Observer

4 hours ago, markham said:

Future bookings with DTD? Not likely until I am convinced RCCL demonstrates what we all expect.

Is it not possible that RCCL is happy to have people book port-to-port rather than door-to-door?  This significantly simplifies life for RCCL in that they do not have to worry about flights and chauffeur service and can concentrate on the onboard experience. Heaven knows! Focus is needed on the onboard experience that seems to be a pale shadow of that offered by the former Silversea.  

On 9/5/2024 at 12:21 PM, FauxNom said:

And don't forget the cabin stewards! They are often super helpful when you need things, including your preferred soap/shampoo etc.

Absolutely. Their work is different from that of the butler, but I think they actually work harder, cleaning bathrooms, making beds, etc.  A couple of suite attendants have told me that guests tip the butler with the understanding that the tip will be shared by the butler with the suite attendant. The sharing does not always occur, and when it does the amount given to the suite attendant can be very small. If you are of a tipping inclination, it might be wise to recognize each of them separately. 

I had thought that homeporting was a situation in which the ship returned regularly (every week or every 10 days) to the same port to do similar itineraries.  Is it correct to say that Silver Ray is homeporting in Venice?   

I would leap at the opportunity in order to enjoy the wonderful Indochine, before they sadly convert it into another SALT outlet.

30 minutes ago, PinonNoir said:

I complained vociferously to our butler about my dissatisfaction, and he just called me back to advise that Kaiseki does not participate in formal nights. This is news to me..

This is news to me as well.  Please keep us posted. In particular, please let us know how many gentlemen were in Kaiseki without jackets.

I understand your pain. You could, of course get a jacket from the restaurant.  They keep asupply. Or you could talk with the restaurant manager on board who will surely find you another booking to your liking at Kaiseki.

32 minutes ago, tfred said:

I had a question and called the LF number. !0 minute wait and then the person wasn't the best with understanding my questions.

This unfortunately resembles my latest encounters with them. Before I simply gave up and began using the somewhat more expensive but reliable Silversea service. 

34 minutes ago, GaitherBill said:

No need for special gifts for your Butler and Room attendant. It is in no way expected for you to do that. 

Some of the most special experiences in life are actions by others that are unexpected and unnecessary.  

If one can afford a Silversea holiday cruise, can probably afford some gifts to crew with whom one has had positive contact.  

Cash is king, and I always bring small money envelopes available banks with fresh US currency for the butler, suite attendant, bartender, etc.

6 hours ago, LAL Cruiser said:

Some passengers have been making multiple reservations for La Dame and not showing up once onboard - this approach has blocked La Dame availability and has now become unmanageable with many passengers being needlessly blocked from reserving at La Dame. 

This explanation is puzzling to me. I distinctly recall notices on the ship that La Dame reservations had to be canceled by 2 PM on the day of intended service or the suite would be charged the cover charge.

Depending upon the spa manager and the amount of pressure s/he puts on staff to sell product or upsell services, the spa can be a trap for the unwary.  

5 hours ago, PaulaJK said:

Hairdresser reoeatedly said that that did not include gratuity

This is nonsense. If a spa staff member had told me this, I would have reported it to the spa manager and the hotel Director.

If you still have the receipt from your service, you will doubtless find the following text.

Staff gratuity is included in the service price. For exceptional service, you may wish to add additional gratuity to the total charge.

There is then room to add an additional gratuity..

2 hours ago, dawntrdr said:

Two things missing from that job listing:  learn about the product and provide value to the customer.

I might add another missing item: linguistic proficiency. 

32 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi, an on board credit of $6000.00????

US dollars??? Never heard of that.....in 20+ years of cruising.

Really not that surprising to me if TA is sharing some of the generous commission on a full world cruise with single supplement. This would be in addition to the $1000 OBC offered to all participants in the full world cruise. 

2 hours ago, JME415 said:

 I want to know what they might expect from Silversea given they did not receive the "white glove" D2D experience. 

Very little, I imagine, given the new RCL culture. They will probably say that they got your friends to an alternate port and they were on their own.  Silversea invites such problems by flying people in on departure day.  

Yes. There is of course a person responsible for keeping the onboard IT and other technical systems going.

In the old days, this person had one or two announced hours each day to assist passengers accessing email, etc. Like so much else, these days have passed. "Technical" assistance is provided by the butler or reception. Of course, people are far more tech savvy now than they were a decade ago, and the technology is generally more user-friendly. 

