Aggie71

We have always enjoyed Francis. It's a good reason for us to try to catch Radiance again!

I thought Allan Fajardo was back on Oasis. I saw him in a picture taken by a facebook friend at the end of July.

Thank you, I don't know why I never saw those tabs!

Thanks, it has been updated since I looked at it a couple days ago.

Am I missing something or is this a list for the concierge lounge only & nothing for the diamond lounge?

Allan was on Oasis two weeks ago. Excellent concierge.:)

Yes, we enjoy him as well.

Who is working with him?

Do you know who is in the diamond lounge?

Thanks.

Is JD on vacation from Anthem? When will he be back? Or is there a new concierge?

And where is Reyno?

Since Israel left, is Allan still on Oasis?

We took the TA on Serenade, Mario was back onboard but working in Diamond lounge training Francisco, a very nice guy. After the TA, Mario was moving back to the concierge & Francisco was on his own. They were expecting a tremendous # of D, D+, & Pinnacles for the next several cruises. The guy who had been working concierge, Gamma from Mexico, was not well-received because he didn't seem to like the job or even want it.

Who was the concierge on Radiance?

We qualify for both lounges & usually go to the Diamond lounge for cocktails & also for assistance when needed

QN_Concierge01@rccl.com

Reyno is 01 & Mario is 02.....

Agree with Gina, if you don't know how to edit Google doc., please just ask one of us to.

 

This is an easy Google spread sheet to updata -- Kudos to the creator -- better than one when we were paying a consultant to do (she can't put together a website either) even though she charges lots of $$ for both services.

Since I have never tried to edit the spreadsheet I didn't even try. I will leave it to the experts to update with my Oasis info.

Here's the current concierge list in case anyone is looking for it. It might be a good idea for those who don't know how to edit to not try to do so. I've noticed odd things written, deleted, or random columns added. If you know current concierge information, just leave the information here and someone who knows how to edit will do it. Thanks.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hKBiGZ9Gqcp2G2owtX3RyQy7yQ0ijgxCL0nPjQKK8j4/edit?pli=1#gid=0

We just did the Oasis TA to Barcelona Sept 1 & both Israel & Allan were onboard. Allan said he will be on vacation starting Sept 20, after cruises out of Barcelona. Can't verify if that happened, but he was very sure of his vacation time.

Also, the diamond concierge is new, a very very nice guy, Ed Calub Jorda. He said he will be onboard for the Oct 14/15 crossing.

Does anyone know who will be the concierge and DL concierge will be on the Quantum?

Mario from Serenade personally told me he will be on Quantum as concierge.

A cruise friend on Navigator is using the Diamond lounge. Says she finds Nadja very unfriendly. I have not met her, anything I should know before next week? I know Ricardo if he is in the concierge but I have heard he has been ill.

Yes, Mario deserves the best!

heard that Serenade's concierge posted on facebook that he's going to be the concierge on Quantum.

You mean Mario? We were with him in Dec & he didn't mention it, but that is a long time ago.

There are lots of travel agents on this board, and on this thread. Perhaps one or more of them will chip in with this information.

 

(that's exactly what I thought)

 

And, while it is true that the standard RC invoice does not break out cruise fare/non-commissioned fare, I often receive the TA invoice which DOES. I don't know why, but I do. :)

I also get the break down when I use an agent. It could be so we see where our money is going, also maybe they are showing me what part of the fare they do not get paid for....I'm not saying it in a bad way, we don't realize that the port charges are non-commission as said above, the tax is non-commission, & so are air, transfers, etc. It adds up! Sometimes half of the "fees" & etc that make up the total are no commission.

There is some confusion with terminology.

I called & what someone here called "non-commissionable" is port charges. They are in the cruise fare. So, if the cruise fare on a 7 night cruise on Oasis is 800, part of that is the $175 non-commissionable port charges. The taxes & fees are itemized separately.

On our TA crossing the port charges are $220 for one of them & $240 on the other.

I was told that if we make a change on an existing "single" occupancy booking they are going to adjust the price to what we want (maybe lower, maybe just a category change) & at the same time they will update the new port charge/non-commissionable policy.

Yikes!

"I will call shenanigans; never in my life have I been compelled to pay double taxes for anything. I highly doubt the cruiseline is going to charge 1 person taxes for two; how would that even work? This is not "kill the messenger" but I think maybe you are misinterpreting something or were told something incorrect and are passing it on. I don't fault you for sharing what you believe to be the latest information, but it just doesn't seem plausible."

Sorry, but I have the invoice & it was not done on the website. I didn't believe it either then called back & got the same answer from another agent. They are doubling the port charges (which are included in the cruise fare) & not doubling the tax. Only the port charges. But on a 7 night Caribbean cruise that is $175 that a single will be now paying twice.

