Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Concierge Class Phone Call

spav01

By spav01,
in Celebrity Cruises

Recommended Posts

spav01

spav01

Posted
Posted

I received a phone call from Celebrity today. We're in Concierge Class on our upcoming Summit Cruise, and the nice lady on the other end of the line said that this was a new Concierge Class perk they are trying...precruise assistance with specialty restaurant reservations, excursions, or any other questions one might have.

 

I was given a number that I can call should I want their assistance with anything. OK, so it's not like they're giving me an extra OBC, but I was impressed, and I like this little added touch. Thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
curtsfan

curtsfan

Posted
Posted
I received a phone call from Celebrity today. We're in Concierge Class on our upcoming Summit Cruise, and the nice lady on the other end of the line said that this was a new Concierge Class perk they are trying...precruise assistance with specialty restaurant reservations, excursions, or any other questions one might have.

 

I was given a number that I can call should I want their assistance with anything. OK, so it's not like they're giving me an extra OBC, but I was impressed, and I like this little added touch. Thoughts?

 

My husband & I travelled CC on the Summit this past January, and we received a call as well. I think its a great little perk. If you have questions, or need assistance making reservations, they can help you. When is your cruise? We are sailing on the Solstice next Sunday CC, and I havent received a call yet. Have fun on your cruise.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bellybutton530

bellybutton530

Posted
Posted

I'm in the PH on Constellation on Nov 20th, and the Concierge contacted my TA and asked if I had any special requests or preferences. So I emailed a list of items to the TA to pass on to the Concierge.

 

This is wonderful. I think that knowing in advance that these things have been taken care of will only serve to enhance my enjoyment of my cruise. And since I am bringing 3 cruise virgins with me, I already have my hands full....:eek:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gimletgal

gimletgal

Posted
Posted
I received a phone call from Celebrity today. We're in Concierge Class on our upcoming Summit Cruise, and the nice lady on the other end of the line said that this was a new Concierge Class perk they are trying...precruise assistance with specialty restaurant reservations, excursions, or any other questions one might have.

 

I was given a number that I can call should I want their assistance with anything. OK, so it's not like they're giving me an extra OBC, but I was impressed, and I like this little added touch. Thoughts?

 

I received a call from the Concierge yesterday, as well. This is really a nice touch that Celebrity has added pre-cruise. It shows they are trying to make our voyages as "seamless" as possible. I have also been receiving calls after my cruises of late. And, I also received the special Cruise Concierge phone number - "just in case"! Agree wholeheartedly - a very nice touch. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Project_gal

Project_gal

Posted
Posted
After all it is called "Concierge" Class. I would expect that a Concierge would contact you sometime before the cruise--even at embarkation.

 

We were in Concierge Class on out first cruise in 2006 and never saw the concierge once. In fact we did not received many of the perks we expected but, of course, in those days we did not understand anything about cruising.

 

Sue

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mimito4

mimito4

Posted
Posted

I too received a call--we will be sailing Oct. 24 on Solstice. Unfortunately, there was only one thing I asked of him, and he wasn't able to do it.

 

One of the perks of booking with your platinum American Express is a complimentary dinner in one of the specialty restaurants. Well, you aren't able to book this on-line (apparently because it is a freebee), so I asked him to book it. Well, he couldn't either apparently. He "thought" that we had to book once we were onboard.

 

I found that strange and very "unconcierge-like." :(

 

Anyway, I then dropped my TA an e-mail asking her to book the dinner. She contacted X and found out that they would only book the reservations in advance if we paid, and then when we got onboard "we could get them to deduct it." Uhhhh, no thanks.

 

Why do they advertise the perks if they make it difficult to obtain them?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gimletgal

gimletgal

Posted
Posted
I too received a call--we will be sailing Oct. 24 on Solstice. Unfortunately, there was only one thing I asked of him, and he wasn't able to do it.

 

One of the perks of booking with your platinum American Express is a complimentary dinner in one of the specialty restaurants. Well, you aren't able to book this on-line (apparently because it is a freebee), so I asked him to book it. Well, he couldn't either apparently. He "thought" that we had to book once we were onboard.

 

I found that strange and very "unconcierge-like." :(

 

Anyway, I then dropped my TA an e-mail asking her to book the dinner. She contacted X and found out that they would only book the reservations in advance if we paid, and then when we got onboard "we could get them to deduct it." Uhhhh, no thanks.

 

Why do they advertise the perks if they make it difficult to obtain them?

