Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Four

[Isklaar]

Welcome home Mr and Mrs Jeff! :bottle-pop::bottle-pop::champagne-toast:

I imagine you've never been so pleased to see your own front door.

[mysty]

Hurrah! Welcome home J and Mrs. J!!!!! You must be savouring the peace and quiet!

[TLCOhio]

Hurrah! Welcome home J and Mrs. J!!!!! You must be savouring the peace and quiet!

 

Agree with mysty. Glad to hear that Jeff and the Mrs. are back safe, sound and working on getting back to "sanity". Since I was not able to read all of the details as carefully as others, help me on a couple of minor details on:

 

1. Did you fill out the mid-cruise questionnaire and what response/follow-up did you receive? Did you talk with the Hotel Director during the cruise? I have found that this one key staffer is usually fairly smart and responsive from our five SS sailings?

 

2. Keep us posted to what, if anything, that SS does or does not do after your return home.

3. Were you sailing on the Shadow or another SS ship?

 

Look forward to learning more. THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean adventure that started in Barbados, here is the link for that live/blog. Many visuals from this amazing river and Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, San Juan, etc.):

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 56,669 views for these postings.

[Mudhen]

Glad to hear you're home safe and sound!

[jpalbny]

Welcome home to the Jeffs. Glad that your boozefest is over and you can have some peace and quiet.

 

Terry, welcome back. IIRC, Jeff said that they were never given a mid-cruise survey.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

[TLCOhio]

Welcome home to the Jeffs. Glad that your boozefest is over and you can have some peace and quiet.

Terry, welcome back. IIRC, Jeff said that they were never given a mid-cruise survey.

 

Appreciate JP's nice welcome back. How could the SS Hotel Director on this cruise have failed to distribute the mid-cruise survey????? That's almost "criminal" and/or malpractice!! WOW!! I am shocked at such a total failure from normal and expected Silversea practice. Must have known people were unhappy and they tried avoid dealing with such a mess. It makes this pathetic situation look even more poorly mismanaged.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Finished June 2017 sailing on the Silver Spirit 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

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Evening all ….... and thanks for the welcome “home”!! I promised to blogg out our trip home today because if it were in a soap opera no one would believe the detail. It is a bit scrappilly written but I hope you get the gist.

 

After packing we checked with reception that the car had been booked OK to take us to the airport and we made our way to the Panorama lounge where we found a spot amongst the Utility bunch. For those that don't know, on kicking off day people are split into various teams. So we plonked ourselves down between Red Team and Green Team and confusingly Dark Green Team. These teams are called by colour over the Tanny by Ms Von Tassel and they eagerly make their way off to get on coaches to go to wherever they are going - normally the airport.

 

As you might predict virtually all of the talk was about what had been drunk the previous night and who was the most ill today. On the Red Team table next to us, one tattooed female was regaling her team with how drunk her husband was the previous night and that she had dared him to slide down the bannisters from top to bottom deck which he had claimed he had done and others claimed to have witnessed it.

 

Anyway us not being in a team we waited until they had all melted away and there was now just an elderly lady with a stick and us and we three headed down to reception at 11:10 as instructed to have our luggage collected so we could pick up our cars at 11:30. I checked again that the car was there waiting for us and I was reassured that it was. The grumpy girl on reception had difficulty getting someone to take the luggage but eventually a few enthusiastic young chaps came along and took out luggage to the bottom the the gangway to the quay. At the bottom they started to go back onto the ship and I asked “where are the cars?” and they waved vaguely and now the security guy in his whites had joined us and I said “Look this lady can't take her luggage and I want someone to take ours and no one is going to leave us until we are safely in a car …....”

 

At this moment I couldn't help but notice over the security man's shoulder that a car on the quayside that appeared driverless has started slowly to back up, and gathering speed until it tipped off of the quay and with an enormous thud landed wedged between Whisper and the water with a good half of the car over the water. At this point the three of them ran off towards the car leaving us standing there and I then ran after them saying “look that bleedin' car is going nowhere – you need to come back and look after us and see us to the car's waiting for us”. One of the lads took our luggage and off we went. To go through the hall to where the cars were supposed to be but there was no drivers with our names there. I asked the porter lad whether he had a walkie talkie and he didn't and I told him he was going nowhere until someone came looking for him or the other porter came with the elderly lady in a push chair. Eventually he came out and now we had two SS porters. Neither had walkie talkies so I sent one back to explain to the ship that we were holding on to the other one until either cars showed up or someone from management came out to sort it out. During the intervening time whilst wifey guarded the young chap so he couldn't do a runner I went off to ask a taxi driver how much to the airport and he said a lot of stuff in Greek with just one word I understood which was “strike”. It transpires that today all the taxi drivers in Athens or in Greece are on strike and there is secondary action to stop all private drivers, presumably something SS's ground agents might have known. I then went up to a solitary van driver “how much to the airport and he said 300 euros “as all the taxis are on strike ….” and so I went back to join wifey. I was now feeling that I needed to not only look after us two but I couldn't abandon the elderly lady who was becoming distressed and was going to a hotel to await a later flight to Dubai and on to Oz. She was in a state of panic as she said she had no money as she was expecting SS to supply the transport and I promised her I wouldn't abandomn her and I'd see her safely to the hotel snd she'd be fine.

