Shoreside Concierge now contacting Sky Suites?

[WonderMan3]

So for our cruise last week and last January we were in Penthouse and Royal Suite respectively, and prior to each sailing we were contacted by a shoreside Concierge to find out any special requests we had. Last year I only received an email about 3 or 4 days prior to sailing. For my cruise last week I was contacted a couple of months in advance initially by email and then she called a week or so prior to sailing. Prior to these cruises we stayed in Sky Suites for a few years but were never contacted by a Concierge.

 

A few days ago both my husband and I separately received emails from a Concierge for our May Constellation cruise. We are only booked for a Sky Suite on that cruise though. Has policy changed and shoreside Concierges are now contacting all levels of Suites prior to sailing? If so that is a nice upgrade. Just curious if anyone else has been contacted like that? (Just a note that we are also Elite level so maybe that factors into it?)

 

 

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[retird]

So for our cruise last week and last January we were in Penthouse and Royal Suite respectively, and prior to each sailing we were contacted by a shoreside Concierge to find out any special requests we had. Last year I only received an email about 3 or 4 days prior to sailing. For my cruise last week I was contacted a couple of months in advance initially by email and then she called a week or so prior to sailing. Prior to these cruises we stayed in Sky Suites for a few years but were never contacted by a Concierge.

 

A few days ago both my husband and I separately received emails from a Concierge for our May Constellation cruise. We are only booked for a Sky Suite on that cruise though. Has policy changed and shoreside Concierges are now contacting all levels of Suites prior to sailing? If so that is a nice upgrade. Just curious if anyone else has been contacted like that? (Just a note that we are also Elite level so maybe that factors into it?)

 

 

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We are also elite and for our New Years Cruise that we just did we were in a concierge balcony. I received three different calls from shoreside concierge to see if there was anything she could do for us. I was impressed by the service

[WonderMan3]

We are also elite and for our New Years Cruise that we just did we were in a concierge balcony. I received three different calls from shoreside concierge to see if there was anything she could do for us. I was impressed by the service

 

Okay, so that seems to answer it then. They are contacting Elites and higher in addition to the higher level suites. Don't recall that being listed in the benefits so maybe they are testing it out before making it an official Elite benefit.

[happy 2 b cruising]

Okay, so that seems to answer it then. They are contacting Elites and higher in addition to the higher level suites. Don't recall that being listed in the benefits so maybe they are testing it out before making it an official Elite benefit.

 

We are Elite ( a few points from being Elite Plus) and booked a Sky Suite for April, we have not been contacted. Could just be testing it out?

[cruisestitch]

I will post a guess that because you (OP) stayed in a higher level suite your name and file are "in the system" and thus are getting another contact from shoreside.

[bigbenboys]

I will post a guess that because you (OP) stayed in a higher level suite your name and file are "in the system" and thus are getting another contact from shoreside.

 

We are Elite Plus. Our last 3 cruises have been in Sky Suites, Mar and Sept 2016 and Jan 2017. We have not been contacted concierge. I'm thinking cruisestitch might be right.

[Lastdance]

We have been elite, along with being in sky suites before, but have never been contacted. When I tried to arrange specialty dinners for a group of ours, I was told by Capt's Club that an email would be sent to my concierge. I have never heard from Ligia, the concierge. That was a few weeks ago.

[MichaelCMTX]

I should have some information on this, either way: we're in a Sky Suite on Equinox leaving next Monday. Matching our RC status, X recognizes us as Elite. Will advise if anyone reaches out.

[Gonzo70]

I think the concierge that reaches out to top suites is different from the types of calls people sometimes receive in non-suites. I have been contacted by a "concierge" previously that was far more a marketing call then a perk (they were checking to see if they could assist with booking shore excursions, speciality dining ning, spa - i.e. things Celebrity would profit from). When in the Penthouse the shore-side concierge's emphasis was more about helping facilitate any special requests I had then trying to sell me something. This may be what is occurring here.

[WonderMan3]

Here is a copy of the email. I checked and it is the same email I received back in October for my recent Eclipse Penthouse cruise.

