Do not book an expensive suite on the oasis

[Priusprof]

We were on Oasis in June and found Israel to be delightful. We made several requests and they were promply attended to and handled in a totally professional manner.

You booked about the most expensive accomodations on Oasis yet you have not said anything to say what was lacking. You have an average of 4 posts a year on Cruise Critic yet you chose CC to voice your displeasure. When we were on Deck 17 on Allure we were very favorably impressed with the stateroom, the wide quiet hallways, and the restricted access.

In your previous statement you said you were in the business and that's how you knew you were singled out. What business is that? Are you in the cruise business, customs, immigration, or travel? You have put this pot on to cook and you are now stirring it.

So please, what are you cooking and who are you serving it to? The RCCL threads on CC is the last place to find a sympathetic audience to nebulous complaints and vague accusations.

[Bosjoe]

This is what happened. You could have been chosen by Customs based on a profile of some kind, or chosen because RCCL notified Customs of high spending on board.

 

I believe RCCL chose me because they have to choose a certain number of people who participate in the sky valet program. That decision is surely made on board and not by Customs.

 

Thank you.

 

I too did valet service, my spending account was under $150. When I got to customs the agent explained to me what happened. He said CUSTOMS chooses random bags in the valet to be searched. I had no problem with it. If you spend a great amount on a sea pass card for say jewelry, I'm sure customs gets notified from the rccl as red flags are probably put in place by customs to make sure you are actually claiming it on the forms. Rccl does not care how much you spend, the more the better.

[Starry Eyes]

Did OP have unreasonable expectations? Don't know. Will say this, everyone has different personal values on what they want in a vacation, but on a value per dollar basis the more you spend on a ship generally the law of diminishing returns kicks in. Hard to believe an $8800 suite is going to deliver 10X the vacation of an $880 inside. Same shows, same food, same ports of call.

Sorry OP you had a frustrating time; wish you would share with us what went wrong. I would have addressed any issues with the concierge directly from the get go (set the right expectation level) or escalated as soon as practical if not resolved, I would not have let an ineffective concierge steer my vacation in the wrong direction.

I am not sure we know enough to establish the ten times figure. Your hypothetical $880 sound like a per person price for an inside with taxes and gratuities. As far as I know, the OP has not told us how many in her party or what the $8800 included (fare, taxes, gratuities, perhaps also choice air, prepaid excursions, and prepaid specialty dining?). A sky loft can hold four, I believe. If the $8800 figure included four people and all the extras in a sky loft, one might argue it was a bargain price for a nice big suite. Though in the end, all that matters is that the OP was disappointed, not the multiple of the inside cabin cost.

 

I have rarely found much use for a concierge on a ship. Maybe I am lower maintenence than the OP or maybe I do not know what to ask for. In any case, as I feel I need so little, the concierge cannot really disappoint me. I'd really like to know what others, like the OP, asked of the concierge that leads to great pleasure or great displeasure.

[montgomeryfamily]

Thank you.

 

When I got to customs the agent explained to me what happened. He said CUSTOMS chooses random bags in the valet to be searched.

 

Bosjoe, to clarify, was one of your bags searched, or were all of them searched?

[Bosjoe]

Bosjoe, to clarify, was one of your bags searched, or were all of them searched?

 

I only had one bag.

[Starry Eyes]

Thank you.

 

I too did valet service, my spending account was under $150. When I got to customs the agent explained to me what happened. He said CUSTOMS chooses random bags in the valet to be searched. I had no problem with it. If you spend a great amount on a sea pass card for say jewelry, I'm sure customs gets notified from the rccl as red flags are probably put in place by customs to make sure you are actually claiming it on the forms. Rccl does not care how much you spend, the more the better.

 

Bosjoe, that is interesting.

I have used the valet service and so far this has not happened to me. But as I think about it, it makes sense that customs would insist that some bags in the Valet program get checked at least some of the time. If they never did, naturally people carrying excess or inappropriate items would use the valet service to try to bypass customs. Instead, customs is searching some bags, and any motivated person up to no good might learn to avoid valet service. I shall not be surprised if customs dings me somedays, but as I am compliant with the laws, no problem.

OP, why are you so sure the cruiseline picked you, not customs? are you a customs officier? What other business in Chicago could give you such insight into the details of how customs clears a cruiseship?

