Do all suite guests get escourted off for excursions?

[suzyed]

Do all suite guest get escourted off the ship for shore excursions or is that only for guests in the higher suites?

 

Just wondering because we didn't get that last year, but really didn't need it...but this year it would have been really nice, since it was much more hectic getting off the ship, especially in some of the ports.

[terrymtex01]

Do all suite guest get escourted off the ship for shore excursions or is that only for guests in the higher suites?

 

Just wondering because we didn't get that last year, but really didn't need it...but this year it would have been really nice, since it was much more hectic getting off the ship, especially in some of the ports.

 

Hey Suzy.. the way it works is that if you are booked on an excursion, you actually meet your whole excursion at some location on the ship or on the dock. In that instance, you would not be escorted. If you are a part of an actual excursion, the only time you are escorted is if the ship is tendering. If they are tendering, the Concierge will have all suite guest meet at one location at a certain time, then he/she wil escort the entire group to the first tender leaving. After all suite guest are boarded onto the tender, they will fill up the rest of the tender with whatever guest were waiting at the front of the line. If the ship is just docking and every one is just walking down a gang plank to the dock, suite guest do not get any perk. You just walk off the ship with all the others..

 

Hope this helps you in making your plans.

 

T

[suzyed]

Thanks Terry!

 

I was wondering because I was just reading another posters review of their Alaska cruise and they are in the Garden Villa and he made reference to Simone meeting them in the Star Bar and taking them off for their excursions...none of which require tendering.

 

BTW, there was a HUGE difference between the concierge we had last week and Simone! :eek: It was like not even having a concierge...very dissappointing. :( Chuck says he will not sail on the Star without Simone ever again!!

[terrymtex01]

Thanks Terry!

 

I was wondering because I was just reading another posters review of their Alaska cruise and they are in the Garden Villa and he made reference to Simone meeting them in the Star Bar and taking them off for their excursions...none of which require tendering.

 

BTW, there was a HUGE difference between the concierge we had last week and Simone! :eek: It was like not even having a concierge...very dissappointing. :( Chuck says he will not sail on the Star without Simone ever again!!

 

I do think the GV does get escorted about every where they go. I was wondering how it went without Simone. She is perfection and any other Concierge has big shoes to fill in her absence. We are going to be on the Star next year, May 22nd, and I hope she is there when we sail. I'm like Chuck... I really do not want to be onboard the Star without our beloved Simone.

[coffeecat]

We were on the Pearl in April and I believe all suite guests (unfortunately we weren't in the Garden Villa!) were invited to meet at Cagney's in the morning for debarkation at ports. Once the ship was almost cleared we were escorted behind Cagney's bar and rode a service elevator to the 4th floor. When the ship was officially cleared we were allowed off. It was great as we had a private tour planned. In Cozumel and Belize we had shore excursions planned through NCL so we met up with the groups in the usual fashion.

 

Having read the boards I wasn't expecting the priority debarkation at walk-off ports but it was really a treat...

 

Coffeecat

[suzyed]

I do think the GV does get escorted about every where they go. I was wondering how it went without Simone. She is perfection and any other Concierge has big shoes to fill in her absence. We are going to be on the Star next year, May 22nd, and I hope she is there when we sail. I'm like Chuck... I really do not want to be onboard the Star without our beloved Simone.

While Belkys was very sweet to speak with, she was mostly absent...we would run into her and she would say "hi", but that was it.

She did escourt us off the ship at the end of the cruise, which just meant she slipped us past a few other passengers.

We saw our butler the first day, then never again.

 

We were sooo spoiled by Simone last year! She got us into the choc. buffet early so we could take pictures...this year we didn't even go to it.

Not really worth waiting in that vey long line.

I don't know...Simone was right there for us everyday, checking on us, calling us making sure everything was all right. For ex. When we continually had a problem with our key card, she took care of it.

 

We had an early excursion in Ketchikan and requested breakfast in our suite at 6:30. I even wrote on the order form that we had an 7 am tour, so it was really important to get the breakfast early. Well at 6:55, as we were leaving our suite, the butler(not ours, but another one we met on embarkation) finally brings our breakfast. :( Then the butler acts "put out" because we told him we didn't have time for it. I took a yogurt off the cart and that was breakfast. I even tried to call room service earlier...no answer.