 

 

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[CHEZMARYLOU]

As cruisestitch said, it may be because you recently sailed in a PH suite. If not, I'm sure there will be more reports from Sky Suite guests that they have been contacted.

 

BTW, we really enjoyed your posts from your last sailing.

[WonderMan3]

As cruisestitch said, it may be because you recently sailed in a PH suite. If not, I'm sure there will be more reports from Sky Suite guests that they have been contacted.

 

BTW, we really enjoyed your posts from your last sailing.

 

Thank you! :-)

[I-Cruiser]

Its interesting to see how the concierges seems to be sending out emails in various formats.

 

We are sailing in a Celebrity suite onboard the Constellation next Sunday.

 

This is the email I received from the shoreside concierge office.

Actually, its from Jennifer. The same concierge who sent to the OP.

 

"...Dear Mr............:

 

The Celebrity Cruises family is delighted you have chosen to sail with us again. We look forward to welcoming you onboard the Celebrity Constellation soon.

 

As your dedicated shoreside Concierge I work hand in hand with the Michael’s Club Concierge, Megan, onboard to make your Celebrity experience as carefree as possible, and I am therefore happy to assist you in any way I can. Please feel free to call or email me with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your upcoming vacation. It would be my pleasure to make arrangements on your behalf; no request is too big or too small. A list of my services includes, but is not limited to:

 

• Reserving Specialty Dining

• Booking spa appointments

• Accommodating special requests/celebrations

• Answering general questions regarding the ship and the destinations you will visit

 

In preparing for your arrival there are a few items that I would like to notate in your file. Please provide the following information so we can make sure all of your needs are planned for:

 

Flights and transfers held

Expected arrival time

Preferred departure time

Do you have any special needs or preferences?

 

Kindly indicate any requests by e-mail or calling me directly and, as always, if there is anything I can do to be of further assistance, please let me know. Currently my office hours are Monday through Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm CST. If you have an urgent matter and I am unavailable, please contact the Concierge Desk at ........ seven days a week 7 am – 7 pm CST and one of my colleagues will be happy to assist you.

 

Mr. ...and ......., please always feel welcome to contact me for any reason. Once again, we look forward to welcoming you onboard the Celebrity Constellation!

 

Sincerely,

Jennifer

Celebrity Constellation

Shoreside Concierge....."

 

We have travelled in various suites before and only on occasions received emails. But never with this wording.

Sometimes from the shoreside concierges and sometimes from the MC concierges.

 

As a side note; isnt the shoreside concierges the same office that handles emails/calls when contacting the executive head office?

The names and telephone numbers are very familiar to me :)

[jelayne]

Currently in a Sky Suite on Infinity & we weren't contacted by a shoreside concierge.

 

In the past we have occasionally been contacted and what they wanted to help with was booking shore excursions, speciality dining packages and beverage package upgrades. To me these are sales calls and totally different from the Shoreside Conciegre for the high level suites.

[NCHPcruiser]

This is all very interesting. We are Elite (only after our last cruise) in a Sky Suite. Our next cruise is in a Royal Suite in two weeks (2/25) aboard the Reflection and have not been contacted at all!

[starri]

I'm not even sure what I would ask for if I got contacted by one. I'm trying to figure out how to be comfortable with the idea of a butler.

[hvbaskey]

Within the last year, we sailed 3x - all in Suites (different categories) - this was our experience:

 

May 2016: Sailed on board the Constellation in the Penthouse. Received phone call from Shoreside Concierge for special requests and room set up (drinks, etc.). All requests were received when we arrived on board.

 

October 2016: Sailed on board the Constellation in a Celebrity Suite. Received an email from Shoreside Concierge, welcoming us back on board the Connie and asked if we had any special requests. We replied, received acknowledgement of the reply and the requests. None of the requests were received when we were on board. However, MCC & Butler took care of that straight away.

 

January 2017: Sailed on board the Millennium in a Sky Suite. No phone call. No email. We didn’t expect either as we were not in a higher level suite. Furthermore, check in was a disaster (no cards, suite promos not applied to cards, etc.) and no escort to Michael’s Lounge, no welcome letter, or information within the Suite.