 

By now the Guest Relations lady - Samantha- was coming to look for and retrieve her boy and I asked where the cars were and she headed straight off to the cafeteria and found a chap who was having a ciggy, and a coffee and playing games on his phone. Evidently he was their ground agent and must have seen us waiting but simply decided to stay where he was. He started phoning and it was clear that there were either no ground arrangements made or they hadn't turned up and no one seemed overly bothered. He went over to the previously mentioned van driver and there was some haggling and the next we new he had been commandeered to take the lady to the hotel and us to the airport. So we thought. Before I let the ground agent go, I made him explain to the driver in Greek that he wasn't to abandon the lady on the pavement of the hotel but had to go and find a porter for her. “It is no problem sir” the agent said" because we are taking you to the hotel as well as it isn't far from the airport and you can make sure she gets a porter". I made it clear that we were not leaving the vehicle until we had been dumped outside Marco Polo departures. And so we left.

 

It was a pretty horrible ride with probably the slowest driver that Greece had ever produced with an incredible knack of working out which was the slowest lane to be in and always it seemed managing to catch every amber or red light. We arrrive and the usual BA bun fight checkin and eventually having been promoted to Queue Prefect on the flight embarkation ie sending all "pusher inners" to the back of the queue we made our way on!

 

Drunk some voddy and the lovely Rachel a Northern cabin crew girl was all chatty and asked if we'd enjoyed our stay in Athens and we said we'd been on a cruise. She asked where to and we said from Rome to Athens. She said “You don't work for Utility Warehouse do you? I was on a Rome flight a week ago and we were full of Utility Warehouse people and boy did they enjoy their flight …...” We said we weren't but they had also enjoyed themselves to the full on our cruise. She said “Oh, I know all about Utility Warehouse. My husband is a pilot and one of our friends is also a pilot and an agent for Utility Warehouse. Everyone avoids him now because whenever they see him he is always asking who their broadband and phone and electric companies are and never let's it go ...”

 

Anyway …... that was the story of our day. They say that travel broadens the mind but to be honest I think my mind has been broadened more than it need be and I am looking forward to a few quiet days. I might write a few more words about stuff as people ask or as I think of something funny to say. :)

[TLCOhio]

Anyway …... that was the story of our day. They say that travel broadens the mind but to be honest I think my mind has been broadened more than it need be and I am looking forward to a few quiet days. I might write a few more words about stuff as people ask or as I think of something funny to say. :)

 

WOW!! Again. Just when you think this "soap opera" cannot get worse, it does!! Appreciate these added details and background. What if you had not been there helping and looking out for that older lady???

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 226,592 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[MissSophia]

Welcome Home Jeffers.......time to chill and recover...it’s been quite a journey.....😊

[Daveywavey70]

Welcome home Jeff and Mrs Jeff. It’s good to have you back. Sounds like it was eventful right up to the end!

[Tothesunset]

Welcome home from Fawlty cruises.

[Camillus112]

Welcome home Jeff and Mrs. Jeff. As I have been reading both your, and Dave's, perils, I tend to think you all should write a book (an e-book would be fine). I have been sad as well as mesmerized with each chapter of your perils. Roberto and I watch Netflix series...but these chapters have been as engaging... Hopefully you both will get your deserved resolution.

[jpalbny]

I second Cam's thought. You can't make this stuff up!

 

Glad you are home after all of this. If I were you, I'd hide for a few days, and it would be a long while before I wanted my "horizons broadened" again!

 

PS - this is a good excuse to offer to buy you a drink in London in September!

[Lois R]

JP, I was thinking the same exact thing:eek:……..you just can't make this up.

 

Jeff, what a way to end what was already a bad situation.:(……….welcome home.

[spinnaker2]

It will be nice to sleep in your own bed, on your own pillows, nestled next to your lovely wife and no other pax running interference outdoors.

