Best ways to use Concierge service?

[bigAWL]

My family is booked for the first time on a Celebrity cruise in August.  We will be in Concierge Class cabins on the Eclipse.  What are the most useful things to ask of the Concierge?  Any tips?

[jelayne]

If you have a problem the Concierge will try to resolve it.  Most things you can easily do for yourself, like make dining reservations.  Other things like extra hangers, different pillows, burned out light bulbs  are handled by you cabin attendant.

[Cruise till you drop]

Friends of ours travelled with us (they had Concierge and we did not) and they didn’t feel like they got much value.  The only things they experienced was a Concierge lunch which was on embarkation day and too over 2 hours and some snacks delivered to their room during the cruise.

[Loracpin2]

After 40 Celebrity cruises, IMO, the only advantage of booking Concierge class is on M-class ships because the rooms are 20 sq. ft larger than regular balcony rooms. 

[PMT51]

The only reason we booked concierge class on our next cruise is because it was only $43 more than a veranda class. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

5 minutes ago, Loracpin2 said:

After 40 Celebrity cruises, IMO, the only advantage of booking Concierge class is on M-class ships because the rooms are 20 sq. ft larger than regular balcony rooms. 

 

Always felt the same but some seem to love to arrive to the port as early as possible and enjoy the MDR lunch.  While I somewhat understand the mindset that your cruise fare pays for your embarkation lunch (whether MDR, buffet, etc), would much rather eat on land preferably near the ship overlooking the water

[39august]

The concierge is able to do some minor things, but be aware, he/she is available to all classes of cabins below suites. I have had the concierge print boarding passes. That was my first X cruise. Never booked Concierge since as there was no real value to it for us. 

[CTCruiser76]

How about location of cabin? 

 

They seem to put cabins in 'prime' locations in concierge class??

[wrk2cruise]

Concierge Class cabins tend to be in more desirable locations like higher decks and not far forward.  That's really why they demand higher prices over standard verandah.

 

I agree with others that on M class ships the extra 20 sq ft is reason for me to book CC or Aqua.

[Cruise till you drop]

I have a bit of a radical theory about Concierge class on the Edge (maybe all E class ships).

 

I don’t think the Infinity Verandah rooms are being well received (prefer actual balcony) so what they seem to have done if package higher level decks with Infinity Verandah and made them Concierge class so people will book them and feel like they’ve gotten something special .  Note that the SV cabins on those decks are not Concierge which is why I’ve arrived at this theory  

[Arizona Wildcat]

The biggest value of Concierge is the extra points for Captain's Club, larger on M class, maybe a desirable location.

Booked once to make Elite on next cruise.  Would not pay more than very few $ extra for Concierge (like $50 for a cruise).

[sunviking90]

46 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

The biggest value of Concierge is the extra points for Captain's Club, larger on M class, maybe a desirable location.

Booked once to make Elite on next cruise.  Would not pay more than very few $ extra for Concierge (like $50 for a cruise).

Agree. We’ll be trying Concierge class next week only because it was actually cheaper than the veranda staterooms! The extra points make it worthwhile, but I’m. It expecting much difference. We always enjoy lunch on embarkation on Princess, but anyone can go.

[RedIguana]

46 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

We always enjoy lunch on embarkation on Princess, but anyone can go.

Concierge class has their own Luncheon in one of the MDR's. It is not open to all. It is nice to avoid the buffet on embarkation day and have a nice sit down lunch.

 

1 hour ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Note that the SV cabins on those decks are not Concierge which is why I’ve arrived at this theory

I've heard rumors of upcoming cabin reclassification, and the SV's (or at least some of them) will have Concierge class.

[cruisegirlppp]

18 hours ago, bigAWL said:

My family is booked for the first time on a Celebrity cruise in August.  We will be in Concierge Class cabins on the Eclipse.  What are the most useful things to ask of the Concierge?  Any tips?

You can ask your Concierge to have a cheese plate instead of the usual afternoon canapés; if you request crackers they will most likely be saltines. After a few days of that you can ask him to cancel the whole thing!

