Silver Boxes

[MrsWaldo]

3 hours ago, shipsmail said:

If it is Jan. 3rd leaving Sydney on the MUSE we will be on board after spending NYE in Sydney.

Yes it is!

 

I knew there was another 🙂

 

[besberry]

I had a call back from my cruise consultant.  She said that it had been dispatched from Milan (!?) in mid-November.  Good job it's not urgent!

[jpalbny]

Yes, the silver boxes are printed at a shop in Milan. The first time I got an email from UPS, saying that I had a package on the way from Milan, I was really puzzled. Now it makes sense.

[QueSeraSera]

Just now coming off a cruise, it is emotionally easier to calculate days to our next silver box than the too many days to next cruise.

[besberry]

Well it arrived today.  I have to say, it's slightly underwhelming!!

[Silver Spectre]

3 hours ago, besberry said:

Well it arrived today.  I have to say, it's slightly underwhelming!!

It’s better than nothing, we are still waiting for ours.

[Stumblefoot]

6 hours ago, besberry said:

Well it arrived today.  I have to say, it's slightly underwhelming!!

 

Yup.  Tried to tell you it was no big deal.

Ours arrived this week for a trip we depart on in less than 2-weeks and literally there was nothing inside the silver box we needed.  Nothing.

[Observer]

On 12/18/2019 at 4:40 PM, Stumblefoot said:

Ours arrived this week for a trip we depart on in less than 2-weeks and literally there was nothing inside the silver box we needed.  Nothing.

 

I have opined on this matter before, but I got a hobby horse for Christmas and will ride it now.

 

I generally agree with this post that there is nearly nothing of value in the box.  The one exception IMO are the preprinted paper luggage tags with suite numbers that could be sent first class mail for ~ $ .50.  They are much more convenient than filling out tags at the embarkation port.

 

In our online age, I think that the Silver Box should be redundant and wasteful for internet-savvy, veteran Silversea guests.  How many of us really need plastic luggage tags?  Etc.  It must cost a pretty penny to print all of the stuff and UPS it internationally.  It could be very helpful for new guests to introduce them to Silversea, but I suggest it's a sad waste of money/paper/ink/jet fuel/etc. for many of us.  

 

I suggest that it be a default inclusion for all guests with fewer than, say, three SS cruises.  Those with three or more cruises would receive an email message offering: a) the box as currently sent or b) only paper preprinted suite luggage tags with the promise than a $20 contribution would be made to the Crew Welfare Fund (or even the cancer charity if we must!) in exchange for non-receipt of the box.

 

Thoughts?

[milepig]

27 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

I have opined on this matter before, but I got a hobby horse for Christmas and will ride it now.

 

I generally agree with this post that there is nearly nothing of value in the box.  The one exception IMO are the preprinted paper luggage tags with suite numbers that could be sent first class mail for ~ $ .50.  They are much more convenient than filling out tags at the embarkation port.

 

In our online age, I think that the Silver Box should be redundant and wasteful for internet-savvy, veteran Silversea guests.  How many of us really need plastic luggage tags?  Etc.  It must cost a pretty penny to print all of the stuff and UPS it internationally.  It could be very helpful for new guests to introduce them to Silversea, but I suggest it's a sad waste of money/paper/ink/jet fuel/etc. for many of us.  

 

I suggest that it be a default inclusion for all guests with fewer than, say, three SS cruises.  Those with three or more cruises would receive an email message offering: a) the box as currently sent or b) only paper preprinted suite luggage tags with the promise than a $20 contribution would be made to the Crew Welfare Fund (or even the cancer charity if we must!) in exchange for non-receipt of the box.

 

Thoughts?

Agreement from me. This is my first SS after 20 legs on Windstar and they send exactly nothing nor do you need anything at embarkation. They cross you off on a list and hand you however many luggage tabs you need and you write your name and suite number on them. 20 seconds later you’re done. I don’t need all that paper and fancy boxes, it just goes in the trash. Works for me.

 

Same with my annual Airline renewal box. Exactly nothing of any value in it. Another waste. 

[jollyjones]

I've been muttering for years that I wish there was an 'opt out' choice for the Silver Box.

 

It must cost a fortune to send it to Bermuda and there is nothing I need in it - not even the luggage tags because I travel with hand luggage only. I chuck the entire thing in the trash ... sigh ...

 

I could understand that one would need to opt out early since the boxes probably have quite a long lead time, but I usually book 18 months to two years ahead and would be happy to have an opt out choice at booking, just as I choose to opt out of SS transfers, hotels etc.

 

I suppose I should put it on my comment card when I'm cruising, but I've always forgotten about it by then.

 

(And I tend to use the space trying to persuade SS to offer more nutritionally balanced and interesting plant based eating options, but that's a different issue.)

Edited December 28, 2019 by jollyjones

[nfcu]

15 hours ago, Observer said:

 

I have opined on this matter before, but I got a hobby horse for Christmas and will ride it now.

 

I generally agree with this post that there is nearly nothing of value in the box.  The one exception IMO are the preprinted paper luggage tags with suite numbers that could be sent first class mail for ~ $ .50.  They are much more convenient than filling out tags at the embarkation port.

