Would you tip this concierge?

[knitlady037]

Ryan was wonderful! NCL suffered a great loss when he left.

[20YearsBetweenCruises]

From reading everyone's comments, it makes me wonder if the concierges have too many passengers to handle. So they realize they can either be mediocre to everyone or pick a few an give excellent service. Maybe they figured out they make more money serving less people with excellent service? Just speculation, never traveled in suites/haven

 

 

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[DMH15]

Nope. Your "mediocre to everyone" theory is flawed. Using CC as a sampling, in my many years on CC I find most people are happy with them. There are a segment who choose not to utilize the services of the concierge, and in that case not applicable. I have read only a small pecentage felt the services are subpar.

 

I have never read a bad word about the superlative, Hanno Meyer. Only praises. That counts for something.

 

On the Sun the Concierge handles 20 suites nicely. As ships increase in size there will an assistant or two.

 

All of my concierges were great. Yes, there is a difference in their styles but all have been effective. IMHO.

Edited May 7, 2016 by DMH15

[seaskydoll]

I was shocked to hear you were talking about Carlos. We frequently cruise in suites and have sailed with him 3 times and had superb service every single time. Different ships and different cabin types. That being said I know when we sailed with him last September his father was very ill and am wondering if he had gotten worse and possibly his mind was not completely on the job when you were there. Someone posted about a death and not sure if that was his dad.

 

We have had two female concierges that never spoke more than one sentence to us the entire cruise, don't know their names and another male that was the same. Don't remember his name either but, I actually got hurt on that cruise and he never even came to check on me....We were in an owner's suite that time.

 

We are fairly easy going but, have usually found that we have great butlers when the concierge is bad. We generally find service by the crews on NCL to be wonderful. Sorry you had such a bad experience and I would've said something to someone and not tipped as well.

[jjikids]

I was shocked to hear you were talking about Carlos. We frequently cruise in suites and have sailed with him 3 times and had superb service every single time. Different ships and different cabin types. That being said I know when we sailed with him last September his father was very ill and am wondering if he had gotten worse and possibly his mind was not completely on the job when you were there. Someone posted about a death and not sure if that was his dad.

 

We have had two female concierges that never spoke more than one sentence to us the entire cruise, don't know their names and another male that was the same. Don't remember his name either but, I actually got hurt on that cruise and he never even came to check on me....We were in an owner's suite that time.

 

We are fairly easy going but, have usually found that we have great butlers when the concierge is bad. We generally find service by the crews on NCL to be wonderful. Sorry you had such a bad experience and I would've said something to someone and not tipped as well.

 

When we had Carlos as our concierge it was before that time. We also saw him talking to people for sometime and then just walked past us with not even a hello. As I said our only request we were told we can take care of by ourself. Luckily we had Jayson as our butler and he was phenomenal. We feel common courtesy should be for everyone not just people he remembered from past cruises. When I posted all that happened on a review of the cruise, others had similar issues with him.

[seaskydoll]

When we had Carlos as our concierge it was before that time. We also saw him talking to people for sometime and then just walked past us with not even a hello. As I said our only request we were told we can take care of by ourself. Luckily we had Jayson as our butler and he was phenomenal. We feel common courtesy should be for everyone not just people he remembered from past cruises. When I posted all that happened on a review of the cruise, others had similar issues with him.

 

I completely agree with common courtesy for everyone and sorry this happened to you especially on a long cruise. I am confused when you say it was "before that time"? His dad became very ill in Sept 2015 when we were on the Gem and he just moved to the Sun in March 2016 I think so, this would've still been when he was dealing with a sick father. Since others had the same issue just trying to offer a reason he might not have been what others have experienced in the past. Glad you had a good butler, that has saved us on other cruises as well!!

[jjikids]

I completely agree with common courtesy for everyone and sorry this happened to you especially on a long cruise. I am confused when you say it was "before that time"? His dad became very ill in Sept 2015 when we were on the Gem and he just moved to the Sun in March 201w6 I think so, this would've still been when he was dealing with a sick father. Since others had the same issue just trying to offer a reason he might not have been what others have experienced in the past. Glad you had a good butler, that has saved us on other cruises as well!!

 

 

We were on the Gem May 2013 with a fabulous Ryan. He knew what restaurants we had eaten at even though we made our own reservations. He would look for us in the evening to ask how everything went. Then in May 2014 we were with Carlos. Even if his father had been ill, he treated others better than us so that would not be an excuse. He never looked for us or called us. Others not on our cruise also felt Carlos was not consistent to what we all had read. We don't expect much from a concierge since we make all our own reservations. Our only request of Carlos was reservations for the Jazz Brunch which we did have to make on our own. He pointed to the menu and went on to the next passenger. That was the help he gave us. Glad you had a better time with him.

