AOS Concierge - Just Curious

[LoveMyLifeToday]

We just got off the AOS yesterday and had a GS so the concierge was included. I was just curious what people thought about Luis, the concierge.

[ckrobyn]

We are booked on the AOS in January, also in a GS - which one were you in?

 

Glad you had a good time on the cruise!

[LoveMyLifeToday]

1324...Perfect. Right on the hump/bump. Where is yours?

[daveky]

We just got off the AOS yesterday and had a GS so the concierge was included. I was just curious what people thought about Luis, the concierge.

 

Wasn't very outgoing. When we would come into the lounge, his head was buried in the computer all of the time. Would raise his head and say hello, them back at it. Was the same way no matter what time of day we came, how many in lounge, even if it was just me and my better half.

But, as you can see from my cruise list with RCI, no big deal for me. I know my way around, if I needed something, I just went over and told him what I needed and he was very prompt to get it done.

Didn't hurt my feelings that he didn't visit with us.

 

Dave

[LoveMyLifeToday]

You described it just as I saw it! Sometimes his girlfriend would come in and chat with him at his desk! It wasn't that I wanted him to visit with us or help us to get around....I just figured he'd be at least as friendly as the room stewards and wait staff was!

 

Also, I thought the snacks were lacking. Not that I was expecting something grand, but shriveled up hot dogs wrapped in dough just weren't that appealing to the eye! We just liked going there for a relaxing glass of wine before dinner, so we really got what was most important to us.

[CINCY40]

...we have that suite next week! This is our first time on Royal Caribbean. Is the balcony any larger than a normal suite? Was it quiet? Could you hear noise from the elevators/stairwells? I hear that the mattresses on RCI are hard as rocks. Is that so? Who was your steward and did he/she do a good job? All information appreciated. The excitement is building. I think Ckrobyn has this suite in the future, so know she will be interested as well.

 

Thanks,

Nancy

[LoveMyLifeToday]

The balcony is larger than the suites. In fact, GS balconies are larger than OS! It was VERY quiet (I was concerned about that too). Mattresses were hard, but we requested an egg crate foam pad and they brought that. It was just fine. Our steward was Fred. Very nice and very accommodating.

 

You will not believe all the storage in that room! In the bathroom that is luxurious (!), you have two medicine cabinets and two cabinets under the sink, not to mention the ledge over the toilet area. In the dressing area, two huge closets and under the bar there are at least 6 drawers. Storage in the end table and night stands. Then by the bed where you have a makeup mirror (!), there are several drawers and behind the mirror more storage for makeup, etc. Do bring a power strip though because there are only 2 plugs. And you might want to bring a clock....aren't any in the room.

 

I could go on and on!

[CINCY40]

You mentioned that there was one in the suite. Is it a magnifying mirror? I am getting to the age where I need one but will not bother to drag mine along if there is one furnished. We already have the clock and the power strip packed along with a pair of binoculars.

 

You mentioned the "hot dogs" in the concierge lounge. Hope that they did better than that sometimes. Did they have juices in the lounge? How did you like the food overall on the ship? Any favorites? Was shrimp cocktail available?

 

What furniture did you have on the balcony? We are looking forward to being out there with some good books and a glass of wine or two.

 

Thanks for the replies...

Nancy

[LoveMyLifeToday]

Yes, it's a magnifying mirror! Binoculars are a good idea, but it's SO humid that they'll fog up if you take them into the suite. I left them on the table out there. There are two chairs and a table on one end then a chair w/an attached ottoman on the other. It was almost too hot for wine in the afternoon on the balcony. We had room service out there everyday before it got too warm.

 

Food in concierge was just basic...nothing to brag about. They had a chafing dish with different warm appetizers every night. We liked a few of those. Then there were mini sandwiches, vegetables and dip, and some little dessert things. Wines, beer, sodas, liquor and mixes. It's a relaxing place to go before dinner.

 

Food overall was just fine. I had lamb twice and was pleasantly surprised at how good and tender it was. Filet the first nite was good. And get the vidalia onion tart as an appetizer. Delicious! Shrimp cocktail was available. Lobster was on Friday. It was really good.

 

Let me know if you want to know anything else! I could talk about this forever!

[ckrobyn]

1324...Perfect. Right on the hump/bump. Where is yours?

 

I'm SO glad you loved the cabin! This is our first GS and we are completely excited about it :)

 

I think CINCY has asked most of the questions I had in mind ( thanks cincy!) any other info or pics you want to share about the cabin are greatly appreciated!!!

