Role of Concierge for Concierge Class Cabins

[cachouonacruise]

Hi everyone,

 

In May 2019, we will be on our first Concierge Class cabin ever.

 

Our excursions are already booked. We won’t need help for unpacking/packing. We already have one specialty restaurant booked and don’t plan to need more.

 

In short, I am left wondering what services if any, could we need the concierge for, while in a CC cabin? 

 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise! 

 

 

[NantahalaCruiser]

There is a Concierge available on the ship. But he/she is available to all passengers; Concierge Class is a misnomer and has nothing to do with the Concierge. By the way, I stumbled onto the following recruitment posting for a Celebrity Concierge: 

 

CONCIERGE

Description: 

We are currently seeking Concierge to join our team. The Concierge position Provides a personalized guest service experience, where the anticipation of guest needs and expectations are executed in a timely manner. The Concierge is to be instrumental in creating guest experiences and executing service that is second to none. Consistently engage in conversation, relying a professional disposition and personality.


Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

Encompasses strong communication and organizational skills, essential problem-resolution skills, and active listening skills for all concerns relating to guest concerns and Concierge Services.
Coordinates guests’ special, out-of-the-ordinary requests for onboard services under the direction of the Guest Relations Manager.
Coordinates guests’ requests for shore side services in ports, i.e., limousine services, car rentals, restaurant reservations, etc., under the supervision of the Guest Relations Manager.
Handles guests’ inquiries and complaints under the supervision of the Guest Relations Manager and ensures that they are resolved quickly, courteously, professionally and to the guests’ total satisfaction.
Receives inquiries that may require a stateroom upgrade and these are forwarded to the Assistant Guest Relations Manager for processing. 

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, cachouonacruise said:

Hi everyone,

 

In May 2019, we will be on our first Concierge Class cabin ever.

 

Our excursions are already booked. We won’t need help for unpacking/packing. We already have one specialty restaurant booked and don’t plan to need more.

 

In short, I am left wondering what services if any, could we need the concierge for, while in a CC cabin? 

 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise! 

 

 

 

Concierges never help with packing or unpacking (butlers will for suite guests). They can help with restaurant bookings, would direct you to shore excursions for bookings but can offer port advice....They will offer these services to all guests. If you do have a problem (lost luggage, problem with a return flight) they may be able to liaise with airlines etc. However, guest relations will do this too. If you do have any difficulties on board they can be a person to approach although they would simply liaise with guest relations.

 

I am wondering if you have read some of the comments/information re the suite concierge. The suite concierge does offer far more services (and far more personalised) including arranging behind the scenes visits, sorting and priority waitlisting for fully booked excursions, printing boarding passes, priority tendering etc.

 

Concierge rooms tend to be in good locations, offer a main dining room lunch on boarding and a few other perks listed, a ‘Special’  concierge service is not really part of it.

[varoo]

The concierge can be helpful with getting you additional port information and maps, if you don't want to search them out yourself, or help you make travel arrangements and reservations to get to and from wherever you may wish to go.

 

Even if you have all your arrangements already booked, the concierge can be a good resource if you unexpectedly find yourself needing something you hadn't anticipated, like finding a pharmacy or dentist at an unfamiliar location, for example, or encountering an emergency situation and needing to return home sooner than originally planned.

 

If you change your excursion plans, or one of your excursions gets canceled at the last minute, or your post-cruise plans change, the concierge can help you find alternatives.

 

Or, you may find that you don't need the services of the concierge at all. 

But I would suggest at least stopping by to say hello and chat. They are usually very nice, friendly people.

 

We have seen the concierge help people check in for their flights and print out boarding passes on the last day of the cruise, (even though that is something that most of us do for ourselves).

 

You are also likely to receive an invitation from the concierge to attend  a "special" presentation or event, such as a helipad sailaway for concierge class passengers, just to give the impression that with concierge class you are getting something extra, (even though other groups also get invited to such "special" presentations or events --- Shhh!  don't tell anyone ).

A lot of it is just fluff.  On Celebrity cruises, they like to make you feel special, whichever category you are in.

 

But in reality, on Celebrity ships the "special" concierge for concierge class passengers does pretty much what a regular concierge will do for any passenger on just about any cruise ship.

 

The concept of providing a special concierge in close proximity to the Concierge Class cabins is relatively recent. 

This position appears to have been added mainly because some passengers were complaining that they were paying extra for Concierge Class, but not receiving any special concierge services. 

 

Our experience has been that the concierge for Concierge Class is usually delighted to have anyone drop by to chat or ask for advice, whether or not you are in a concierge class stateroom.

 

[cachouonacruise]

Thank-you very much Chemmo and Varoo for these precisions. 

 

I have read quite a bit on these boards and the use of the word “concierge” seem to correspond to a different reality, depending on the cruise line or cabin class. I just wanted to confirm my understanding for our next cruise.

 

Thank-you for the suggestion to drop by and say hello! It sounds like a good idea. P.s. We were in a regular veranda on Solstice and in AQ on Infinity, and I don’t remember having seen a “concierge desk”. Do you know where it is located on the Connie? 

 

Once more, thank-you for taking the time to respond to my request. I really appreciate the support.

[2tixParadise]

This page shows what *should* be included in a concierge room

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/staterooms/concierge-class-stateroom

 

You can ask your room attendant if you’re missing anything 

[waggie]

59 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

Thank-you very much Chemmo and Varoo for these precisions. 