So we rush to our tour bus... and sat and sat and sat for almost a half hour because 6 people were late to the bus....very disconcerting. So when we see Belkys, we mention this to her...nothing. She competely missed the point and why we were upset.

 

Thank goodness for the Cagney's perk, or we wouldn't have felt that we got our money's worth on the suite. We love the Cagney's perk and use it most days for both lunch and breakfast....and love the servers there and even filled out "Style" cards for several of them....lovely people!

 

So.....to answer your question, Terry.....we now even feel more strongly that Simone is one of a kind...a real gem! I hope when you sail, she will be on the Star with you. It is such a beautiful ship and the staff and crew are just so wonderful!

 

BTW, it will be interesting to see the changes on the Star after her stint in dry dock. Jean Michele, the Hotel Director said they are moving La Trattoria to where Soho presently is. Trying to drum up more business there...it really is a nice place to eat...great food, so that will be good. I got the impression that they are phasing out Soho...so we will see. He also said that they were getting all new chairs in Ginza....so it sounds like the Star is getting a mini face lift! :)

[suzyed]

We were on the Pearl in April and I believe all suite guests (unfortunately we weren't in the Garden Villa!) were invited to meet at Cagney's in the morning for debarkation at ports. Once the ship was almost cleared we were escorted behind Cagney's bar and rode a service elevator to the 4th floor. When the ship was officially cleared we were allowed off. It was great as we had a private tour planned. In Cozumel and Belize we had shore excursions planned through NCL so we met up with the groups in the usual fashion.

 

Having read the boards I wasn't expecting the priority debarkation at walk-off ports but it was really a treat...

 

Coffeecat

We didn't get that.

[noreddye]

The day before going to the ports, our concierge would leave a letter in our cabin telling us the times to meet him (at a set location) to escort us off the ship (either walking off or tendering). There were about 3 - 4 different times that we could meet him.

 

We were in an OS on the Dawn.

[suzyed]

The day before going to the ports, our concierge would leave a letter in our cabin telling us the times to meet him (at a set location) to escort us off the ship (either walking off or tendering). There were about 3 - 4 different times that we could meet him.

 

We were in an OS on the Dawn.

I guess the lowly AE penthouse suites don't get that. :(

[watchdiva]

On our recent Pearl cruise, the concierge would send a letter to our suite the evening before arriving in port letting us know that if we wished, we could meet in the Star Bar to be escorted off the ship as soon as it was cleared. This was a great perk especially when docked (instead of tendering) - we started our private tour in Roatan at 8:15 AM:).....

 

On Dawn to Bermuda last year, our concierge also made the same offer (meet her and she would escort us off) but since we had so much time in Bermuda, we just walked off when we were ready..

[noreddye]

I guess the lowly AE penthouse suites don't get that. :(

 

We had friends in an AE and they received the same letter. Maybe it depends on the concierge?!

[HMK8273]

All suites AE and above should get the same treatment. Just call the concierge and ask for the escort off or the priority tender tickets. I am sure it is done differently from ship to ship - letter in each port or one letter at the beginning of the cruise. We were in an AC on the Jade to Eastern Med. in Sept. - got the letter at the beginning of the cruise saying if we needed to be escorted off or priority tender tickets to ask for them when needed. Can't remember our Concierge's name - she was good when we needed her - saw her every day in Cagneys - but didn't really see her elsewhere come to think of it - we used the butler constantly.

 

We never used the escort off the ship or priority tender tickets because we booked all of our excursions through the boat - all met in the Theater and left as a group from there. Could be useful if you book your own excursions and need to get off before the ship's sponsored excursions. Did the escort to get off the boat for disembarkation just to make it easier for us and our luggage to get to our hotel in Istanbul - we didn't have to catch a flight anywhere - stayed in Turkey a few days post cruise.

[leestar]

I think it depends on several factors including who the concierge is, how busy they expect it to be at a particular port, whether tendering is involved, and whether you ask.

 

We have been fortunate to have 2 wonderful concierges. Alex Forbes on the Gem in January and Belkys on the Star in May.

