Very Unhappy w/ NL Concierges on Zuiderdam

[ekerr19]

We had less than stellar concierge staff on one of cruises too - offhand, can't recall, but think it was Westerdam.

 

Calls to the concierge consistently went through to the front desk and call backs took hours.

 

Several times I went to lounge for something and found a notepad the concierge had left on the desk stating "please write down what you need - back in 15 minutes"... We found the 15 minutes more like 30-45.

 

I thought it was pretty tacky - and no one listed their requests, but several of us kept popping in asking each "What is up with this?" It happened on several of our 7 days, sadly...

 

Hope it never happens again.

[gregdude]

Just wondering, if this is a rotating job assignment from the front office, if it might go to the least senior people? I would imagine that this job must be extremely boring, very little to do most of the time. The most senior people probably prefer to be where the action is, at the front desk. The result could, and I stress could, be going to new and or less qualified staff.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

We had less than stellar concierge staff on one of cruises too - offhand, can't recall, but think it was Westerdam.

 

Calls to the concierge consistently went through to the front desk and call backs took hours.

 

Several times I went to lounge for something and found a notepad the concierge had left on the desk stating "please write down what you need - back in 15 minutes"... We found the 15 minutes more like 30-45.

 

I thought it was pretty tacky - and no one listed their requests, but several of us kept popping in asking each "What is up with this?" It happened on several of our 7 days, sadly...

 

Hope it never happens again.

Same thing happened with us both times we sailed on the Westerdam and once on the Oosterdam. Strangely the time it happened on the Oosterdam in Feb 2008 the same Concierge was on the Westerdam this past June :rolleyes: same kind of service.

In all honesty I have found overall with just a few exceptions that the Concierges are not as efficient on the Vista Class ships as they are on the S and R Class ships. Possibly that they just have far too many cabins and passengers to take care of to give the personal service many of us have had in the past. I think they get frustrated with how demanding it can be on the Vista and Signature class ships and with that frustration end up with a poor attitude.

[Harry1954]

Same thing happened with us both times we sailed on the Westerdam and once on the Oosterdam. Strangely the time it happened on the Oosterdam in Feb 2008 the same Concierge was on the Westerdam this past June :rolleyes: same kind of service.

 

In all honesty I have found overall with just a few exceptions that the Concierges are not as efficient on the Vista Class ships as they are on the S and R Class ships. Possibly that they just have far too many cabins and passengers to take care of to give the personal service many of us have had in the past. I think they get frustrated with how demanding it can be on the Vista and Signature class ships and with that frustration end up with a poor attitude.

 

I would agree with you on your conclusion. We have sailed twice on Vista and many times on S-class and Prinsendam using Neptune. Only on the Vista ships did we notice frustrated, overwhelmed at times, concierges. At first we thought it was incompetence or lack of motivation; however, after watching one pair operate for 26 days, we decided it was overwhelming. Too many people to service with too few resources available.

 

Other classes of ships were always fabulous.

Harry

[LMB01]

Same thing happened with us both times we sailed on the Westerdam and once on the Oosterdam. Strangely the time it happened on the Oosterdam in Feb 2008 the same Concierge was on the Westerdam this past June :rolleyes: same kind of service.

 

In all honesty I have found overall with just a few exceptions that the Concierges are not as efficient on the Vista Class ships as they are on the S and R Class ships. Possibly that they just have far too many cabins and passengers to take care of to give the personal service many of us have had in the past. I think they get frustrated with how demanding it can be on the Vista and Signature class ships and with that frustration end up with a poor attitude.

 

Glad to hear this - as it was our experience also on the Westerdam and Oosterdam. As those are the only HAL ships we've sailed, I did not realize things might be different on the other classes of ships.

[Cruzin Terri]

In defense of the Vista Ships, I must say that our experience on the Noordam last January was great. Both concierges (Diane and Lovely) were exceptional. They got things done while you were still thinking about asking. They were gracious, efficient and just a pleasure to be around. I hope I meet them again on our next cruise on the Maasdam.

Terri

[pipedreams62]

The Neptune Lounge Concierges are actually personnel assigned from the Front Office who rotate in and out of the NL on a regular basis after receiving additional training. Like Lisa stated, the Guest Relations Manager, a "two-striper", is responsible for the Front Office. There are Front Office supervisors below him/her. Above the GRM is the Hotel Manager and above him/her, the captain who has ultimate responsibility for the overall management of the ship. If you have any problems/issues with the NL concierges, the GRM would be a good person to start voicing your concerns with

 

 

I'm putting Binghamton and all his stripes in charge!

 

 

[Seavoyage]

Hi All - that's just not right regarding the post cards - especially if NL staff assured OP they would make sure the cards were mailed from the actual port of call - that's just not cool - but you know the old saying - if you want/need something done right.....

