Looking to see if anyone has had luck with complaining to head office?

Good morning, and I want to start this to say I am not a complainer. I am one of those textbook Canadians that just say thank you and sorry. But to be honest, after spending a ton of money on a 12 day cruise in September 2017 which was not even half of what we were expecting or promised...I am angry and feel like Silverseas should reach out to customers and offer something....anything.

The itinerary was changed drastically due to weather and while I understand our safety is number one...how it was handled was horrible. To put this in perspective...if I book a Holiday Inn Express...I have certain expectations and they are generally pretty minimal. But if I book the Pierre Hotel in NYC...my expectations are much higher.

On this cruise ( which we are of the generation who are just starting to cruise and the future of this industry), my expectations were high. I am so disappointed...and it has taken me until February to actually reach out to the cruise community to ask...do cruise lines care about bad experiences?

Has anyone ever gotten a good response back about a bad experience on Silversea?

I am not looking for a free cruise ...just acknowledgement that it could have been handled better and please come back and try again because we want your business

Thoughts?

Can you be more specific? The only thing you mention is "The itinerary was changed drastically due to weather...". That's a chance you take on any cruise with any line.

How was the handling of the situation "horrible"?

Can you be more specific? The only thing you mention is "The itinerary was changed drastically due to weather...". That's a chance you take on any cruise with any line.

How was the handling of the situation "horrible"?

What started to be a 12 day cruise with 9 ports ended up a 10 1/2 cruise with 6 ports. The itinerary changed several times...from waiting until storm passed to choosing to wait a day then sailed into it.( that was an interesting experience) Then when the entire part of Newfoundland was cancelled ( we were supposed to be in 4 different ports there...the actual reason we chose this ship and this cruise). Then the ship literally revolted and a port was put back on in Newfoundland...the other ports that were added were just like any other cruise line. The flipping and flopping back and forth of the trip at that point were not weather related but what they could scrounge up to make something work. And, the two final ports which were on the original cruise ended up docking in an industrial area....which we had to be bused from ship to the center of town because it was too dangerous to walk. It was ugly and felt like they didn't man up and pay the higher port fees ( I don't know this...but it was disappointing) And ugly...

When you pay $30,000 for 12 days...I have pretty high expectations.

Besides the ports...the room was rough...several cabinets didn't even close properly and were swinging open the entire time. Again...no big deal on a "Holiday Inn" ship. Big deal on a "Pierre" ship.

Any thoughts?

I am so sorry that you had such a miserable first experience. Can you be more specific - which ship, which cruise, which ports? I believe there was a thread about a cruise last fall which encountered lots of bad weather and had to make last minute adjustments. If yours was that cruise, possibly there is information in that thread which could be helpful to you.

Of course, weather is unpredictable, and this past fall we had miserable hurricanes which made life difficult. Having said that, how a cruise line handles the bad news and how it treats passengers can make a huge difference. I suggest you see what responses you get to your post when you provide additional information. Also, you should speak to your travel agent about your poor first experience with Silversea. $30,000 for a 12-day cruise seems to indicate that you were in one of the larger suites. That also should give you some leverage. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

The OP is referring to 4725 Silver Whisper New York to Montreal,

We were on board for this cruise.

We made a post cruise submission to Silversea through our travel agent.

We received a small compensation and a fair commentary from Silversea about the cruise and it's outcomes.

I considered pursuing the matter further but decided ,on balance , to remain a Silversea customer.