 

With Alex we had received a letter to our cabin regarding getting off in port. We were able to use an elevator in the Star Bar and they took us down in groups to get off. At least one port did not have this and when we asked Alex he said because it was early and we weren't there very long they did not anticipate any problem getting off. He said if we needed him he could escort us, but with his advice we figured we would be fine and we went down and walked off with no line at all.

 

With Belkys there was no letter but the one day I was concerned about getting off quickly to meet an excursion I asked her and she personally came to get us and got us off the boat.

 

Both Alex and Belkys were able to answer our every question and satisfy every request.

 

Alex was able to tell us what time the rocket launch would be.

 

Belkys sent a letter offering to take the VIPs into the chocolate buffet before it opened and we took her up on it.

 

I could go on and on. Their styles were very different but both Alex and Belkys were great and all you really had to do with either of them was ask for whatever and they would help you.

 

One great thing Alex did was when we were waiting to board the Gem in March he had all the menus in the VIP waiting room and he made our first dinner reservation for us before we had even boarded the ship.

 

We hope Alex is on the Gem when we join her in Barcelona in November for the Transatlantic.

[suzyed]

I think it depends on several factors including who the concierge is, how busy they expect it to be at a particular port, whether tendering is involved, and whether you ask.

 

We have been fortunate to have 2 wonderful concierges. Alex Forbes on the Gem in January and Belkys on the Star in May.

 

With Alex we had received a letter to our cabin regarding getting off in port. We were able to use an elevator in the Star Bar and they took us down in groups to get off. At least one port did not have this and when we asked Alex he said because it was early and we weren't there very long they did not anticipate any problem getting off. He said if we needed him he could escort us, but with his advice we figured we would be fine and we went down and walked off with no line at all.

 

With Belkys there was no letter but the one day I was concerned about getting off quickly to meet an excursion I asked her and she personally came to get us and got us off the boat.

 

Both Alex and Belkys were able to answer our every question and satisfy every request.

 

Alex was able to tell us what time the rocket launch would be.

 

Belkys sent a letter offering to take the VIPs into the chocolate buffet before it opened and we took her up on it.

 

I could go on and on. Their styles were very different but both Alex and Belkys were great and all you really had to do with either of them was ask for whatever and they would help you.

 

One great thing Alex did was when we were waiting to board the Gem in March he had all the menus in the VIP waiting room and he made our first dinner reservation for us before we had even boarded the ship.

 

We hope Alex is on the Gem when we join her in Barcelona in November for the Transatlantic.

We had Belkys on the Star sailing 6/8 and she did none of the above for us. :confused: We were so disappointed with that aspect of our sailing, especially because we had Simone last year on the Star and she was absolutely wonderful!

 

Just curious...what catagory cabin did you have?

[Sparkylok6]

I guess the lowly AE penthouse suites don't get that. :(

 

I was in an AE on the Pearl in February and I got it. We had Erika as our Concierge and she was awesome. She even got me VIP Tender Tickets for a few of my friends.

[terrymtex01]

It is interesting. We have been on three NCL ships, three differnent Concierges and none of those three ever offered to escort us off the ship at walk off ports. So it must be the Concierge that makes the decision to do that, not a ships policy.

[Bocadude85]

On our cruise to Alaska on the Star this past May Belkys escorted us off the ship as soon as the ship was cleared at the ports. She also offered to get us into the chocolate buffet early if we wanted.

[suzyed]

On our recent sailing on the Star, Belkys did none of the above. :(

 

The "concierge" perk on this sailing was most disappointing...especially since we had the amazing Simone last year and we were treated like royalty, which is what I thought was part of the "vip" experience.

 

Bocadude85, what catagory were you in?

[nlt46]

Alex certainly escorted us off the ship a little early even when we were docked. We also had the benefit in Hawaii and the Baltics, but I can't remember their names. We didn't use the benefit every time as we don't always want to hurry off. On the Jewell we were AE and Alex sent us a letter with plans every time the Villas received them. Nancy

[Bocadude85]

On our recent sailing on the Star, Belkys did none of the above. :(

 

The "concierge" perk on this sailing was most disappointing...especially since we had the amazing Simone last year and we were treated like royalty, which is what I thought was part of the "vip" experience.

 

Bocadude85, what catagory were you in?

 

We were in a AC penthouse. We loved Belkys..

