Silversea Water Cooler: Part 3, Welcome!

[Lois R]

Good morning:)........we are working today but don't have to be into the office till about 9:30............I know I have A LOT

of things to be thankful for.........we still have many 1'000's of people without power:( and I never lost it........and I have

clean water and all the things that go with it.

 

And the Dr thing, well, it is what it is........if you recall before all this storm stuff started......Thursday after work (that seems as though it was weeks ago)........but it was only last Thursday.....I had gone to Quest (the lab) to have them take blood

again.........then Friday was pre-storm mode.......so I should probably hear from the Dr this week and hopefully my number

for the kidney "issue" has come down but I am just not going to stress over it.:)

[jpalbny]

Yes Lois, please keep us updated about the beans. (Precise medical term for kidneys, if you were wondering...)

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

Good afternoon Coolers,

 

Lovely to see a bit of activity after the understandable lull whilst we waited for news .... and good to see that although horrid people,are basically OK.

 

Lois, do so hope the numbers are as you wish, but either way be positive in that everything is under control.

 

Re Silver Moon, I'm one of those who doesn't particularly see this as positive, because as anyone who has known SS from the start, growth alongside market changes has "redefined" what is a luxury line. Many of you know we consulted for SS for a while, and the reason was because of a shared vision with the owner best summarised to be the clear blue skies above the other lines where there is (it seems to me ...) basically no competition. There is a market for smaller ships - I'd say the size if Shadow/Whisper and perhaps Wind/Cloud with higher diems and much better quality. Because of the high fixed costs of running a cruise line that you incur whether the ship is empty or full, that means that higher diems devoted solely to the product has enormous impact. When Manfredi repeated his dream of 12 ships, well that is great that he shares his personal aspirations but they aren't anything to do with making the product great and one needs to think about that as a repeated aspiration ie what is in his heart.

 

It is the way of life generally that when a luxury product goes for volume which is what SS has been pursuing then pricing increasingly wins when in contention with quality. You MUST fill the ships you have. Expansion of a quality product always loses the compromise with quality. I'd preferred to hear that Manfredi's aspiration was to achieve a customer satisfaction score of 96% plus ......

 

Napria ... what always drew me to the mountains was the wonderful smell ... and even in winter in places with fires it was magical.

 

Today the fresh mussels were saying "eat me, eat me" and so it was Thai green mussels with baguette and white wine au boîte. Yesterday I did her sort of Christmas lunch .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited September 12, 2017 by UKCruiseJeff

[TLCOhio]

Yes Lois, please keep us updated about the beans. (Precise medical term for kidneys, if you were wondering...)

 

Things are very, very busy this morning at the Cooler. Cute above reference by Dr. J.P. as to the kidneys being called "the beans". Learned something new today!! Lots on the importance of electricity, the Atlanta airport (that has worked fine for us recently), etc.

 

In following the mess left behind by Hurricane Irma, the TV news this am was focused as to how bad things are now in the Keys, plus the hot, humid weather facing South Florida. See below for Miami today and tomorrow. A little of the left-over rain from Irma starts hitting our state a little later today and tomorrow. BUT, fortunately, it will not be as bad here as what hit Florida, Georgia, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Just finished June 2017 sailing from Portugal to France along the scenic Atlantic Coast, plus great pre- and post-cruise experiences. Many interesting pictures and details on history, food, culture, etc., from my live/blog at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

 

From AccuWeather, here is their forecast for today, tonight and tomorrow for Miami. Notice that "RealFeel" projection for how that number will be 105F and 109F when factoring in the high humidity there during the next two days.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger!)

[TLCOhio]

Re Silver Moon, I'm one of those who doesn't particularly see this as positive, because as anyone who has known SS from the start, growth alongside market changes has "redefined" what is a luxury line. Many of you know we consulted for SS for a while, and the reason was because of a shared vision with the owner best summarised to be the clear blue skies above the other lines where there is (it seems to me ...) basically no competition. There is a market for smaller ships - I'd say the size if Shadow/Whisper and perhaps Wind/Cloud with higher diems and much better quality. Because of the high fixed costs of running a cruise line that you incur whether the ship is empty or full, that means that higher diems devoted solely to the product has enormous impact. When Manfredi repeated his dream of 12 ships, well that is great that he shares his personal aspirations but they aren't anything to do with making the product great and one needs to think about that as a repeated aspiration ie what is in his heart. It is the way of life generally that when a luxury product goes for volume which is what SS has been pursuing then pricing increasingly wins when in contention with quality. You MUST fill the ships you have. Expansion of a quality product always loses the compromise with quality. I'd preferred to hear that Manfredi's aspiration was to achieve a customer satisfaction score of 96% plus ......

