When Silversea Door-to-Door leaves you stranded abroad

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, tgh said:

We have a DtoD coming up, the extra over SS J fee looked difficult to match AND we perceived value in SS accepting some responsibility for getting us aboard and home.

 

Did you actually read the terms and conditions, or just the marketing fluff?

 

If the latter, then it was just a perception rather than an acknowledgement of fact.

 

 

[JimDee363636]

@FlyerTalker

I hate to disagree with you because you're usually right, but maybe not so when you imply that "marketing fluff" is legally meaningless. It would certainly be legally meaningless if it promised something vague and unverifiable (such as Oceania's "Finest Cuisine at Sea" slogan). But if it gets closer to a specific promise (e.g., "Take the worry out of getting to the ship on time"), a court (if the matter were to be litigated) would probably say that, despite the terms and conditions, a reasonable person would normally rely on such a statement. Terms and conditions are a perfect example of a "contract of adhesion," i.e., a non-negotiable, take-it-or leave-it contract. Because of their inherent one-sidedness, courts will often disregard them if they conflict with specific marketing claims and implied promises.

 

Jim

[tgh]

just a perception rather than an acknowledgement of fact.

 

Hm.. one might opine that both terms are somewhat interchangeable in todays world..

I do have a little experience with historic Silversea service standards as well as some understanding of the current marketing and service direction and how it may be applied.

 

I may change my future buying strategy to reflect this current  perception of reality..simple enough?

[julmops]

We recently went on a D2D cruise with Silversea to Alaska on Silver Muse.

Our outbound flights were via Chicago. We missed the connection as our BA flight had been delayed by 2.5 hours and by the time we had cleared immigration, our connecting flight had gone.

We had to call the SIlversea emergency line and after almost 2 hours over the phone, we managed to get alternative transportation for the next day via Seattle. On top of that, Silversea arranged for a night hotel in Chicago airport for us. The next morning, we took the first flight to Seattle with Alaska Airlines, had the biggest run ever to just catch our connecting flight to Anchorage but only to arrive there without our luggage which didn't make the connection.

Alaska Airlines arranged for our luggage that were on the next flight, to be transported down to Seward before our cruise was leaving.

All in all, we had a very stressful start of our holiday but ...

1. Silversea sorted us a night in Chicago and new flights for the next day

2. We arrived in Anchorage in time to catch the scenic train down to Seward

3. Silversea and Alaska Airlines worked together to make sure that we would start the cruise with our luggage.

 

Despite all that, I believe that we will go for P2P instead of D2D from now on so we can sort out our own flights and make sure we leave plenty of time to make it on time and hopefully stress-free.

[JME415]

11 hours ago, julmops said:

We recently went on a D2D cruise with Silversea to Alaska on Silver Muse.

Our outbound flights were via Chicago. We missed the connection as our BA flight had been delayed by 2.5 hours and by the time we had cleared immigration, our connecting flight had gone.

We had to call the SIlversea emergency line and after almost 2 hours over the phone, we managed to get alternative transportation for the next day via Seattle. On top of that, Silversea arranged for a night hotel in Chicago airport for us. The next morning, we took the first flight to Seattle with Alaska Airlines, had the biggest run ever to just catch our connecting flight to Anchorage but only to arrive there without our luggage which didn't make the connection.

Alaska Airlines arranged for our luggage that were on the next flight, to be transported down to Seward before our cruise was leaving.

All in all, we had a very stressful start of our holiday but ...

1. Silversea sorted us a night in Chicago and new flights for the next day

2. We arrived in Anchorage in time to catch the scenic train down to Seward

3. Silversea and Alaska Airlines worked together to make sure that we would start the cruise with our luggage.

 

Despite all that, I believe that we will go for P2P instead of D2D from now on so we can sort out our own flights and make sure we leave plenty of time to make it on time and hopefully stress-free.

Thank you so much for sharing this with me! It sounds like a stressful trip, but that SS stepped up and did the right thing...which is unlike my friends' experience. I'm just not convinced that D2D really gets you anything of great value. Obviously if you like to just hand over the reins and have someone plan it all and take care of you, it's great. But then they really need to take care of you! Thanks again for chiming in. Happy sailing to you!