[wrk2cruise]

18 minutes ago, cruisegirlppp said:

You can ask your Concierge to have a cheese plate instead of the usual afternoon canapés; if you request crackers they will most likely be saltines. After a few days of that you can ask him to cancel the whole thing!

 

I wouldn't use the concierge for this, the stateroom attendant can take care of this for you.

[cruisegirlppp]

16 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

I wouldn't use the concierge for this, the stateroom attendant can take care of this for you.

Sorry, you are correct! I should have said stateroom attendant in Concierge

[AmberCascades]

I hope you enjoy your first Celebrity cruise.  We usually sail Concierge or regular veranda (depending on which costs less at the time).  We have only ever used the services of the Concierge once.  I think we had to change some dining reservations and were going to be out for the day or something, so we asked if he could do that for us.  A Concierge isn't like a Butler.  Butlers will do all kinds of things for suite guests in their cabins but the Concierge is there more for help with external things like specialty dining or help with tender tickets, etc. Does that answer your question about the actual Concierge?

[bigAWL]

3 minutes ago, AmberCascades said:

I hope you enjoy your first Celebrity cruise.  We usually sail Concierge or regular veranda (depending on which costs less at the time).  We have only ever used the services of the Concierge once.  I think we had to change some dining reservations and were going to be out for the day or something, so we asked if he could do that for us.  A Concierge isn't like a Butler.  Butlers will do all kinds of things for suite guests in their cabins but the Concierge is there more for help with external things like specialty dining or help with tender tickets, etc. Does that answer your question about the actual Concierge?

All of these responses are very helpful.  I am aware of the basic differences between stateroom attendant, concierge, and butler.  What I'm really looking for are the creative or out-of-the-ordinary things that others have requested that I may never think of (all I could come up with was help with dining and activity reservations).

[emmas gran]

The Concierge is not for organising creative or out of the ordinary things , if they did this for all cabins they look after there would not be time for any of the regular stuff people ask. Please also be aware they are not available 24/7 it is something like 10 till 4 pm , also may not be available on port days.

[long time lurker]

We generally sail Concierge for cabin location.  I found the concierge to basically be an extension of guest services.  It is often a shorter wait for the concierge to handle guest service issues.

[ZESTER]

We sailed Concierge in the past and I found it to be a benefit when our ship was late and the cruise line gave us a much greater credit for a 2 night delay than to others in regular section. I mean much greater than the corresponding per/dm rate we paid for the Concierge. The other benefit is you get priority to get off the ship when you dock at a new destination. 

[Tina99]

As someone else above replied, I booked Concierge for my upcoming cruise because it was offered at a much lower cost than Veranda.  Maybe someone currently onboard or soon to cruise who is booked in a CC cabin could actually ask the Concierge what they could best do for their guests that extend the service beyond stateroom attendant.  

[Mark_T]

3 hours ago, ZESTER said:

The other benefit is you get priority to get off the ship when you dock at a new destination. 

Priority is a relative term...

 

Concierge priority is going to put you behind all those in Suites, Zeniths etc. so handy, but not life changing 🙂

[SPacificbound]

We have been in concierge cabins, and the only reason I booked them was due to cabin size and location. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

7 hours ago, bigAWL said:

What I'm really looking for are the creative or out-of-the-ordinary things that others have requested that I may never think of (all I could come up with was help with dining and activity reservations).

 

There isn't a lot more a concierge for this particular class can do.  Your room attendant would be taking care of your general room necessities.  The single on-duty concierge is available for the couple of hundred+  passengers who booked the Concierge level of stateroom.  The sheer number of passengers alone should tell you what the concierge at this level can do for you is quite limited.

 

And to just review, the levels are:

Retreat/Suite (with at least 4 levels in this category - President's; Royal: Celebrity; Sky)

Aqua

Concierge

Everyone else

 

Hoping that this, and all the other responses helps to manage expectations about what it means to have a Concierge level stateroom.