Home sweet home.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[MBP&O2/O]

Jeff, Try RCI next time [emoji3]

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5846369/Cruise-ship-filmed-Channel-4-reality-descended-drug-fuelled-orgy.html

 

More problems?

 

Cruise ship being filmed for Channel 4 reality show 'descended into a drug-fuelled orgy' as passengers 'snorted cocaine, vomited in the pool and had to be pushed around on wheelchairs'

•Passengers said people snorted cocaine, slept*in corridors and vomited in pool

•Vision of the Seas cruise ship went between Cannes, Barcelona and Balearics*

•The ship was being filmed by a crew from Channel 4 for upcoming reality show

•Were you on board the ship? Please contact martin.robinson@mailonline.co.uk

 

 

Sent from the magic box!

[Stumblefoot]

We landed in Athens last night at 10:45p. Our hotel and Prestige Limousine had been in touch with us the day before to let us know the taxi strike had no impact on private drivers. However, once we cleared baggage claim, there were plenty of taxis available at the airport, so the strike certainly didn't last long.

[sakaara]

We landed in Athens last night at 10:45p. Our hotel and Prestige Limousine had been in touch with us the day before to let us know the taxi strike had no impact on private drivers. However, once we cleared baggage claim, there were plenty of taxis available at the airport, so the strike certainly didn't last long.

 

Bon Voyage Stumblefoot’s,

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[geric26]

Good Evening all ….... and thanks for the welcome “home”!! I promised to blogg out our trip home today because if it were in a soap opera no one would believe the detail. It is a bit scrappilly written but I hope you get the gist.

 

After packing we checked with reception that the car had been booked OK to take us to the airport and we made our way to the Panorama lounge where we found a spot amongst the Utility bunch. For those that don't know, on kicking off day people are split into various teams. So we plonked ourselves down between Red Team and Green Team and confusingly Dark Green Team. These teams are called by colour over the Tanny by Ms Von Tassel and they eagerly make their way off to get on coaches to go to wherever they are going - normally the airport.

 

As you might predict virtually all of the talk was about what had been drunk the previous night and who was the most ill today. On the Red Team table next to us, one tattooed female was regaling her team with how drunk her husband was the previous night and that she had dared him to slide down the bannisters from top to bottom deck which he had claimed he had done and others claimed to have witnessed it.

 

Anyway us not being in a team we waited until they had all melted away and there was now just an elderly lady with a stick and us and we three headed down to reception at 11:10 as instructed to have our luggage collected so we could pick up our cars at 11:30. I checked again that the car was there waiting for us and I was reassured that it was. The grumpy girl on reception had difficulty getting someone to take the luggage but eventually a few enthusiastic young chaps came along and took out luggage to the bottom the the gangway to the quay. At the bottom they started to go back onto the ship and I asked “where are the cars?” and they waved vaguely and now the security guy in his whites had joined us and I said “Look this lady can't take her luggage and I want someone to take ours and no one is going to leave us until we are safely in a car …....”

 

At this moment I couldn't help but notice over the security man's shoulder that a car on the quayside that appeared driverless has started slowly to back up, and gathering speed until it tipped off of the quay and with an enormous thud landed wedged between Whisper and the water with a good half of the car over the water. At this point the three of them ran off towards the car leaving us standing there and I then ran after them saying “look that bleedin' car is going nowhere – you need to come back and look after us and see us to the car's waiting for us”. One of the lads took our luggage and off we went. To go through the hall to where the cars were supposed to be but there was no drivers with our names there. I asked the porter lad whether he had a walkie talkie and he didn't and I told him he was going nowhere until someone came looking for him or the other porter came with the elderly lady in a push chair. Eventually he came out and now we had two SS porters. Neither had walkie talkies so I sent one back to explain to the ship that we were holding on to the other one until either cars showed up or someone from management came out to sort it out. During the intervening time whilst wifey guarded the young chap so he couldn't do a runner I went off to ask a taxi driver how much to the airport and he said a lot of stuff in Greek with just one word I understood which was “strike”. It transpires that today all the taxi drivers in Athens or in Greece are on strike and there is secondary action to stop all private drivers, presumably something SS's ground agents might have known. I then went up to a solitary van driver “how much to the airport and he said 300 euros “as all the taxis are on strike ….” and so I went back to join wifey. I was now feeling that I needed to not only look after us two but I couldn't abandon the elderly lady who was becoming distressed and was going to a hotel to await a later flight to Dubai and on to Oz. She was in a state of panic as she said she had no money as she was expecting SS to supply the transport and I promised her I wouldn't abandomn her and I'd see her safely to the hotel snd she'd be fine.

