Concierge lounge

What can/will the concierge in the lounge do for you? Will they make additional reservations in the specialty restaurants, and if so, when can they do that? thanx

When I was on the Riviera last year, the concierge was pretty useless. I'd ask him about dinner reservations and he told me where to find the reservation desk. From my observation, he mainly helped people with excursions.

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They vary in experience and skill level. We've been successful with dinner reservations. I've observed other passengers getting help with reservations off-ship.

Don't expect a "keeper of the keys." Same goes for the ersatz "sommeliers" onboard.

The Lounge will generally not get dinner reservations for you. The ships have become rather rigid in their specialties restaurant dinner reservations system. As has been repeated over and over on these Boards, on both the Marina and the Riveria, reservations for the specialties are either handled via your Butler or the special desk set up for that purpose on Deck 5 in the atrium.

One can book shore excursions there or get a host of other information and assistance.

Our concierge on the Marina in 2015 was wonderful about trying to get us last minute reservations at specialty restaurants. Guess it just varies from ship to ship or cruise to cruise.

From my experience, the concierge lounge/concierge does not hold much value. In my opinion, the true benefit in having a concierge cabin is early specialty restaurant reservation (before the cruise) and access to the spa area.

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From my experience, the concierge lounge/concierge does not hold much value. In my opinion, the true benefit in having a concierge cabin is early specialty restaurant reservation (before the cruise) and access to the spa area.

 

 

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I agree with this post. Concierge class allows you to pre book specialty restaurants earlier and you get a couple additional reservations. Not worth much. . Once on board you need to be in a suite for the concierge in the executive lounge to get extra same day reservations. Concierge class lounge does not facilitate extra same day reservations.

The most helpful person on the ship is the concierge sitting near the reception area. His services are available to all passengers and he will assist with private shore arrangements, on shore dining and transportation, transfers, etc. He will also facilitate communication with shoreside vendors and other passengers. He does not obtain onboard dining reservations.

In addition to having the ability to read current newspapers such as the WSJ or NY Times in the Concierge Lounge, where not available otherwise on the ship, there is still one big advantage to the Lounge for those needing such. We have found the internet service in the Lounge to be far superior to that of anywhere else aboard. Service can be near non-existent in one's cabin, or any of the public areas, but be blazing right along in the CL. So, if having that internet service is important to one, then paying for the Concierge upgrade can well be worth the expense alone.

We were in a suite and our butler took care of dining reservations so I had nothing to ask the man in the Exec. lounge for. I only went there when I wanted a cup of tea before a cooking class - before tea was served in Horizons. There were rarely more than 2-3 other people in the lounge. I think the lounge is wasted space really and Oceania should turn it (them) into inside cabins!

My experience has only been on Marina but I'd be surprised if it is all that different from Riviera. I DID see lots of people in the lounge at various times when I came through -- not always, but usually. I primarily used it for assistance from the concierge in setting up Meet & Greets, and occasionally hunting up a late afternoon snack when we'd missed lunch.

Not sure I agree about changing the lounge into inside cabins (!) but then, no one asked me ... and I wouldn't be upset if they did. While I appreciated its existence the few times when I used it, I wouldn't miss it terribly if it were gone.

Mura

We were in a suite and our butler took care of dining reservations so I had nothing to ask the man in the Exec. lounge for. I only went there when I wanted a cup of tea before a cooking class - before tea was served in Horizons. There were rarely more than 2-3 other people in the lounge. I think the lounge is wasted space really and Oceania should turn it (them) into inside cabins!

I could understand doing away with the Exec lounge for people that have a butler

The Concierge cabins do not have that option

Very true, Lyn. And for people not in a top suite who want to read the newspapers the lounge is a bonus. It has also been pointed out by others that internet speed is far superior in the two lounges.

Mura

There is a concierge in the lobby for anyone to use regardless of the cabin type you have.

Very true, but the hours are not 24/7 and there are other advantages to both lounges. It's not JUST the concierge service that people want to use.

When I have set up M&Gs on the "R" ships, I used the reception area concierge but on Marina I used the concierge in the executive lounge. The lounges on the bigger ships have snacks, newspapers, better internet reception, etc. More services are available. (Although NOT booking extra specialty restaurant reservations if that is what you want.)

The lounge service is more general than the reception area concierge can give which is NOT to say that he/she isn't helpful! I remember when we were in Sydney, Australia in 2008 on NAUTICA the reception area concierge made dinner reservations for us and strictly advised us NOT to go the restaurant at the port but instead go to the sister restaurant on the beach. What great advice that was!

Mura

I have found the concierge useless for additional dinner reservations. But if you want copies of a newspaper article or a page from a Lonely Planet guide, he/she will Xerox - if you can figure out their on duty hours. LP guides are stored in a locked cabinet which the concierge can loan out and those might aid your port plans.

Snacks and coffee/soda are available elsewhere on board - big whoop. The television blasts away at top volume. Old timers snore away in chairs, which is beyond me. Why take a cruise only to nap in a interior cabin? How can they sleep with the loud badgering on Fox?

Perhaps some folks enjoy a sense of "exclusivity" with lounge access. As lots of guests wander in & out of the room a sense of "specialness" evaporates very quickly.

After many sailings, I personally find both lounges and the concierge service unappealing and redundant to what is available elsewhere on board. But, hey, that's me. Your mileage may differ.

