Neptune Lounge Concierge

I sail this summer on the Maasdam in a Neptune Suite. The HAL site says I will "enjoy the personalized service of a concierge." What is the role of the concierge? Are they just there to smile, greet and be nice? Are they there to (up)sell you things? Or do they provide real practical value?

There will be 2 of them -- they take turns working there.

They can help you make reservations for the specialty restaurants, spa, etc. They can make change for you. They can help straighten out any problems you may have -- like something in the cabin needs fixed -- bill problems.

If you want to host a party -- they can help you do that.

If you want to have afternoon or appetizers in your cabin, see them before noon and they will arrange everything for you.

If you want to have dinner in your cabin -- they can arrange that as well.

Some people use them a lot -- some people never use them.

Depending on how much we use them, depends on how much we tip them at the end of the cruise -- length of cruise also factors in this.

I sail this summer on the Maasdam in a Neptune Suite. The HAL site says I will "enjoy the personalized service of a concierge." What is the role of the concierge? Are they just there to smile, greet and be nice? Are they there to (up)sell you things? Or do they provide real practical value?

They will generally help you with any questions or concerns you have. They will make reservations for you for excursions, dinner etc. they can help with your bill if there are questions. If you receive a bottle of wine and not your taste they maybe able to change it out. I have only ever used them for questions on my bill, makes it so you don’t have to go to the counter in the lobby. If you have any questions they will try to answer but the thing I really liked was the follow up. They checked back with me to be sure everything was handled.

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I agree with the two previous posters. And I call that "real practical value".

After several cruises in the next class down, this service sounds valuable. Not standing in line at the main desk--good. Having a little more attention to room service (food) details--excellent.

I've never had them try to sell or upsell me anything.

They will make and confirm reservations for you. Pretty much anything you would need to go to the front desk for, they can handle. For instance, I was given the wrong luggage tags and transfer ticket for disembarkation. The concierge got it straightened out. When I won at bingo, they were able to pay me the difference between my onboard account and my winnings out of petty cash.

Roz

They will also print out your airline boarding pass for you. They can help you book tours, which is nice if you don't want to use the kiosks or the online Navigator or stand in line at the tour desk.

The lounge has copies of the little newspapers and the day's crossword and sodukos.

And the concierges do smile and they are very nice.

We found that they will even go so far as to checking with their shore agents (I guess by phone or email) for services you might need in future ports. Example - we questioned if there were any barbers in Anchorage who did mens' shaves while we were in Juneau enroute. The concierge obtained a list for us. Some of the concierges are more helpful than the butlers we have had on other lines.

On my last cruise, I had problems with signing off the internet on my phone and they kindly showed me how and got a refund for partial lost time from doing it incorrectly. They were also able to sign me up for a tour at the last minute.

They are "real added value" to the cruise experience in my opinion. As others have said, they can do anything that one needs to have done at the Front Office. On one cruise, I went to the Front Office to ask a minor question. One of my Concierge's saw me and later nicely reminded me that I could have spoken with him or the other person without going to the Front Office.

They are "real added value" to the cruise experience in my opinion. As others have said, they can do anything that one needs to have done at the Front Office. On one cruise, I went to the Front Office to ask a minor question. One of my Concierge's saw me and later nicely reminded me that I could have spoken with him or the other person without going to the Front Office.

One time I was in a Neptune cabin far from the Neptune Lounge, so since I was passing the front desk anyway, I asked them to run me a copy of my cabin charges. The front desk clerk was a bit "put off" and reminded me that I could have had the Neptune staff run it for me instead. I was not too happy with that response!

The concierges we have had do a great job of doting on us.

Funny story! Last year on the Prisendam our Concierge asked us “if there was anything she could do for us?” I jokenly replied, “ Yes, I was wondering if we could eat with the crew so we could have some Indonesian and Filipino food.”

Next morning she approached me and stated. “ Mr. Bruce, I’m so sorry but I checked and you can’t eat in the crew mess!” I won’t joke around any more because if you ask they will try their best to meet your needs.

One more example. Our first Hal cruise was on the Volendam from Vancouver to Seward. Upon embarkation and unpacking we realized we had left our tooth brush charger at the Marriott. We mentioned this to Concierge who asked several questions. Surprised to us before Sail-Away we were called to come to Neptune to pick up the charger. We had to pay the cab fare as a Hal employee had paid the fare!

We have always been impressed with Neptune Services but the main reason we keep sailing with Hal is that the entire crew always strive to go above and beyond.

I sail this summer on the Maasdam in a Neptune Suite. The HAL site says I will "enjoy the personalized service of a concierge." What is the role of the concierge? Are they just there to smile, greet and be nice? Are they there to (up)sell you things? Or do they provide real practical value?

I am not a golfer but I was in Neptune Lounge in neptune Lounfe when one conceirge aranged a tee time for a guest at a ountry club course on one the islands we were viisitng . Shehad a car and driver set up to take the guests to the club and reutrn them to the ship when ready.

Have you ever used a conceirge'e serices in a fine hotel? If so that should be something of a guide.

O f course the guest was responsible fo r all fees associated with the golf outing.