Our first Silversea cruise five years ago was booked directly with the cruise line. That in itself was a departure for us as we usually use an Internet based TA but was driven by winning a nice “door prize” discount at a local cruise fair. To take advantage of the prize we had to book directly. Have to say we had a great consultant at Silversea and her service was outstanding. Anyhow, post the cruise she sent an email and asked how we liked the cruise. We emailed back with a very positive “review” but in passing mentioned an issue with a tour in Kusadasi and a couple of dinner service problems in La Terrazza. Overall we were very enthusiastic about Silversea and ended the email with a “we’ll be back”. For us that was pretty much the end of it and we had absolutely no anticipation or expectation of hearing anything further. Much to our surprise two or three weeks later we got a letter of apology from Silversea with an almost 10% rebate that could be applied to a future cruise. (y)

We booked directly with the cruise line because I was sold on how nice the agent was and thought it was the right was to go. The agent also convinced me it was better to go through him, and he would always be available with any questions I may have. Guess I was sold a line and he actually did not care once the voyage was booked. I did send an email to him when we returned and the reply was..."I will send it on to head office". Heard nothing since and no follow up phone calls.

I wish I had used a travel agent, they seem to be able to get some sort of result.

I am not looking for anything "free", just merely an explanation and wish your first experience was better. Perhaps my expectations are too high?

We booked directly with the cruise line because I was sold on how nice the agent was and thought it was the right was to go. The agent also convinced me it was better to go through him, and he would always be available with any questions I may have. Guess I was sold a line and he actually did not care once the voyage was booked. I did send an email to him when we returned and the reply was..."I will send it on to head office". Heard nothing since and no follow up phone calls.

I wish I had used a travel agent, they seem to be able to get some sort of result.

I am not looking for anything "free", just merely an explanation and wish your first experience was better. Perhaps my expectations are too high?

You should contact Guest Relations in the office that you booked with and raise a formal complaint. Contact details will be on the SS website. If the ship (Whisper?) was delayed because of the hurricane then there is not a lot that SS could do about that.

And yes we have had compensation for issues that were under SS's control, and sometimes they have been tardy in responding.

Please don't give up.

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We sent SilverSea a message regarding positive and negative experiences on a recent cruise. Over the past four months we have followed up with the SilverSea cruise consultant who we worked with on this and other Silversea cruises. He forwarded our message to Frank Sansone, Guest Relations Director in the Miami office. To date we have not received a reply or even acknowledgement of receiving our message. We are very disappointed with the lack of response. We expect that a cruise line which promotes them self as a luxury cruise line would have better guest relations. Unfortunately we do not have any email addresses for anyone but our cruise consultant.

We know that one couple on our cruise did receive a response to their issues. It took two messages to get their reply

sheltiegirl, please try asking the silversea Guest Relations Mgr for help. Try:

franks@silverseacruises.com

We have had success contacting Frank for assists on Silversea cruises that were

problematic.

I wrote to Frank, ccing Mark Conroy, about the abominable NYC to Barbados cruise last November on the Whisper with the non-stop pool deck replacement, pushy "art auctions", and "fashion shows". No acknowledgement whatsoever. An apology from Corporate and some expression of appreciation for loyalty of almost twenty years, since our first cruise on the Wind would have gone far, but not even so much as a "too bad, so sad" from Silversea. I never thought I'd be old enough to say so, but things sure have gone downhill since the turn of the century!

Bechi

I wrote to Frank, ccing Mark Conroy, about the abominable NYC to Barbados cruise last November on the Whisper with the non-stop pool deck replacement, pushy "art auctions", and "fashion shows". No acknowledgement whatsoever. An apology from Corporate and some expression of appreciation for loyalty of almost twenty years, since our first cruise on the Wind would have gone far, but not even so much as a "too bad, so sad" from Silversea. I never thought I'd be old enough to say so, but things sure have gone downhill since the turn of the century!

 

Bechi

I'm wondering what more you are trying to achieve? SS acknowledged and apologized for the deck renovations while we were still onboard (Antigua, Nov 10th) and issued generous future credits to everyone.

Fair enough, the 'art' was intrusive at first but once I saw the ridiculous side, it was a source of considerable amusement to those of us who chose to look at it that way. Since it was a one-off, and I'm sure plenty of us mentioned it adversely on our comment cards, I expect SS will be cautious about doing it again.

For such an abominable cruise, I sure had a good time and met plenty of other pax doing ditto.

