One-touch telephone concierge service?

[Appygirl]

Our cabin on the Zaandam lists one-touch telephone concierge service as a benefit with the stateroom and I'm trying to figure this one out.

 

We're not the type of people who would normally call for room service, nor do we make reservations for the MDR and we don't eat in the specialty restaurants. And if we did we could call directly. I might book a massage but I think I could arrange that directly with the spa rather than using a middleman.

 

Nor do we have many requests when we cruise. At least nothing that the cabin steward can't handle like an extra garbage bag. Though this particular cruise we have pre-booked for unlimited laundry though from what I understand the steward will pick up the laundry and drop it off later.

 

I'm not quite sure what the purpose of this service is. Am I right in thinking just a glorified middle man?

[English_in_Spain]

We were on the Noordam for 35 days and didn't use the telephone concierge once.

 

Mind you, when we are in a Suite (on any cruise line), we rarely use the Suite Concierge.

 

We always find it easy enough to make our reservations ourselves and to deal with Guest Services/Front Desk for other queries.

 

[fleckle]

Our cabin on the Zaandam lists one-touch telephone concierge service as a benefit with the stateroom and I'm trying to figure this one out.

It gives them one more item to put on the list of perks for booking that category, an attempt to make us feel that we are getting special treatment.

 

Without one-touch telephone access, we would need to dial an extension number to reach the concierge! :eek:

[Krazy Kruizers]

You are right -- most people don't use the one-touch concierge service.

But if something happens -- you know that you can quickly get in touch with someone.

We stay in either a PS or SA and make all our own speciality restaurant reservations our selves.

[VioletHorse]

We used the telephone concierge on the Zaandam several years ago. Although we basically are DIY also, in this instance a funky, musty smell invaded our room so we called the concierge to report it.

 

We went to the Lido for a quick lunch, and when we returned, the odor was gone and the air was fresh (someone had been there as a few things in the room were rearranged), and the phone was ringing. The concierge was calling back to see if the problem had been resolved to our satisfaction. It was less than 20 minutes from the time of the initial call to "problem solved".

 

This was in stark contrast to our experience on the Noordam, when the floor drain in our HC OV bathroom plugged, and caused the water from the shower to run into the stateroom. We called the front desk, and it took 45 minutes for a crewman to appear at our door to fix it. There was no follow up phone call, and we were left to mop up the mess ourselves.

 

IMO, the telephone concierge can expedite your request in a way that you can't and will make sure that it gets done in a timely fashion.

[Jade13]

Our cabin on the Zaandam lists one-touch telephone concierge service as a benefit with the stateroom and I'm trying to figure this one out.

 

I'm not quite sure what the purpose of this service is. Am I right in thinking just a glorified middle man?

 

You can call and have a copy of your folio (account) brought to you without having to stand at the front desk.

 

On the shorter cruises these lines can be very long, but on our 22 night repositioning cruise I could go by the front desk and there was no line so no issue.

[sail7seas]

One thing you might find handy is if you need your cabin steward or housekeeping for something, the concierge can probably reach them easier and faster than you. If you need something while the stewards are on their break, concierge is a good place to turn to for help.

 

[scamper]

Always use the concierge for anything I can think of, although with few exceptions I generally see them all the time in the Neptune Lounge. Beats standing in line at the desk. And they usually follow up in person if I have any problems that need addressing. If you pay for them, use them.

[RuthC]

I had access to the one-touch concierge when I was upgraded to a balcony cabin on the Prinsendam. I only used it once, when I needed glassware, ice, and some nibblies for a bit of entertaining. For anything else, such as the things you listed, it was just as easy to "go to the source".

When making Pinnacle reservations, I like to have the opportunity for the back-and-forth if I can't get my first choice; you can't do that when going through the concierge. Same thing with spa/salon appointments.

And there's never a wait at the Front Desk on the Prinsendam! That personal interaction is worth the short walk down.

[sail7seas]

Always use the concierge for anything I can think of, although with few exceptions I generally see them all the time in the Neptune Lounge. Beats standing in line at the desk. And they usually follow up in person if I have any problems that need addressing. If you pay for them, use them.

 

 

Yes, we also go to the Concierge in Neptune but in addition to Neptune Concierge, HAL has a telephone concierge service for guests in certain cabin categories that do not have Neptune Privileges.

 

Those concierges are only reachable by telephone and take care of guests in the balcony cabins in categories at lower cost than "S" - "PS" and the various deluxe veranda suite categories.

 

If you are in a Neptune Lounge eligible cabin and need help when Neptune is closed, you can call these telephone concierges for assistance.

 

[Appygirl]

Thanks everyone. I think I see the picture that the main thing the phone concierge service would be good for is if something is happening in our cabin that we want fixed asap - toilet, clogged drain, etc.