[FlyerTalker]

12 hours ago, julmops said:

We had to call the SIlversea emergency line and after almost 2 hours over the phone, we managed to get alternative transportation for the next day via Seattle.

 

No, you chose to call Silversea.  And you chose to hold for 2 hours on the phone.  You don't say who your original connecting flight was with, but you could have gotten far faster resolution by talking to the airline directly, rather than going through SS.  Given that there are over 20 nonstops each day, on multiple airlines, I can't imagine that going through SS was a special problem to be solved.  There are also nonstops from ORD to ANC that you could have been rerouted onto.

 

12 hours ago, julmops said:

Silversea arranged for a night hotel in Chicago airport for us.

 

Which the airline could also have done.  Or you could just have stayed at the Hilton connected to the terminals and submitted a claim to your travel insurance.

 

12 hours ago, julmops said:

Alaska Airlines arranged for our luggage that were on the next flight, to be transported down to Seward before our cruise was leaving.

 

Standard procedure.  Again, nothing special.

 

In other words, just another example of an airline delay problem that can easily be handled by the carriers.

 

 

[JME415]

1 minute ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

No, you chose to call Silversea.  And you chose to hold for 2 hours on the phone.  You don't say who your original connecting flight was with, but you could have gotten far faster resolution by talking to the airline directly, rather than going through SS.  Given that there are over 20 nonstops each day, on multiple airlines, I can't imagine that going through SS was a special problem to be solved.  There are also nonstops from ORD to ANC that you could have been rerouted onto.

 

 

Which the airline could also have done.  Or you could just have stayed at the Hilton connected to the terminals and submitted a claim to your travel insurance.

 

 

Standard procedure.  Again, nothing special.

 

In other words, just another example of an airline delay problem that can easily be handled by the carriers.

 

 

Just to get back to the topic -- there's an expectation with D2D! SS has agreements with selected airlines, so there may be issues with trying to transfer one flight to another. I don't think it's as cut and dry as you suggest. And I do worry about the folks -- perhaps older folks -- who expect they will be "white gloved" to their destination. 

[tgh]

"White Glove"  DtoD could have been a continuing differentiation opportunity for SS rather than an obstacle to lowering  standards and making more money in a higher volume market.

I would be happy to pay a bit more for the stress freedom of a quality DtoD experience.

 

The "new" SS may soon be booking max. discount J (without lounge access??) as well as flying uninitiated supplicants in on boarding day. No experienced TA worth their fees would/will let them get away with it but the line is now steadily insulating themselves from direct contact.

 

 
 

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, JME415 said:

Just to get back to the topic -- there's an expectation with D2D!

 

There is a false expectation.

 

Caveat emptor.

 

 

[JME415]

19 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

There is a false expectation.

 

Caveat emptor.

 

 

 

19 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

There is a false expectation.

 

Caveat emptor.

 

 

That is indeed the point of the discussion.

[drron29]

Try talking to Qantas to rectify a missed connection if you are on a TA ticket. and that includes SS.

You will nearly always be told to ring your travel agent.

My experience with Qantas was on a RTW award ticket issued by Qantas  We were in Paris and as typically French the called a general strike on the day we were flying AA CDG-JFK. I rang Qantas just as you say you should do. The result - they cancelled the rest of the award ticket as i was going to miss that sector.

We went to the airport anyway and approached American Airlines. The agent said I can't do anything but the manager is due in in about 30 minutes. Go and sit in our lounge and I will send her in when she arrives. A few minutes after first talking to the manager we were on the only AA flight out that day to Miami with a connection to LGW.

But not only that she reissued the rest of our flights on AA stock.

Qantas had one last trick. On the original ticket we were to fly JFK-LAX on Qantas. As it was now an AA ticket they downgraded us to economy. Yes first row so we got to count how many J passengers got off in LAX. 9 was the total.

[julmops]

8 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

No, you chose to call Silversea.  And you chose to hold for 2 hours on the phone.  You don't say who your original connecting flight was with, but you could have gotten far faster resolution by talking to the airline directly, rather than going through SS.  Given that there are over 20 nonstops each day, on multiple airlines, I can't imagine that going through SS was a special problem to be solved.  There are also nonstops from ORD to ANC that you could have been rerouted onto.

