Clueless

[PaulaJK]

SS Spirit gave late notice ( 2 days pre boarding in CPT) that they would debark all pax in small Mahe. SS chose to cancel the Mahe- Dubai segment to add to the geopolitical-based cancellation of the following segment. This caused problems for many a pax as well as economic issues ( Those who booked air independently now had to rebook or purchase new tickets from this  different region. And stay inna hotel until they could fly.) Today they sent a questionnaire about your on board experience, including the cancelled cruise..really? There is something amiss w SS…also refkected in several onboard experiences.

[Gourmet Gal]

Can you please elaborate regarding onboard experiences?  I’ll be boarding in May.

[southerngoose]

How can they just dump you at another port and say "figure it out"?   I mean, if they told me to get off in Paris instead of London, I could figure that out.   But leaving you in Mahe instead of Dubai?   Depending on when the planned departure from Dubai, maybe you could fly Mahe to Dubai.   But hey...why doesn't Silversea fly you Mahe to Dubai since they dumped you in Mahe.   Don't they have an obligation to get you to the place where they promised to get you?   I mean, the airlines will make an effort to get you to your ticketed destination.   I don't know how a cruise line doesn't have an obligation to get you to the destination.   Plus, there's the loss of the cruise that you paid for... But if they could at least get you to where you need to be on the proper day without extra cost, that would be nice.

[Silver Spectre]

1 hour ago, southerngoose said:

How can they just dump you at another port and say "figure it out"?   I mean, if they told me to get off in Paris instead of London, I could figure that out.   But leaving you in Mahe instead of Dubai?   Depending on when the planned departure from Dubai, maybe you could fly Mahe to Dubai.   But hey...why doesn't Silversea fly you Mahe to Dubai since they dumped you in Mahe.   Don't they have an obligation to get you to the place where they promised to get you?   I mean, the airlines will make an effort to get you to your ticketed destination.   I don't know how a cruise line doesn't have an obligation to get you to the destination.   Plus, there's the loss of the cruise that you paid for... But if they could at least get you to where you need to be on the proper day without extra cost, that would be nice.

That only works if you booked air with them. If you only booked the cruise then they apparently don’t care or feel they are under any obligations other than to pay for a small rowing boat or maybe an economy flight that doesn’t exist.

[PaulaJK]

SS did not provide any compensation for our Mahe hotel nights (  required by flight availability) nor our significantly increased airfare since Qatar Air leaned on a geographic area. We hd booked 2 segments, one door to door but not the air, caveat emptor.

[PaulaJK]

The Mahe - Dubai segment did not sail and thus, was refunded.

[ging466]

It was a total ***** show for many people.. I booked D2D so I was looked after by SS. It costs me more to do D2D but this is the second time that a cruise was screwed up and SS had to get me home.

 

So sorry Paula that you had such a crap experience.

 

Cheers

Jennifer

 

 

[Aussieflyer]

What about your travel insurance - will that cover the additional costs (assuming you generally have to pay for amended arrangements first).?

[Silver Spectre]

If the cruise line aborts the cruise then they should be responsible for getting people home. SS have failed their guests who didn’t book D2D.

[Dolcevita Diva]

19 hours ago, southerngoose said:

How can they just dump you at another port and say "figure it out"?   I mean, if they told me to get off in Paris instead of London, I could figure that out.   But leaving you in Mahe instead of Dubai?   Depending on when the planned departure from Dubai, maybe you could fly Mahe to Dubai.   But hey...why doesn't Silversea fly you Mahe to Dubai since they dumped you in Mahe.   Don't they have an obligation to get you to the place where they promised to get you?   I mean, the airlines will make an effort to get you to your ticketed destination.   I don't know how a cruise line doesn't have an obligation to get you to the destination.   Plus, there's the loss of the cruise that you paid for... But if they could at least get you to where you need to be on the proper day without extra cost, that would be nice.

100%.  Since they chose to end the cruise and dump passengers in Mahe, they could/should have chartered flights to Dubai or another major hub to make it easier for all passengers to then rearrange their onward flights home. 

[southerngoose]

To me, port to port means you get me back to the port that you told me you would.   Meaning, in this case, get my butt to Dubai.   This wasn't a "port to wherever" fare.   I don't expect them to get me home, but get me to the port that I expected to be at (or worst case, get me to a larger airport).  

 

Also, whoever decided that it was a good idea to debark in Mahe should have figured out that there weren't enough hotel rooms and to let people stay on the ship vs telling some people one thing and other people another.

[southerngoose]

Could I ask (just for my future reference, in case I get in this situation) - if notice was provided 2 days before starting, could I just call my travel agent and ask them to help me book a new flight (or convince Silversea to do the right thing and do that)?    Or is this logistically not possible?   

 

I ask because I usually book my own stuff, but have been using an agent recently.   I have used an agent before, but haven't had difficult situations like this before.   On my last trip, I did ask them to rebook a flight because I was unhappy with a 6am departure and asked them to rebook for later in the day.   I think that it took 3 days to work that out, but we had a week's notice so it was fine.   I had the "24 hr what's app" line, but it seems that they are the message service and contact the agent.   My agent was in Florida and I was in Finland so we clearly had some timezone challenges that likely was the cause of the delay.   

 

I'll ask my own agent about this but I'm wondering if the people involved in this situation called their agent or did it themselves or?   I know that when my flight was cancelled, I didn't bother calling the agent because the problem was within 24 hrs and I chased the two airlines involved myself, but that was a far simpler case than being dumped in the wrong country.

[highplanesdrifters]

@PaulaJK

 

Thanks for your report.  Did Silversea do anything for you?  Did they at least find you a hotel or offer guidance? FCC?  Thanks.

[PaulaJK]

SS was having trouble rebooking air for its own ( i.e. people whose air they had supplied).

I spoke w a few pax who now had very convoluted routing back home. Many were not leaving Mahe for one to a few days and had to be placed in hotels. At some point  SS decided to keep Spirit at anchor off Mahe for 3 days w about 100 on board w truncated programs.

Their initial letter offered a FCC..not certain but I think that was available just until 2/29/24.

 

To have been taken to Dubai would have markedly improved things, meaning just change outbound air without enormous new fees. We were in CapeTown when we received the notice so did not explore cancellation options.

[ging466]

On 3/22/2024 at 11:31 PM, PaulaJK said:

SS was having trouble rebooking air for its own ( i.e. people whose air they had supplied).

I spoke w a few pax who now had very convoluted routing back home. Many were not leaving Mahe for one to a few days and had to be placed in hotels. At some point  SS decided to keep Spirit at anchor off Mahe for 3 days w about 100 on board w truncated programs.

Their initial letter offered a FCC..not certain but I think that was available just until 2/29/24.

 

To have been taken to Dubai would have markedly improved things, meaning just change outbound air without enormous new fees. We were in CapeTown when we received the notice so did not explore cancellation options.

 

There was a 20% discount offered when booking your next cruise and that had to be booked by 29 February. I struggled to find something because the internet was so slow so gave up and lost that option and thought no more about it. When I got home, I spoke to my SS consultant and he said the date had been extended to 31 March so had time to find a cruise to book but I missed out on the extra onboard 5% saving.

 

It sure would have been nice to have been told that 31 March was the new cut off date.

 

I give up on the way SS communicates with its 'esteemed guests'

 

Cheers

Jennifer