 

In our online age, I think that the Silver Box should be redundant and wasteful for internet-savvy, veteran Silversea guests.  How many of us really need plastic luggage tags?  Etc.  It must cost a pretty penny to print all of the stuff and UPS it internationally.  It could be very helpful for new guests to introduce them to Silversea, but I suggest it's a sad waste of money/paper/ink/jet fuel/etc. for many of us.  

 

I suggest that it be a default inclusion for all guests with fewer than, say, three SS cruises.  Those with three or more cruises would receive an email message offering: a) the box as currently sent or b) only paper preprinted suite luggage tags with the promise than a $20 contribution would be made to the Crew Welfare Fund (or even the cancer charity if we must!) in exchange for non-receipt of the box.

 

Thoughts?

I couldn't disagree more.

[Observer]

48 minutes ago, nfcu said:

I couldn't disagree more.

 

Fair enough!  Could you explain why you disagree?

 

[Randyk47]

I remember getting our first Silver Box back in 2012 and thinking it was really pretty special.   That came after nearly 20 years of cruising with Holland America and having gone from a fairly nice package of cruise documents to pretty much nothing except e-documents.   Some eight years later and about to go on our ninth Silversea cruise I would have no problem opting out of the full Silver box and would easily settle for just the preprinted luggage tags.  

[spinnaker2]

Back in 2012 the Silver Box was a big box with a leatherette folio and luggage tags and lots of papers including leave at home itinerary etc.

I can't recall when the box was made smaller and the contents more streamlined by ditching the folio and other stuff.

I am also in agreement that the box is superfluous as it is now.

I am not advocating for a return to the bigger box but I sure miss the leave at home itinerary.

:-))

Edited December 28, 2019 by spinnaker2

[Observer]

29 minutes ago, spinnaker2 said:

I am not advocating for a return to the bigger box but I sure miss the leave at home itinerary.

:-))

 

Leave at home itineraries are available.  I now book directly with Silversea, and attached to all of my transaction/payment confirmations are itineraries for each cruise.  With b2bs there are multiple pages, one for each segment.  I print those out and have leave at home itineraries.  🙂 

[Stumblefoot]

21 hours ago, Observer said:

The one exception IMO are the preprinted paper luggage tags with suite numbers that could be sent first class mail for ~ $ .50.  They are much more convenient than filling out tags at the embarkation port.

Good point.  I can understand how some folks would prefer to have their tags filled out and attached before arriving at the embarkation port.  Makes sense.

[milepig]

1 hour ago, Observer said:

 

Leave at home itineraries are available.  I now book directly with Silversea, and attached to all of my transaction/payment confirmations are itineraries for each cruise.  With b2bs there are multiple pages, one for each segment.  I print those out and have leave at home itineraries.  🙂 

And they’re also available online via any device I happen to have with me. My world is fully digital and paper just kills trees. 

 

I guess I’m way on one end of this, but I don’t see why it’s a hardship to grab 3 tags at the dock and write 102 Milepig on them. Done. I just rip them off in the cabin anyway. 

[Observer]

7 minutes ago, milepig said:

 I don’t see why it’s a hardship to grab 3 tags at the dock and write 102 Milepig on them. Done. I just rip them off in the cabin anyway. 

 

At some embarkation ports this might be easy.  But at many there is some distance between the porters fetching luggage from the taxi for loading on the ship and the Silversea ground representative (who is often in the terminal and rarely IME outside where the cases are unloaded.)  

[milepig]

17 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

At some embarkation ports this might be easy.  But at many there is some distance between the porters fetching luggage from the taxi for loading on the ship and the Silversea ground representative (who is often in the terminal and rarely IME outside where the cases are unloaded.)  

This makes sense. As I said upthread, we’re transitioning to Silversea after mostly using Windstar and IME with them you’re always with your bags until the WS rep checks you in. 

[Tothesunset]

With this many days to go:

 

 

This arrived:

 

 

And contains these:

 

[Silver Spectre]

3 hours ago, Tothesunset said:

With this many days to go:

 

 

This arrived:

 

 

And contains these:

 

Lucky you, not sure where ours are, but then we are watching our much begonged lads showing how to make an inferior and transitional team look good!

[Dolcevita Diva]

While some feel that the Silver Box is superfluous (and true, in this digital age, we could print everything ourselves), to me the arrival of the Silver Box is a magical reminder that vacation is just around the corner.  The silver box for my April cruise arrived last week and puts a smile on my face every time I see it on the foyer table.  

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

While some feel that the Silver Box is superfluous (and true, in this digital age, we could print everything ourselves), to me the arrival of the Silver Box is a magical reminder that vacation is just around the corner.  The silver box for my April cruise arrived last week and puts a smile on my face every time I see it on the foyer table.  

 

I am sailing in April too and recently got mine as well. What cruise are you taking?

[Dolcevita Diva]

Lois - I'll be on the Shadow departing Lisbon on April 9th.

[Lois R]

11 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Lois - I'll be on the Shadow departing Lisbon on April 9th.

Have fun

 

I will be on the Wind---TA crossing April 6th