What makes a good Concierge?

So I have read different threads on here where cruisers have their absolute favorite concierge. We've only been in a suite twice. The first time in the Haven where the concierge was friendly and efficient. She did a few things to ensure our trip was easier and we really appreciated her.

On the other hand, the concierge on our recent cruise really detracted from the suite experience. I know we all have preferences and perceive things differently. But I will say that many suite passengers had issues and by the end of the cruise, the hotel director was informed.

So... I am curious what do experienced suite cruisers find valuable in a concierge? Do you like them to be available but unobtrusive or constantly reaching out to you? What is it about the "great concierges" that makes them so great?

~Denise

On all my cruises in a suite, I've only had one really bad Concierge.

What I like is for the Concierge to be efficient and to return calls in a timely manner. Probably the best Concierge was in Moderno at breakfast time to greet the guests and then didn't see her until the evening and she came around to the specialty restaurants and asked how the cruise was going and if anything was needed. She was also there for disembarkation. She was very pleasant and made sure to connect with every suite passenger.

My worst was a Concierge who was never around, didn't return calls and during disembarkation, she would only talk to those in the Haven (guess she thought her tip would be bigger from them) and left us non-Haven suite passengers to fend for ourselves.

For me if a Concierge does a good job of escorting people that have priority off the ship at ports and also at the end that is all I require. I can't stand for long periods of time but don't quiet meet the criteria for special needs so this is very important. All the ones I have had so far have been good except for one that totally dropped the ball and we had better luck just getting in line with everyone else.

Our experience has been hit or miss - same with butlers. I wish NCL would send a post-cruise survey out to suite guests to give feedback and ability for NCL to get an idea of their performance.

Professional and kind. We have been blessed with good concierges and butlers. We don't ask for much but when we do it is always taken care of without any issues.

I will answer with what is the difference between a good concierge and a great concierge?

All of the folks gave great answers for good concierges. And yes, I agree. However, there is that human element. The best concierge may or may not be your favorite. Sometimes you just click with someone or really like them as a person.

All of the concierges I have had were good to great. No complaints whatsover, now butlers, that is a horsenof a different color LOL.

But, I have had one concierge that was truly great. They were our first. This person made suggestions and offers that really enhanced our vacation and helped us. In other words, this concierge was extremely proactive where other good ones were reactive and responsive.

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I will answer with what is the difference between a good concierge and a great concierge?

 

All of the folks gave great answers for good concierges. And yes, I agree. However, there is that human element. The best concierge may or may not be your favorite. Sometimes you just click with someone or really like them as a person.

 

All of the concierges I have had were good to great. No complaints whatsover, now butlers, that is a horsenof a different color LOL.

 

But, I have had one concierge that was truly great. They were our first. This person made suggestions and offers that really enhanced our vacation and helped us. In other words, this concierge was extremely proactive where other good ones were reactive and responsive.

 

 

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Excellent answer! You described it perfectly. We've had that amazing Concierge with that certain quality that really helped to make the trip just a bit more special without doing anything that you can put your finger on except to make you feel pampered. I think that it's hard to put into words because you want them to be attentive and pro-active without being overbearing or cloying. It truly is a balancing act.

Years ago, I remember asking Alex Forbes for a last minute reservation for Le Bistro if he was able to get us a table. His reply to me was "if they don't have a table, I'll build you one". LOL! Needless to say, he got us a reservation and also stopped by to see us and make sure everything was OK. He was extraordinary and has been our standard for other Concierges and he's a tough act to follow.

Excellent answer! You described it perfectly. We've had that amazing Concierge with that certain quality that really helped to make the trip just a bit more special without doing anything that you can put your finger on except to make you feel pampered. I think that it's hard to put into words because you want them to be attentive and pro-active without being overbearing or cloying. It truly is a balancing act.

 

Years ago, I remember asking Alex Forbes for a last minute reservation for Le Bistro if he was able to get us a table. His reply to me was "if they don't have a table, I'll build you one". LOL! Needless to say, he got us a reservation and also stopped by to see us and make sure everything was OK. He was extraordinary and has been our standard for other Concierges and he's a tough act to follow.

Great story!!! Yep. He sounds great.

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We had the loviest consierge on the Gem. Elvina was in Moderno every morning and gave me a hug most mornings and spoke to all the suite guests. she was at the shows to escort you to your seats and always available when we called. (Not that we called much) as that trip was my 40th she went out her way to make this special. I truly felt like we were the only ones that she was looking after. She came most evenings to see us at dinner. Every Matrie’D would know our names when walking by and ask if I were excited for my birthday. On my birthday she made me feel so special. I’m sure I wasn’t the Only one having a birthday that cruse.