[Cubechick]

Just to chime in, we were escorted off both with Alex (we were in an AE) when we were on the Gem and on my recent cruise aboard the Pearl (in an OS that time) with Karan.

 

Now when we were on the Gem we didn't receive notes in our stateroom about this, but I think that may have been because it was Alex's first cruise after his vacation. But Karan did have a letter delivered the day before each port.

 

My attitude is that I hope to have these things happen but don't count on anything!

[suzyed]

We were in a AC penthouse. We loved Belkys..

Hmmmm? I am so puzzeled..:confused: Wonder what happened? Maybe she knew she was leaving at the end of the week and had already started moving on???

[etluv2cruise]

While Belkys was very sweet to speak with, she was mostly absent...we would run into her and she would say "hi", but that was it.

She did escourt us off the ship at the end of the cruise, which just meant she slipped us past a few other passengers.

We saw our butler the first day, then never again.

 

We were sooo spoiled by Simone last year! She got us into the choc. buffet early so we could take pictures...this year we didn't even go to it.

Not really worth waiting in that vey long line.

I don't know...Simone was right there for us everyday, checking on us, calling us making sure everything was all right. For ex. When we continually had a problem with our key card, she took care of it.

 

We had an early excursion in Ketchikan and requested breakfast in our suite at 6:30. I even wrote on the order form that we had an 7 am tour, so it was really important to get the breakfast early. Well at 6:55, as we were leaving our suite, the butler(not ours, but another one we met on embarkation) finally brings our breakfast. :( Then the butler acts "put out" because we told him we didn't have time for it. I took a yogurt off the cart and that was breakfast. I even tried to call room service earlier...no answer.

So we rush to our tour bus... and sat and sat and sat for almost a half hour because 6 people were late to the bus....very disconcerting. So when we see Belkys, we mention this to her...nothing. She competely missed the point and why we were upset.

 

Thank goodness for the Cagney's perk, or we wouldn't have felt that we got our money's worth on the suite. We love the Cagney's perk and use it most days for both lunch and breakfast....and love the servers there and even filled out "Style" cards for several of them....lovely people!

 

So.....to answer your question, Terry.....we now even feel more strongly that Simone is one of a kind...a real gem! I hope when you sail, she will be on the Star with you. It is such a beautiful ship and the staff and crew are just so wonderful!

 

BTW, it will be interesting to see the changes on the Star after her stint in dry dock. Jean Michele, the Hotel Director said they are moving La Trattoria to where Soho presently is. Trying to drum up more business there...it really is a nice place to eat...great food, so that will be good. I got the impression that they are phasing out Soho...so we will see. He also said that they were getting all new chairs in Ginza....so it sounds like the Star is getting a mini face lift! :)

 

 

Hi Susan:

 

Where did you find those "Style" cards? I meant to fill them out for several of the servers that we had that provided us with the extra mile?

If it is only available onboard, is there still any other way to recognize their efforts? I was hoping that I would be able to accomplish it with the survey that I have received that NCL sent to my email, I have already completed and did not find anywhere for such matter.

 

Elaine

[njhorseman]

Hi Susan:

 

Where did you find those "Style" cards? I meant to fill them out for several of the servers that we had that provided us with the extra mile?

If it is only available onboard, is there still any other way to recognize their efforts? I was hoping that I would be able to accomplish it with the survey that I have received that NCL sent to my email, I have already completed and did not find anywhere for such matter.

 

Elaine

 

 

The cards are usually available in the dining room (often right on the tables, with the waiter's name already filled in) and at the reception desk.

 

At this point, you could write or email NCl with your comments.

[suzyed]

Hi Susan:

 

Where did you find those "Style" cards? I meant to fill them out for several of the servers that we had that provided us with the extra mile?

If it is only available onboard, is there still any other way to recognize their efforts? I was hoping that I would be able to accomplish it with the survey that I have received that NCL sent to my email, I have already completed and did not find anywhere for such matter.

 

Elaine

We had two of them in our cabin and then I asked Arturo, our room steward, for more and he gave me a handful! LOL...we filled out at least 5 of them!

You would think that on the survey you would be able to add some comments...but I wasn't able to either.

Maybe if you just send a letter to NCL?