[rockyhou]

Well we are on the AOS in just 13 days, it will be our first time in an Owners suite so can't wait. Hope the Concierge has a different outlook on service by then..but if not..going to love it all anyway!

[ckrobyn]

Well we are on the AOS in just 13 days, it will be our first time in an Owners suite so can't wait. Hope the Concierge has a different outlook on service by then..but if not..going to love it all anyway!

 

rocky -

 

Be sure to post a full review when you return!

Have a GREAT cruise :)

[daveky]

Well we are on the AOS in just 13 days, it will be our first time in an Owners suite so can't wait. Hope the Concierge has a different outlook on service by then..but if not..going to love it all anyway!

 

You'll love the Owner's Suite. Had one on AOS 9/4/05 sailing and really spoiled by the large plasma tv that twist to either be viewed in the living room or the bedroom. Came back home and the 19" in my bedroom just isn't the same.

 

Have fun.

 

Dave

[rolloman]

I agree he wasnt exactly Mr. Personality, but then again I didnt read anywhere he was supposed to perform. Bottom line for me, the guy hooked me up, anything I asked for he made it happen. Here is an example.. We booked an excursion in Aruba for the Kukoo Kunukoo bus that included the dinner, it was canceled. No one contacted me, so I went back on the ship after waiting on the pier for 30 minutes. The excursion desk said sorry and informed me the regular bus that departs at 7:30 was full. I went directly to Luis in the lounge and the dude made a couple calls and got us on. As far as the finger foods, I think they were fine, various appetizers. Not sure why anyone would complain about these, I mean afterall you have a whole ship full of food waiting on you elsewhere. To me the lounge was perfect for a couple pre-dinner drinks, good conversation without the noise and a concierge who will take care of any of your needs.

[truffles2]

If you want a hustling, friendly, helpful, wonderful concierge...try the Jewel with Mpho. He was superb. I am capable of fixing my own drink, but it is nice when someone remembers and has it ready for you!:p

[CINCY40]

You said you could talk about your cruise a lot, so here are a few more...

 

What ports did you anchor and what views did your suite have from each port (harbor or ocean)?

 

Did you try Johnny Rockets? My husband is a very plain eater, hates to "dress up" after years of having to do it as a college professor and we will probably only use room service, the Windjammer and Johnny Rockets. (Yes, I know it is a shame, but I love him anyhow and we will inform the main dining room immediately after we board.) We usually cruise on HAL so we love their Pinnacle. I am hoping we can go to Portofino's and have a plain filet and potato and salad for him and something more interesting for myself.

 

Did your concierge contact you by email ahead of time? I have read that some people have had this happen. I sure would like to have the egg crate mattress on the (twin) beds before we arrive.

 

What about the refrigerator? Did you/can you ask the steward to remove the items? We plan to bring a few vanilla cokes and some wine.

 

What was your experience in embarkation? Debarkation?

 

Where is Palm Bay? We lived in Plantation, FL (just north of Ft Lauderdale) until we moved to the heart of Georgia. Probably moving back to Florida in the next year or two.

 

Thanks,

Nancy

[LoveMyLifeToday]

Aruba & Curacau view was harbor. The best views were from St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Only in St. Maarten were we tied up on the side that everyone boarded and that was kind of interesting to watch.

 

Johnny Rocket's was a blast. They serve onion rings and french fries as soon as you sit down! Great shakes. They get people up to line dance during different times and it's just fun. $3.95 pp is well worth it. We went right when they opened around 11:30 and had no wait. The Windjammer is good though too.

 

Portofino's is well worth the $20 pp. It's very quiet. Remember you can order anything off the dinner or lunch menu from room service so you won't miss those meals. The room service menu itself doesn't offer too much. We did have coffee and oj delivered every morning and enjoyed it on our balcony.

 

The concierge didn't contact us by email. He hardly acknowledged anyone in the room at all! He spent most of his time on the phone and working on his computer. Like I said before, I wasn't expecting to become friends, but I thought he'd be at least as friendly as the room stewards and wait staff! Too funny!

 

We asked our room steward to remove the items from the frig so we could put in wine and sodas (he did) and he brought the foam mattress as soon as we requested it. It was fine to have your own wine that you brought. FYI, if you order a bottle of wine at dinner (or get the wine package like we did), if you don't finish it all, you can have them save it for the next night or take it back to your room.

