Pre-Cruise Concierge for all suite guests

I am in the same boat for our Dawn repo cruise in April. Not only does the wife not know about the suite, she still doesn't know about the cruise :eek:

 

I booked it in December and plan on giving it to her for Xmas. My goal is for her to not know about the suite until we get on the ship. :D

I did something similar to that with her last year on Dawn. All she knew was we were going on a cruise and the dates. She was completely shocked when her Southwest boarding pass said Tampa. I'm sneaky like that! :cool:

We are booked in an OS for March for the Sky for 4 nights.

While I know it is not a 7 night cruise, hoping that we have a great concierge and butler.

I've already booked our cabana and requested the same one we had last year.

I am hoping we can change out the liquor for champagne but other than that not sure

what we may need or want.

We know we are not doing the MDRs that trip so will either hit one of them twice or dine in our cabin one night. Wondering if we should pre-book the speciality restaurants or wait until we board and decide what time/where each day. Would giving our concierge a couple of hours notice be good enough to get the place/time of the speciality restaurants?

Thank you all.

I did something similar to that with her last year on Dawn. All she knew was we were going on a cruise and the dates. She was completely shocked when her Southwest boarding pass said Tampa. I'm sneaky like that! :cool:

We were on that Dawn sailing with you. Great cruise except for the weather on the last sea day.

We were on that Dawn sailing with you. Great cruise except for the weather on the last sea day.

I agree we loved that itinerary.

A totally different story. The lovely person who took our requests for our first ever suite was a wonderful pre-cruise experience. However nothing we talked about was done. I did take the e-mail confirmation with us. When our Butler "K" came by to introduce himself I showed him the e-mail. He took this and all items were done. I don't know much about wine but we changed from booze to wine and he was great and had some wonderful suggestions. Next time I will try again when we go on NCL, but HINT bring the confirmation. Still loved this line :D

I am very sorry to hear that. I have used them twice, once for an owners suite on the Sun, and once for the Garden Villa on the Jewel, both times each request was completed before we boarded, and believe me there were many, from pillow selections, to coffee and tea preferences, soda choices, and a couple of six packs of beer, all waiting for us when we got there, even our first night dinner reservation. There were a couple of requests that I made over the phone that the phone person said they could not promise, but would pass along my request anyway. One of those things was not complete when we arrived but I had no expectation since I was told before hand that it probably wouldn't be. No worries though, it did get taken care of immediately once we got there. Heading out in an owner suite on the Star in a couple of months and really looking forward to calling them again. Now I only wish they worked in reverse as well. I would love to call them up on the way home and have them clean the house and shop for the groceries. :D

. Now I only wish they worked in reverse as well. I would love to call them up on the way home and have them clean the house and shop for the groceries. :D

Ohohoh!! I want that! hehe

For a 4-night cruise, will I be contacted too for special selections?

Is there something that is sent to you beforehand and approximatley how long before you sail do you recieve your request form.

May I ask too, what the going rate is to tip the butler and concierge? Do you tip per day or at the start/end of the cruise. I usually let my dh handle all things tipping but he will not be with us on this cruise.

Also, curious as to what special requests that aren't on the sheet have you requested? Have any of you used the butler to unpack your luggage and toiletries? I think I would love someone taking out the toiletries and putting them in my over the door shoe hanger, it is such a pain!

Thank you very much!

For a 4-night cruise, will I be contacted too for special selections?

Is there something that is sent to you beforehand and approximatley how long before you sail do you recieve your request form.

 

May I ask too, what the going rate is to tip the butler and concierge? Do you tip per day or at the start/end of the cruise. I usually let my dh handle all things tipping but he will not be with us on this cruise.

 

Also, curious as to what special requests that aren't on the sheet have you requested? Have any of you used the butler to unpack your luggage and toiletries? I think I would love someone taking out the toiletries and putting them in my over the door shoe hanger, it is such a pain!

 

 

Thank you very much!

