Poor Customer Service?

[92118]

Thanks for the suggestion. .I will do just that as my curiosity is now piqued!-- We leave Monday on our Silversea adventure and I  do hope the experience aboard is better than the service on land..

Edited September 22, 2019 by 92118
Word repetition...

[Observer]

14 minutes ago, 92118 said:

Thanks for the suggestion. .I will do just that as my curiosity is now piqued!-- We leave Monday on our Silversea adventure and I  do hope the experience aboard is better than the service on land..

 

The service you describe from the person who booked your cruise will in no way resemble the onboard service.

 

As a matter of curiosity (mine is also piqued! 🙂), can you tell us how you found yourself with the person who booked your cruise?  Did you submit an online inquiry?  Does the person have a silversea.com email address?  Etc.

[Stumblefoot]

15 minutes ago, 92118 said:

...do hope the experience aboard is better than the service on land..

 

Totally understand your POV.  I’ve always said if it weren’t for the incredible onboard service, we’d never sail with SS again, because the service on land is not even close to comparable.  Over 100 sailing days later and we’re still with SS because of the crew and F&B.

[92118]

I honestly don't recall how i first contacted Silversea.  The ''cruise consultant", doesr have a Silversea email, and once I called the general number (not his direct line as he again had not returned the call) and the individual I  spoke with indicated that my consultant was right there with him. So, I have to believe he is with the company.  Perhaps he is merely not the most industrious of the bunch 😉.  I will say that an email sent to special services regareding a special request was answered nearly immediately, however.

I trust the readers and writers here explicitly when they say the actual experience will meet or exceed all expectations....so thank you all.

[92118]

Thank you for the vote of confidence.  I am excited to be trying another cruise line for the first time...

[Observer]

Have a wonderful cruise.  I have no doubt you will.

 

I just did a Google search and was surprised to see how many links were offered to agencies that had "silversea" somewhere in their URL but were not the corporate website.

[EagerTravelerBC]

On 9/13/2019 at 11:30 PM, wvsails said:

In early August, we reserved and paid the initial deposit for our Silversea Antarctica trip next year.  We did this directly through Silversea.  The cruise consultant is super friendly on the phone; however, it takes days and repeated emails and calls to get a response. I received an automated email stating that I needed to pay my invoice before I even received an invoice and while still awaiting follow-up on changing to business class flights and post-cruise options. I can understand delays due to Hurricane Dorian.  I am not counting those days as a problem.

 

Have others experienced this lackadaisical approach to customer bookings with Silversea?  If so, what did you do to get it resolved? The contrast from the phenomenal booking experience with Regent is remarkable.

Yup... been there. Had the problems... still waiting for a receipt.

 

however a buddy of mine says their service is great! Listening him they could do a lot better.

Edited September 22, 2019 by EagerTravelerBC

[Randyk47]

The whole notion that Silversea, or any cruise line for that matter, would refer a direct contact from a potential passenger is totally alien to me.  Not saying it’s not done or hasn’t happened but strange would be the mildest of my responses.  Why would a line with in-house consultants take the chance of losing a booking or paying an external agent a commission?  Beats me.

 

Personally I don’t usually deal directly with any cruise line.  The one and only cruise I’ve ever booked directly with a cruise line just happened to be with Silversea and it was a good to great experience.   As good as she was she couldn’t match the incentives I was getting from my regular agent so I only booked one cruise with her.  I only booked directly with her in the first place was because of a “door prize” discount we won at a travel fair that had to be booked with the line.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Randyk47

[Observer]

46 minutes ago, Randyk47 said:

The whole notion that Silversea, or any cruise line for that matter, would refer a direct contact from a potential passenger is totally alien to me.  Not saying it’s not done or hasn’t happened but strange would be the mildest of my responses.  Why would a line with in-house consultants take the chance of losing a booking or paying an external agent a commission?  Beats me.

 

 

It may not be so strange when one considers the great power of the travel agent community in referring clients to one line over another.  Renaissance Cruise Line tried to eliminate the cost of agent commissions and tried a direct booking approach.  They went bankrupt as the TA community stopped booking the line and directed clients to other lines.  I think that referring online queries to TAs is a way for Silversea to remain in good odor with the TA community.   

[wvsails]

Here's the latest on my Silversea booking experience.  I called the number on the Silversea website and told the consultant who answered that I was displeased with the service and lack of response I was receiving.  I also said that I wanted to find out if I had been dealing directly with a Silversea consultant. He apologized and as with my original consultant was extremely friendly. He assured me that the consultant I named was indeed a colleague of his and sounded surprised that I had not been receiving responsive service. He placed me on hold and then came back stating that my consultant was in the office, that he had just talked to her and as she was there, would need to transfer my call to her.  She was the apologetic, friendly, and provided me with reasons for not responding promptly. She added the additional pre-cruise hotel night I needed while on the phone. She followed up our call the next morning and has finally provided me with business class air on the right dates - not from the airport, nor the airline that I requested, but at least it's business. I thanked her and said with an updated invoice, I would gladly pay. She sent an email saying she would call or I could call her.  Crickets. I have called her twice since that exchange last Wednesday.  So, complaining improved the situation temporarily and I know that I am dealing directly with a Silversea consultant.  I'm assuming that we will get in touch this week so that I can complete payment for the trip.  That will mean that all of the big items are done. I may pop back up on the board here to ask what a first time Silversea cruiser doesn't know to do ahead of time - every cruise line has those things and often in the past it was the cruise consultant or TA who would let me know.  Many thanks for all of the help from long-time Silversea cruisers.

[Observer]

7 minutes ago, wvsails said:

She was the apologetic, friendly, and provided me with reasons for not responding promptly. 

 

Thanks very much for the detailed update.  It seems curious that Silversea would stall about collecting your money, but perhaps the amounts were uncertain given the additional hotel, the air arrangements, etc.  

 

Getting the precise airport/airline would prefers is dicey with all cruise lines' bulk purchased fares.  They have contracts with some airlines (that fly out of specific airports) and not others, and occasionally they exhaust the supply of seats provided for in the contract.  In some cases, when I *really* care (e.g., non-stop instead of connecting flights, using LHR rather than LGW or EWR rather than JFK) I simply book myself and pay a bit more.

 

Just out of curiosity:  Did the reasons the consultant provided for not responding promptly make sense to you?

 

As for what to do in advance, the only item that leaps to mind is filling out information on my.silversea.com and (no more than 120 days before departure) selecting excursions there and, if one likes, dining reservations in certain restaurants.  Re. excursions:  For quite detailed descriptions, press the red "Details" tab for each excursion.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[MrsWaldo]

I sent an email off to mine at almost 6pm tonight and got a prompt response at 6.30pm

 

Can't fault her

Edited September 23, 2019 by MrsWaldo

[brimary]

Have used the same agent for all our annual cruises with Silversea since first one in 1999 on the Wind.....only two small ships then .The service from Silversea on board from first cruise to date has been the best with no room left for improvement.The service from our agent has equalled the Silversea on board service down to the finest detail of making sure our suite is replenished daily with the our list of niceties without even having to ask  after our first cruise.The only slight changes occur with the wine requests at our instigating it if we fancy a change otherwise the same request list has stood the test of time for 20+ years .Reading some of the posts on this subject makes us feel fortunate to have had this experience for so long with the same cruise line and agent,long may it continue for all those of you choosing to sail with Silversea!