Silver Shadow on board credit December 2013

[Emtbsam]

It is my understanding that the Crew Welfare fund is entirely different from the Foundation. For example, the donation to the Foundation can come out of your on board credit while any donation to the Crew Welfare fund must be paid by credit card.

 

If anyone knows otherwise for a fact, please let us know.

[krisjo]

Last week we emailed Frank Sansone, Silversea Fort Lauderdale and he replied to say that he had forwarded our mail to Silversea Sydney. Several days ago we received a letter from them explaining our question regarding On Board Credit and the Crew Welfare Fund.

 

We now understand that On Board Credit was discontinued when the new fare policy was introduced on 1st November 2012 and a trade press release was sent out regarding these changes.

 

Therefore, as the Silversea Cruise Atlas was printed in early 2012 these changes were not included.

 

Our reservation was made in early June 2013 so on board credit has not been applied to our reservation.

 

The Crew Welfare Fund is officially called Maruzza Lefebre D'Ovidio Foundation and the donation is USD1.00 per guest per day. In addition should guests wish to opt out of this they can do so at any time during the voyage. We hope this explanation has made things a little clearer to everyone concerned.

[ging466]

The Crew Welfare Fund is officially called Maruzza Lefebre D'Ovidio Foundation and the donation is USD1.00 per guest per day. In addition should guests wish to opt out of this they can do so at any time during the voyage. We hope this explanation has made things a little clearer to everyone concerned.

 

To my knowledge, this is incorrect. The Crew Welfare Fund has absolutely nothing to do with the Maruzza Lefebre D'Ovidio Foundation, which is an Italian charity.

 

Guests are automatically billed the donation (wrong on so many levels, but we've already been there before:rolleyes:) and u need to go to reception and have it removed from your account if u don't want to donate.

 

The Crew Welfare Fund is something that u can donate to in appreciation for the exceptional work that the entire crew (not just the front line crew) does for the passengers.

 

They are NOT the same and I'm surprised SS Sydney is sprouting this rot.

 

Anyone else want to chime in?

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[krisjo]

Thanks everyone. this gets interesting. We were first made aware of this fund donation in the first posting at the top of the thread. Here, the person mentions the crew welfare fund so we have always presumed that this was it's title. However, after reading the brochure attached to the Silversea letter we received last week, we see that it is as you say, the Maruzza Lefebvre Foundation is committed to improving the quality of life for children and adults with incurable diseases and nothing to do with the crew.

When the person had the contribution automatically debited from their credit card at the end of their voyage, were they aware that this was what the contribution was called or were they told it was for the Crew Welfare Fund? Or is that a separate contribution altogether? A dollar's a dollar and after all and it's not going to be a vast amount. But, if we hadn't asked a few questions recently would we have been more than surprised when we read our credit card statement a month later?

[croisierista]

Agree with the previous poster - the Crew Welfare and the Charity are completely separate. The $1 per person per day does not go to the Crew, it goes to the Charity. If you want to donate to the Crew, you can do so separately.

 

Who did you get the information from in Sydney? I thought Silversea communicated with guests only through the Florida office?

[duct tape]

They are TOTALLY separate funds. As soon as the owners start donating to my local hospice program, I will donate to their's

[duct tape]

I thought I did, Jennifer. Must be on another thread. As I said, as soon as The Family donates to my local hospice program, I will reciprocate! Let's see...about 1700 guests per day, across the board, $1 USD per person x 365 days per year...hmmm...

[Jacko]

I make a "donation" to the crew welfare fund on almost every segment. Simply go to reception and they will fill out the paperwork for you to designate the amount. Your donation is posted on a crew bulletin board and it is not uncommon for crew I've never spoken to to personally thank me. I generally receive a personalized letter from the Hotel Director thanking me for the donation.

On the Explorer, they frequently auction off a navigational chart signed by all officers for the benefit of the crew fund.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Can someone clarify this for a "thicko".

