Good Wind or Bad Wind

I'd appreciate anyone who has been on Wind since it's recent refit posting whether they've added DVD players in the suites yet please?

Any other comments re the refit would be of interest!

Jeff

nudged as I'm being told two different things. Does Wind have VCR's or DVD's in-suite now please?

Ta.

Jeff

nudged as I'm being told two different things. Does Wind have VCR's or DVD's in-suite now please?

 

Ta.

 

Jeff

Hi Jeff...

I thought to myself "AHA! I have pictures of the suites from my S Amer. cruise in November". Alas, in all the pictures the TV/(VCR/DVD) cabinet is shut and I have no independent recollection of which piece of equipment is aboard ship.

Thanks - appreciated - but they had a refit a few months ago. Feedback in the press seems to be this was about beds - but that can't be all of it. So I e-mailed them. All of them.

SS being as well organised and as responsive as their "office" staff are - have had the following responses.

1. No response at all from the web site question facility.

2. The VP of Technology saying that there are DVD's in all suites (after I reminded him that he hadn't answered my note)

3. Followed by a further question from from the people responding to "customer questions" on the web site saying "VCR's in the verandah suite -no DVD's".

4. When asked who was right - them or the VP of technology they changed their mind.

What a complete shambles. And my experience is duplicated with my other direct contacts with them. If they cannot respond to simple questions from customers who have already spent lots of dosh with them then what hope do they have with questions from new customers or customer retnetion. All very basic stuff.

So what you rely on - who knows. I get the impression that we have here a family who started a cruise line, who are passionate about their product and who have ships staffed with exceptional people, but a "head office" operation that is considerably less than neutral. It let's them down,and they damage the product. Their marketing is appalling, their head office people seem to be in an inaccessable ivory tower, and they do everything to ignore communications from their customers which in my experience is the "lifeblood" of any business, particularly the high value relationship that SS should be nurturing.

Sometimes the difference between failure and abject success is the "back office".

I'd be very interested to hear of anyone elses experience of trying to deal with head-office people - as well as any up to date feedback from Wind cruisers with respect to actually seeing the new DVD's in the Wind suites. I do not want to take my PC to watch my DVD's if I can avoid it.

Jeff

I wholeheartedly agree with Jeff's analysis of the home office. We've had several dealings with various departments that have been less than satisfactory. It amazes me that they could have such a great product and service on board the ships, yet the home office (the Fort Lauderdale one) seems to be staffed by people who either don't give a darn about the customer or are just plain inept. Either way not a good business model.

Thanks for the response. I thought for a time it was just me - but my almost every contact has been so inept - that I thought it must be general. I'd say that 90% of my direct contact with them has either been ignored or dealt badly or inaccurately with - and it puzzles me. Simple quesions are ignored or fobbed off or dealt with in a patronising non-care way as though the office is a barrier between the product and the customers rather han a facilitator or marketing conduit.

I see you've been on several different lines - and have been considering Seabourn as an alternative to SS

I'm genuinely interested in your experience. What contacts have you attempted with SS and what was the outcome? How much has it coloured your opinion about sailing with them?

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

I just returned from Southern California so didn't see your post until now. I will be happy to call the Miami office for you. If they're still open, I'll post in a few minutes. Otherwise, I'll call them again tomorrow.

Denyse

Hi Jeff,

According to the Florida office, the Wind has, in fact, been retrofitted with DVD players EXCEPT for:

Suites 403, 404, 501, and 502

Does anyone besides me think this is extremely odd????????????????? :confused: BTW, according to Travel and Leisure Magazine, Seabourn eclipsed Silversea as the number one luxury cruise line in its category.

Denyse

Denyse,

Many thanks for the post and personal e-mail.

If they are unable to cope with such a simple question - then what on earth would they do with something more demanding from a prospective customer. Go away customers we don't want you.

It'll be interesting to see if anyone has any personal experience and views of their contacts with the "office" but I guess it's possible I'm just picky.

Jeff

It would appear that nothing has changed since our experience in 2003.

Our TA was informed by Silversea's Head Office that final documentation had not been sent because final payment had not been made.

On being made to check with their Accounts Department,they verified that they had been in receipt of final payment for several weeks.

FWIW, I was promised a call today from the fellow I spoke with yesterday at the FL office (he offered, I didn't ask). He was to confirm whether the 4 suites apparently left out of the Wind retrofit were, in fact, updated with DVD's, as he also thought it bizarre that 4 had been omitted. As one unfortunately would expect, no call was forthcoming.

I realize that the front office of a cruise line often is quite a different experience from that onboard. However, there now seems to be a growing but palpable sense of indifference towards the customer that permeates Silversea both onboard ship and off. It is by no means an accident that Seabourn is #1 in customer satisfaction.

Denyse

Denyse, just wanted to repeat how wonderful it was of you to take so much trouble. It's safe to say we can leave the computer behind - something I've always wanted to do.

Thanks again.

Jeff

You are either rising early, or up very late!!! It's 9:40 PM in SF, Jeff!

It gets very light here and I was up at 5 - but then thats not abnormal.

I'll e-mail after my visit to the World and tell you about it.

Jeff

Jeff,

We're just back from the Wind. There are DVD players in the suites.

Thanks Martyn. At least we now know more than SS head office staff who said overwise!

Jeff

Jeff,

We just returned from the Wind Majorca sailing and I can confirm that we had DVD player in our room - Suite 729. However, I must say the location of the TV on the "floor" in the sitting area part was very poorly thought out. The person on the far side of the bed has to sit up to view. They have a perfect location for a flat screen so can't figure out why they did not use it!

Beth

Beth,

Many thanks.

I can't believe it. You were in a mid-ship veranda suite. You'd expect to be able to watch your TV in bed! Was there no place on the wall for a small flatsceen?

All I wanted to do was to watch the TV whilst I was in bed - as some of us do when when at home, and in other places as well. The DVD being attatched to the TV. I sometimes wonder who thinks these things through. I'll take my computer.

Thanks for replying and I hope you had a good cruise.

Jeff

I too have never had a pleasurable experience when calling the Florida office. As a matter of fact, I had one person who was so rude to me I elected to hang up on him and call back to talk to another person. Additionally, the response I received from this person was that they could not provide the information to me over the phone (whether or not I had signed up for early embarkation - apparently highly classified information), but told me I would have to call the travel agent who booked the cruise (AMEX Centurion travel agent) to get this information. :confused:

My husband and I returned from our third Silversea cruise in May. We were over in the Med. When I returned I wrote a long letter to the FL office and was assured that the person I was writing to would absolutely respond. They have not. As a matter of fact I just asked my travel agent to follow up as she too is quite upset from no response.

I was so upset about our experience in May that I threatened to cancel my upcoming November trip but I do have to admit that my problems arise out of corporate and not the staff of the ships themselves, so we will be sailing in November but I would have switched over in a minute to Seabourn had the had an itinerary we were interested in.

There seems to be a common pattern emerging here.

Jeff