 

 

Which the airline could also have done.  Or you could just have stayed at the Hilton connected to the terminals and submitted a claim to your travel insurance.

 

 

Standard procedure.  Again, nothing special.

 

In other words, just another example of an airline delay problem that can easily be handled by the carriers.

 

 

Let me rectify the situation here.

We were flying with BA with a connection on American Airlines. We went first to the AA desk, who washed their hands off the problem as we were booked with BA and had to sort it out with them.

Someone from BA showed up almost 2 hours after landing with a solution that wouldn't work for us, i.e making us arrive in Anchorage too late for the train and then have to sort out our own transport to Seward. They wouldn't consider getting us on Alaska Airlines instead of American, even if they are now part of the same alliance. Furthermore, they wouldn't offer the night in hotel.

By then, we had met another couple in the same situation and we sorted out everything with Silversea directly. The other couple got the last 2 seats on the last direct flight of the day to Anchorage and we were offered the situation I've described earlier.

When you pay that much money to be sorted from door to door, you would expect to get that service and we did in the end so it was all good for us.

[shipsmail]

While this is about door to door vs. port to port….for us it is an important personal rule to arrive at the port at least one day before the cruise, better two days. In today‘s environment of flight cancelations, not working connections, overbookings etc.it is highly risky to arrive late.

Edited August 1 by shipsmail

[Grandma of Lily]

It pays to nag.  I am booked on DtD Ft. Lauderdale/LA in April next year and despite incoming flights from the UK arriving in MIA mid-afternoon they were relying on me getting to the ship by 5pm embarkation latest time.  So many ways this could go wrong!  After a stressful experience with a Regent cruise, where I and another couple squeezed aboard via the cargo entrance 20 mins. before the deadline I had learned my lesson.

 

So I asked my TA to ask Ssea for the same flight the day before (this is LHR/MIA - a well worn route).  Answer - yes we can do this but via IST, arriving MIA 7.10am or via Newark arriving at 6.10pm - hotel and transfers airport/hotel/ship at my cost.

 

Pushed again and they have now agreed to the direct flight the day before embarkation, hotel, and transfers all for £313.  Result!  I can now look forward to the seamless experience I have paid for.

[drron29]

Surely SS knows about the problems that are occurring by having flights arrive on embarcation day. Surely with the price they are charging for D to D thy should have a flight the day before with a hotel provided included in the price. Just penny pinching and not what a luxury outfit should be doing.

[dreamercruise]

Reading this thread makes me nervous about signing up a cruise to exotic but relatively unsafe country via Silversea. When I examined the various options including air upgrade and extensions, I was considering having Silversea take care of everything, so I can enjoy the “one-stop shopping experience” without having to worry about any potential travel related problems. It seems that I have to be proactive and be in charge of every travel arrangement such as arriving a day early before embarkation (which means headache of finding hotel and ground transport arrangements), booking air on my own (and be responsible with any air disruptions), and etc..  Then, I think about the lack of communication information about ports and excursion choices before confirmation of reservation.  Not sure if Silversea would provide me with the premium or luxury experience which I am looking for. My friends who sailed with Silversea years ago highly recommended it, but I am starting to doubt if their prior experience is still valid. Pleas tell me I am over worrying.

[JME415]

5 hours ago, Grandma of Lily said:

It pays to nag.  I am booked on DtD Ft. Lauderdale/LA in April next year and despite incoming flights from the UK arriving in MIA mid-afternoon they were relying on me getting to the ship by 5pm embarkation latest time.  So many ways this could go wrong!  After a stressful experience with a Regent cruise, where I and another couple squeezed aboard via the cargo entrance 20 mins. before the deadline I had learned my lesson.

 

So I asked my TA to ask Ssea for the same flight the day before (this is LHR/MIA - a well worn route).  Answer - yes we can do this but via IST, arriving MIA 7.10am or via Newark arriving at 6.10pm - hotel and transfers airport/hotel/ship at my cost.

 

Pushed again and they have now agreed to the direct flight the day before embarkation, hotel, and transfers all for £313.  Result!  I can now look forward to the seamless experience I have paid for.

And it's crazy you had to go to such lengths to get that DtD experience! Glad it all is working out!