 

By now the Guest Relations lady - Samantha- was coming to look for and retrieve her boy and I asked where the cars were and she headed straight off to the cafeteria and found a chap who was having a ciggy, and a coffee and playing games on his phone. Evidently he was their ground agent and must have seen us waiting but simply decided to stay where he was. He started phoning and it was clear that there were either no ground arrangements made or they hadn't turned up and no one seemed overly bothered. He went over to the previously mentioned van driver and there was some haggling and the next we new he had been commandeered to take the lady to the hotel and us to the airport. So we thought. Before I let the ground agent go, I made him explain to the driver in Greek that he wasn't to abandon the lady on the pavement of the hotel but had to go and find a porter for her. “It is no problem sir” the agent said" because we are taking you to the hotel as well as it isn't far from the airport and you can make sure she gets a porter". I made it clear that we were not leaving the vehicle until we had been dumped outside Marco Polo departures. And so we left.

 

It was a pretty horrible ride with probably the slowest driver that Greece had ever produced with an incredible knack of working out which was the slowest lane to be in and always it seemed managing to catch every amber or red light. We arrrive and the usual BA bun fight checkin and eventually having been promoted to Queue Prefect on the flight embarkation ie sending all "pusher inners" to the back of the queue we made our way on!

 

Drunk some voddy and the lovely Rachel a Northern cabin crew girl was all chatty and asked if we'd enjoyed our stay in Athens and we said we'd been on a cruise. She asked where to and we said from Rome to Athens. She said “You don't work for Utility Warehouse do you? I was on a Rome flight a week ago and we were full of Utility Warehouse people and boy did they enjoy their flight …...” We said we weren't but they had also enjoyed themselves to the full on our cruise. She said “Oh, I know all about Utility Warehouse. My husband is a pilot and one of our friends is also a pilot and an agent for Utility Warehouse. Everyone avoids him now because whenever they see him he is always asking who their broadband and phone and electric companies are and never let's it go ...”

 

Anyway …... that was the story of our day. They say that travel broadens the mind but to be honest I think my mind has been broadened more than it need be and I am looking forward to a few quiet days. I might write a few more words about stuff as people ask or as I think of something funny to say. :)

 

You sure you're not making this up? No, you couldn't really I suppose!

Quite amazing, but never mind, Silversea gets $1 billion and they all get to keep their jobs. For now.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning All ..... and heartfelt thanks to all those welcome home sentiments. It was lovely to be back in our own bed.

 

I'd like to clear up and answer some of rather trolling comments made on other threads from posters who post against those expressing negative experiences about SS, which seems aimed particularly at Dave and myself. For some of the sentiments expressed you would need to believe the rather bizarre theory that I took my wife on this cruise and booked a further one in order to find fault with it and post negatively on CC.

 

Can I also just say clearly how much I admire Dave for basically outing what to me seems to have been an extremely shocking and almost (or maybe even is) criminal in nature by the very clear implication of blackmail to harm Dave's partner's professional career because of Dave's complaint by a very senior exec of SS who must have known that there was only one way that the threat/comment would have been interpreted. Hopefully the senior exec when he reads or hear of this will write to Dave and apologise if there has been a "misunderstanding" and Dave will post here to say so. Dave has done this at some risk to inform others how SS have behaved towards him and he should be admired and supported for doing so.

 

For my part no one on the ship made any contact to apologise to us, there has been no pro-active contact and indeed all of my communications to them have remained both unanswered and unacknowledged. I believe that if they plan to make contact that they decided to delay contact with me until after the cruise so that those who are angry do not communicate with each other whilst together.

 

The truth is that until now I had the sort of sentiment for SS I still feel for BA magnified because SS had been clients. The best way to describe it is a long-term affection and affinity tempered by a disappointment that the brand that I had loved and at one time worked with to progress, had been allowed to be compromised by what I believe was a need to over-feed an overly aggressive expansion plan. Instead of blossoming by enhancing the original ethos. It has essentially been in my opinion on a cash grabbing drive to fuel it's monthly cash flow needs.