The concierge will deal with any queries you may have, for instance, one cruise some items were returned damp from the laundry, the concierge promptly had the items returned to the laundry to be dried.

During another cruise, laundry not belonging to us, was delivered to our room, someone had incorrectly written our stateroom number on their laundry list, this happened on three days, the concierge was able to locate the correct stateroom for the delivery.

If you wish to purchase flowers on board the ship, the concierge has a folder of available floral arrangements.

If you need writing paper and envelope, ask the concierge.

Hope you have a fabulous cruise on the Maasdam.

If some crew person does something very nice for us, I write a thank you note and conceirge has it delivered for me.

Anfh business you would have at the ofice, can be done by concierge. if you wnat to break a large bill into smaller denominations, (s)he will do that for you. A question on your bill can be handled by concierge.

I've used our Diamond Concierge a couple of times on Royal Caribbean. Once he cancelled a shore excursion for me after the shore ex. office was closed. Basically they closed the shore ex office, and it was still before the cancel deadline, so we got the concierge to handle it.

Another time, we had an unfortunate experience with specialty dining, and I happened to bump into him in the buffet. I mentioned we were going up to the lounge to leave him a note, but he pulled out his cell phone and handled it right there! Since he went above and beyond, so did our tip.

We're looking forward to the Neptune Lounge next month.

I'm hoping it won't be too crowded. One of the drawbacks of the Diamond Lounge on Royal Caribbean is that it gets so packed with Diamonds during cocktail hour, we can't find a seat.

I've used our Diamond Concierge a couple of times on Royal Caribbean. Once he cancelled a shore excursion for me after the shore ex. office was closed. Basically they closed the shore ex office, and it was still before the cancel deadline, so we got the concierge to handle it.

 

Another time, we had an unfortunate experience with specialty dining, and I happened to bump into him in the buffet. I mentioned we were going up to the lounge to leave him a note, but he pulled out his cell phone and handled it right there! Since he went above and beyond, so did our tip.

 

We're looking forward to the Neptune Lounge next month.

 

I'm hoping it won't be too crowded. One of the drawbacks of the Diamond Lounge on Royal Caribbean is that it gets so packed with Diamonds during cocktail hour, we can't find a seat.

Out of a great many times using neptune Lounge, I have never seen it too croeded for all to enjoy but for one time a large family thought of it as their private living roomand forgot the resst of us also haed use of the lounge. . The concierge took care of that issue by day two and that problem ceased. You may have to wait a minute or two for concierge's private attention to adress your question or reques r but I find that to be perfectly reasonable.

I've never seen the Neptune Lounge crowded. It's capacity controlled just by the fact that only Neptune Suite passengers can use it. Most people just grab a coffee and a bite to eat and sit and eat it while watching the news, or take something back to their cabins. Very few people "park" there.

It seems to be busiest in the morning when people use it for breakfast or their pre-breakfast (like me). I'll go in there and have coffee and fruit before heading down to the Pinnacle for real breakfast. I also like to pop in for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon cappuccino or espresso.

Roz

My DH like to pop in for a glass of jiuice, or lookunder the dome for the parfait glasses ofc ut up fruit, a nibble of anything. : He would take what he wanted, take three giant steps to our cabin and eat whatever he goyt on the veranda. Other than a quick chat with w/ someone in there he knew or the conceirge and he was out of there in five minutes or lless

I've never seen the Neptune Lounge crowded. It's capacity controlled just by the fact that only Neptune Suite passengers can use it. Most people just grab a coffee and a bite to eat and sit and eat it while watching the news, or take something back to their cabins. Very few people "park" there.

 

It seems to be busiest in the morning when people use it for breakfast or their pre-breakfast (like me). I'll go in there and have coffee and fruit before heading down to the Pinnacle for real breakfast. I also like to pop in for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon cappuccino or espresso.

 

Roz

Your experience matches mine.

They can also arrange to have the morning paper, that is printed on the ship, delivered to your suite, along with the crossword puzzle, if you wish. They are rays of sunshine, always welcome you by name (how do they do that?) and will spoil you!

We are just off the Oosterdam after the 4-20 March San Diego-Fort Lauderdale Panama Canal cruise. Monika and Mark were our Neptune Lounge Concierges and they were the go-to crew for anything and everything. No golf outings or lost chargers for us, but everything else we asked for help with was handled properly, quickly, and with a smile. Plumbing problem? No problem. Note cards, extra bottle of booze for our suite, explain disembarkation details? No problem, no problem, no problem! One thing I noticed was that they made sure they had understood the meaning of our requests: they were able to filter out all the chatter we are prone to, to identify and confirm what is being requested. It will be hard for us to do without the Neptune level amenities. I mean, if we ever have to...

Most of the concierges are very helpful, try hard and accomp lish many things for us. On all the HAL ships, they are front office staff and rotate in and out of Neptune Lounge. When their assignment in Neptune ends, they go back to front office and one of their -co-workers goes to Nepune

And, no attempts at up-selling. My wife has asthma and needs to use a sinus rinse that requires distilled water. We asked concierge before dinner and lo and behold a gallon was delivered. Genuinely nice people who are happy to answer even off the wall questions.