 

Anyhow here is my 2 cents on the NL staff - we have been on 8 HAL cruises - the last 5 have been deluxe suite level. I can honestly say - we have always been treated like royalty..it amazes me time and time again - those folks are so wonderful and always seem to bend over backwards. I will say I have witnessed some PAX to be very condescending to the staff in the NL. Some folks walk in the door and do not even look at or acknowledge them - it's weird - then they expect to be treated with an above average level of respect. Yes we do pay much much more to be in the level but there is no excuse for rudeness. Courtesy goes both ways. I am pretty sure this doesn't apply to any of us here - but I feel it is worth noting. A hello - how are you - goes a long way!

[Sage]

I agree that Diane and Lovely were exceptional on the Noordam. I also thought Hazel and Regina were incredible Conceirges as well.

[wingit]

We mailed postcards from the NL on the Westerdam back in late Sept before we arrived in San Diego and they still haven't arrived. Not sure who dropped the ball there. Mistakes happen.

 

I'm reluctant to think it was either of the two wonderful concierges though. Both Celeste and Gelo were friendly, gracious and helpful in every way.

[Aunty Pat]

In my experience the front desk does not always have the local postage available for the NL concierges to put on the post cards. This is especially true in ports if the ship hasn’t been the last few weeks, like on a repositioning cruise. There is the logistic of someone from the ship obtaining the stamps in a foreign port, getting them back to the ship and affixed to the post cards before the Ships Agent (who drops them in the mail) leaves the ship an hour or more before departure.

On ships that repeat the same itinerary every week or two it is much more likely for the front desk to have the necessary stamps before you arrive in port so that they can be affixed to the post cards and mailed early enough the same day.

Aunty Pat

 

Barefoot Windjammer - Phantom ‘81

K&D German Rhine Line ‘84

NCL - Norway ’85, Pride of America ’05, Southward ’87, Star ’97 & ‘05, Starward ’92, Sun ’02 & Windward ’93

RCC - Song of America ‘89

American Hawaiian - Independence ‘98

HAL - Volendam ’99, Noordam ’06, Oosterdam ’07 & ‘09, Statendam ’02 & ‘08, Prinsendam ’03 & ’06, & Zuiderdam ’04, ’06 & ’07, Westerdam ‘09

Carnival - Spirit ‘05

Celebrity – Summit ‘05

Cruise West - Yorktown Clipper ‘06

Princess - Golden Princess ‘07

A & K - East Queen ‘07

Cunard - QM2 ’08

Pending Cruises:

Crystal – Serenity, December 10, 2009

Oceania – Insignia, June 17, 2010

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I tend to agree with Lisa and others that Neptune Lounge Concierge service on the smaller ships is better than Vista. We have been on the Ryndam many times and have always been pleased at the fact the Concierge knows our names and greets us every time we walk in. We do not ask the Concierge to do much for us and they are still pleasant, cordial and stand when we enter the Lounge.

 

We have been on the Westerdam once and the Amsterdam once and did not receive the same level of cordiality. I agree that on the larger ships there are just too many cabins for them to take care of and perhaps they get a little cranky (in the American language) or overwhelmed. Or perhaps more is asked of them by more people. Just my thoughts.

 

Barbara

[LVSue]

The only bright spot in the Neptune Lounge was Jerry, the server from the Pinnacle who kept the beverages and snacks stocked. HE was amazing.

 

Donna, you are so right! I told Sail that I had never considering tipping the NL Pinnacle guy, had never even noticed them! Well, there's no way you wouldn't notice Jerry. What a great guy! One time Rhodi went in to get coffee and tea for the both of us, and he said, "Where is she? Is she OK?"

 

Frankly, I have never been too impressed with the NL concierges; i.e., there was the guy who was so eager to go on break he couldn't concern himself with my missing suitcase (and the ship was leaving port)! On the Zuiderdam (9/19 sailing), I thought both guys were pleasant Nilo and Rommel); made open seating reservations for us. But every single order (of perhaps three) we had them place for dinner was wrong in some way or another. Personally, I would rather place the order myself, but somehow have been convinced that NL is better. Never again.

 

Then again there was the sole room service breakfast we ordered from the door hanging thing—I was so excited as I lifted my silver "dome" only to discover a single triangle of potatoes, no omelet at all. So it may not have been NL's fault. Or maybe the diet police were at it again. (Don't you dare post a picture, Pipedreams!)

 

Frankly, if I wanted to mail postcards from the ports, I would do it myself. Not too sure the NL concierges could even leave the ship. However, then who knows when those postcards would arrive?

[Candy]

We are recently off Zuidy's 10/14-24 cruise, and I couldn't disagree with you more. Either Milo or Ivy were in the office at all times, and I was always cheerfully greeted by name. When my Mariner pin was delivered scratched, Ivy got me a new one before the luncheon. Milo also sat at his computer for 30 minutes or so, trying to match up names and verifying the cabin numbers of our CC Meet 'n' Greet. He also had the invitations delivered for me within the hour!

