Concierge Florentina

[boopsahoy]

I wasn't discounting your experience you talked about earlier in the thread, simply offering another perspective. 20+ NCL cruises and Florentina is one of the best concierges we've encountered. I'm sure that there are others with other opinions as well :)

 

I wasnt discounting your experience either:) I was seriously asking if the problem was that i made my own reservations?

[Clay Clayton]

:( Yes, unfortunately they switched from the tuna steak to the swordfish! I loved that tuna sammie!!

 

Since this was my first time experiencing Cagney's at lunch, I wasn't aware that the fish had been changed. However, one of the other CCers traveling said that they too had loved the tuna sandwich but liked this one just as well.

[boopsahoy]

Since this was my first time experiencing Cagney's at lunch, I wasn't aware that the fish had been changed. However, one of the other CCers traveling said that they too had loved the tuna sandwich but liked this one just as well.

 

DH and I had that for lunch at least 5 of the 10 days! I hope the swordfish is as good :eek:

[SuiteCruiser]

Well we must have been invisible. Maybe its because we made our own reservations? She said hello in Cagneys every morning but that was it and like I said earlier the one thing we asked her to help us with she never even called us back. We ended up giving the tip we had earmarked for the Concierge to the waitstaff at cagneys. They were much more friendly, accomodating and helpful than she was.

 

She missed calling you on one item, was very friendly to you in Cagneys but you keep telling us how bad she is. Sounds like you assume that if you'd asked her for 6 things she would have ignored them all. Clearly your request went in one ear and out the other, it happens to everyone. Did you ask her about it the next day? I'm guessing you didn't because she would have fallen all over you apologizing.

 

In response to your question, we normally made our own reservations unless we were deciding on dinner when she came to our table or ran into us in the hallway and asked. One time she said she would call us about a reservation, and we hadn't heard back, so we called her back and got the confirmation, otherwise, she called us herself with the information.

[youngestof9]

She was briefly on the Epic in 2010. I really cannot comment too much since we did not use her that much. She had an assistant that made any reservations for us. She is friendly in one on one situations. She is from Romania and we were surprised she also speaks spanish because her husband is from the Dominican Republic.

We ate at the Epic Club every morning and never saw any concierge check in on any passengers. At first this surprised me since other ships this is customary. But on Epic the concierge seems so distant since juggling 75 suites seems to be an overwhelming task. So while I was not overly impressed with her, I dont think it was her, it is just how the Epic is handled.

When she was escorting us off the ship, I asked her what was her favorite NCL ship. She told us she would be leaving Epic soon (Dec 2010) and going to the Gem. She stated the Gem was her favorite ship and she listed the reasons (but now I forget).

So she must be at home on the Gem. There have been other threads on CC raving about her if you read Gem reviews from the Haven.

 

We sailed in January 2011 and I believe it was her last week before vacation. Ruth was also onboard preparing for the following week. Maybe that's why she seemed preoccupied? I did (and my family as well) engage in conversation each time we saw her but honestly, she treated us as is we didn't matter. In fact, when we asked about how we get to slime time live (midday, not a crazy dinnertime request), she gave the big sigh and said "I guess I can walk you there". I don't believe it was anything we did. It was definitely her attitude. So while it's nice to hear she was a great concierge for most, she certainly did not do it for us. We had David Contreras on the Gem later that year who was spectacular. However, our butler on the Epic on that sailing absolutely made up for any slight we felt from Florentina. He was over-attentive and excellent - and when we ran into him on the Gem, it was like running into family. He wasn't our butler on the Gem, yet still went out of his way for us. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I guess I'll chalk it off to her getting ready to leave the ship, but it does not discount my experience.

[david_sobe]

We sailed in January 2011 and I believe it was her last week before vacation. Ruth was also onboard preparing for the following week. Maybe that's why she seemed preoccupied? I did (and my family as well) engage in conversation each time we saw her but honestly, she treated us as is we didn't matter. In fact, when we asked about how we get to slime time live (midday, not a crazy dinnertime request), she gave the big sigh and said "I guess I can walk you there". I don't believe it was anything we did. It was definitely her attitude. So while it's nice to hear she was a great concierge for most, she certainly did not do it for us. We had David Contreras on the Gem later that year who was spectacular. However, our butler on the Epic on that sailing absolutely made up for any slight we felt from Florentina. He was over-attentive and excellent - and when we ran into him on the Gem, it was like running into family. He wasn't our butler on the Gem, yet still went out of his way for us. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I guess I'll chalk it off to her getting ready to leave the ship, but it does not discount my experience.

Yes I think something was bothering her at the time. I did not want to sound so harsh but I remember as soon as I got home from the cruise, there were already CC posts on how she was the worst concierge they ever experienced.

But others have glowing reviews so maybe she knew she was over Epic and did not care anymore.