The OP DH and I could really sympathize with. They really did not have good service from him.

[watchdiva]

We had a great experience with Carlos a few years back.....he was very attentive and took great care in handling our requests. Really surprised at some of the comments....

 

 

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[Coastalbreezes]

I had a similar experience with another concierge several years ago and I did not leave a tip.

 

Just off the Escape this morning and we had a "ghost butler". Never introduced himself or stopped by to see if we needed anything. We were in and out of the cabin all day and never saw him once all week. Another couple had the same butler and when they called him to request room service breakfast on the second day he sighed and told them he was "very busy" and gave them attitude the remainder of the week. No tip for him either.

 

Tracy

[Freespir8]

I had a similar experience with another concierge several years ago and I did not leave a tip.

 

Just off the Escape this morning and we had a "ghost butler". Never introduced himself or stopped by to see if we needed anything. We were in and out of the cabin all day and never saw him once all week. Another couple had the same butler and when they called him to request room service breakfast on the second day he sighed and told them he was "very busy" and gave them attitude the remainder of the week. No tip for him either.

 

Tracy

 

Tracy, we had a "ghost butler" too on our trip on the Dawn last November. We saw him the first day and he was curt and a bit condescending. We chalked it up to him being busy on the first day but never saw him again until the next to last day of the cruise after we spoke to the Concierge about it. We enjoy getting to know our Butler and part of the cruising experience for us includes that "bonding" time. We have had 3 fantastic Butler's and 2 not so good. It doesn't ruin the cruise by any means but the amazing Butler's make a good cruise, fantastic!

[NLH Arizona]

We weren't surprised the concierge was Carlos. We had heard good things about him before we cruised two years ago on the Gem. We even mentioned it to him. He completely ignored us when he stopped by everyone else's tables at Moderno. The only dinner reservation we asked him to make he said you could do it yourself. We thought maybe we didn't rate in his eyes since we were in an aft penthouse. We had Francisco this year and also heard many good things about him. On the fifth day we happened to run into him. We asked him why he never even bothered to call us or stop by to say hello. We didn't need his services but made him aware he fell down on his job. We didn't report either of them since they just didn't do anything for us. They picked who they would work for. The tip is your way to make sure they know your feelings of their work.

Similar thing happened to me on one of my cruises. The Concierge was Monica, who IMHO is the worst. I was in an aft-penthouse as well and she just acted like those of us outside of the Haven didn't exist. Even on the last day, she only talked with those that stayed in the Haven and never even nodded to those of us who were also sitting in the room that were aft and forward penthouses passengers. I made the mistake of putting my tip (thankfully it was OBC from NCL) on my account, but have learned to wait, because I wouldn't have tipped her a penny. I cruised the same ship a few months after that bad experience and was sure I would get her again and have the same experience, but fortunately she had left the ship and the new Concierge was outstanding. This was the one and only time I've had a bad Concierge.

[NLH Arizona]

They do pick who they work for.

 

Many people love John D'Souza. He did absolutely nothing for us when we were on Jewel (quite a few years ago)

I'm one of those that absolutely loves John; he was a top notch Concierge for me.

[AlexandNessa]

Loved Monica, but then again we were in the DOS, and this was the best service we've had. In my experience, the lower our room category, the less we see the concierge.

[sjbdtz]

Similar thing happened to me on one of my cruises. The Concierge was Monica, who IMHO is the worst. I was in an aft-penthouse as well and she just acted like those of us outside of the Haven didn't exist. Even on the last day, she only talked with those that stayed in the Haven and never even nodded to those of us who were also sitting in the room that were aft and forward penthouses passengers. I made the mistake of putting my tip (thankfully it was OBC from NCL) on my account, but have learned to wait, because I wouldn't have tipped her a penny. I cruised the same ship a few months after that bad experience and was sure I would get her again and have the same experience, but fortunately she had left the ship and the new Concierge was outstanding. This was the one and only time I've had a bad Concierge.

 

 

I really like Monica too....come to think of it, I haven't disliked any of the concierges, though Virginia took some time to notice us (like 4 days).

 

Monica was Ruth's assistant when we first met her - and we liked her so much we tipped her as well.

 

 

Stephen

 

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[chefcaw]

Last week, I had to handle my own reservations too, as the concierge was completely unresponsive. But there was a good reason. His father back home died two days into the trip. That's the only concierge who gets a pass for no service. But get this... he shows back up on disembarkation day back in Los Angeles... escorts us off the ship.

 

Apparently, NCL had assisted in arranging transportation for him from Cabo San Lucas to Peru (if I remember right) and back. Talk about the poor overworked crew. This guy's father dies, and he's back to work on the ship (crispy uniform and all) 5 days later. Must be a horrible gig.