[kmkord]

I am not sure we know enough to establish the ten times figure. Your hypothetical $880 sound like a per person price for an inside with taxes and gratuities. As far as I know, the OP has not told us how many in her party or what the $8800 included (fare, taxes, gratuities, perhaps also choice air, prepaid excursions, and prepaid specialty dining?). A sky loft can hold four, I believe. If the $8800 figure included four people and all the extras in a sky loft, one might argue it was a bargain price for a nice big suite. Though in the end, all that matters is that the OP was disappointed, not the multiple of the inside cabin cost.

 

I have rarely found much use for a concierge on a ship. Maybe I am lower maintenence than the OP or maybe I do not know what to ask for. In any case, as I feel I need so little, the concierge cannot really disappoint me. I'd really like to know what others, like the OP, asked of the concierge that leads to great pleasure or great displeasure.

 

The $8800 was for two people in a Sky Loft suite. It did not include air, gratuities, excursions or dining. I ate dinner only in the specialty restaurants so I paid extra for those.

 

I can highly recommend the chefs table dinner, Ta da!

[kmkord]

It is very common for maintenance to be done on balconies once the ship has returned to port. We experienced the same thing the day we disembarked Freedom two weeks ago. They did actually knock on the slider and call out maintenance. The worker had the balcony partition opening tool and was opening all the partitions so the balconies could be washed. He was being followed by another worker with a high pressure hose who was spraying everything down as he passed through our balcony to the next. This was sometime around 7:30am. We had the curtains open since we were already ready to disembark.

 

I wouldn't have had a problem if they had knocked on the outside cabin door first. That didn't happen.

[Bosjoe]

Bosjoe, that is interesting.

I have used the valet service and so far this has not happened to me. But as I think about it, it makes sense that customs would insist that some bags in the Valet program get checked at least some of the time. If they never did, naturally people carrying excess or inappropriate items would use the valet service to try to bypass customs. Instead, customs is searching some bags, and any motivated person up to no good might learn to avoid valet service. I shall not be surprised if customs dings me somedays, but as I am compliant with the laws, no problem.

OP, why are you so sure the cruiseline picked you, not customs? are you a customs officier? What other business in Chicago could give you such insight into the details of how customs clears a cruiseship?

 

 

One other thing, if you have anytype of red flag on your passport, you will be called to customs. The couple in front of me had a problem with their passport as it had something to do with Canada. The agent was friendly and advise them of the situation and said today they would allow them back in to the country and they should get the issues straighten out.

 

Customs does check the manifest and most likly they get a report on how much you spend on the ship. (I wouldn't be surpised) and then its just luck of the draw.

 

When I was going down there I am thinking was it the bottle of alcohol I had in there? Was it not allowed? But in the end it was no difference then getting pulled aside at the airport for additional screening.

[drarill]

I wish that instead of this sparing back and forth the OP could just provide those of us who are interested some insight into the issues. We can then all decide for ourselves whether the issues would have affected our cruise experience.

 

I agree with you. I like to decide if someones issues will affect my cruise experience. The OP on the following link didn't like her concierge also, but she provided her reasons.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1914998&referrerid=103257

[setsail]

Oh no, its the silly basket:D

[Starry Eyes]

The $8800 was for two people in a Sky Loft suite. It did not include air, gratuities, excursions or dining. I ate dinner only in the specialty restaurants so I paid extra for those.

 

I can highly recommend the chefs table dinner, Ta da!

 

Thanks. Some people include everything when they mention how much they paid. others, like you only mean the fare or fare and taxes.

 

Theorectically, the two of you likely could have shared a small inside cabin with a small bathroom for, perhaps,1/5 or 1/6 of the fare you paid. so, by lmaxwell's logic , you needed to enjoy the cruise five or six times as much to justify the extra expense. Not everybody would agree with that logic, of course, but it is one way to look at relative value.

 

I am sorry that the experience did not live up to your expectations. I do wish you'd expand on the issues on which the concierge declined assistance until you walked away witha disappointed expression. I really have made little use of the concierge, perhaps because I do not know what to ask. a tutorial might enhance my experience (and might allow a good concierge to earn a larger tip).

[Starry Eyes]

One other thing, if you have anytype of red flag on your passport, you will be called to customs. The couple in front of me had a problem with their passport as it had something to do with Canada. The agent was friendly and advise them of the situation and said today they would allow them back in to the country and they should get the issues straighten out.