I'm wondering what more you are trying to achieve? SS acknowledged and apologized for the deck renovations while we were still onboard (Antigua, Nov 10th) and issued generous future credits to everyone.

Fair enough, the 'art' was intrusive at first but once I saw the ridiculous side, it was a source of considerable amusement to those of us who chose to look at it that way. Since it was a one-off, and I'm sure plenty of us mentioned it adversely on our comment cards, I expect SS will be cautious about doing it again.

For such an abominable cruise, I sure had a good time and met plenty of other pax doing ditto.

Although I agree that the art and the pushing of whichever jewelry and clothing designer intrusive and a bit sad, that is not what I was complaining about. I am paid to spend ~60 hours a week on construction sites listening to incessant pounding and grinding and VERY much look forward to peace and quiet while on vacation, particularly on a vacation I am paying for. We often do renovations in occupied buildings where we are expected to complete the work within extremely aggressive schedules while also being expected to stop work when occupants paid to be within earshot find it to be noisy, increasing our time to 16 hour days and six day weeks to make up for lost time. I did not get the impression that the pool deck replacement was at the direction of the crew onboard, who were doing their level best to mitigate its effects upon the guests onboard. but rather it seemed clear that direction was coming straight from Corporate, and as a loyal customer, I felt I had the right to let them know exactly how I felt about it. As to what I was hoping to achieve besides conveying my feelings, I would have appreciated an apology and some assurance that this isn't something I can expect to be the new "norm" on Silversea vessels. It's stunning that a bunch of general contractors and tradesmen have a level of customer service superlative to a luxury cruise line.

Did I enjoy the cruise? Absolutely. But would I have booked it knowing what was ahead? Hell no!

My apologies if you feel me to be unreasonable.

Bechi

Although I agree that the art and the pushing of whichever jewelry and clothing designer intrusive and a bit sad, that is not what I was complaining about. I am paid to spend ~60 hours a week on construction sites listening to incessant pounding and grinding and VERY much look forward to peace and quiet while on vacation, particularly on a vacation I am paying for. We often do renovations in occupied buildings where we are expected to complete the work within extremely aggressive schedules while also being expected to stop work when occupants paid to be within earshot find it to be noisy, increasing our time to 16 hour days and six day weeks to make up for lost time. I did not get the impression that the pool deck replacement was at the direction of the crew onboard, who were doing their level best to mitigate its effects upon the guests onboard. but rather it seemed clear that direction was coming straight from Corporate, and as a loyal customer, I felt I had the right to let them know exactly how I felt about it. As to what I was hoping to achieve besides conveying my feelings, I would have appreciated an apology and some assurance that this isn't something I can expect to be the new "norm" on Silversea vessels. It's stunning that a bunch of general contractors and tradesmen have a level of customer service superlative to a luxury cruise line.

 

Did I enjoy the cruise? Absolutely. But would I have booked it knowing what was ahead? Hell no!

 

My apologies if you feel me to be unreasonable.

 

Bechi

Bechi,

I completely agree with you. My level of expectation was much higher for a "luxury" cruise line. The decking was also ripping up when we were on board. I felt like we were on a ship that needed to be dry docked and needed a complete overhaul.

Again, it is a money and expectation thing...

The company charges a lot of money for a luxury experience...but they do not deliver on their sales pitch. Even worse, is that it appears they don't care.

Our experience was ok...but would I book with them again? Not a chance. Even though our itinerary changed due to weather, it was how it was handled and the lack of any communication to those of us that said how disappointed we were. This was unusual set of ports...that's why the choice was made. Perhaps in the end, I realize we are not suited to this vacation style. We go for the ports and history..I do not go for the social aspect. I realize how people love the social aspect, trivia, bridge games, etc. Maybe that is the cruising life style...and just not for us.

Again...I am not looking for a "free' anything...just completely disappointed on how any company has a complete lack of concern for their guests and their experience. Airlines seem to care more than Silverseas...and that's not saying much these days.