It is my understanding that the outsourcing of call centers relates primarily (if not exclusively) to centers dealing with travel agents.  I am in fact, somewhat surprised that the OP was able to engage these centers though s/he says the booking was made by a TA.  I have had consistently positive experiences over many, many years with Silversea personal cruise consultants.  They may not give some perks available through Tasks, but they know the product and they can answer questions and resolve issues swiftly and authoritatively. 

2 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Not defending Silversea, but things are a tad crazy in Iceland these days. 

Presumably, the concept of a contract is not unknown in Iceland. Does Siilversea not have written agreements with its vendors, including cost, payment terms, cancellation arrangements, etc.? 

Incredible.  But, unfortunately, increasingly credible. 

Please keep us posted.  

4 hours ago, lincslady said:

 Looks like within a very short time it will be accepted that anyone can bring their pooch onboard without  any problems.   

These are different dogs from the annoying, larger, darker dogs I encountered on Spirit.  (It may have been Dawn.) I thought this was a one-off situation.  Apparently not. The bringing of dogs on board will, indeed, be "without any problems," if management does not consider it problematic that guests book away from a cruise line that offers these unannounced surprises.  

BTW: I am a dog lover! 🙂

1 minute ago, gnome12 said:

No it isn’t 3. What @Observer called the Chef’s Table is La Dame. The other upcharge restaurant is Kaiseki.

Sorry, but Chef’s Table is distinct from La Dame. 

4 minutes ago, Lazz58 said:

Is there an "after six" dress code?  For example, are men required to where long pants in the evening?

Yes. No shorts indoors.

1 hour ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Excellent post but just wondering, which ship?  I am aware of only 2 restaurants that carry a surcharge.

Chef's Table on the Nova class ships carries a hefty ($180 pp?) surcharge.

Perhaps these are the same two dogs I saw escorted by two male guests a couple of years ago. When I expressed dismay that they were going around La Terrazza with their masters during lunch, one of the men asked smugly "Do you have a problem with this?"   The answer would have been definitely "yes." The dogs I encountered, which may be different ones, had no markings as service dogs.

1 hour ago, DrSHF said:

HELP. We have a reservation for the entire WC on the Dawn and need to pay the deposit by tomorrow (our TA thinks SS won’t extend it, as Seabourn would.) The reports and reviews about the current state of SS have been alarming. Bad food, poor provisions, understaffed service, waits in the dining room for meals not at 7:00pm, etc. The itinerary for the WC is very tempting—lots of overnights and late departures. We really can’t decide if we should commit such a large amount of money and time to a product that seems to be getting worse, or should just bite the bullet, and pay attention to the (very few) positives which have been posted. I know no one can make the decision for us, but…

Given the amount of time and money involved, I would not chance a cruise as long and costly as this.  I am opting for land – based vacations at the moment. I will wait and see how things shake out at SS with their staffing, provisioning, etc. Recent experience tells me that today's SS is pale shadow of the cruise line I traveled as recently as several years ago.

4 minutes ago, jdaa said:

 Would you care to elaborate on your unsatisfactory experience with Luggage Forward?

There were two such experiences, separated by several years. Both involved the failure by Luggage Forward (LF) of the promised monitoring/tracking of the shipment. The client has the FedEx/UPS/DHL tracking number from the paperwork, and I track my shipments carefully.

In the first case, I saw that the bag arrived at the destination and was at the shipper's facility. I saw that it had not departed the facility on embarkation day and contacted LF. They assured me that all would be well. I arrived at the ship (which was meant to depart at 11 PM) and saw there was no bag. If the bag were not delivered before 11, it would be five or six days before the bag could reach me. LF needed to be alerted to this matter by me. They were clearly not tracking. The shipper was at fault, but LF was not monitoring the shipper. A courier service was engaged and the bag reached me just in time.

In the second case, I knew the bag had been picked up, but there was no progress report on the shipper's website.  There was not even evidence on the website that the bag had been picked up by the shipper. For days, LF gave me the runaround, telling me to be patient, that all would be well, etc. At one point, they told me that the shipping label had disappeared, which accounted for the situation. This was not the case. When the bag arrived, 10–14 days later than promised, the shipping label was attached and in good shape.

In both cases, I had to contact LF repeatedly about the matter. The lapses were with the companies, LF engaged (whom they repeatedly referred to as their partners.) LF was not tracking as promised. 

After the second incident, I moved my business to Siilversea and have been very pleased. What is especially reassuring is that one does not have to look for the LF agent outside customs on disembarkation day. The Silversea port agent who is in the customs hall takes the bag..