 

Customs does check the manifest and most likly they get a report on how much you spend on the ship. (I wouldn't be surpised) and then its just luck of the draw.

 

When I was going down there I am thinking was it the bottle of alcohol I had in there? Was it not allowed? But in the end it was no difference then getting pulled aside at the airport for additional screening.

 

Oh, my. I hope I never, ever have "red flag" on my passport:eek:

the only times my card has not done a proper ding was a small amount (about $1:rolleyes:) of unspent, nonrefundable OBC and some paperwork glitch for a preapproved early departure.

[Thetrail]

We cruised on the 24 Aug Oasis sailing in a CL and after not having received an email within two weeks before the cruise, sent an email to both concierges, introducing ourselves, advising them that the cruise was in celebration of our birthday on the 25th as well as my retirement after 30 years of service in the AF. We did not receive an email in reply until three days before boarding (Aug 21) when we received a reply from Israel.

 

Per suggestion of someone on our roll call, I advised the concierge of our concern for disabled boarding assistance from the suite area. The gentleman handling the suite waiting area had not received any message from the concierge, but aptly made arrangements to handle the matter after I advised him of the need.

 

After the staterooms opened at 1:00pm and we were able to go to our suite, I found that our nonalcoholic bottle of sparkling grape juice we had brought onboard to toast our sailaway on the balcony would not fit in the mini-refrig and there was no ice bucket or champagne flutes to use. Room Service was closed and Cabin Steward would not arrive until when sailaway was scheduled. (I wish I had the advantage of Trainman's review, which explained that he called the cabin steward assistance line for the same request).

 

So I called the concierge and Israel answered. After I made my request, he proceeded to lecture me on what he characterized as my failure to pre-order and that room service was busy with deliveries of orders. I explained that although we had ordered two bottles of non-alcoholic wine, there was no sparkling non-alcoholic wine available when we pre-ordered the wine and that was why we had brought on our own sparkling non-alcoholic grape juice to toast the sailaway and that I knew of no way to pre-order only ice and champagne flutes. He insisted that we should have preordered this and that he would see if he could do anything. (I had naively thought that since the Concierge Lounge has ice and glasses, ours would not be an unreasonable request)

 

We enjoyed our room until about thirty minutes until we would need to leave for muster drill, and received no ice or glasses. So I went out to go to a bar to see if I could obtain these items and found a room service attendant delivering pre-orders of bottles of champagne/glasses/ice in our hallway. I asked him for the bucket of ice and two champagne flutes and he indicated that he would bring them after he had completed the deliveries. We left for muster drill and when we came back the ice and glasses were there and our bottle had been put in the ice.

 

I don't know who was actually responsible for the delivery of the ice and glasses--the room service attendant I asked or Israel. But we never received any message of any kind from Israel, not about the delivery or about anything else. After the lecture about the ice, I was not inclined to make any other request to Israel.

 

So Bosjoe, you may not receive an email until shortly before sailing. Merion Mom, I'm happy that Israel was able to book a cabana for you so far in advance--apparently this is a much simpler request than a request for ice and two champagne flutes on embarkation day.

exremely busy for the crew, and I have to think your request was an unusual one for the concierge. IMHO what you requested was housekeeping, i.e. your cabin steward. The concierge has many duties and requests and like the rest of the crew is extremely busy that day. It is NOT his or her job do have ice for you in your stateroom, sorry.

[montgomeryfamily]

Bosjoe, I asked because we used the complimentary luggage valet service (our first time in using this service) on the same 24 Aug Oasis sailing which you were on and we were also "selected" for the customs search. The customs official didn't explain why (and I didn't ask) and all of our checked bags, including the medical baggage, were held to be searched. Your posting made me think that the selection was for one piece of luggage. I understand now that you only had one piece of luggage.

 

We were puzzled at our "selection" by customs since everything we purchased onboard was for consumables--spa, specialty dining, birthday cake, and food/non-alcoholic beverages. Plus we didn't get off at any port. We had never been selected for inspection before on any of our past cruises and assumed that customs must have done some completely random selection.