 

Jerry - JERRY ! - is one of the most personable attendants we've ever had in the NL. He always greeted me by name, and frequently refilled my snack plate or coffee when I was in the NL on my netbook. He was also our waiter in the PG, and we were served quite well there as well.

 

We tipped all three for their polite and personable service.

 

Candy

[Boatdrill]

Today - the icing on the cake. We sent, after every port, postcards to our loved ones, mailed from the NL. We took the time to buy the postcards, write them, and paid a dollar per for international mailing... it was postmarked from Ft Lauderdale on Oct 26th! It's so frustrating, not only did they wait until they got back to the states to mail them, but they waited until the cruise after ours got back to mail them. So much for my nephew having fun getting postcards postmarked from Nicaragua, Columbia, etc.

 

Clearly your postcards could not have been mailed in Ft. Lauderdale without US stamps on them.

 

It's difficult for ships to purchase international stamps from each foreign port along the cruise. If you wanted your postcards mailed in Nicaragua, or Columbia, etc., then the concierge would have had to have known the postal rates for mailing postcards to the US from Nicaragua, Columbia, etc. and sold you those stamps from each country. Once that was done, those postcards could only have been mailed in the country

who's stamps were on the postcard - while the ship was in port. If the mail was not taken off before sailing and given to the port agent, then the postcards weren't mailed. Unfortunately they could not be mailed in the next port IF it was another country, because they had stamps from another country on them.

 

I know it's a mess and disappointing. It sounds like she sold you US stamps (unbeknownst to you), even though you asked to send the cards from international ports. :cool:

[yotefan37]

Boatdrill;

I'm having problems quoting your post, but I wanted to reply...

Therein lies our disappointment, each time we mailed postcards with the concierge, he looked it up in the book, told us what port it would be mailed from, and charged us the rate accordingly. In fact, he told us they couldn't mail from one of the ports, since they visit there so infrequently. When he told us what port would used instead, we happily agreed and paid the corresponding rate.


Candy;

Maybe our survey yielded results - the NL concierges from our voyage were NOT the same as on your trip. I'm so glad things went more smoothly for you! :)

Andrea

[jannandjohn]

[quote name='yotefan37']We traveled on the ms Zuiderdam During the cruise, we were very unhappy with the Neptune Lounge concierges. They consistently made reservations for the wrong days (multiple times), gave us incorrect information, and were totally misinformed about many happenings around the ship. Everytime there was any foul-up, they blamed us and did as little as possible to make it right.
. We sent, after every port, postcards to our loved ones, mailed from the NL. We took the time to buy the postcards, write them, and paid a dollar per for international mailing. To date, only one postcard had been received.
Andrea[/quote]
Well you at least had 1 received.
I wrote about this on CC in May(about the NL "workers" on the Volendam)
I sent 40 postcards and paid for them to be sent to Australia from Japan(takes 3 days) and the USA(about 2 weeks usually) ..VIA the Concierge..at her insistence that she would mail them for me(I asked about the front desk maibox)
and nobody received them!!:mad:...and it couldn't have been the mailman, because it was from different Japanese and US ports..big coincidence if it was.:rolleyes:
What irked me the most was the fact I bought them at an art gallery , and they were handpainted...
I then received a flaming here from the cheerleaders for bringing up the subject.
Glad it wasn't just me.
ps..ditto for the other stuff, we received someone elses travel papers in our mailbox, and never got ours..they told us to look in everyones maibox at their cabin doors:eek:

[suse]

[quote name='jannandjohn']Well you at least had 1 received.
I wrote about this on CC in May(about the NL "workers" on the Volendam)
I sent 40 postcards and paid for them to be sent to Australia from Japan(takes 3 days) and the USA(about 2 weeks usually) ..VIA the Concierge..at her insistence that she would mail them for me(I asked about the front desk maibox)
and nobody received them!!:mad:...and it couldn't have been the mailman, because it was from different Japanese and US ports..big coincidence if it was.:rolleyes:
What irked me the most was the fact I bought them at an art gallery , and they were handpainted...
I then received a flaming here from the cheerleaders for bringing up the subject.
Glad it wasn't just me.
ps..ditto for the other stuff, we received someone elses travel papers in our mailbox, and never got ours..they told us to look in everyones maibox at their cabin doors:eek:[/quote]
Did anyone get their postcards from you?

[GmaPajama]

[quote name='Candy']We are recently off Zuidy's 10/14-24 cruise, and I couldn't disagree with you more. Either Milo or Ivy were in the office at all times, and I was always cheerfully greeted by name. When my Mariner pin was delivered scratched, Ivy got me a new one before the luncheon. Milo also sat at his computer for 30 minutes or so, trying to match up names and verifying the cabin numbers of our CC Meet 'n' Greet. He also had the invitations delivered for me within the hour!