 

This April (2017) - we will be sailing on the Summit in a Sky Suite. This will be our first cruise since becoming Elite. We still won’t expect a phone call or email - but DO hope that the check in process and on boarding is better than January ;-)

 

Heather

[hvbaskey]

I'm not even sure what I would ask for if I got contacted by one. I'm trying to figure out how to be comfortable with the idea of a butler.

 

We always ask for the following (whether before, if contacted OR when we first arrive on board): the state room attendant usually takes care of the room specific requests - but the Butler ensures they are followed through.

 

- empty the bar fridge

- extra hangers

- extra pillows

- swap out sparkling wine / champagne for a bottle of wine (choosing my favourite that is in Michael’s)

- Vegetarian snacks (sandwiches) every day at 5 pm (whether we are in the room, or not).

 

On our last cruise, I was quite sick one day and stayed in the room. That day, I had insisted my husband still go on the tour we had planned. DH only went because our Butler had promised to him he would make sure I was OK throughout the day. Our amazing angel of a Butler checked in on me several times, bringing me hot water / honey and anything else that I needed to recover. I will never forget his attentiveness and kindness.

 

We usually don’t ask for much throughout the cruise, but we do enjoy having our room set up the way we like it on Day One - so it is comfortable for the remainder.

 

Also - the afternoon nibbles are a thing of the past (they are attempting to get everyone to gather at Michael’s every day at 3 pm for tea service); but that generally doesn’t work for us; particularly when in port as we are out on tours. Hence, our request for room service at 5 pm to replace the replacement of the afternoon nibbles perk :)

 

Heather

[TRadle]

I'm not even sure what I would ask for if I got contacted by one. I'm trying to figure out how to be comfortable with the idea of a butler.

 

We've sailed in several Celebrity suites and the butler is nice. They will do as little or as much as you like. We had one that came to see us because we ordered room service ourselves! Apparently we were supposed to let him take care of us. :D

 

This July we have a suite and are doing a Burial at Sea. There will be 17 family members so we will use the butler a little bit more this time. The cruise line has been wonderful with these arraignments and it means the world to the family.

[WonderMan3]

 

Also - the afternoon nibbles are a thing of the past (they are attempting to get everyone to gather at Michael’s every day at 3 pm for tea service); but that generally doesn’t work for us; particularly when in port as we are out on tours. Hence, our request for room service at 5 pm to replace the replacement of the afternoon nibbles perk :)

 

Heather

 

If you don't want to go down to Michael's Club you can still ask the butler to bring a selection of snacks to your room each afternoon, which is what we did on our cruise last week. (This was both stated to us by the butler and also noted somewhere in some information we got from the concierge. Not sure if this was because we were in the Penthouse. I'm sure the butler's in lower category suites probably wouldn't volunteer that info.) I suppose you could also ask them to bring some tea as well, but they don't bring the whole tea cart set-up like they used to. Perhaps if enough people keep asking for this service in their cabin they will reinstate it as an amenity. I did notice the butlers bringing snack trays to other cabins besides ours in the afternoons so we were clearly not the only ones asking for it.

[bEwAbG]

I've not yet been escorted to Michael's when staying in a Sky Suite. I know Michael's access was just added in the last couple of years for those, but I've been in two since then and both times we got the priority line but nothing beyond that. I thought that was a higher-class suite perk.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We've stayed in a CS and a RS on our last 2 cruises. The only time we were escorted to MC was when we asked a maître d who was standing in the hall what level we were on. He asked what we were looking for and escorted us to MC.

 

Our last cruise in a RS was after the tea cart was discontinued and our butler brought us either cheese, shrimp, or small bites, or sometimes all 3. He brought cappuccino when requested. We also saw him delivering plates to CS.

[starri]

I'm not even sure how I'd handle being escorted to MC. This is why I shop online, I don't like being swarmed.

[jules815]

Here is a copy of the email. I checked and it is the same email I received back in October for my recent Eclipse Penthouse cruise.

 

 

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I'm guessing it's for higher suites only, however, I see the suite photo featured on the letter looks like a Sky Suite. :)

[jelayne]

On day 3 butler started bring us to either shrimp or a cheese plate every afternoon without us asking; we are in a SS.