 

However, I do believe Royal Caribbean did know in advance we were "selected" by customs because when we left the wheelchair assistance waiting area with the attendant who was pushing my brother down the very steep ramp, a Guest Relations officer accompanied us. When we got the "ding" on each of our cards at disembarkation, the Guest Relations officer told the security officer that she was escorting us. (We just thought she was being very nice to escort us down to baggage claim since this was the attendant's first time on wheelchair assistance duty.) We actually did not realize that she was escorting us to customs until she called a porter over to take over the wheelchair and our carry ons and she led us and the porter to the customs waiting area. I asked her why we were there and she then explained we had been selected for baggage search. Then she left us there and we waited there along with the porter until we were called back to the search area by the customs agent.

 

I had initially assumed that the "selection" was for all of the luggage for the entire stateroom. Then twice others came into the customs waiting area carrying their luggage but were with someone who had been selected for the inspection (and whose luggage was in the search area), so we found that confusing-- in hindsight apparently both my brother and myself had been selected for this random search.

 

For those who used have or will use luggage valet and have never had the "selection" experience, here is what happened to us. We waited in the customs waiting area for about ninety minutes and then the customs agent called us back (myself carrying carryons and the porter pushing my brother in his wheelchair and carrying a carryon). After we were called to the luggage search area, the luggage valet guy was there and brought over our luggage, which we identified. The customs agent saw what we had and released us in less than five minutes. The luggage valet guy then took our luggage to the airport. The porter took us to the taxi area and assisted us with obtaining a taxicab with a wheelchair lift. (I tipped the porter extra due to the customs delay).

[Thetrail]

I use to work at a major hotel casino in Nevada, I did all the complaints.

 

What you posted is want we use to call a non complaint. You say something is bad then fail to give any details. As another person said we can not help you if you do not say what is wrong. This happened all the time, complaints like yours went in the do nothing for this person. If you really want to complain give names, dates, times, and what really happened. We viewed people who did not rant as complaints we want to deal with. The others mostly just wanted to blow off steam.

This comment is sooo far from any experience I've ever receieved from any concierge on over 35 cruises with RCL that I have a extremely hard time with this one, sorry...K.O.

[Thetrail]

This is what happened. You could have been chosen by Customs based on a profile of some kind, or chosen because RCCL notified Customs of high spending on board.

 

I believe RCCL chose me because they have to choose a certain number of people who participate in the sky valet program. That decision is surely made on board and not by Customs.

Your wrong, again...:rolleyes:

[cruzincurt]

Perhaps Snoopy smelled something suspicious about your luggage? Could be as simple as that.

[Bosjoe]

For those who used have or will use luggage valet and have never had the "selection" experience, here is what happened to us. We waited in the customs waiting area for about ninety minutes and then the customs agent called us back (myself carrying carryons and the porter pushing my brother in his wheelchair and carrying a carryon). After we were called to the luggage search area, the luggage valet guy was there and brought over our luggage, which we identified. The customs agent saw what we had and released us in less than five minutes. The luggage valet guy then took our luggage to the airport. The porter took us to the taxi area and assisted us with obtaining a taxicab with a wheelchair lift. (I tipped the porter extra due to the customs delay).

.

So sorry you had to wait 90 mins. It took me about 15-20 mins. There was one other couple waiting before me and the couple that was arguing with the custom agent about duty free and the product was made in America. Finally they gave up and asked how much the Duty was and it was like $18. They were selected by the agents outside, because they continue to carry their luggage.

 

I didn't get a ding, but a buzz and they told me to go over to the cupcake room, thats when I saw the DL concierge, she also said customs pulled your bag aside,(they had a list with room numbers on it) she was joking about it, teasing me. Which is fine we had a great time with her (Carolina) can't wait to see her again in 2 weeks. :) She walked me out right to the first customer agent, then he pointed me into the room to the right. Once it was my turn he explianed that they take bags at random. He put the rubber gloves on and opened the bag and moved things around, and that was it.

 

Hopefully I don't get pulled aside again in a couple of weeks.

[Big_G]

We did the valet service off a Carnival ship in Miami. They call luggage express. They gathered all the valet passengers in the dining room and we all debarked together. Before doing so, one passenger's bag was pulled for inspection. It turned out to be a 10 year-old's bag. A Carnival staffer escorted him and the father to Customs and left the mother an another child behind.

[montgomeryfamily]

exremely busy for the crew, and I have to think your request was an unusual one for the concierge. IMHO what you requested was housekeeping, i.e. your cabin steward. The concierge has many duties and requests and like the rest of the crew is extremely busy that day. It is NOT his or her job do have ice for you in your stateroom, sorry.