Call RCCL & ask. When they send you an invoice for booking directly through them they do not break out the port charges, those are included in the "cruise fare." But in the past you would have noticed that if the fare was $500, you did not pay $1000. When it was 200% you were paying $500 + $325 for a total of $825, not $1000. Now you pay $1000. Just ask if there has been a change. I was shocked.

It is my opinion that this is a glitch in the website "improvements". Clearly one person does not pay two sets of taxes and fees. Those are PER PERSON charges. It is simply not showing up properly on the website.

Yes, it is a new charge they are doing since last weekend. I tried to make a booking yesterday, spoke to 2 different agents at RCCL & that is how I found out. I did my calculations before I called & their total did not match mine, that is how we found out about the new policy. It is true. I don't get it myself, are port charges for the entire ship & divided by cabins or people? Or is it however the cruise line elects to do it?

I have mixed feelings on all this, but in the end the cruise line decides as they do on everything else. It's not to please guests it's an economic issue.

We fly to every cruise, adding that expense. So we pick & choose wisely.

Please don't shoot the messenger, just offering some facts.

Solo travelers never "really" paid 200%. They paid 1 port charge, 1 tax, & up to 200% on the cruise portion only. The 1 person then received the same shipboard credit if they booked onboard or had a shareholder benefit as the 2 people in the double cabin had to share. If the single person qualified for a balcony discount then they had the same credit that the 2 people had in the double cabin. Same with the amenities that were earned. And, if the single was lucky enough to have cruised 50 times (or over 349 days) their cruise portion of the charges was never more than 150%.

So, I can say when we booked a 15 night transatlantic & paid $649 for a balcony, it would have been cheaper to book 2 cabins but we did not do that. We should have but it seemed like the wrong thing to do to take up 2 cabins. However having 2 onboard credits of $200, 2 balcony discounts, & so on would really have made a difference.

I know this isn't always how it works out for singles, but I'm just saying there are some deals to be had for a single rate.

Now for a bad piece of news. I just found out today that when RCCL closed down the etire reservation system over the weekend they also changed things. Now the single must pay port charges for both guests! So they get extra points but now they pay more. Under those circumstances how many couples will want to book 2 cabins? The math will have to be done for anyone to figure this out & to personally know if it benefits them for $ saved or for the goal of more points.

Yes, Sebastian said Lucca would be back for the TA. So will the regular diamond concierge. Both of the current concierges will be gone. Sebastian came from Navigator on short notice, so maybe he will go back there.

Has anyone heard how many Pinnacle & D+ will be onboard? Last year on Voyager there were so many that we took the entire Viking Crown including what would be the 19th Hole (but on Mariner is the Diamond lounge). The Diamonds were in the card room & room next to that.

We knew the concierge well when Mariner was in LA.

We recently met Sebastian & he was very nice & friendly. We've never met Lucca but look forward to doing so. The Diamond concierge was also friendly but we did not get to know him at all as he was very busy. Both will be gone for the TA.

Sorry I haven't read this entire thread, but have read the last several pages. When we were on Jewel in Jan '12 we had the best concierge ever, Nedere. I do not see her name anywhere. Does anyone have any info??? Thanks!

If you go to the deck plans for 13-Apr-2013 to 28-Apr-2014 http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/ship/decks/deck/home.do?deckCode=MR&shipCode=EN&shipProfile=1508&sailDate=1130413&hasNavigation=false you will see they show the DL on deck 6 at the back of the spotlight lounge. The CL is shown on deck 11 in a corner of the Viking Crown Lounge. Big mistake as I see it. That is the nicest CL in the fleet where it is now. In the VCL it will be subjected to smoke coming over the office cubicle walls. :(

 

Gina

We were on Rhapsody recently & it never had a concierge or D concierge. But it is exactly as you describe. The D lounge is at the back of the lounge on deck 6 & the concierge is up in the Viking Crown. We could have gone to either but preferred the D lounge which had a better view & setup. Some of the drawbacks: in both lounges the bar staff has to go outside the lounge to get drinks. There is little counter space, but you'd think they could at least have room for wine & champagne to do refills. The concierge up on 11 ruined the Viking Crown. Smoke did come in, also a lot of noise. Also it is long & skinny & 2 levels, not very conducive to meeting people & sharing tables. The chairs are like little kid chairs, not comfortable. Because so much seating space is lost in the Viking Crown it also has some of these little chairs around the dance floor area. The upper area of the lounge used to be seating & overflow but now it's Izumi. Too bad that area didn't become the concierge, at least it's flat. Oh, when they have a church service in the lounge on 6 you are in a fix to get to the diamond lounge....when we were on the ship they had a service almost every day.

I've had one of those cabins. Enjoyed it. Good location. The balcony was a bit smaller because of the area "cut out." Better than being right next to the "bump" & not being able to look in that direction.