 

Love the tasty visuals this morning from Jeff and when he says "the fresh mussels were saying 'eat me, eat me' ". Wonderful!!

 

Appreciate Jeff's in-depth analysis for the legitimate questions on "Quality versus Quantity" that involves the growing expansions with Silversea and other luxury cruise lines. When the Muse came on line earlier this year, the Cruise Critic editor reported on that ship. I followed up with her and she replied with keen insights about the challenges in keeping up and sharing the best employees among a larger number of ships. Getting, training and motivating a larger number of top, best employees becomes more challenging. Most of us have encountered some superstar SS employees during our sailings. BUT, the reality is that there other newer, less skilled staff who are trying to do well, but are not as experienced and skilled. Making that all work to the maximum can be a challenge as it impacts the quality for customer service. One of the worries with the newer Muse was if SS would just take their best employees and put them on this ship. Thus short-changing the other ships??

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 186,801 views for this posting.

[Camillus112]

Either by 2019 or 2020, the Ritz Carlton will inaugurate a luxury cruise ship with its own helicopter and helipad, while Scenic River Cruises will inaugurate its first ocean cruiser equipped with a submarine. These are going to draw a lot of attention from those with major purchasing power (the per diems will not be, let's say, reasonable). They will attract the younger and healthy boomer demographic cohorts. Should SS's higher end market shift towards these and similar products, the company may try to compensate with volume at the reasonable prices and at a lesser cost, i.e. lesser quality. What we call luxury now will become (and I think is becoming) premium. However, I tend to agree with Jeff that there may be a market for the current product at a higher price/quality point, but not for all the capacity SS has now. Maybe dedicating one of the smaller ships based on a theme? Don't really know, but then I don't do their market research. Just finding the topic interesting.

[MissSophia]

Interesting points Jeff re the Moon......guess I'm not really one to think too deeply as l doubt I'll ever change from SS now despite the very few disappointments.

 

Positive wishes to Lois.......

 

DD coming over for dinner while her DH is at the football match so best get in the galley!!

😊

[UKCruiseJeff]

Hi Camels,

 

Yes, I've been following the RitzCarlton annoucement with interest, and they certainly believe they have a good market for the three ships they are planning.

 

Evidently their research showed that last year 400,000 of their customers had taken a cruise in the previous year. If you follow their recruiting they expect their experience to be more the concierge approach of The World than say SS or SB although a few people with SS experience have joined. The CFO from SS Monaco is joining them along with an ex-master of The World who is responsible for Ops..

 

Some of it is I think spot on. Firstly they are targetting the US market with 7 to 10 day cruises with less number of port visits than SS. Interestingly they have said they are targetting small cities with berths and they have said tantalisingly that the ship can pass through St Lawrence into the Great Lakes .....

 

Some will like the idea of heavily curated (as thy describe it) shore visits, but I don't think their customers will enjoy being in large tour groups so it will be interesting to see how the idea of heavily curated land group visits works out. But they have hinted at something different for others more independently natured, and they say that they will be providing more a customised individual curated offering so I guess they are expecting to organise stuff for individual suites more. I hope they aren't planning to use helicopters for land trips landing and taking off from that helipad .....

 

One of the most interesting decisions they have made is to do away completely with a show lounge and having more corners for jazz and classical music and local performers.

 

There is an emphasis on food with the first ship featuring the work of Sven Elverfield of Aqua at the RC at Wolfsburg.

 

i am hoping they go enthusiastically for a direct sell with personalised cruise managers for individuals and not use TA's. We'll see.

Edited September 12, 2017 by UKCruiseJeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

The 10 dishes you cannot leave Britain without eating

The Telegraph

British cuisine is rarely lauded but old-fashioned dishes, such as syrup pudding and scotch eggs, have exploded in popularlity in the last decade. Here, Diana Henry serves up Britain on a plate, choosing ten dishes that have become part of our way of life. Read the full story

[Tothesunset]

The 10 dishes you cannot leave Britain without eating

The Telegraph

British cuisine is rarely lauded but old-fashioned dishes, such as syrup pudding and scotch eggs, have exploded in popularlity in the last decade. Here, Diana Henry serves up Britain on a plate, choosing ten dishes that have become part of our way of life. Read the full story

A somewhat Anglocentric selection.

 

No mention of Boxty, Haggis, Larva bread, Irish stew?