 

I have read quite a bit on these boards and the use of the word “concierge” seem to correspond to a different reality, depending on the cruise line or cabin class. I just wanted to confirm my understanding for our next cruise.

 

Thank-you for the suggestion to drop by and say hello! It sounds like a good idea. P.s. We were in a regular veranda on Solstice and in AQ on Infinity, and I don’t remember having seen a “concierge desk”. Do you know where it is located on the Connie? 

 

Once more, thank-you for taking the time to respond to my request. I really appreciate the support.

We were recently on Connie and Raphael the Concierge -Concierge had his desk in the Library (but that will probably change when the ship has her major renovation this year)- he was delightful.

[39august]

The location of both the Captain's Club host and the concierge will be in the daily. 

[cachouonacruise]

Thank-you all for the very detailed information! 

[Turtles06]

We were in a C2 on the Silhouette in November, on Deck 10.  It was not our first time sailing in a concierge class cabin, but it was the first time the Concierge was located somewhere other than in the bowels of the ship.  On this sailing, she had a desk in the Library, which was near our cabin.  She had posted hours, and was always friendly to say hi to when I passed by.  

 

We'd made a number of specialty dining reservations upon embarkation, and for various reasons (including weather) we needed to change some of them around as the days progressed, some of which was a bit tricky because of the times involved.  I could certainly have done all of that myself, but the Concierge was able to do it all much more quickly with a single phone call to one of her own colleagues.   I'm sure if there were other things we needed help with that were within her power to assist with, she would gladly have helped.

 

This was also the first time sailing in concierge class that we were invited to a sailaway on the bow from one of our ports.  I agree with comments above that Celebrity has made a few efforts (including with the embarkation day lunch) to "step up" the concierge class experience.  Whether or not these things have huge added value, they were very nice and I appreciated them (especially the embarkation day lunch that saved us from the chaos of the buffet).

[margie1221]

VERY helpful thread!!  Thanks to all the posters for sharing their detailed experience and knowledge.  This is our 1st time in Concierge class on Celebrity and really looking forward to it 🙂

[Fogfog]

On a recent sailing we found the concierge to be very helpful with a snafu on a dining package. She took care of the coordination etc with Bev/Dining and billing etc.  The Dining Mgr wasn't helpful and so we appreciated her running it down for us.

 

When the Concierge "gift" hadn't arrived, she also made sure that happened (though the one from the previous sailing--a canvas tote with zip closure/no logo that we found super useful---Had been replaced with an inferior quality/no zip logo bag. oh well). 

 

The Helo-pad Sail away with some of the officers is great fun--- don't let people poo poo this. 

It - like other things- depends on stateroom level or Captains Club level. And not every concierge room gets an invite because there are too many (according to our concierge mgr)

 

while not related to the person in the role of Concierge...The lunch in MDR embarkation lunch is a nice way to start the cruise-- luggage set aside and no jostling for a table in the Oceanview Cafe. 

Edited February 6, 2019 by Fogfog

[snyniew]

The Concierge actually booked the shore excursions for me and my nieces saving me from having to go down to deck 2/3 and do it there. Didn't direct me to go there but took and handled the reservation himself. That's really the only time I ever used them.

[jshli]

We had to cancel a shore excursion as I was under the weather and it was too close to the date to get a refund unless Celebrity could rebook our 2 spots. The concierge cancelled it for us and we thought that was the end of it. We were very surprised when the concierge phoned us the next day to tell us that although they were unable to rebook, she arranged for us to receive a 50% refund. Needless to say, we were very pleased  and felt she went above and beyond. We were in a concierge cabin but probably would not have thought to ask for her assistance if we were not.

[ben.chan]

On 2/6/2019 at 10:14 PM, Fogfog said:

On a recent sailing we found the concierge to be very helpful with a snafu on a dining package. She took care of the coordination etc with Bev/Dining and billing etc.  The Dining Mgr wasn't helpful and so we appreciated her running it down for us.

 

When the Concierge "gift" hadn't arrived, she also made sure that happened (though the one from the previous sailing--a canvas tote with zip closure/no logo that we found super useful---Had been replaced with an inferior quality/no zip logo bag. oh well). 

 

The Helo-pad Sail away with some of the officers is great fun--- don't let people poo poo this. 

It - like other things- depends on stateroom level or Captains Club level. And not every concierge room gets an invite because there are too many (according to our concierge mgr)

 

while not related to the person in the role of Concierge...The lunch in MDR embarkation lunch is a nice way to start the cruise-- luggage set aside and no jostling for a table in the Oceanview Cafe. 

 

On my last cruise in CC last Aug, I got two bags from X in total during the cruise. They arrived on different nights.

 

One was a good quality tote with zip, and the other one a low quality without zip (that had one of the handles broken off after 2 or 3 days).

 

Not sure if you had the same.....?

[GoodScout]

I love most of the perks you get with Concierge Class, so that's where we usually either initially book or upgrade to when an offer is made. 

 

Our last excursion we rarely made use of the Concierge, as we didn't need her services and were able to call directly for reservations, etc. We resolved when we sail again in April we're going to make sure to introduce ourselves the first day or so, and try and take advantage of someone willing to help us out.