Disgraceful treatment!!!!

[California Native]

 

And as for the poster who quite openly recanted the story of deliberately ripping Azamara off, well, is that a sign of the times, are we morally bankrupt these days? Woohoo I made money off someone else’s misfortune (please, do not say they can afford it, or if you do accept that being robbed in the street by a poor person as acceptable), I remember when honesty was respected, I for one treat others as I would hope they would treat me and it has served me well up to now.

 

To end, I think what the OP wrote in their last post was over the top, I realise emotions are running high but please, lets not get carried away or would everyone have Seabourn ruined because people took what was posted to heart and stopped booking……..

 

George.

 

 

Georgie Porgie who put a fly in your pie!!!!????

You can disagree with other posters, but try not to name call

But since you lobbed a zinger, let the game begin...

First off welcome to Cruise Critic, the name can be misleading as the critic part seems to invoke within new posters critiscm in their posts without knowing their facts or fact checking.

I am not and have never been a dishonest person and I'm most certainly not morally bankrupt. If you are going to slander me make sure you pick a part of my personality or my behavior on this forum that factually deserves your defamation of my character.

I did NOT take advantage of anyones misfortune.

As I stated, I saw that AZ had posted prices. This is what transpired. My reservation had been booked direct with AZ. I called AZ and asked would you honor this price. The Res Agent put me on hold and within 3 minutes returned and said yes we will honor it and we will honor your B2B discount.

I didn't expect them to and was thrilled that they did. The 2nd segment was still at full price.

There was no discussion, no raised voices, no threats. They said sure and sent me an updated invoice while still on the phone with them.

They could of said no and I would have said ok.

Since we returned from AZ (and you can verify this by looking at my past posts) I've provided a wealth of info regarding them to new and long time Cruise Critic posters. I've praised AZ when they deserve it and given them tough love feedback other times. The company and CruiseCritic members can assess for themselves whether they take it or leave it.

When we returned we booked a cruise on AZ for 2012 and 2013 at full prices

In your future posts, try to play nicer.

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

Just saw this on the cc Windstar site and thought it was very timely and would be of interest to those reading this thread:

 

Windstar Honors its Internet Ad Pricing Blooper

We recieived an e-mail from Windstar at the end of last week with some GREAT prices that included two nights free hotel.

 

One price was so low we couldn't say NO and called Windstar that same day and while they said it was a misprint that they would indeed honor that price on that day only and still give us the free two nights hotel stay that was offered as well. Good Job Windstar!

 

I did call in the evening and Olga said her supervisor was gone until Monday to reset the lower price for her and she assured me that she was working Monday and would take care of it first thing Monday. I was very pleased with Olga and Windstars attitude and acceptance of the pricing problem and hope that Monday all goes as they promised. :)

 

A follow up post by the OP confirmed that Windstar did honor the price even though it was a misprint. And of course remember this somewhat different from Tilly's situation as she had paid for her cruise in full and Seabourn had except the payment while the OP on Windstar had not even paid for the cruise.

[Host Dan]

First of all, if we could all take a deep breath and try to have this conversation in a civil manner towards each other. Its very obvious to me that Seabourn made a grave error, and has decided what they are willing to offer their consumer for such error. It is what it is. That said, the excuse given that SB doesn't want other full paying guests punished for SB's error is hogwash. I can't tell you how many times I have cruised with guests booking Carnival Corps "Friends and Family" fares. Peanuts to what "we" pay and ALOT less than Tilly fully paid for.

 

Host Dan

[California Native]

That is correct.... I've never seen you post before on this board.... why now? Just to tell us we should not sail on Seabourn ships.... thank you very much! We can make up our own minds....

Marja (still Seabourn fan...)

 

Seabourn - nail

 

Why now you ask....

As I stated truthfully in my past post we are looking to move up to a luxury cruise line and have begun investigating, but let me expand on this...

My DH and I are in 40's

I have been sailing since I was 7 years old, a minimum of 45 days a year on mass market lines (except Carnival, it's not really my cup of tea, I appreciate a more subdued atmosphere). I'm the highest ranking with everyone. I say this not to brag..but so you get an idea of my cruising background. That's a minimum of 1700 cruising days throughout my lifetime (and no I don't live near Florida ~ It requires planes, trains and automobiles to get to a cruise ship for me)

My DH and I have no kids and our disposable income is spent on traveling the world. After being successful in our fields and a building a nice nest egg for ourselves, our financial planner has been encouraging us to expand the travel budget while we are healthy.

We have decided that we are ready to move up from Princess and Azamara to the luxury cruise market.

This past weekend we made the decision to begin investigating Seabourn, SeaDream etc etc.