 

We talked to the butler about it as we had heard he left early on for a family emergency. Actually, she brought it up and explained that his father passed. Thats why she had to pull double-duty and handle the concierge's business as well as her own. She explained that NCL does a wonderful job in helping crew with family matters like this -- she was very complimentary of NCL in this regard.

 

Bruno is the butler that you are speaking of. The death of his father was very unexpected. I am not surprised that he returned quickly to continue to assist his guests. We have found him very available and helpful on our cruises whether we sailed in the Haven or just in suites

 

 

Chris

[triptolemus]

Bruno is the butler that you are speaking of. The death of his father was very unexpected. I am not surprised that he returned quickly to continue to assist his guests. We have found him very available and helpful on our cruises whether we sailed in the Haven or just in suites

 

I knew his name and omitted it purposefully. I didn't feel it necessary to air the guy's business out on the internet.

 

But thanks.

[don't-use-real-name]

"NO TIP" ! = MORE LIKE A BOOT IN THE REAR END !

But after the third oversight you should have contacted the Hotel Director and put him on report !

I wonder in retrospect if there was a personal problem between the Butler and

this Concierge - the "C" thinking it was not his job to provide the/a service.

Something that could have been discerned by frankly asking the Butler for help.

The NCL SUN is not that large a ship that the sole Concierge is overworked and not having a phone contact was unforgiveable.

The NCL SUN has less suites than other ships in the fleet and the only other

conclusion is an abundant amount of Platinum cruising guests demanding the services of the Concierge -

but it would dumb to assume that a guest in a wheelchair would need LESS service !

So write NCL and demand that some action be taken so that someone else

or even you on your next trip will not be subjected to this abuse !

 

On your next cruise - something not going right - go over that person's head all the way to the Hotel Director -

Confused; the Hotel Director is the person in charge of the ship and of equal rank with the Captain !

[Barb Nahoumi]

This is from a recent 20 day cruise on the Sun.

 

1) When we first met, we asked for his extension number so we could call if e needed anything, like a dinner reservation. He told us to just call guest services.

 

2) We saw him at breakfast and asked him to make a reservation for that night in Cagney's for our anniversary. We got to Cagney's and he had forgotten to make the reservation. Needless to say there was no special little something for our anniversary.

 

3) We asked him when we would be crossing the equator and he gave us completely wrong information. Very disappointing-I was a little excited about crossing the equator.

 

4) He recommended a show to us. We asked him if the show used that fake smoke/fog, which is very bothersome to my husband who has a long condition. He said no. We went to the show and sure enough first thing smoke started billowing up. We fled.

 

5) He gave very vague instruction on where Suite seating was for shows. No one was there to assist and there was nothing roped off and no signage. We gave up on shows.

 

6) At this point we were just making our own dinner reservations.

 

7) For the clearing customs stop in LA he promised a wheelchair would be brought to our cabin when we were supposed to go off the ship. Did not happen. I managed to find a wheelchair on my own and handled getting my husband and his oxygen off and on with no help from anyone on the ship.

 

8) He did nothing for us all cruise. When we ate in the suite restaurant for breakfast or lunch, he could often be found there schmoozing with certain customers. He would give us a pleasant hello and breeze by our table.

 

For the record, we loved our butler and steward and tipped them both fairly substantial amounts. We have had excellent concierges on other sailings and have always shown our financial appreciation.

 

Would you tip this concierge?

 

Nope------Not 1 penny.

[dexddd]

Loved Monica, but then again we were in the DOS, and this was the best service we've had. In my experience, the lower our room category, the less we see the concierge.

 

We've been in OS and DOS and have had crappy/no concierge service so YMMV.

[AnitaVacation]

We have booked the family suite 2x on the Star....

 

The first time, we adored our Butler....very attentive without being intrusive..

And although we saw the Concierge every morning outside of Cagney's, she NEVER introduced herself to us and for the most part did not acknowledge us....we did not tip her (the butler did receive a very generous tip)...

 

The second time, was a disappointing experience all around....when we arrived, our room was not cleaned (sand all over our funiture, and my mother was horrified that the sheets on her bed appeared to have blood stains) This was reported right away and we were asked to vacate the room for a bit so that it could be properly cleaned....our room steward and butler were not present much...the butler would only come if we called him (which, after the second day, we gave up)...and again, no acknowledgement from the concierge....they got the tips accordingly...

 

When we returned from this second trip, I did post something here about it and pretty much got 'bashed' for not getting the hotel director involved....but honestly, I don't think I should have to run to your boss and whine....we just tip accordingly....

 

This October, we are booked in the Deluxe Owners Suite on the Dawn....I'll be sure to let you know how that turns out....

Edited May 8, 2016 by AnitaVacation