What are the Concierge's Duties?

[jorapp]

Got into a discussion with DH about Concierges, and it occurred to me I am not entirely sure what their duties are.

 

Other than making reservations and answering questions about the ship, what exactly should we expect them to be able to do? Do they all email each suite passenger before the cruise? If so, how far in advance? Once we get onboard, what should we expect from them?

 

Is there anything which is not within their scope of responsibility?

 

6 more days! :D;)

[12marshall]

this has been a huge discussion this week....most who and what they've done for people in the past.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1348665

 

basically your expectations are correct.

And other than that... they and their assistants will make you drinks and snacks from 5:30 to 8:00pm every evening and there is a continental breakfast as well.

[skeezix]

Just got off of the Oasis this past Sat. we were on the 1-29 sailing. We had an Aqua Theater suite, I was told that they would contact us after boarding to see if we needed anything and would help with specialty dining reservations etc. Please make your own reservations for the shows and dining. We never saw or heard form them until day 5! This was after we had several issues that had not been resolved for us. They did cintact us then, and made an effort to salvage what was left of our trip. We found the service area lacking on this ship, we got different anwers and most often heard from staff the words " I'm sorry!" We have sailed several times on Royal Caribbean and were disappointed this trip. There were alot of angry people on this cruise. You can really see the cutbacks as far as we can tell. I hope your trip goes well , we had fun dispite the issues. The first formal night is on Sunday, they offer free pressing of your formal clothes, I suggest you have 2nd seating for dinner if you want your clothes for formal night on time. They promise your clothes to you by 5pm , but we didn't get ours until 5:30pm , after my husband went down hunting for them, it made us miss our dinner in the dining room. I hope you have a great cruise, it's a beautiful ship and we loved our suite.

[Rancher Dave]

There is a variance between what we may expect and what services may be given...some concierges are better than others and get more done and do more to please the guests than others.

 

If you are nice to them, and they are among the majority who are really good, you can get all kinds of things to happen...then there are others who are treated well by passengers yet don't do things they should do...

[Merion_Mom]

this has been a huge discussion this week....most who and what they've done for people in the past.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1348665

 

basically your expectations are correct.

And other than that... they and their assistants will make you drinks and snacks from 5:30 to 8:00pm every evening and there is a continental breakfast as well.

 

Fortunately, it's usually 5:00 to 8:30. :)

[PSU]

We were in a Grand Suite on the 1/29 cruise on the Oasis and didn't have a problem with the concierge. Did you go in the lounge and ask Ricardo and Allan for assistance?

I did make all my reservations for entertainment before we got on the ship, but the concierge made reservations for dinner for us and many other people.

They also arranged for a bridge tour for us.

I am sorry that you feel that you didn't get help from the concierge.

There are over 80 suites on the Oasis, so it is very different from other ships. There are more demands for the concierge's assistance than on the Freedom or Explorer. That is why you can't wait to be asked.:)

[Debde]

It's not an easy job.Taking care of all suite and D+ guests can be overwhelming at times I think.

While on your cruise-they still have to worry about you and contacting the next cruise passengers with any requests they may have. No matter how you look at it-they have way too much passengers on the plate to take care of IMHO.

Personally-if RCCL wants to do this right-they should a have 3 concierge's at hand. One exclusively for D-one for D+ and one for suite guests. with cutbacks-we all know it will probably never happen.:(

[dorito6778]

ditto on not waiting. if you search on the boards, you can find email addresses for the concierges on some ships. i found mine and emailed them ahead of time. they responded quickly and said they would contact me one week prior to boarding, and i did. i'm confident had i not been aggressive about contacting them first, i wouldnt have received such a timely response.

 

be proactive! remember, you are paying for the experience. it cant hurt to do what you need to do to get the most out of it.

[jorapp]

We were in a Grand Suite on the 1/29 cruise on the Oasis and didn't have a problem with the concierge. Did you go in the lounge and ask Ricardo and Allan for assistance?

I did make all my reservations for entertainment before we got on the ship, but the concierge made reservations for dinner for us and many other people.

They also arranged for a bridge tour for us.

I am sorry that you feel that you didn't get help from the concierge.

There are over 80 suites on the Oasis, so it is very different from other ships. There are more demands for the concierge's assistance than on the Freedom or Explorer. That is why you can't wait to be asked.:)

 

I will search the boards for Israel's (I think :confused:) email, and contact him today.

Yep, that is the kind of thing I was looking for, not more feedback on attitude. You are right, that has been covered. I was looking for more info about duties/responsibilities and when I should expect to hear from our concierge for our cruise starting Sunday.

[RareBird]

we were on explorer in grand suite in December and Francis the concierge was amazing. got an email before the cruise. he arranged for table for two for us, and also arranged all the tours we wanted. he helped us get all the DVDs and bought more mid-cruise! He was always available for any issues. just awesome overall.

 

we're now booked in aft penthouse suite on NCL, and I can't imagine how this experience can be beat.

[jorapp]

So, I searched the forums looking for a list of current concierges with emails. Either I am too stoooopid :o( which is entirely possible), or it does not surface when searched.

 

Would someone please post the email for Voyager's concierge?

Thanks bunches.:p

[land lover]

ditto on not waiting. if you search on the boards, you can find email addresses for the concierges on some ships. i found mine and emailed them ahead of time. they responded quickly and said they would contact me one week prior to boarding, and i did. i'm confident had i not been aggressive about contacting them first, i wouldnt have received such a timely response.