Seabourn was 1st on the list as we saw the beautiful Seabourn Odyssey docked next to us in Bodrum Turkey while we were onboard Azamara.

We also had Eric De Gray and Dan Hodges onboard Azamara with us and they were most informative about the Seabourn product.

So, that's the back story why I showed up when I did on the Seabourn Boards.

Though I did post here once before when I let all you know that I had a video of the Seabourn Odyssey's sailaway on our Youtube channel.

Marja, I have no doubt in my mind that you or any other Seabourn cruiser are perfectly capable of being a mature, intellectual and savy enough traveler to make up your mind about Seabourn Cruise Lines and the relationship that you will continue to have with them.

It's too bad you assumed the worst in my post...

Are all Seabourn cruisers like this ???

Just wondering if this is the vibe onboard Seabourn cruise ships?

[Host Dan]

Seabourn - nail

 

Why now you ask....

As I stated truthfully in my past post we are looking to move up to a luxury cruise line and have begun investigating, but let me expand on this...

My DH and I are in 40's

I have been sailing since I was 7 years old, a minimum of 45 days a year on mass market lines (except Carnival, it's not really my cup of tea, I appreciate a more subdued atmosphere). I'm the highest ranking with everyone. I say this not to brag..but so you get an idea of my cruising background. That's a minimum of 1700 cruising days throughout my lifetime (and no I don't live near Florida ~ It requires planes, trains and automobiles to get to a cruise ship for me)

My DH and I have no kids and our disposable income is spent on traveling the world. After being successful in our fields and a building a nice nest egg for ourselves, our financial planner has been encouraging us to expand the travel budget while we are healthy.

We have decided that we are ready to move up from Princess and Azamara to the luxury cruise market.

This past weekend we made the decision to begin investigating Seabourn, SeaDream etc etc.

Seabourn was 1st on the list as we saw the beautiful Seabourn Odyssey docked next to us in Bodrum Turkey while we were onboard Azamara.

We also had Eric De Gray and Dan Hodges onboard Azamara with us and they were most informative about the Seabourn product.

So, that's the back story why I showed up when I did on the Seabourn Boards.

Though I did post here once before when I let all you know that I had a video of the Seabourn Odyssey's sailaway on our Youtube channel.

Marja, I have no doubt in my mind that you or any other Seabourn cruiser are perfectly capable of being a mature, intellectual and savy enough traveler to make up your mind about Seabourn Cruise Lines and the relationship that you will continue to have with them.

It's too bad you assumed the worst in my post...

Are all Seabourn cruisers like this ???

Just wondering if this is the vibe onboard Seabourn cruise ships?

Like I said- may we not attack each other and stay on the topic at hand? Please?

 

Host Dan

 

PS I do NOT wish to close this thread...

[California Native]

Like I said- may we not attack each other and stay on the topic at hand? Please?

 

Host Dan

 

PS I do NOT wish to close this thread...

 

Host Dan, I apologize. She asked why I was showing up now on a Seabourn message board and I was trying to explain.

I won't post anymore on your forum,

Thanks Karen

[SanFranCruizer]

Wow. Having just read through this entire thread, I am kind of stunned. This kind of disregard seems to be running rampant in the travel sector, not just cruising. Airlines are even more difficult to deal with! All of that said, I am surprised at Seabourn. Why is it so many of these luxury lines that deliver excellent service and and excellent experience at sea have such awful shoreside help? Regent is that way. As is Silversea. And I have friends who say the same thing about Crystal. Now, Seabourn. Maybe these luxe lines need to spend a little more on customer service for shoreside...

[NEOPHYTUS]

Like I said- may we not attack each other and stay on the topic at hand? Please?

 

Host Dan

 

PS I do NOT wish to close this thread...

 

 

IMO, it's over. The OP had her initial issue addressed by Seabourn, dozens expressed opinions and now the OP has to make a choice. Case closed.

 

So Close the thread too, Host Dan,...please, close it.

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

IMO, it's over. The OP had her initial issue addressed by Seabourn, dozens expressed opinions and now the OP has to make a choice. Case closed.

 

So Close the thread too, Host Dan,...please, close it.

 

 

Host Dan, If we all promise to play nice will you please give "Our beloved Seabourn" an opportunity to redeem themselves and hopefully do the right thing for the OP and in turn renew all of our faith in the future of SB.

[alita]

M'lord...

 

A wise old Seabourn TA on another web site thinks that the problem lies with Tillys TA

 

Well, he would, wouldn't he! :D

[LaPaloma]

M'lord...

 

A wise old Seabourn TA on another web site thinks that the problem lies with Tillys TA

 

Well, he would, wouldn't he! :D

 

Alita..notice that you are Tucson as we are and Chairsin. Hope that you are enjoying the monsoon season. Lola :)

[Jade13]

IMO, it's over. The OP had her initial issue addressed by Seabourn, dozens expressed opinions and now the OP has to make a choice. Case closed.