Has left me with some great memories.

We had the loviest consierge on the Gem. Elvina was in Moderno every morning and gave me a hug most mornings and spoke to all the suite guests. she was at the shows to escort you to your seats and always available when we called. (Not that we called much) as that trip was my 40th she went out her way to make this special. I truly felt like we were the only ones that she was looking after. She came most evenings to see us at dinner. Every Matrie’D would know our names when walking by and ask if I were excited for my birthday. On my birthday she made me feel so special. I’m sure I wasn’t the Only one having a birthday that cruse.

Has left me with some great memories.

Our experience has been hit or miss - same with butlers. I wish NCL would send a post-cruise survey out to suite guests to give feedback and ability for NCL to get an idea of their performance.

I wrote a detailed letter to NCL about the good and the bad. Got a really nice response back although it took awhile for my letter to get to the right place.

Great question...but surely it depends on the cruiser...I, for one, do not need someone fawning over me...just someone I can ask for help if needed and can deliver-making my cruise easier and more pleasant.. I rarely need anything special...but if and when a problem arises..I would hope the concierge would be able to help. In the past...this has usually been the case..but not always..

We have always had great concierges except once on a cruise in Europe. I can't even remember his name now but we were told later that not long after we had him he got off the ship when it docked and when the new guest arrived he was nowhere to be found. They quickly promoted one of the butlers until they could get a replacement on board.

The story we have laughed about the most when it comes to being taken care of involved a search for the perfect coffee pot. We were in the GV and my husband wanted a Mr. Coffee type pot. We had never had trouble getting one before but on this particular cruise it was a struggle. They brought us a French press and then something that resembled a perculator. Our butler just couldn't understand what we wanted. Finally after getting in from the show on the first night the coffee pot had arrived but we realized it didn't have the correct type of plug. I was getting a little frustrated and took the pot and was going to go to the front desk and see if we could get any help. As I was exiting our room the room steward for the other GV was leaving their room. He asked if there was a problem and I explained the situation to him. He immediately told me I didn't need to go anywhere I just needed to call 911. I told him this was not an emergency to which he responded - if you aren't happy call them, that's what you are supposed to do. So I thought maybe 911 worked differently on a ship. I dialed 911 and they quickly answered and asked what my emergency was. I told them I didn't have the right kind of coffee pot. The politely told me that was not an emergency and I needed to call my butler. The next morning our concierge was there first thing to fix the problem because she had heard we had called 911 about our coffee pot. Needless to say anytime we are on a cruise now and need something the go to line is - well just call 911.

We have always had great concierges except once on a cruise in Europe. I can't even remember his name now but we were told later that not long after we had him he got off the ship when it docked and when the new guest arrived he was nowhere to be found. They quickly promoted one of the butlers until they could get a replacement on board.

 

The story we have laughed about the most when it comes to being taken care of involved a search for the perfect coffee pot. We were in the GV and my husband wanted a Mr. Coffee type pot. We had never had trouble getting one before but on this particular cruise it was a struggle. They brought us a French press and then something that resembled a perculator. Our butler just couldn't understand what we wanted. Finally after getting in from the show on the first night the coffee pot had arrived but we realized it didn't have the correct type of plug. I was getting a little frustrated and took the pot and was going to go to the front desk and see if we could get any help. As I was exiting our room the room steward for the other GV was leaving their room. He asked if there was a problem and I explained the situation to him. He immediately told me I didn't need to go anywhere I just needed to call 911. I told him this was not an emergency to which he responded - if you aren't happy call them, that's what you are supposed to do. So I thought maybe 911 worked differently on a ship. I dialed 911 and they quickly answered and asked what my emergency was. I told them I didn't have the right kind of coffee pot. The politely told me that was not an emergency and I needed to call my butler. The next morning our concierge was there first thing to fix the problem because she had heard we had called 911 about our coffee pot. Needless to say anytime we are on a cruise now and need something the go to line is - well just call 911.

That is hilarious!

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We had a concierge would would "stock" us every night. She would check to see where we had dinner reservations and drop by our table and see if there was anything we needed. She would inform us of suite perks (e.g., "tomorrow we arrive at 8:00 and if you want priority disembarkation, let her know and she would walk us off the ship").