 

There are two ways to expand in this situation. Organically as your existing loyal customer base grows more slowly whilst you maintain and improve quality - which means a reliance of slowly increasing number of highly loyal customers who in turn become brand ambassadors and bring their friends and anyone they reach on social media - or by trying to grab more customers which at this end of the mass-market inevitably mean moves down market. Perhaps the business was also being massaged for the pre-takeover due diligence work on the books. No one can say that selling group booking to Utility Warehouse was a wilful move up market. My motives when I am critical and when I help others to escalate their complaints stems therefore from a frustrated desire to shake the company into believing if it cannot do so through integrity alone that being bad at quality and CS is more costly than being good. In my consultancy days the product we (I) offered was telling clients either what they already knew and/or telling them things they didn't want to hear and that behaviour hasn't changed simply because I no longer consult. Tough love is often better for the child you genuinely love than un-questioning and uncritical indulgence. I am basically saddened by the progress from the original dream to where it now is and where it is heading and feel that I am in a sense showing greater loyalty by saying so..

Edited June 15, 2018 by UKCruiseJeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

We landed in Athens last night at 10:45p. Our hotel and Prestige Limousine had been in touch with us the day before to let us know the taxi strike had no impact on private drivers. However, once we cleared baggage claim, there were plenty of taxis available at the airport, so the strike certainly didn't last long.

 

Have a really great time ....... from Jeff and wifey ....:)

[MBP&O2/O]

The other side of the coin is that corporate knows best .. because they are blissfully unaware as no one has the bits to speak out of turn and thus reports are sanitised?

Example ...

 

From a fan and slightly adapted by UK Cop Humour...

 

In the beginning was The Vision,

and then came The Assumptions.

And The Assumptions were without form

and The Plan had no substance;

and the darkness was on the faces of the Police Constables,

and they spake unto their Sergeant saying;

"It is a crock of **** and it stinketh."

And the Sergeants went to their Inspectors and sayeth;

"It is a pail of dung and none may abide the odour thereof."

And the Inspectors went unto the Chief Inspectors and sayeth unto them;

"It is a container of excrement and it is very strong, such that none here may abide it."

And the Chief Inspectors went unto their Superintendants and sayeth unto them;

"It is a vessel of fertiliser and none may abide its strength."

And the Superintendants went unto their Assistant Chief Constable and sayeth unto him;

"It contains that which aid plant growth and is very strong."

And the Assistant Chief Constable went unto the Deputy Chief Constable and sayeth unto him;

"It promoteth growth and is very powerful."

And the Deputy Chief Constable went unto the Chief Constable and sayeth unto him;

"This powerful new plan will actively promote the growth and efficiency of our Police Service, and this area in particular."

And the Chief Constable looked upon The Plan,

and saw that it was good.

And The Plan became Policy.

 

 

Sent from the magic box!

[UKCruiseJeff]

I second Cam's thought. You can't make this stuff up!

 

Glad you are home after all of this. If I were you, I'd hide for a few days, and it would be a long while before I wanted my "horizons broadened" again!

 

PS - this is a good excuse to offer to buy you a drink in London in September!

 

Hi .. thanks!

 

I thought you had specifically arranged your dates because you knew wifey and I were in Vienna for a stelze-fest! :D

[Lois R]

We landed in Athens last night at 10:45p. Our hotel and Prestige Limousine had been in touch with us the day before to let us know the taxi strike had no impact on private drivers. However, once we cleared baggage claim, there were plenty of taxis available at the airport, so the strike certainly didn't last long.

 

Wishing you a wonderful cruise:)

[UKCruiseJeff]

The other side of the coin is that corporate knows best .. because they are blissfully unaware as no one has the bits to speak out of turn and thus reports are sanitised?

Sent from the magic box!

 

Interestingly Mike, the reason why I left the corporation and started the satisfaction consultancy was because I was working for one of the largest American corporations in the world who was seeing the customer satisfaction results improve annually at an inverse rate of market share loss. I concluded that the customer satisfaction data was being constructed so that the people giving the feedback to senior management were always telling them what they wished to hear and therefore remained popular. CS was also tended to be managed by relatively junior people whereas it should be the central driver of the business.

 

It became my firm belief therefore that CS must always be managed by an outside and independent consultancy and that if they became a major irritant to you when you when they fed back results then that was a reasonably good sign that they were effective and doing their job. We also mandated that we would only work with clients if the CEO agreed personally to receive the results directly from me and not via people in their own organisation. It was written into the consultancy contract of engagement. If they agreed to this and then this contact stopped we would discontinue the contract on the basis that they had breached the contract and were wasting their own money. That meant that there was no where to hide. That is why I said earlier that I was always tending to tell clients what they already knew and/or what they didn't wish to hear. A part of our process was that senior people were rewarded for customer feedback for the areas they controlled and so our clients developed customer-centric organisations in which customers were the drivers of the business.