Jerry - [I][COLOR=Red][B]JERRY ![/B][/COLOR][/I] - is one of the most personable attendants we've ever had in the NL. He always greeted me by name, and frequently refilled my snack plate or coffee when I was in the NL on my netbook. He was also our waiter in the PG, and we were served quite well there as well.

We tipped all three for their polite and personable service.

Candy[/QUOTE]
[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"]Candy - I'm so glad the NL was up to it's usual high standards for you that following week. I'm certain we hit an "off" cruise, as the service there is usually top notch. I know the Concierge position is a coveted one and only the best of the best get it. Thanks so much for bringing us up to date!

As for Jerry ... he was so great I'd book a cruise specifically to have him taking care of us. One of the winners, for sure![/SIZE][/FONT]

[jannandjohn]

[quote name='suse']Did anyone get their postcards from you?[/quote]

I thought that was why I replied..:confused:

[quote]Originally Posted by jannandjohn
Well you at least had 1 received.
I wrote about this on CC in May.....
and nobody received them!!...[/quote]

[Down-Unders]

[quote name='yotefan37']Al;

I hope you understand, but I don't feel very comfortable listing the names of the 2 concierges we dealt with. Seeing as they can't defend themselves, I think it's unfair to do that in a public forum. At the very least, I hope to discuss this with HAL first.

Let's just say - if it's the 2 we dealt with, you'll know right away, or HAL would have already fixed the problem.

Sorry I can't be of more help. Best regards!

Andrea[/quote]




Thank you for not naming the staff, I agree they cannot defend themselves on a public forum like CC.

[RichNY]

Maybe HAL can learn something from, dare I say it, NCL...The concierges are permanent, no rotation unless someone is on vacation, then they are replaced by another concierge..That system breeds accountability..its their job and their only job....

[jannandjohn]

[quote name='RichNY']Maybe HAL can learn something from, dare I say it, NCL...The concierges are permanent, no rotation unless someone is on vacation, then they are replaced by another concierge..That system breeds accountability..its their job and their only job....[/quote]
It's definitely a good idea.
I am in the service industry and it pays to be nice to people (but you really have to be sincere too)we want them to keep coming back.(and no, it's not about tips, because it's not compulsory in Australia like it is in other countries;))
it's about just plain ol' "doing your job".
I can't understand why people "gush" about what a wonderful concierge... or butler.. or steward ...or whoever they had, when all that person is doing, or should be doing ..is the job they are paid to do.
they are not there to do you a favour.
and YES, I am always courteous and friendly to anyone who I serve .
As I expect the same treatment.
without "ooh ahhing" about them.

[yotefan37]

[quote name='jannandjohn']It
's definitely a good idea.
I am in the service industry and it pays to be nice to people (but you really have to be sincere too)we want them to keep coming back.(and no, it's not about tips, because it's not compulsory in Australia lik
e it is in other countries;))
it's about just plain ol' "doing your job".
I can't understand why people "gush" about what a wonderful concierge... or butler.. or steward ...or whoever they had, when all that person is doing, or should be doing ..is the job they are paid to do.
they are not there to do you a favour.
and YES, I am always courteous and friendly to anyone who I serve .
As I expect the same treatment.
without "ooh ahhing" about them.[/QUOTE]

I couldn't disagree more. Everyone deserves recognition for a job well done, whether or not you work in a service industry. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging individuals who excel at what they do.

Throughout our last cruise, my DH and I couldn't help but reflect upon how difficult it must be to work on a cruise ship, how long the hours are, how difficult it must be to be away from family for months on end, and how difficult many of the passengers can be. In my book, anyone who can do all this, plus go above and beyond - with a smile - deserves plenty of accolades (and a good tip)!

I'm not sure I would be capable of a friendly "good morning" whilst in the midst of cleaning 32 toilets, but the cabin stewards do it every time! ;)

[sail7seas]

[B]I agree, Yotefan. Yes, of course, it is their job but there is nothing wrong with praising when it is done well. And thanking in appropriate ways. Time and again, it amazes us how these crews remain so professional and cheerful and have to deal with all sorts of 'stuff' but keep their pleasant demeanor. A job well done in any workplace is deserving of praise IMO Sure helps in the morale department.

What I do not understand is if someone is unhappy while aboard the ship with something not happening the way they want or expect, why do they stay mum until after they are off the ship? Nothing can be done when you are gone to make it better. Isn't the point to have the best cruise possible? If something needs attention, requesting/commenting to the person who has the ability to make it better makes sense to me. If the concierges were not up to par, why suffer silently and then complain when it is too late to give the ship/HAL the chance to make it better. :confused: I would want the situation discussed and hopefully remedied so we could have a great cruise.
[/B]