I find both lounges a waste of space. Plus, with the windows on the doors, passengers in lower category suites can look in but not access them. IMO, this promotes my thoughts of Oceania having a "class" system. Without these two lounges, the feel of the ship would be that of everyone being more equal. JOP (just our opinion).

I find the attitude that "since I don't use something, it is therefore useless and should be turned into XYZ" as rather flippant. So if one doesn't use the pool, it's useless, or how about that Spa, just add in more suites and shut it down? : I'm likewise amazed at all the people on this Board whose attitude is since they don't/won't use the casino, O should just shut it down also. If O didn't have cruisers that DO use the casino and financially support it, I'm sure they would do so on their own. But guess what, they're still open, so some guests differ with the shut down feelings (along with putting their money where their mouths are) that they remain!

Some people do use the facilities of the Concierge Lounge, which is not the Executive Lounge for PHers and above, but for those in Concierge suites that may have other needs. If you don't have a need or desire to use the facility fine, but don't suggest eliminating it for the others that do! :mad:

The Concierge Lounge is just one of several bonuses Oceania offers for Marina and Riveria cruises to sell a higher priced suite. I realize that some like Travelcat would be happier if any and all suites and amenities were eliminated and everyone had the same size cabins and all the same options. Well, that's not how Oceania, or most any other line chooses to market some of their upscale products. Get over it!

Travelcat would be happier if any and all suites and amenities were eliminated and everyone had the same size cabins and all the same options. Well, that's not how Oceania, or most any other line chooses to market some of their upscale products. Get over it!

Definitely do not wish that "everyone had the same size cabins and all the same options". Rather, the more you pay, the larger the cabin/suite and the more in-suite/cabin amenities that you have. However, once you walk out of the door of your suite or cabin, I am for everyone being treated equal (yes - upper suites get more dining reservations, etc. but this is not visible to others).

The two lounges, on the other hand, is allowing access to only some guests and has the windowed doors which seems to flaunt that fact even further. While I do see some benefit to the lounges, other cruise lines simply have a larger space with newspapers, coffee, food and a place to relax (and some are next to the internet area so the connectivity is great!). The big difference is that these spaces on other ships are available to all passengers. I find that these "special" areas for "certain" passengers are very common on mainstream cruise lines - not on ultra-premium or luxury cruise lines (speaking of Azamara, Viking Ocean, Crystal, Regent, Seabourn or Silversea).

Our only cruise in a concierge cabin was the result of a very reasonable upgrade. I would not pay a lot more for a concierge cabin since it is just a veranda cabin with perks of earlier sign up for the specialty dinners and the lounge. I used the lounge in the early morning for the faster computer speed, newspapers, and coffee but it is not that much better than going all the way upstairs and watching the sunrise (I am a very early riser) with your coffee and pastries. My 3 soccer mad relatives, however, enjoyed several world cup matches with a small loyal group in the concierge lounge (it included some Germans who explained the few things that were not clear from the action). They all felt it was worth the upgrade. On that particular cruise, it was a useful perk for all of us.

Just for clarification for everyone, concerning travelcat's comments:

The Concierge Lounge on the Marina and Riveria is on Deck 9. On this floor, except for a very few inside cabins, the entire floor is Concierge Suites, along with PH Suites, Vista Suites, and above. So those in regular cabins are not normally going to be just walking along to look into the Concierge Lounge, it's in a segregated part of the ship. With the highly discounted rate paid by those doing inside cabins, is anyone crying a bunch of tears if one from one of those 3-4 cabins walk by and see a different level of service provided then they receive? BOO-HOO! Those in standard veranda suites would probably never see the Concierge Lounge unless they went exploring the ship.

We had a A1 Concierge cabin once because we got a upsell from a ocean view cabin for 200 PP. The best thing was the veranda and the tote bag.

OMG not the class system again :eek:

Never seen people sleeping in the concierge lounge I am sure it happens

Must be all the lower class people that sleep in the library which I find more annoying

To each his/her own

not everyone can afford the top suites where they get special treatment

Just for clarification for everyone, concerning travelcat's comments:

 

The Concierge Lounge on the Marina and Riveria is on Deck 9. On this floor, except for a very few inside cabins, the entire floor is Concierge Suites, along with PH Suites, Vista Suites, and above. So those in regular cabins are not normally going to be just walking along to look into the Concierge Lounge, it's in a segregated part of the ship. With the highly discounted rate paid by those doing inside cabins, is anyone crying a bunch of tears if one from one of those 3-4 cabins walk by and see a different level of service provided then they receive? BOO-HOO! Those in standard veranda suites would probably never see the Concierge Lounge unless they went exploring the ship.

Doesn't everyone that is new to the Marina and/or Rivera explore the ship? That is one of the first things that we did on the Riviera on our first Oceania cruise. We were in a PH suite and certainly noticed the Executive Lounge (even though it was not on our deck). We also noticed the Concierge Lounge but we could not enter because our access was only for the Executive Lounge.

In any case this is simply my opinion. We know of several luxury cruisers that are looking at Oceania, Azamara and Viking Ocean. As mentioned previously, it is not a big deal when mainstream cruise passengers are moving up to Oceania as they are used to private areas. However, for luxury cruise passengers looking for a lower price point, but still desire luxury, Oceania's Marina and Riviera look great....... until you learn about the boarding process, the special lounges, etc. I like Oceania and feel that the product is more enticing without these noticeable special privileges.

I know from posts on this forum that Insignia has no concierge lounge, but does Nautica?