 

So Close the thread too, Host Dan,...please, close it.

 

I am just curious if you believe that if the OP cancels that Seabourn has a responsibility to pay for OPs non-refundable expenses in connection with this cruise? I certainly believe that they do.

[Seabourn-nail]

To where2next (or Karen)...

It is a pity that you took my one line question as an insult and it lead to the fact you not only had to scream out my name in RED, telling us how well traveled you are, but even more so, that now you are leaving this normally very nice Seabourn board! I'm very happy for you that you are in your mid 40s and I hope you will try Seabourn and will enjoy a lot more cruises!

I too believe Tilly's problem is with her TA and I sincerely hope things will be correctly dealt with by whoever is responsible.

I hope Tilly will go on her cruise and it will be her best experience ever!

Marja

[lord of the seas]

So,any other poster seen this advertised offer that Tilly accepted.

I would have thought that we might have seen one person post that has had the same experience.

Many of us receive the offers from Seabourn,can it be that Tilly had a keen eye for a bargain and the rest of us missed it.

Tilly,what area in the UK is your agent from?

[Jade13]

So,any other poster seen this advertised offer that Tilly accepted.

I would have thought that we might have seen one person post that has had the same experience.

Many of us receive the offers from Seabourn,can it be that Tilly had a keen eye for a bargain and the rest of us missed it.

Tilly,what area in the UK is your agent from?

 

It sounds like the cruise line made the error. I just googled Seabourn Pricing Error and this came up,

 

 

"Just to keep you updated - this was a genuine error on Seabourn's part for which they have apologised and refunded my passengers in full. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be 'too good to be true' and on the very rare occasions when this happens, the cruise line is not obliged to honour the price under ABTA regulations."

 

 

Try putting this in the google bar.

[Harvey2442]

Fine to have this reservation in their terms but it's a question of how and if it is applied. How do you know there is an error. I have seen Seabourn prices this year down as low as a per diem rate of £150 and that was for a sector of the Sojourn's world cruise against a minimum brochure of more than double that. Are guests expected to do the research on prices to conclude what might be an error. The fare quoted in this case is not beyond the bounds of being possibly correct and in this case on the facts posted had been paid for in full.

 

All back offices of Seabourn have on occasions been less than on the ball and have caused irritation but that is generally accepted. However the test of any service orgaisation is how they handle and rectify errors that have happened and the case here on the facts given is deplorable and leaves a very unfortunate feeling about the future direction of Seabourn. True the service of the ships has always been way ahead of the back office but if the management style here permeates to the ships and I detect a wish here to maximise revenue at all costs it can't be long before cost saving measure appear on the ships - wasn't the whole purpose of the move to Seattle a cost saving measure and I suspect that Seabourn's contribution to Carnival's bottom line has not been so good these last two years.

[NEOPHYTUS]

I am just curious if you believe that if the OP cancels that Seabourn has a responsibility to pay for OPs non-refundable expenses in connection with this cruise? I certainly believe that they do.

 

As per OP (post #98):

"A small unsatisfactory update! After ringing and chasing SB again!!

They are now offering to refund any out of pocket expenses (and so they should), and give us a £500 cruise credit to use either for a future cruise(haha) or as monies off the extra £1300 they are expecting us to pay, ludicrous. Just disgusting, do these people think I am a complete moron?"

[sfvoyage]

As per OP (post #98):

"A small unsatisfactory update! After ringing and chasing SB again!!

They are now offering to refund any out of pocket expenses (and so they should), and give us a £500 cruise credit to use either for a future cruise(haha) or as monies off the extra £1300 they are expecting us to pay, ludicrous. Just disgusting, do these people think I am a complete moron?"

 

OK, so somebody at SB and/or its agencies or vendors screwed up and advertised the too-good-to-be-true price. I agree that if there were only a small number of takers, the expedient and customer-friendly thing to do would be for SB to honor the erroneous price. However, it seems that quite a few people had booked this rate, so the decision was not so simple.

 

IMHO, SB's offer - full refund, plus out-of-pocket expenses and a generous cruise credit - is quite fair. Of course, they screwed up in taking so long and making it so difficult and troublesome for their customers to follow-up and wait for the news with the resolution, but this doesn't necessarily make SB evil.

 

Pricing errors happen all the time. Sometimes the company honors them; sometimes not, depending on its culture, policy and the economics involved. Understandably so, I doubt the OP will ever sail with SB. It's too bad the back office destroys the goodwill of what the crew and staff do so wonderfully on board.