[boopsahoy]

We sailed in January 2011 and I believe it was her last week before vacation. Ruth was also onboard preparing for the following week. Maybe that's why she seemed preoccupied? I did (and my family as well) engage in conversation each time we saw her but honestly, she treated us as is we didn't matter. In fact, when we asked about how we get to slime time live (midday, not a crazy dinnertime request), she gave the big sigh and said "I guess I can walk you there". I don't believe it was anything we did. It was definitely her attitude. So while it's nice to hear she was a great concierge for most, she certainly did not do it for us. We had David Contreras on the Gem later that year who was spectacular. However, our butler on the Epic on that sailing absolutely made up for any slight we felt from Florentina. He was over-attentive and excellent - and when we ran into him on the Gem, it was like running into family. He wasn't our butler on the Gem, yet still went out of his way for us. Opposite ends of the spectrum. I guess I'll chalk it off to her getting ready to leave the ship, but it does not discount my experience.

It was the week before her vacation when we sailed with her also. And we didnt ask for anything else after being ignored with our first request. My point is not that she didnt help us but that she didnt even call us to let us know she couldnt-OR -didnt even try. All I expected was a call back or to be addressed the enxt day,which I wasnt. Im very glad she was great for everyne else that posted good things about her for sure and maybe it was a bad week for her who knows. But like i said I was disappointed.

[bean24]

It was the week before her vacation when we sailed with her also. And we didnt ask for anything else after being ignored with our first request. My point is not that she didnt help us but that she didnt even call us to let us know she couldnt-OR -didnt even try. All I expected was a call back or to be addressed the enxt day,which I wasnt. Im very glad she was great for everyne else that posted good things about her for sure and maybe it was a bad week for her who knows. But like i said I was disappointed.

 

Hopefully she will be better this time, because she is scheduled to be our concierge on the Gem.

[boopsahoy]

Hopefully she will be better this time, because she is scheduled to be our concierge on the Gem.

 

Yes we are both on the 1/18 cruise!

[Clay Clayton]

DH and I had that for lunch at least 5 of the 10 days! I hope the swordfish is as good :eek:

 

I had the sandwich for four of my five lunches if that gives you any idea how much I liked it. The fifth lunch I had the risotto which was also incredibly tasty.

[boopsahoy]

I had the sandwich for four of my five lunches if that gives you any idea how much I liked it. The fifth lunch I had the risotto which was also incredibly tasty.

 

PHEW! Im glad to hear that. It lessens my disappointment a little:)

[Huxley'sCruisers]

I wasn't a huge fan of the swordfish sandwich, I thought it was bland, and the "wasabi" mayo didn't have any spice in my opinion. I did think the turkey burger was excellent, very nicely flavored!

 

I was expecting Fiorentina to be our concierge on the Gem last week, but Ryan was there, and he was great. I believe he is going to the Breakaway, so perhaps that is why his time on the Gem is short, and Fiorentina will be back onboard in January?

[iluvdoxies]

Belky is the BEST !

[LegallyBlonder]

Interesting- I read many glowing reviews of Fiorentina on the Gem nearly a year ago when we first booked this 1/18/13 cruise, so much so that I have been hoping this whole time that she would be ours as well. Wish granted, so here's to hoping she lives up to that hype!

[dutchess43]

As I posted previously post #19 we were so taken with her performance that it was noted to the CEO of NCL.

[Aladdin1968]

Funny, I didn't care for her. She was pleasant enough, but I felt like any time I asked her for anything (which wasn't much at all since it was my first suite experience), I seemed to be inconveniencing her. I seem to be in the minority, but she didn't thrill me.

 

Indeed. She did nothing. At the end she sent an "assistant" who turned out to be a clueless guest relations girl. I then decided to ignore Florentina and her "assistant". We were not in a lower level suite btw.

[time2cruise1]

Indeed. She did nothing. At the end she sent an "assistant" who turned out to be a clueless guest relations girl. I then decided to ignore Florentina and her "assistant". We were not in a lower level suite btw.

 

Expect to see more concierges from Guest Services the people who give us the clueless front desk staff. Virginia came from Guest Services as well as her assistant. They have moved the concierge and butler positions from Housekeeping to Guest Services fleet wide.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

[sjnyc323]

I wasn't a huge fan of the swordfish sandwich' date=' I thought it was bland, and the "wasabi" mayo didn't have any spice in my opinion. I did think the turkey burger was excellent, very nicely flavored!

 

I was expecting Fiorentina to be our concierge on the Gem last week, but Ryan was there, and he was great. I believe he is going to the Breakaway, so perhaps that is why his time on the Gem is short, and Fiorentina will be back onboard in January?[/quote']

 

Ryan is going on the Dawn in January for two months then vacation. He has a four month contract