A couple of weeks before your trip call - 855-625-4283, give them your booking number, and your email address, they will email you a welcome letter and a request form that is tailored to your specific suite category. You can fill it out and email it back or just call them back and answer the questions on the phone and they will then send out a confirmation sheet to your email. In my experience, the first contact with the pre cruise concierge is initiated by you.

There are lots of threads here re: tipping, just use the search bar. that tends to be a very personal thing. Really depends on how much or how little you use the services provided. Depending on the size of the state room and/or how much of their time I require will dictate the tip, I calculate a per day amount and then tip in full at the end of the cruise. Butler tends to get more since they are more front line and taking care of more of your daily needs.

Have any of you used the butler to unpack your luggage and toiletries? I think I would love someone taking out the toiletries and putting them in my over the door shoe hanger, it is such a pain!

 

 

Thank you very much!

We pack that over the door shoe hanger with what is being kept in it then zip up the individual compartments and just roll it up and put it in the suitcase. GL :D

A couple of weeks before your trip call - 855-625-4283, give them your booking number, and your email address, they will email you a welcome letter and a request form that is tailored to your specific suite category. You can fill it out and email it back or just call them back and answer the questions on the phone and they will then send out a confirmation sheet to your email. In my experience, the first contact with the pre cruise concierge is initiated by you.

 

There are lots of threads here re: tipping, just use the search bar. that tends to be a very personal thing. Really depends on how much or how little you use the services provided. Depending on the size of the state room and/or how much of their time I require will dictate the tip, I calculate a per day amount and then tip in full at the end of the cruise. Butler tends to get more since they are more front line and taking care of more of your daily needs.

An email was sent to me by the concierge on my last two cruises. I informed them of my wishes and emailed it back. So, I'm assuming the same will happen on my up coming cruises.

An email was sent to me by the concierge on my last two cruises. I informed them of my wishes and emailed it back. So, I'm assuming the same will happen on my up coming cruises.

Thats awesome. It could be that I am just too impatient and didn't wait for them to contact me. :) It has been know to happen. :eek:

I am in the same boat for our Dawn repo cruise in April. Not only does the wife not know about the suite, she still doesn't know about the cruise :eek:

 

I booked it in December and plan on giving it to her for Xmas. My goal is for her to not know about the suite until we get on the ship. :D

That is so much fun!

I did a similar thing for my spouse in 2003 for Xmas.

I booked the cruise a year in advance and gave it to her Xmas morning and we sailed 1/4/04 on the Sky to the Southern Caribbean. (The cruise docs were attached to a new Roomba vacuum cleaner that was hidden under the couch. The remote was in her stocking over the fireplace. She said she would kill me if I ever bought her a vacuum for xmas or her bday.) The hardest part was secretly working with her boss to get the time off scheduled without her knowing.

A week before Xmas we got an upsell from an aft balcony to the aft Penthouse suite next door for $500 total. She found about the suite when she opened the door on embarkation. Been hooked on suites ever since.

Good luck keeping the secret!

Not sure much was accomplished by calling ahead.

 

1. Don't understand the advantage of knowing the concierge's name before you arrive.

 

2. Feather pillows banned? I guess that is good if you have allergys.

 

3. Stopping at one of the numerous bars to grab a beer is too much trouble?

 

4. Refrigerator emptied? That is really an issue? Fridges are so small not much fits in them anyway.

 

5. I have always had ample supplies and varieties everytime I have a suite. Never had to ask.

 

6. Highly doubtful you will get any other butler than what is assigned for that week. They rotate on a regular basis, and generally have blocks of rooms to make things easier for them and you.

 

Promises on the phone are easy to make. Having those promises fulfilled is a different story.

Boy are you a negative Nellie and a Debbie Downer!:cool::confused:

Just a note... EVERYTHING we asked pre-concierge for was taken care of and in our room at arrival. They did a good job for us.

DML

Not sure much was accomplished by calling ahead.