 

Embarking with a suite is wonderful. We got to the pier around 12:30 then found out we wouldn't be embarking until 2ish so we caught a cab and went to Chili's for lunch then came back and went right on. It's great because there aren't many people on the ship yet. We went right to our suite and took pictures before we received our luggage and cluttered it up! It arrived around 4. Debarkation is slower, but it's not that bad really. The biggest bummer is that it's the end of the cruise and you have to get off!

 

Oh, yes...we decided we'd take the steps instead of the elevator because 1. They are crowded and 2. They take forever. It was really hard at times especially since you get on/off on Deck 1 at ports! But I think it was worth it....I ate A LOT and only gained 1.5#s!

 

Do you mean Palm Harbor, FL? That is just north of Clearwater. Lovely place!

 

Ask away!

[LeavingVerySoon]

I have to agree about Luis. We just got back last night from this cruie (we had an OS - 1598) and although he emailed us for requests and we responded quickly, he doesn't have much of a sense of scheduling. Several things my wife wanted to do on the first day out conflicted with the spa appts he set up for both her and I. I would think that the activities as noted in the Compass are pretty much standard. I was very specific with him about what she was looking forward to doing.

 

He did help here and there though. We had two excursions that we had problems with, but we did get refunds. He did remember me by face at least and asked if we got everything taken care of on the second problem later that evening.

 

Overall our favorite part of the cruise had to be our table at dinner. We wound up with three other couples and it made the trip great. We even felt bad we missed out being with them when we went to Portofinos on Wed night instead of regular dining.

[NoVa Mimi]

We were on AOS for a b2b this summer and were also on her last summer. Last summer we had a substitute concierge, a female who was just wonderful! I noticed Luis's aloof behavior right away, and struck up a conversation with him. I asked about the young woman who had been there the previous year, and mentioned that she was great. I went on to tell him about all the "extras" she had done such as coming to each suite cabin the first evening of the cruise and introducing herself, and her great outgoing personality. He stated he had trained her to fill in for him. Well, I complimented him for a job well done. Right away his mood changed...he was great! :) He called all the suite cabins several times throughout the cruise (both weeks) to see if there was anything at all we needed, he wanted to make spa appointments for me, get us reservations at Portofinos,etc. He even arranged a tour of the bridge for us and several others as we sailed away from Barbados! We dined with the Captain one evening, as he set that up without us even mentioning anything at all about dining with the Captain. My suggestion is to "kill him with kindness" :)

[judy&steve]

We were on AOS this past January and Luis was the concierge. We missed him when he came by to introduce himself the first day. We had luggage issues, plane problems and snow delays.

 

We found him to be very low-key. He was friendly enough. He knew our names right away and was helpful when we asked about some excursions. I didn't expect, as another poster said, him to be buddy-buddy. He didn't make drinks for anybody. He did always visit with people to check on them once they had settled into a chair with drinks and goodies.

 

I didn't try any of the hot appetizers. I was always happy to see the fruit, cheese, and nut displays! Everything always looked good, hot and fresh, though.

 

Luis did tell us to look forward to the concierge on our upcoming Serenade cruise -- Maritza. I have seen lovely comments about her on these boards!

 

--Judy and Steve

[CINCY40]

As we are not in an OS, it is probably doubtful that Luis will contact us. Any chance of your giving us his email address? Would really love to have that eggshell mattress on when we board.

 

Thanks,

Nancy

[LoveMyLifeToday]

Luis is only in the concierge room. He's not involved in your stateroom. The person to speak to regarding the egg crate foam pad is your cabin steward.

[CINCY40]

Love...I had read that sometimes a concierge will email you for requests before you sail. Evidently Luis did email Leavingverysoon, but that person was in an owner's suite, not a GS. So perhaps if you are in the highest class suites, you get more attention.

 

Five more days!!! How far was Chili's from the dock?

 

Nancy

[LoveMyLifeToday]

Chili's is not too far from the pier. It's $10 each way by cab. On the day we got back, we went to "Senior Frogs" that's behind the Sheraton, if you want something different. That was a good place also...Mexican food.

[daveky]

Love...I had read that sometimes a concierge will email you for requests before you sail. Evidently Luis did email Leavingverysoon, but that person was in an owner's suite, not a GS. So perhaps if you are in the highest class suites, you get more attention.

 

Five more days!!! How far was Chili's from the dock?

 

Nancy

 

I got a email from Luis before sailing. This was a first for me receiving an email from the conceirge before sailing. Just figured it was a new marketing deal RCI instituted. I am a Diamond Plus member and was in an OS though.

Anyone else get an email from Luis before sailing?

 

Dave