Changes to Concierge welcome email Oasis of the Seas

[Jerseygirl1416]

So I recently received the welcome email from the Concierge and noticed a few concerning changes from the email I received last year. In this email there was no mention of them making Coastal Kitchen reservations for you in advance of arrival. No show schedule attached or mention of them making these reservations for you in advance either. In fact they recommended you do your own reservations online. Finally they mentioned free wine, beer etc. happy hour 5-8pm when it used to state 11-11pm. With the increase in suite pricing these changes are really ridiculous and I’d expect more little more amenities instead of less.

[OCSC Mike]

Nothing has changed. They will still make all those reservations & the letter never mentions the 11-11 drinks on Ossis class for some reason.

 

Ask for whatever reservations you’d like & feel free to ask about the 11-11 drinks.

[Jerseygirl1416]

13 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Nothing has changed. They will still make all those reservations & the letter never mentions the 11-11 drinks on Ossis class for some reason.

 

Ask for whatever reservations you’d like & feel free to ask about the 11-11 drinks.

Yes it has changed. This is my third welcome email and last year they asked you to send them your dinner reservation requests and included a copy of the show scheduled and asked to let them know your reservation requests for them too. I’m going to see if I can find a copy of my last email because I’m pretty sure it stated 11-11 on it.

If I hadn’t received this email before I wouldn’t know to ask for my reservations.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Jerseygirl1416

[Ourusualbeach]

45 minutes ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

Yes it has changed. This is my third welcome email and last year they asked you to send them your dinner reservation requests and included a copy of the show scheduled and asked to let them know your reservation requests for them too. I’m going to see if I can find a copy of my last email because I’m pretty sure it stated 11-11 on it.

If I hadn’t received this email before I wouldn’t know to ask for my reservations.

What Mike was saying is that only the letter has changed.  On board it is still the same benefits and you can still ask them to do the same things as you did before. 

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

What Mike was saying is that only the letter has changed.  On board it is still the same benefits and you can still ask them to do the same things as you did before. 

The letters could be different but, yes, that was my main point. Thanks.

 

The 11-11 drinks part jumped out at me b/c I’ve had this conversation a few times. Some have suggested it’s not mentioned for some nefarious reason like they don’t want to advertise it or this way they can take it away. I think it’s more likely that someone just left it out of a welcome letter template/example a long time ago and, like a lot of things, no one bothered to fix it.

[reallyitsmema]

1 hour ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

Yes it has changed. This is my third welcome email and last year they asked you to send them your dinner reservation requests and included a copy of the show scheduled and asked to let them know your reservation requests for them too. I’m going to see if I can find a copy of my last email because I’m pretty sure it stated 11-11 on it.

If I hadn’t received this email before I wouldn’t know to ask for my reservations.

We sailed Oasis in May and got the letter similar to what you received. I sent an email back questioning drink availability 11 to 11 and requesting CK reservations. They replied that nothing had changed and made my reservations. 
 

The letter was definitely different than what we have received in the past on Oasis and other ships but they still took care of our requests and we were able to get drinks as usual 11 to 11. 

[nelblu]

Listen, not for anything but on my Oasis August 20 sail any invite by the LA was done via voice mail. Almost missed the Cheers with the Officer lunch.  In the past got a paper invite to any appropriate event and a letter identifying D+ on board benefits.  Guess saving on paper and ink of lazy LA.

[CTSandy]

Approximately when do you receive the concierge letter?  Booked in a GS sailing on October 15.

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, CTSandy said:

Approximately when do you receive the concierge letter?  Booked in a GS sailing on October 15.

Usually 5-6 days before your cruise although we got one 8 days out on Wonder in June.

Edited October 5, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[firefly333]

15 hours ago, nelblu said:

Listen, not for anything but on my Oasis August 20 sail any invite by the LA was done via voice mail. Almost missed the Cheers with the Officer lunch.  In the past got a paper invite to any appropriate event and a letter identifying D+ on board benefits.  Guess saving on paper and ink of lazy LA.

The D+ letter that used to be waiting in your cabin was discontinued they said on allure. Just the generic folded paper that has all the same benefits printed as online. They saved that piece of paper. It used to say specifically what restaurants were excluded on that particular ship, like grandeur excluded hibachi and izumi from bogo but others allow izumi. .. poof. 

[LisaLisa87]

Just my opinion, of course, but I think they’re leaving out the 11am - 11pm info intentionally as a money saving strategy. Unless you’ve sailed in a suite before or read this forum (or FB group, etc.), you wouldn’t know that beer, wine, soda, and bottled water are available all day. We were on Harmony last month and visited the suite lounge 2 to 3 times per day (outside of happy hour) for beverages, and we seldom saw more than one other person at the bar. Many times it was just us. 
 

Edited October 5, 2023 by LisaLisa87

[OCSC Mike]

43 minutes ago, LisaLisa87 said:

Just my opinion, of course, but I think they’re leaving out the 11am - 11pm info intentionally as a money saving strategy.

 

You're not the only one who thinks that (as I posted above) and you could certainly be right.

 

44 minutes ago, LisaLisa87 said:

We were on Harmony last month and visited the suite lounge 2 to 3 times per day (outside of happy hour) for beverages, and we seldom saw more than one other person at the bar. Many times it was just us.

 

Similar experience for my extended family of 8 on Wonder in early June. We also frequented the SL in the afternoons (hard not to when your cabin is literally steps away from the entrance) and it was a ghost town. We got to know our favorite bartender very well and he was the best (both at making drinks and as a human).

[Ourusualbeach]

I would tend to say that it was a Concierge who came from a non Oasis class ship and just started using the letter they had in their file or a new letter was sent out by corporate for all ships without the one specific to OA class.

[smokeybandit]

12 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I would tend to say that it was a Concierge who came from a non Oasis class ship and just started using the letter they had in their file or a new letter was sent out by corporate for all ships without the one specific to OA class.

I was thinking the same. Every concierge does things a little different. 

[OCSC Mike]

19 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I would tend to say that it was a Concierge who came from a non Oasis class ship and just started using the letter they had in their file or a new letter was sent out by corporate for all ships without the one specific to OA class.

 

Yep, that's what I had in mind when I mentioned the template/example. The part about it coming from a non Oasis class concierge makes sense.