Tothesunset

oops....This is the Cruise Critic Forum, not the grammar critic forum!

Play nice [ok, nicely] and offer cruise related information.

He started it, Miss.

Comparing the Silver Spirit with The Legend is like comparing an orange with a sausage.

 

I agree it would be most interesting to see what the OP found "better" between the two ships

Compare with - highlight the similarities

Compare to - highlight the differences.

I would say it's more like comparing a satsuma with/to a tangerine.

And, incidentally, if you chose to read the post you quoted you will note that I used the same form of words as yourself: ''Could you maybe illustrate the things you found better on the Silver Spirit?''.

...We cruised on the Silver Spirit and we had a better overall expereience than we had on the Seabourn Legend in May 2013...

Could you maybe illustrate the things which you found were better on the Silver Spirit? It would be interesting to read of your experience.

As mentioned earlier, the downside to in-suite dining is the lottery of whether you get the food hot or not. Otherwise it's good fun especially for breakfast if, like us, you are too tired/lazy/unscrubbed to go to the restaurant!

If trolls aren't fed don't they die of starvation?

I was solo two weeks ago on beautiful Whisper and encountered not a single glitch -- anywhere anything. You'll be doing yourself a disservice if you cancel.

Specialcruisegirl,

There you go.

For each person that experiences a problem there will be hundreds, even thousands, that don't. Don't let our one-off experience put you off.

Not cryptic at all. Apart from the general interest we are booked to be on the Shadow in November/December and hope the problem stays fixed.

I understand that the system is now operating normally and efficiently. I think it was actually just a question of switching it back on.

With a situation as serious as non-response to complaints, I'm suprised people have been so patient and haven't self-escallated. I'm sure it shouldn't be that bad.

 

Initially I'd try this email which will reach his secretary and hopefully it will be pushed across and downwards. If that doesn't work I'm happy to provide a better one.

 

 

Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio

 

executiveofficeATsilversea.com

 

Keep the message short, sweet, unemotive and to the point is my advice. Be clear about what solution exactly you are requesting.

 

Good luck.

 

:)

Thank you for that. I'm very grateful. I have pasted your post onto my file on this. Thanks again.

Maybe if and when the issue is resolved you might care to share what exactly happened on your voyage.

As a solo female traveller I'm finding all this a tad worrying.

 

Sophia :)

No, no, no. Don't worry. Really, it was a problem affecting only a very few (although it impinged heavily on ourselves). Actually, to a lot of (most) people it wouldbe a non-problem.

Cruise with confidence.

As a matter of interest who was the Hotel Director on your cruise?

Apologies, found the answer on the other thread, and I have neither come across him or heard of him before now.

Someone said it was his first contract as HD.

I hope you do not end up feeling disappointed. I have now been waiting for over 2 weeks for a response to a written request to resolve an issue that arose on our Cloud voyage in mid April.

 

The GRM in the London office may have changed but the service is as bad as ever.

I've written directly to Ft Lauderdale. Their guest relations manager was the addressee.

(Incidentally the problem would have affected Krisha! This may be too cryptic if you are not who I think you are ;-) )

Just a thought to add.............we were on the Spirit for one of the weeks you sailed.........it was your last week of sailing and our first. Though we enjoyed many aspects of the cruise I have to say it would have to go down as our least favourite of all our cruises. The weather, missing ports and half the entertainment crew not being able to perform due to illness.

 

So maybe if a itinerary or price comes up that is tempting on the bigger Seabourn ships you could try them as well.

 

I know we would like to try either Silver Discoverer or Galapagos once they have been "bedded down". It's nice to have the choices we have. We are very lucky.:)

Good point. We always scan the Seabourn and RSSC offerings carefully; in fact, we broke ranks last year and did a 14-nighter on Seabourn Spirit - very good it was, too, but it was 14 ports in 14 days and we like the sea days (which is not to condemn Seabourn but it told us what kind of itineray we prefer).

Anyway, we need to get our spring 2015 cruise sorted out (and have an SS itinerary in mind). We are in our late 50s and will be cruising twice a year until too old, frail or dead to do any more! We are holding back from booking until our correspondance with SS is satisfactorily resolved. If it isn't we will jump ship (groan!).

The really good thing about Seabourn is if you have a problem or an issue whilst you are on board it is usually resolved by a discussion with the Hotel manager.

You will not have to wait until you get home to then go into battle with a head office who do not hear too well.

They may not hear well. But we are quite prepared to SHOUT. It's annoying more because it is a question not of whether there was an issue - there were others similarly affected - but that the relevant authority on the ship simply refused to accept that we, and others, had a valid cause for concern. With my background I don't really need to be patronised by someone with a couple of stripes on their shoulder!

But, before I get too stroppy I'm quite happy to give SS the chance to offer suitable reparation and apology.

Seabourn is fine bit it doesn't fit our needs the same as SS - assuming SS is operating as normal. I think it's time to give RSSC a try and maybe Celebrity after April next. And there's Cunard, too. It's not as if SS have a monopoly at this end of the market.

Edit:

Just to add that we would not normally be the types that keep quiet about a problem then mutter on about it. For 14 days we, and others, complained. It got to the point where we knew that everyone, including ourselves, were kind of going through the motions. We also know someone still on the ship and the problem has been solved thereby proving that a. it existed and b. it was soluble. We've just no idea why we weren't taken seriously!

What was the issue?