 

Even Scotch egg seems to be geographically unrelated to its name! (Although in the interests of inclusivity at least the author found a Welsh dish even if the recommended sources were not Welsh!)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Glad you liked it TTs :)

[sailingskyward]

 

i am hoping they go enthusiastically for a direct sell with personalised cruise managers for individuals and not use TA's. We'll see.

 

 

Interesting viewpoint. Personally, I've been very disappointed with my Silversea PCC, so if he was the only way to book a cruise with Silversea, I'd never be on a Silversea ship again! Even when I call the Silversea call center and ask about pricing or request to book, I am always transferred to his desk. Of course, he takes 2 working days to get back to voicemails and emails even in the middle of the week. I never email him on weekends or after hours, so I'm confused why it takes him so long to respond. After booking several cruises with him in this frustrating manner, I called into the Silversea call center and asked for a different PCC. The agent simply transferred me to his extension, which of course rolled to Voicemail.

[Camillus112]

Jeff, you are very well informed on cruise industry trends! Of course you consulted for SS. And MissS., like you, a helicopter or submarine will not be a swaying factor for me. However, an improved quality model would entice me to try. I would especially enjoy the different entertainment venues, like for classical, jazz, etc. A retro piano bar where you could cry out your song requests would be fun!

Edited September 12, 2017 by Camillus112
spelling

[Camillus112]

Sailingskyward, that is untenable! You should write to this person's supervisor, or customer service, and let them know the lack of attention you have received. Unless a call is recorded for monitoring, it is best to write. I hope you now have an efficient travel agent.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Interesting viewpoint. Personally, I've been very disappointed with my Silversea PCC, so if he was the only way to book a cruise with Silversea, I'd never be on a Silversea ship again! Even when I call the Silversea call center and ask about pricing or request to book, I am always transferred to his desk. Of course, he takes 2 working days to get back to voicemails and emails even in the middle of the week. I never email him on weekends or after hours, so I'm confused why it takes him so long to respond. After booking several cruises with him in this frustrating manner, I called into the Silversea call center and asked for a different PCC. The agent simply transferred me to his extension, which of course rolled to Voicemail.

 

Hi, first can I welcome you to our small non-exclusive exclusive club and that I hope you hang around here ...

 

There are lot's of challenges when you choose channels to market and very often corporations try to hedge their bets by choosing several which often results in confusion, irresolvable conflicts of interests and contentions. What they try to do is do everything so they don't miss anything and it is often the worst option. It also often means that your direct team has insufficient investment and quality because you are relying mostly on external channels who are not particularly brand-loyal. I have a fair amount of experience of setting up channels from scratch in the computer industry when there wasn't previous models to follow so I learned a lot mostly from mistakes and the odd right decision. My reasons for thinking direct is the only route for the RC plans are several and simple.

 

They appear (if what their claim materialises) for a bespoke extremely high quality and exclusive product with personal attention and a concierge service. Pre-supposing that their main aim is to become the cruise line of first choice to their customers then the direct route is the logical channel. An additional reason is that again if their plans are sincere there really isn't a competing product. This means that with a named cruise consultant that gets to know you they should be able to provide as close to a perfect product they aspire to because everything is within their own control. When it comes to marketing then their first efforts would be to their exisitng RitzCarlton customer base ie that 400,000 exisitng customers who have taken a cruise in the last year. They may be able to do well without the need initially of attracting potential defectors from other "so-called" six star lines.

 

Once you have that customer in your grasp if the product is as good as they aspire to and they protect those high diems then you should have a customer for life because there should be no need to look elsewhere. This means your consultant will keep marketing personal offers to you. In the event that you don't like that person a good system allows you to request a change and it should be done. The TA route for this type of product is not only costly but they are selling competitor products whereas you are trying to ensure loyalty.

 

Once they roll out the first ship they will be hoping that reputation and reccomendation and increased cruising from their exisitng base will fill those subsequent ships one by one. Keep in mind that RitzCarlton are part of Marriott group who have a sophisticated membership base that is brand-loyal and an established machine to market to them. I would expect that this cruise brand will take off and will be successful because it will retain close control of a highly vertical integrated product with every element under their own strict quality control. Less will be spent on marketing and sales because they already have an extraordinary existing customer base that they can market to with highly personalised and quality but inexpensive marketing. The marketing will not be wasteful or expensive like other brands need because they do not have this customer base. They can integrate land options with their own hotel .... there are 3800 Marriott hotels ... all places to put marketing material and could take bookings .... and they have a tie up with United Airlines.