 

I was on the Zuiderdam a month ago with my father and I had a glass of ginger ale on the table. My father walked past the table and accidentally knocked the glass. It fell onto the carpeted floor and to my amazement actually broke. Cheap glass? My past experience is when a glass drops on carpet it usually doesn't break, just spills the contents. Anyway I picked up as much glass as I could but there were lots of tiny shards. Then I put a towel over the area. I phoned housekeeping to let them know. I'd say this was early afternoon 1 or 2 pm when stewards on break. Ginger ale is not going to stain the carpet so I guess they figured it was no emergency. I ran into our steward as we were heading out to dinner and told him and he said he'd already been alerted and it was cleaned up by the time we got back to our cabin.

 

I wonder if it might have been cleaned up sooner if the concierge had been alerted.

[sail7seas]

Probably not.

The stewards need at least a brief break.

It was not an emergency such as flooding toilet which required immediate attention. You handled the situation fine. You covered the glass and were aware to not walk barefoot so no risk to any occupants in the cabin. I would not have had an issue the way HAL handled it but I know the seeing the towel on the floor may have been annoying.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We used the telephone concierge on the Zaandam several years ago. Although we basically are DIY also, in this instance a funky, musty smell invaded our room so we called the concierge to report it.

 

We went to the Lido for a quick lunch, and when we returned, the odor was gone and the air was fresh (someone had been there as a few things in the room were rearranged), and the phone was ringing. The concierge was calling back to see if the problem had been resolved to our satisfaction. It was less than 20 minutes from the time of the initial call to "problem solved".

 

This was in stark contrast to our experience on the Noordam, when the floor drain in our HC OV bathroom plugged, and caused the water from the shower to run into the stateroom. We called the front desk, and it took 45 minutes for a crewman to appear at our door to fix it. There was no follow up phone call, and we were left to mop up the mess ourselves.

 

IMO, the telephone concierge can expedite your request in a way that you can't and will make sure that it gets done in a timely fashion.

 

That wasn't good!!

Hope you wrote up the incident on your comment card at the end of the cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks everyone. I think I see the picture that the main thing the phone concierge service would be good for is if something is happening in our cabin that we want fixed asap - toilet, clogged drain, etc.

 

I was on the Zuiderdam a month ago with my father and I had a glass of ginger ale on the table. My father walked past the table and accidentally knocked the glass. It fell onto the carpeted floor and to my amazement actually broke. Cheap glass? My past experience is when a glass drops on carpet it usually doesn't break, just spills the contents. Anyway I picked up as much glass as I could but there were lots of tiny shards. Then I put a towel over the area. I phoned housekeeping to let them know. I'd say this was early afternoon 1 or 2 pm when stewards on break. Ginger ale is not going to stain the carpet so I guess they figured it was no emergency. I ran into our steward as we were heading out to dinner and told him and he said he'd already been alerted and it was cleaned up by the time we got back to our cabin.

 

I wonder if it might have been cleaned up sooner if the concierge had been alerted.

 

Maybe -- maybe not.

Did you mention that besides the spilled ginger ale on the carpet, that there were shards of broken glass on the rug?

[VioletHorse]

That wasn't good!!

 

Hope you wrote up the incident on your comment card at the end of the cruise.

 

We did! That HC room was a hot mess. Furniture and wall trims were really in sorry shape due to collisions with assorted assistive devices. I was constantly getting my clothing snagged when I sat down at the desk.

 

We did not require an HC room but got it when we booked a guarantee.

 

Both my late parents were HC so I can appreciate the wear and tear on furnishings, walls and floors from wheelchairs, scooters and walkers -it happens. HAL should have kept that room in tip top shape and inspect and repair that type of damage on a weekly basis. HC cruisers deserve it.

[Appygirl]

No, I didn't write it up on my card at the end of the cruise.

 

Yes, housekeeping was aware there was broken glass in the room. I was just surprised they don't have on call staff to take care of incidents when stewards are on breaks.

 

I put a towel over the area and we all wore shoes so there was no danger. And no it didn't really bother me that there was a towel on the floor. It was by the table, between the couch and bed. Didn't obstruct going to the balcony if we wanted. And its not like we were in the room the whole afternoon.

 

I'm reminded of a time when I was a teenager and my father brought us to NYC during a business trip. A group of about 10 or 12. One of the men dropped a bottle of rum (I think) on a rug at the Pierre Hotel while we were checking in. It shattered. And it stayed there for a long time. Housekeeping wouldn't clean it because it happened in the lobby where they're not responsible. The bellhops refused to clean it, and so on and so forth. There are several unions in this hotel - or at least at that time - and 45 minutes after the bottle broke the shop stewards called an emergency meeting to try to figure out whose contract said they were responsible for cleaning the broken glass and mopping up the drink and by that time probably the rug needed to be steam cleaned.

 

At least a glass of ginger ale isn't going to stain or leave odors, just leave a wet spot.