But Bechi, SS has already apologized. Corporate for sure knows you were unhappy and authorized hundreds of thousands of dollars credits to reinforce their apology. So I ask again, what more do you hope to achieve?

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Hi All,

We use our American Express platinum card as our main card for purchases. When there is an issue AMEX is been outstanding in the resolution process. I believe SilverSea is part of their Cruise Privileges Program. I have read on CC that Chase Sapphire also has a similar program. Perhaps calling or sending a letter to the credit card company that you purchased the cruise through may able to be of assistance. Just a thought. Wishing you the best in trying to resolve this unfortunate issue.

Jollyjone,

I'm not sure what sort of response you're fishing for from me. I've already explained my reasons for contacting Corporate and my expectations from them. I do not see any value in repeating it. If it isn't clear, please feel free to re-read my post.

Bechi

Good morning, and I want to start this to say I am not a complainer. I am one of those textbook Canadians that just say thank you and sorry. But to be honest, after spending a ton of money on a 12 day cruise in September 2017 which was not even half of what we were expecting or promised...I am angry and feel like Silverseas should reach out to customers and offer something....anything.

The itinerary was changed drastically due to weather and while I understand our safety is number one...

Thoughts?

Experienced cruisers understand they might not get into all the ports in their itinerary. We are all not happy, even me when I booked a cruise for one port in particular and we were slammed with bad weather. I am still grumbling to this date. A small island near the South Pole, that a ship was the only way in, Ok , OK I need to forget about it now, let me move on...

Ships can't just change ports on the fly without considering: getting reservations from the ports harbor master, locating a new harbor pilot to drive the ship in, figuring out if new services can be charged or do they need cash and last but not least, organizing a new docking crew. Not to mention creating a whole new shore excursions experience. Rest assured the ship does not like it any more than the passengers. Some times the ship can't get needed supplies and provisions they paid for and have to leave them at the dock... Nobody Wins...

So its good you figured out you like being at those city or port locations, are more importation than just being on the ship and looking at port stops as bonuses.

Paying for a First Class seat on an aircraft does not entitle you the softing of turbulence.

Although I agree that the art and the pushing of whichever jewelry and clothing designer intrusive and a bit sad, that is not what I was complaining about. I am paid to spend ~60 hours a week on construction sites listening to incessant pounding and grinding and VERY much look forward to peace and quiet while on vacation, particularly on a vacation I am paying for. We often do renovations in occupied buildings where we are expected to complete the work within extremely aggressive schedules while also being expected to stop work when occupants paid to be within earshot find it to be noisy, increasing our time to 16 hour days and six day weeks to make up for lost time. I did not get the impression that the pool deck replacement was at the direction of the crew onboard, who were doing their level best to mitigate its effects upon the guests onboard. but rather it seemed clear that direction was coming straight from Corporate, and as a loyal customer, I felt I had the right to let them know exactly how I felt about it. As to what I was hoping to achieve besides conveying my feelings, I would have appreciated an apology and some assurance that this isn't something I can expect to be the new "norm" on Silversea vessels. It's stunning that a bunch of general contractors and tradesmen have a level of customer service superlative to a luxury cruise line.

 

Did I enjoy the cruise? Absolutely. But would I have booked it knowing what was ahead? Hell no!

 

My apologies if you feel me to be unreasonable.

 

Bechi

And that is exactly why they don’t tell you in advance! Mrs Banjo and I have had many great cruises on Silversea and other cruise lines, but the ones we liked less were the ones with unpleasant surprises.

I wonder though, if Silversea was dead set on performing renovations with passengers aboard, why not be totally upfront about exactly what they planned on doing and discount the cruise upfront, rather than offer credit after the fact? I'm willing to bet there are plenty of people willing to put up with the inconvenience when fully informed and consoled with a generous discount on their fare. I think it would be a win-win for all involved, however it hinges on the cruise line being total transparent in disclosing exactly what is going on.

Any thoughts?

Bechi