 

One of the "perks" of being Elite is that you get 90 minutes of internet for free. What happens is this: You sign up for the internet, turn in your coupon, your account is charged, and then the charge is credited back to your account. It works just fine - you pay $0. I'm sure the specialty restaurant booking offer works in a similar way - probably has something to do with their accounting system. What's the big deal? Your're still receiving a free benefit even if you might not like the way they handle it. It is not "difficult" at all.

 

I have a feeling Celebrity is going to "rue the day" they started calling people pre-sailing with the Cruise Concierge program. There will be tons of requests for exceptions to the rule and then much angst when they cannot be acommodated in the exact manner the person receiving the call wishes. You know the old saying.........damned if you do, damned if you dont........

Link to comment
Share on other sites
spav01

spav01

Posted
  • Author
Posted

@bellybutton530: We're on the Summit out of San Juan.

@mimito4: We have the same situation with the complimentary dinner through Amex. I never thought about asking them for assitance, since Amex made it clear to us that we could only book the reservation once we were on board.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mimito4

mimito4

Posted
Posted

Thank you spav01. The problem is we were never told that by our TA. Now we know, and it's no biggie.

 

gimletgal, I doubt X will rue the day they offered the concierge call . . . at least not due to little ol' me. I'm the least high maintenance, although I fear you interpreted the opposite from my post. I accepted what I was told and that was it, although I did find it strange that something so simple can't be done, and I stated such. Isn't that the idea of having a concierge--doing the extras for those who book the category?

 

My apologies if I came across "too complainey." I thought the idea for Cruise Critic discussion board was to share what you know, so now if someone sees my post they now know about that particular AmEx perk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pattyj 1204

pattyj 1204

Posted
Posted

My husband signed us up for a CC cabin and didn't even know what was included.LOL He thought we could benefit from it. I think that internet service wasn't even mentioned by the person who booked our cabin. We aren't going until next Aug to Alaska so we have plenty of time to get this figured out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
itsanita Great Review Rare

itsanita

Posted
Posted

We leave in 2 days and are in CC, but did not get a phone call.... unless it was one of those 'toll free' calls I just ignored.

 

And I paid with my platinum American Express card but did not hear anything about a complimentary dinner in one of the specialty restaurants. How do you get this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mimito4

mimito4

Posted
Posted
And I paid with my platinum American Express card but did not hear anything about a complimentary dinner in one of the specialty restaurants. How do you get this?

 

Your TA should see to it that you got the AmEx platinum benefits. Those benefits vary by cruise line, itinerary and so on, but for Crystal, they include a 2 category upgrade (for instance I booked a C3 and got upgraded to C1 aft cabin), a premium bottle of champagne (this in addition to the one that comes with a concierge cabin), and a complimentary dinner for two at the specialty restaurant of choice. In addition, our TA got for us (or gave us, not sure which) a $100 OBC.

 

At the time we booked, these were our AmEx platinum benefit choices:

 

Here are the options for your platinum benefit offered with Celebrity:

 

2C upgrade to 2A- includes bottle of champagne and dinner for 2 at specialty rest.

 

C3 upgrade to C1- includes bottle of champagne and dinner of 2 at specialty rest.

 

buy C2 category and receive onboard credit of $100 per stateroom, bottle of champagne and dinner for two at specialty rest. (no upgrade included)

 

buy S1 category and receive onboard credit of $300 per stateroom, bottle of champagne and dinner for two at specialty rest. (no upgrade included)

 

Now, if you just reserved yourself via Celebrity, I don't know. Regardless, you should find out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CTKath

CTKath

Posted
Posted
Your TA should see to it that you got the AmEx platinum benefits. Those benefits vary by cruise line, itinerary and so on, but for Crystal, they include a 2 category upgrade (for instance I booked a C3 and got upgraded to C1 aft cabin), a premium bottle of champagne (this in addition to the one that comes with a concierge cabin), and a complimentary dinner for two at the specialty restaurant of choice. In addition, our TA got for us (or gave us, not sure which) a $100 OBC.

 

At the time we booked, these were our AmEx platinum benefit choices:

 

Here are the options for your platinum benefit offered with Celebrity:

 

2C upgrade to 2A- includes bottle of champagne and dinner for 2 at specialty rest.

 

C3 upgrade to C1- includes bottle of champagne and dinner of 2 at specialty rest.

 

buy C2 category and receive onboard credit of $100 per stateroom, bottle of champagne and dinner for two at specialty rest. (no upgrade included)

 

buy S1 category and receive onboard credit of $300 per stateroom, bottle of champagne and dinner for two at specialty rest. (no upgrade included)

 

Now, if you just reserved yourself via Celebrity, I don't know. Regardless, you should find out.

 

Wow! Thanks for all of this, I did not know. I'm going to use the Platinum Travel Agency to book, so I hope they will know!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...