Another concierge arranged for private tours of the engine control room given by the chief engineer, galley given by the head chef, and bridge given by the captain on separate days. For the bridge tour, the captain gave a 1-hour tour and we were on the bridge as the ship secured tendering, pulled anchor and got underway from GSC.

We seldom used the concierge because we planned out our dinners, shows, excursions, etc. However, if you don’t want to plan, then the concierge is awesome.

I dialed 911 and they quickly answered and asked what my emergency was. I told them I didn't have the right kind of coffee pot. The politely told me that was not an emergency and I needed to call my butler.

So funny!!!

~Denise

OP here. Great replies! Interesting to me that what one cruiser considers attentive, personalized service, another would consider "fawning" and another "stalking". Our bad concierge did border on stalking.

The breakfast walk through Moderno to greet suite passengers was dreaded by many of us. The concierge would stop by each table, interrupting conversations and making LONG small talk, not sensing it was time to move on. It was annoying. One of our fellow suite passengers said it felt more like "trolling for tips." It got so bad that when the concierge entered Moderno, suite passengers would exchange glances and "eye rolls".

The kicker was on Panama transit day. We had a forward facing suite. All of our neighbors were outside enjoying the awesome views. Imagine our surprise when the concierge suddenly showed up on our balcony. Since everyone was out enjoying their balcony, nobody would have heard the doorbell ring. But to enter cabins uninvited and saunter out to our balconies? It wasn't just us, that concierge made the rounds and visited a lot of balconies. A lot of suite passengers, us included, were very put off by this.

I think the concierge was just trying very hard to do the job, but was just inappropriate at times.

~Denise

OP- It looks like you are sailing YC too? Note that the butlers/concierges are a bit different between MSC and NCL in their roles.

OP here. Great replies! Interesting to me that what one cruiser considers attentive, personalized service, another would consider "fawning" and another "stalking". Our bad concierge did border on stalking.

 

The breakfast walk through Moderno to greet suite passengers was dreaded by many of us. The concierge would stop by each table, interrupting conversations and making LONG small talk, not sensing it was time to move on. It was annoying. One of our fellow suite passengers said it felt more like "trolling for tips." It got so bad that when the concierge entered Moderno, suite passengers would exchange glances and "eye rolls".

 

The kicker was on Panama transit day. We had a forward facing suite. All of our neighbors were outside enjoying the awesome views. Imagine our surprise when the concierge suddenly showed up on our balcony. Since everyone was out enjoying their balcony, nobody would have heard the doorbell ring. But to enter cabins uninvited and saunter out to our balconies? It wasn't just us, that concierge made the rounds and visited a lot of balconies. A lot of suite passengers, us included, were very put off by this.

 

I think the concierge was just trying very hard to do the job, but was just inappropriate at times.

 

~Denise

Trolling for tips, love it and yes, that is just how it feels. We have had some great ones: I remember Raymond and a couple others including a gal on the Spirit about 7 years ago. Our experience just last week was a different story.

As we are not suite guests but usually did get VIP treatment for reasons I won't mention cause it makes no difference, our gal must have thought we wouldn't leave her a tip or not as much and treated us like second rate cruisers. She did stop each morning, as you said and make small talk but acted like she was doing this only because she had to The second day she asked us if we were attending the VIP cocktail party that night. I mentioned we would love to but unfortunately it was at the same time as our restaurant reservations. I even said it we could get them changed we would love to be at the party. She never offered to help us. In the past most of them have been more than willing to hep when they could or at least volunteer to help. One day she asked if we were going in shore, hubby said, no because of the rain. The next day she asked us how we enjoy our shore excursion? Never did she call us by name or greet us by name. The day of embarkation she left us behind in the special bording room as we were waiting for hubby's wheel chair to arrive. She escorted the other guest in groups of 6 or 8 couples onto the ship as the conciergne normally does. This was pretty much the jist of our experience with her the entire 9 days. It is the first time we have not tipped the conciernge in all the cruises we have taken.

We had one on the old Sea ship that actually set up a private tour for us in Roatan that was fantastic and each night he knew we had cocktails in out stateroom with 2 other couples we were traveling with, he stopped by to chat with us. I can't remember his name.