 

Case in point is Singapore Airlines, which has a top-notch (and mostly well-deserved) reputation for providing legendary onboard services, comfort and amenities. At the same time, their back office is routinely criticized: their loyalty program is awful, their customer relations is awful, their website just went through a disastrous revamp and remains to be fixed, the ground service nowhere matches their excellence in the air, they hardly ever offer operational upgrades, even to their topmost elite passengers (Solitaire or Lifetime Solitaire PPS). And yet, they have a relatively loyal passenger base.

 

I am not apologizing for SB but merely pointing out that it's not easy for a company to maintain excellence at all customer touch points all the time. SB certainly has a lot of work to do.

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Sorry, but I dont think £250 cruise credit each for this debacle is acceptable, it has cost me more than that in time, phone calls and sheer hassle! It is insulting. Anyway If I dont sail with SB again then it is of little use to me isit??

 

I just want what I paid for!

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Anyway folks,Thankyou for your unfaultering support, (with a few exceptions that is), I have now sent a further letter to SB about this, my mood has turned sour and I am determined to sort this out.

 

I have sought legal advice and will give SB a chance to respond, it is up to them now. Whether they want to sort this out, or see my lawyer in court. I dont see I have any other options unfortunately. This looks really BAD for their PR though.

[Tillylovesseabourn]

OK, so somebody at SB and/or its agencies or vendors screwed up and advertised the too-good-to-be-true price. I agree that if there were only a small number of takers, the expedient and customer-friendly thing to do would be for SB to honor the erroneous price. However, it seems that quite a few people had booked this rate, so the decision was not so simple.

 

We are not talking about more than 6 lots of bookings here, this still makes it quite a few people involved, but not a ridiculous amount!

[lincslady]

Anyway folks,Thankyou for your unfaultering support, (with a few exceptions that is), I have now sent a further letter to SB about this, my mood has turned sour and I am determined to sort this out.

 

I have sought legal advice and will give SB a chance to respond, it is up to them now. Whether they want to sort this out, or see my lawyer in court. I dont see I have any other options unfortunately. This looks really BAD for their PR though.

 

Tilly - I have no idea what the legal position on this is; but hope you are right. However, if some people have been less than sympathetic I can't help thinking that it is because you have never actually come forward with complete details of where and how or by whom you saw this cruise advertised - email, website, phone call, TA, or whatever, or where your agent is, as you have been asked more than once. Maybe you have reasons of loyalty to your agent? Obviously we now know that it was advertised erroneously, now that SB have admitted it. So to put people's minds at rest, just say how you found out about this extremely cheap cruise in the first place - as apparently did a few others. So far you have only said it was a Seabourn advert. As I have said before, £1400 for a one week cruise sounds right; including air and transfers most unlikely - but now they say it is an extra £1300 each, presumably just for air? There seems to be no logic.

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Tilly - I have no idea what the legal position on this is; but hope you are right. However, if some people have been less than sympathetic I can't help thinking that it is because you have never actually come forward with complete details of where and how or by whom you saw this cruise advertised - email, website, phone call, TA, or whatever, or where your agent is, as you have been asked more than once. Maybe you have reasons of loyalty to your agent? Obviously we now know that it was advertised erroneously, now that SB have admitted it. So to put people's minds at rest, just say how you found out about this extremely cheap cruise in the first place - as apparently did a few others. So far you have only said it was a Seabourn advert. As I have said before, £1400 for a one week cruise sounds right; including air and transfers most unlikely - but now they say it is an extra £1300 each, presumably just for air? There seems to be no logic.

 

Hi, there is absolutely no logic!

 

I am not particularly loyal to my TA , I just know its not their fault.

 

This cruise, as I had said previously was advertised on SB's main computerised booking system, which is open to all ta's in the uk anyway. This error was on their system, questioned on several occasions and still told it was ok.

 

This is why SB admit it was their mistake, it was there in black and white on their booking system, a major SB system error, I clearly came along at the right, no wrong time!!!

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Also to add this cant really be affecting many more than 8 cabins, as there are only 8 of this type on the odyssey. I would imagine a few of these would have been previously booked. This looks even worse, the more I look at it!!

[georgie-porgie]

So after pages and pages of post after post saying Seabourn should honour their published rates there wasn't a published rate after all, no advert from the travel agent, no email from Seabourn, no magazine advert, nothing - just your TA seeing a price on their proprietary system that was only there a short time.

Some people have jumped to the wrong conclusions here and you have fanned the fire by not answering direct questions when you were asked.

You still have a case but it is severely diminished now and your attack on Seabourn looks all the more OTT in my opinion.

Dan, you should think about removing some of the posts here that complain about Seabourn not honouring their advertised rates because this simply is not true.