 

This is a project that is extremely interesting that is probably under-appreciated by the rest of the industry.:)

[TLCOhio]

When it comes to marketing then their first efforts would be to their exisitng RitzCarlton customer base ie that 400,000 exisitng customers who have taken a cruise in the last year. They may be able to do well without the need initially of attracting potential defectors from other "so-called" six star lines. Once you have that customer in your grasp if the product is as good as they aspire to and they protect those high diems then you should have a customer for life because there should be no need to look elsewhere. They can integrate land options with their own hotel .... there are 3800 Marriott hotels ... all places to put marketing material and could take bookings

 

Excellent continued marketing insights by Jeff!! Until these postings, I did not realize that Ritz Carlton was being this creative and aggressive in going after the cruise market. Doing three custom-built "yacht" with space for only 298 guests is an interesting "roll of the dice". Schedule to start in the fall of 2019. But as Jeff outlines, Ritz Carlton and Marriott have some advantages. With this size of ship, they can offer a number of charter offerings. Having a dining room done by a Michelin three-star chef is also attention-getting. The competition is rising!!

 

Did get this afternoon a new update from Spins in South Florida. Here are the key highlights she e-mailed: "Still no power. No land line phone. Very hot. Worried about not making cruise. Pitched a ton of food from two refrigerators. Sitting in car to charge phone. Daughter and son in law no power. Other son has power an hour away. Trying to clean up debris. Over and out."

 

Agree with sailingskyward that the Silversea PCC set-up can be a "pain" in the you know what. How did the first day after at work go for Lois in the Jacksonville area? Are the river water levels down in your town?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

AFRICA?!!?: Lots of interesting and dramatic pictures can be seen from this live/blog at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310337

Now at 34,538 views for this visual sharing including Cape Town, along South Africa’s coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta area.

[Lois R]

Hi Terry, work went fine, thanks:).......business was slow but that is expected.....many still have no power. No flooding

near me, thankfully.

But many got flooded.......waters are receding now but it doesn't help those who can't live in their homes:(........a lot of people's

homes got a big brunt of the water........we are right on the St Johns and have a lot of creeks, etc.........

[UKCruiseJeff]

Lamb and stuffed peppers.

 

 

 

 

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[MissSophia]

G'Day.....

 

Rather a sad one as this morning we lost a neighbour very suddenly.

 

The forecast storm missed us here but did considerable damage in other areas.

 

Best foot forward.....:)

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

Lois....happy to hear that things did not get too difficult for you. Thoughts are with others less fortunate. Hope the health issue is resolved soon!

 

J.... the lamb and stuffed peppers "smell" delicious! :) The power of imagination!

 

Miss S. Happy to hear that the storm did not affect you adversely. Again thoughts for those less fortunate! And sorry for the sudden loss of your neighbour! So much sadness around the world these days! On a brighter note... Is the cruise rail groaning at this point? :)

 

I have been navel gazing over the last little while. I have been so very fortunate in my life. It somehow does not seem fair. And I know that life is not fair. So many places we have enjoyed in our travels are going through pain, destruction and dark futures. We loved Key West...now dealing with the aftermath of Irma. We loved Bagan and Yangon.....now dealing with accusations of "ethnic cleansing". We loved Turkey....now dealing with being targeted by three groups of "terrorists": IS, Kurdish militants and coup-plotters. And we are safe. Thoughts are for all around the world who are not!

[Solo mi!]

So happy to read that Coolers living in Irma's path made it through without severe damage. My cousin's Key house next to Big Pine came through fairly unscathed. He only got to see it this morning.

 

I am writing to sing the praises of my SS PCC. She has been wonderful! She recently worked out a wonderful deal for me for 2019. Just before the hurricane, I was speaking to her in Miami and we were discussing a Spanish Wine that I really like. She said she'd check and see if it would be available on my Nov, cruise. She just called me and said it would be and the info had been added to my booking. Now, I think this is outstanding service as she resides in Miami and this is Tuesday following Irma!

 

Penny

[TLCOhio]

Did get this update from Spins this morning: "Heard power supposed to be on by end of weekend. That's an entire week + without power."

 

We feel and fully understand that pain for being without electricity. It gets old very quickly, especially with the extreme heat and humidity hitting South Florida right now.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 227,401 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[spinnaker2]

Hello all.

Power just restored.

More later!

 

 

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[mysty]

Excellent news Spins! Thanks for the update! Best wishes with the clean up and hope that your cruise will be a go!

[jpalbny]

Welcome back Spins! Hope everything else is fixed sooner than expected as well.

 

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