nowhere near as many as some cruisers. I am yet to go on the perfect cruise. I live in hope.

 

Silversea and Seabourn have been the best though they are different in a few ways but maybe not as much as some would have us believe. I think that for anyone sailing on Silversea for the first time they should expect a great experience. Almost certainly it will happen.

 

If something does go wrong as seriously as it did for Daveywavey70 we all have the right to expect it to be handled a lot better than it has been for him. I admire him greatly for pursuing the matter as I would too but I do not think anyone is suggesting that because he, and some others, had the problem people should start cancelling cruises. (Well, maybe a few are!) These are all matters for personal decision but I will keep cruising Silversea until I have a reason in my own experiences to not continue.

[UKCruiseJeff]

TM,

 

Well, that philosphy clearly works for you.

 

Many people however, when contemplating a purchase of this cost that involves so many variables, with a company that seems not predisposed to pre-warning customers of known problems or critical facts that might affect their decision to proceed, would not buy the product if they thought that if it went wrong then the likelihood of them being trested ethically and fairly seems most unlikely.

 

We all have different ideas of what is prudent risk taking when better alternatives might exist.