 

be proactive! remember, you are paying for the experience. it cant hurt to do what you need to do to get the most out of it.

 

 

I totally agree, no 2 sailings will ever be alike. Veteran cruisers should know this.

[Adammara]

Recently off Independence, and had an email from the concierge a few days before we sailed. We had already requested a table for two, and just asked the concierge to confirm our request. We had an email back All room arrangements have already been accommodated so no need to worry about those!

We always check our table out on boarding, and found out that we had been assigned a table for six! So much for the suite seating preferences! Another couple we met on a previous cruise also had the same experience!

I must say the concierge did his best to accommodate us, and eventually were were put on 'My time dining' which was offiically 'Full'. On the second night there were no tables for two available, so we teamed up with the other couple and had a table for 4 that night. We got on very well, and ate together for the rest of the cruise, same time, same waiters every night. So all turned out well in the end!

Richard.

 

 

[ahornb]

Just got off of the Oasis this past Sat. we were on the 1-29 sailing. We had an Aqua Theater suite, I was told that they would contact us after boarding to see if we needed anything and would help with specialty dining reservations etc. Please make your own reservations for the shows and dining. We never saw or heard form them until day 5! This was after we had several issues that had not been resolved for us. They did cintact us then, and made an effort to salvage what was left of our trip. We found the service area lacking on this ship, we got different anwers and most often heard from staff the words " I'm sorry!" We have sailed several times on Royal Caribbean and were disappointed this trip. There were alot of angry people on this cruise. You can really see the cutbacks as far as we can tell. I hope your trip goes well , we had fun dispite the issues. The first formal night is on Sunday, they offer free pressing of your formal clothes, I suggest you have 2nd seating for dinner if you want your clothes for formal night on time. They promise your clothes to you by 5pm , but we didn't get ours until 5:30pm , after my husband went down hunting for them, it made us miss our dinner in the dining room. I hope you have a great cruise, it's a beautiful ship and we loved our suite.

 

We were in a Grand Suite on the 1/29 cruise on the Oasis and didn't have a problem with the concierge. Did you go in the lounge and ask Ricardo and Allan for assistance?

I did make all my reservations for entertainment before we got on the ship, but the concierge made reservations for dinner for us and many other people.

They also arranged for a bridge tour for us.

I am sorry that you feel that you didn't get help from the concierge.

There are over 80 suites on the Oasis, so it is very different from other ships. There are more demands for the concierge's assistance than on the Freedom or Explorer. That is why you can't wait to be asked.:)

 

I also had an awesome experience with the Concierges aboard Oasis. We were in a Sky Loft suite last March. We had lots of correspondence pre-cruise and lots of help with shows and bridge tour while on board.

 

We went to Concierge lounge at least once or twice daily. That may have made the difference.

[Janice M]

I will search the boards for Israel's (I think :confused:) email, and contact him today.

Yep, that is the kind of thing I was looking for, not more feedback on attitude. You are right, that has been covered. I was looking for more info about duties/responsibilities and when I should expect to hear from our concierge for our cruise starting Sunday.

 

We just got off the Voyager last Sunday and Israel was leaving for vacation.

 

Jan

[Tamerella]

We were in a Crown Loft Suite on 1/29 Oasis. We never received a call from the concierge upon boarding. Allan, in the CL, was friendly and always said hello when we went in there. I also thought Charmaine, the Diamond Concierge was wonderful. I had a slight issue with the tux discount (Diamond+ coupon) and she made certain it was taken care of.

[CAT GIRL]

We were in a Crown Loft Suite on 1/29 Oasis. We never received a call from the concierge upon boarding. Allan, in the CL, was friendly and always said hello when we went in there. I also thought Charmaine, the Diamond Concierge was wonderful. I had a slight issue with the tux discount (Diamond+ coupon) and she made certain it was taken care of.

 

Just curious, on the Oasis and Allure, for those in the upper suites

(Crown lofts and Aquas) do you have a separate lounge area up

there by your rooms? Or do you use the main CL that the other

people in the GS and OS's use. For some reason I though you had

a different lounge area and perhaps your own concierge?

[jorapp]

We just got off the Voyager last Sunday and Israel was leaving for vacation.

 

Jan

 

Anyone know how long he will be gone, and who is replacing him?

[Tamerella]

Just curious, on the Oasis and Allure, for those in the upper suites

(Crown lofts and Aquas) do you have a separate lounge area up

there by your rooms? Or do you use the main CL that the other

people in the GS and OS's use. For some reason I though you had

a different lounge area and perhaps your own concierge?

 

We used the main CL. There is a "Pinnacle Lounge" just outside the Loft Suites hallway on Deck 17...but it was locked during the day. In the evenings, they used it for "Private Functions" and I also heard that it is used as the "Cigar Lounge" in the evenings.

[ksmcali]

We just got off the Voyager last Sunday and Israel was leaving for vacation.

 

Jan

 

Hi Jan,

 

I noticed you are recently off the Voyager. I think Israel is on vacation for 7 weeks then returning to the Voyager. We're sailing in April, so he should be back by then.

 

I was wondering if he emailed you ahead of the cruise. We're traveling with our 3 yo DD and would like to make reservations at Portofino's for one of the formal nights. Because our daughter will be joining us, we can't make reservations online (children must dine before 7 in the specialty restaurants, and can only be reserved on the ship). I was hoping he could take care of this for us ahead of boarding. I thought I would just follow-up with him about it after he emailed us.