We've been lucky and have had good service from all but one. He was the concierge on the first cruise we ever booked a suite on. He never knew who we were, never mentioned our names, lied and told us there were no reservations available when we asked to change a dinner time- we knew there were as we had seen the monitor displaying green for the time we wanted. We'd tried the reservation desk, but it didn't open until 8 am and we were headed to breakfast at Cagney's and figured we'd ask him. He didn't even check the computer, just flat out said there were no openings. Needless to say, we were able to make the change ourselves at the restaurant desk in the Atrium once it opened. He also told me early entry into Chocolate Buffet was only for suite guests - this guy had seen us every morning. Since it was our first suite, I had the letter with me and pulled it out, he just walked off. This happened on the Star and we didn't know what to expect. Funny thing is, he's one everyone raves about.

We've sailed with Elvina, Hanno, Patrick, Omar, Adrian - some of them more than once and they always know our names by the end of the cruise. Luckily, the one we were less than thrilled with didn't bother to show up for early disembarkation on the last day (he sent his assistant) and we didn't end up leaving a tip. Maybe he was unhappy, or maybe he already knew he was moving on to a bigger ship. I guess everyone can have an off week.

This is an interesting thread. I have had varied experiences of a concierge. On my one NCL suite experience I wasn’t impressed with the concierge. I went to breakfast every day in Cagney’s and never once did he make an effort to stop by and ask how I was doing. I seemed to be the only one travelling solo in a suite. He would go to every table in the room and chat except to my table. I would walk by his desk when I first would come into the restaurant and I would say good morning and he would barely acknowledge me.

I don’t expect fawning or someone hovering at my elbow. But common courtesy and at least some engagement might be nice. I wondered if he didn’t know what to do with a solo? It certainly didn’t impact my cruise, but it certainly impacted his tip!

Maybe a good concierge will take the time to learn something about their guests to know what their needs might be and not assume one way or the other...

I will answer with what is the difference between a good concierge and a great concierge?

 

All of the folks gave great answers for good concierges. And yes, I agree. However, there is that human element. The best concierge may or may not be your favorite. Sometimes you just click with someone or really like them as a person.

 

All of the concierges I have had were good to great. No complaints whatsover, now butlers, that is a horsenof a different color LOL.

 

But, I have had one concierge that was truly great. They were our first. This person made suggestions and offers that really enhanced our vacation and helped us. In other words, this concierge was extremely proactive where other good ones were reactive and responsive.

 

 

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Was the great one Carlos? :)

We have always had great concierges except once on a cruise in Europe. I can't even remember his name now but we were told later that not long after we had him he got off the ship when it docked and when the new guest arrived he was nowhere to be found. They quickly promoted one of the butlers until they could get a replacement on board.

 

The story we have laughed about the most when it comes to being taken care of involved a search for the perfect coffee pot. We were in the GV and my husband wanted a Mr. Coffee type pot. We had never had trouble getting one before but on this particular cruise it was a struggle. They brought us a French press and then something that resembled a perculator. Our butler just couldn't understand what we wanted. Finally after getting in from the show on the first night the coffee pot had arrived but we realized it didn't have the correct type of plug. I was getting a little frustrated and took the pot and was going to go to the front desk and see if we could get any help. As I was exiting our room the room steward for the other GV was leaving their room. He asked if there was a problem and I explained the situation to him. He immediately told me I didn't need to go anywhere I just needed to call 911. I told him this was not an emergency to which he responded - if you aren't happy call them, that's what you are supposed to do. So I thought maybe 911 worked differently on a ship. I dialed 911 and they quickly answered and asked what my emergency was. I told them I didn't have the right kind of coffee pot. The politely told me that was not an emergency and I needed to call my butler. The next morning our concierge was there first thing to fix the problem because she had heard we had called 911 about our coffee pot. Needless to say anytime we are on a cruise now and need something the go to line is - well just call 911.

:p:loudcry::'):') Oh my this was great! Love it.

We had the loviest consierge on the Gem. Elvina was in Moderno every morning and gave me a hug most mornings and spoke to all the suite guests. she was at the shows to escort you to your seats and always available when we called. (Not that we called much) as that trip was my 40th she went out her way to make this special. I truly felt like we were the only ones that she was looking after. She came most evenings to see us at dinner. Every Matrie’D would know our names when walking by and ask if I were excited for my birthday. On my birthday she made me feel so special. I’m sure I wasn’t the Only one having a birthday that cruse.

Has left me with some great memories.

I am glad you had a good time, but frankly the only people I want hugs from on a daily basis are my husband and kids. I would be really uncomfortable with hugs from a concierge.... is it just me?