 

1. Don't understand the advantage of knowing the concierge's name before you arrive.

 

2. Feather pillows banned? I guess that is good if you have allergys.

 

3. Stopping at one of the numerous bars to grab a beer is too much trouble?

 

4. Refrigerator emptied? That is really an issue? Fridges are so small not much fits in them anyway.

 

5. I have always had ample supplies and varieties everytime I have a suite. Never had to ask.

 

6. Highly doubtful you will get any other butler than what is assigned for that week. They rotate on a regular basis, and generally have blocks of rooms to make things easier for them and you.

 

Promises on the phone are easy to make. Having those promises fulfilled is a different story.

Yes - this was really helpful Im sure that everyone on this forum has greatly benefitted from such prosaic and informative commentary.

Why did you even bother!

We loved the Chef's table! I tried everything(not like me at all). So many new culinary experiences for me at the same sitting. The wine was outstanding, not to mention plentiful!

 

I think it was worth evey dime. We are hoping to do it in January on the Gem.

 

Cherie

What is the Chef's table dinner? This is the first time I am hearing about this.

What is the Chef's table dinner? This is the first time I am hearing about this.

It's very limited dinner that is arranged usually once a cruise. It costs $75pp and includes paired wines with dishes. Sign up is done at guest services on board and if there are more interested than available seats, if I have understood correctly, they will raffle the places to the table (limited to 12 persons IIRC). For foodies that is apparentöy hoghly recommended, I'm not a foodie so I'm not interested. :D

They don't raffle anything. The first twelve to sign up get the seats. It's $75 with gratuities it's about $88 per person. Hosted by the Executive Chef and has unlimited good wine paired with multiple courses of gourmet food. Includes a behind the scenes tour hosted by the Executive Chef a day or so later.

You can't pre book so have to be prepared when you board.

They don't raffle anything. The first twelve to sign up get the seats.

Yep, I was thinking that I might remember that part wrong, thanks for correcting me. :)

Yep, I was thinking that I might remember that part wrong, thanks for correcting me. :)

They do raffle dinner with the officers so that may have Ben what your were thinking.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

Got our priority luggage tags this week and a letter informing us about the pre-concierge ability with the website link and phone number we can call. I wasn't expecting that as so many said they were never informed :D

Got our priority luggage tags this week and a letter informing us about the pre-concierge ability with the website link and phone number we can call. I wasn't expecting that as so many said they were never informed :D

I'm sailing in 19 days and we didn't get anything about the pre-conceirge either. Are you in the GV as opposed to the DOS that we are in? I am actually going to call tomorrow (someone posted the # for me) to see if we can get a rollaway.

We are booked in an OS for March for the Sky for 4 nights.

While I know it is not a 7 night cruise, hoping that we have a great concierge and butler.

I've already booked our cabana and requested the same one we had last year.

I am hoping we can change out the liquor for champagne but other than that not sure

what we may need or want.

We know we are not doing the MDRs that trip so will either hit one of them twice or dine in our cabin one night. Wondering if we should pre-book the speciality restaurants or wait until we board and decide what time/where each day. Would giving our concierge a couple of hours notice be good enough to get the place/time of the speciality restaurants?

Thank you all.

Hi!

I want to book a cabana for August 2014.....is one cabana location better than others??:confused: I was too late to book one for my cruise this August so I'm booking it as soon as it's available!! :cool:

Hi!

I want to book a cabana for August 2014.....is one cabana location better than others??:confused: I was too late to book one for my cruise this August so I'm booking it as soon as it's available!! :cool:

AFAIK you can't book a specific cabana as they are assigned automatically in the order of booking, some have said here that they start from the middle cabanas and move outwards to both ends.

AFAIK you can't book a specific cabana as they are assigned automatically in the order of booking, some have said here that they start from the middle cabanas and move outwards to both ends.

So you can't request a specific one.....good to know! I'll just be happy to get one before they're all gone!! Thanks!!!