 

 

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It's not something that I want to share on an open forum as the matter is a touch sub judicae. But the enjoyment of the cruise was ruined for a number of people who I know have voted with their feet and won't be using SS again. SS is a good fit for our needs so we hope they behave honourably. In essence there was a significant mechanical problem which they not only failed to fix but failed to believe those affected that there was a problem. Intensely frustrating. Probably an isolated issue badly handled.

If this was a serious issue I'd advise having your TA contact SS on you behalf. They tend to pay more attention to TAs than to passengers.

Thanks for the advice but things work a little differently in the UK in that TAs don't have such a close relationship with SS as US ones would. The upside is that they are cheaper. Swings vs roundabouts. Thankfully our US friends who are also seeking SS's consideration for the same problem are using their personal knowledge and their TA - we will tend to ride along on their coat tails.

in our opinion this is the major problem withSS. on board service excellent SS management at head office the worst service possible. the other issue is on board not even HD has the authority to make a decision on a serious complaint.We had a complaint re air con on a 62 day cruise on the Cloud in 2012 which took four months to resolve.SS first offer was free newspaper and free laundry(already qualified for this).Settled four months later £12k off next cruise.Persevere and good look.

Yes. I've heard that head office move at the speed of glaciated treacle and are less than wholly commited to an equitable resolution. However, I'm a touch sanguine because I know that one of the other guests to suffer the same problem is like a terrier with a rat when it comes to pursuing her ends (and we are in constant touch).

As I've said earlier, it's not so much that a problem occured (that is the nature of humanity/machinery) more that I would expect SS to respond with actions that demonstrate that their commitment to customer service is more than just an abstract concept.

I think it important not just that a cruise line provides an axpected level of service but also that it should respond to issues in a timely manner. We had an issue on our recent SS cruise which was simply not addressed on board (it was an issue shared by others who similarly complained) - in fact, didn't seem to be taken seriously. I have written to SS HQ and, after 10 days, am awaiting a reply. To me this is much more of a let down than a badly cooked bit of fish or having a waiter that needs further training - those things can be managed in situ.

Our future allegiance to SS is largely dependent upon a satisfactory solution - let's see if SS's claim to superior service extends to a suitably appropriate response (and I l know another set of guests have also been discomfited by the same problem). I just hope the corporate philosophy lives up to expectations otherwise I can see RSSC or Seabourn getting our future bookings.

On our upcoming cruise to Alaska the train transfer to Anchorage is included. Is that a train/car just for the passengers of Silversea? Is it Adventure Class on the train? Will we get assigned seats? Any details about that ride are welcome. Thanks in advance.

The train is chartered by SS for use of their passengers only.

There is only one class on the train.

Your seats will be assigned at the entrance to the platform so if you want to sit with friends you need to all turn up together.

The ride takes about 4.5 hrs through some very impressive scenery. It's only 120 miles or so - the train seems to be in no hurry. There will be an employee giving a commentary throughout the journey - and very interesting it is, too. The journey finishes at the airport in Anchorage.

One thing to beware of is that because the entire roof of each carriage is transparent there is no overhead storage. A small cabin bag will fit under the seats but anything more and you'll be nursing it for 4 hours.

The remainder of your baggage is taken by road to the Hilton in Anchorage to where you transfer by bus from the airport.

We did this a couple of weeks ago and everything worked fine.

I would rather have professionalism in the dining room than happy smiling faces that get the orders wrong.

I thiink that's the difference - some of us are more sociable.

The Phillipine wait staff on Silversea were very nice. But there is the communication problem-

which always resulted in problems with Dining Service.

 

On Seabourn the waiters will explain the menu in detail if you want, make suggestions on what they thinks looks best etc. That never happened to us on Silversea

 

The Seabourn wait staff is much more polished and professional.

I must say we have only been on one Seabourn cruise and must have been unlucky because while the waiting staff were very professional we felt they lacked the charm and natural friendliness of the staff on Silversea.

You could even think of trying a ''standard'' suite rather than one of the more expensive ones and cut down on the overtime!

All guests are treated equally regardless of suite grade. It's very liberating to be on a cruise where you simply don't need to put your hand in your pocket.

And does anyone else feel nauseated by the overpowering stench of alcohol in the bar? There should be a sealed, air-conditioned space for those who cannot live without their alcohol fix.

Why not?

It seems to be the uniform of off-duty America!

I suppose that it is easy to come here as a Silversea sailor and complain about Seabourns smoking policy.

No. I'm not complaining, merely despairing of the intolerance shown.

Have you sailed with Seabourn recently?

Not since December last year. Not that it's relevant.

I do not like smoking or smokers on a ship or on land but have the common sense to give them a wide berth and not let them worry me or upset my vacation.

 

Others might let the smokers upset them and thus ruin the vacation.

 

We all have to get along, smokers and non smokers.

Duh! I think that was the point I was making.

I take the view that as I have found Seabourn to be the best line by far that I continue to sail regularly with them.

As a non smoker I have never encountered a problem with smoke and smokers whilst on

A Seabourn trip.

I do stay away from the sky bar if there is anyone smoking and also the observation lounge.

There are plenty of other areas on the ship that I enjoy.

 

I think that it is easy for some posters to come on these boards and tell everyone why they are sailing with other lines but I sometimes think that they might not be sailing with any line very often.

But you are displaying a level of tolerance and common sense that is anathema to this particular topic. Please do try to be a bit more self-righteously indignant. Thank you.