 

Is it the drift of this that posters are stating that it is sort of emerging that all SS customers that fail to "opt-out" are making (or not) automatic contributions to what they believe (because this is what it use to be) was the on-board welfare fund but are in fact now unkowingly making contributions to the family Maruzza Lefebvre D’Ovidio Foundation for paliative care?

 

This is how I've read the drift - but surely not. :confused:

 

Jeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

We now understand that On Board Credit was discontinued when the new fare policy was introduced on 1st November 2012 and a trade press release was sent out regarding these changes.

 

Therefore, as the Silversea Cruise Atlas was printed in early 2012 these changes were not included.

 

Our reservation was made in early June 2013 so on board credit has not been applied to our reservation.

 

 

I posted in the other thread your remedy and I'm not repeating it all - it is really up to you if you want your OBC or not.

 

To simplify, this isn't rocket science. Trade press releases means nothing. If the SS agent (they are SS agent's and paid by them - not yours) was using the old brochure when you made the booking and the agent hadn't put stickers on the brochure to warn that the offer was deleted or warned you verbally of the changes and you genuinely believed you would receive the OBC - then you are probably entitled to the OBC. They are clearly not going to give it to you unless you fight for it in the way I described in the other thread.

 

Good luck.

 

 

Jeff

[drron29]

You do get a note explaining the charity on board and how you can opt out so no deception.

The crew fund is different as has been explained.Personally I have no problems making a donation to the crew fund-which is probably why staff remember better than I which cruises I have been on!

 

Jeff the problem would be that the agent in Sydney would by June 2013 have the new brochures whereas the OP had the 2012 brochure.

In Australia if you use a TA to book with SS they do so through the Sydney office(Cruiseco).So the SS agents don't deal directly in the majority of cases with the passenger.

My impression therefore is that any action would be with the TA not SS.

[UKCruiseJeff]

You do get a note explaining the charity on board and how you can opt out so no deception.

The crew fund is different as has been explained.Personally I have no problems making a donation to the crew fund-which is probably why staff remember better than I which cruises I have been on!

 

Jeff the problem would be that the agent in Sydney would by June 2013 have the new brochures whereas the OP had the 2012 brochure.

In Australia if you use a TA to book with SS they do so through the Sydney office(Cruiseco).So the SS agents don't deal directly in the majority of cases with the passenger.

My impression therefore is that any action would be with the TA not SS.

 

 

Thanks for explaining. You are stating that passengers are clearly told but it is they that are misunderstandng but not being msled. Thanks. :)

 

In fact a claim doesn't have to be against one or the other, They can be joint defendants, ie " Silversea and it's agents" and as I understand the Oz system it is a fast track low cost informal process sometimes heard by magistrates and on paper seems better than the UK process.

 

As an aside, I wish people would resist the temptation of starting new threads, in this case actually copying and pasting their own post into an entirely fresh thread .. we now have at least three on this narrow topic .....:rolleyes:

 

Thanks.

 

Jeff

[wripro]

The charity donation may not be deceptive but it is imo wrong to make the passenger be the one to have to opt out. The right way to do it is to give the passenger the information and then, if they care to, they can opt in.

[krisjo]

Dear Croisierista. We received the information from the Silversea office in Sydney. Thanks everyone,this has all been very interesting and enlightening. I think we're a little clearer as to what the Foundation and the crew donations are about. We feel that we'll opt out of the foundation donation as this sounds rather iffy and decide whether we'll make a personal donation to the CWF when the time comes. Many thanks and sorry for posting a new thread. We notice it's been moved here anyway.

[zqtchas]

The charity donation may not be deceptive but it is imo wrong to make the passenger be the one to have to opt out. The right way to do it is to give the passenger the information and then, if they care to, they can opt in.

FYI: For anyone in the USA who itemize their tax deductions, this charity is not recognized by the IRS.

[krisjo]

We're booked on the Silver Shadow cruise 3555 from Singapore to Sydney 4th December. You might remember our query regarding ship board credit. Well we received a promo from Silversea this morning which might be of interest.

 

16-night Asia to Australia Cruise

Get $500 Shipboard Credit

12-04-2013

View Itinerary

Silversea Cruises

Silver Shadow

Singapore

Sydney