 

 

The job of the concierge is to provide assistance to his/her guests with any special requests they may have while sailing (per Royal Caribbean website). I don't believe that requesting an ice bucket and two champagne flutes for a sail away toast from a Concierge sitting in a Concierge Lounge which has a kitchen/ice, glasses and several wait staff is asking too much or is unreasonable.

 

Regardless, the proper response from a Guest Services representative such as a Concierge is not to rudely lecture a guest for such an innocent request, as if scolding a school child.

 

I also do not believe that the response should be, as Thetrail indicates, that "this is not my job". Even if this was ostensibly a room service attendant or housekeeping job, the Concierge should know who to contact to make arrangements.

 

Ironically, I read on Trainman2's review for his Allure cruise that he called the room attendant request line for an ice bucket when he boarded for the wine he brought onboard. We make so few requests on a cruise, I didn't even know there was a room attendant request line for time periods when the room attendant is not on duty. The Concierge could have said he would contact that line or even advised me of its existence and how to call it.

 

We also never received any response or status update from Israel after he grudgingly said "he would see what he could do". So we did not know whether or not he had ever made any arrangement.

 

We had made all of our show reservations ourselves on-line before the cruise as well as most of our specialty dining reservations. I made the other specialty dining reservation and our spa reservations myself after I boarded, notwithstanding our knowing that since we were in a Crown Loft Suite we had the services of a concierge, because we only planned to use the concierge services for situations which we could not handle solely by ourselves. This was the first request we had made of the Concierge since boarding.

 

The Concierge does have many duties and requests to fulfill, including the duty of showing respect for all of his/her guests and providing assistance even for those requests which Thetrail suggests are beneath the station of the Concierge.

[Blue Line]

The $8800 was for two people in a Sky Loft suite. It did not include air, gratuities, excursions or dining. I ate dinner only in the specialty restaurants so I paid extra for those.

 

I can highly recommend the chefs table dinner, Ta da!

 

Just out of curiosity was "maxi" the sommelier during the chefs table?? We absolutely loved him!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk... Please excuse punctuation, spelling, nonsensical thoughts and brevity.

[montgomeryfamily]

.

So sorry you had to wait 90 mins. It took me about 15-20 mins. There was one other couple waiting before me and the couple that was arguing with the custom agent about duty free and the product was made in America. Finally they gave up and asked how much the Duty was and it was like $18. They were selected by the agents outside, because they continue to carry their luggage.

 

I didn't get a ding, but a buzz and they told me to go over to the cupcake room, thats when I saw the DL concierge, she also said customs pulled your bag aside,(they had a list with room numbers on it) she was joking about it, teasing me. Which is fine we had a great time with her (Carolina) can't wait to see her again in 2 weeks. :) She walked me out right to the first customer agent, then he pointed me into the room to the right. Once it was my turn he explianed that they take bags at random. He put the rubber gloves on and opened the bag and moved things around, and that was it.

 

Hopefully I don't get pulled aside again in a couple of weeks.

 

Bosjoe, I hope you don't either, because apparently your wait time can vary significantly. Also hope you have a great cruise. :)

 

Since Steve required assistance with his wheelchair down the steep ramp, we had to go to the wheelchair assistance waiting area. Although I was told otherwise when I inquired at guest services, there is no suite or Crown and Anchor priority at the wheelchair assistance waiting area--it is first come, first serve. I had asked about this because we had been given a form asking when we wanted to disembark and I wanted to know if we would be given assistance at that time we put on the form. I was told yes, but in reality, no--so we actually waited for almost an hour over our scheduled time before we were given assistance and could disembark. (If I had know this, we would have gone earlier to the wheelchair assistance area).

 

The DL concierge had called me before we left the stateroom and asked me to stop by the Cupcake Cupboard after we had gotten assistance and before we disembarked, but wouldn't tell me anything except she had something for us before we left the ship. Honest, I was imagining a package of cupcakes as a good-bye--I was not expecting a customs inspection. Because we were so late in leaving the ship, I did not want to take the time to go to the Cupcake Cupboard, even for a package of cupcakes (and what a disappointment it would have been to go and no cupcakes!) So I actually asked the staffer at the wheelchair assistance area to call the DL concierge and tell her that we could not come by because we were running late in disembarking! I even sent her an email after we got home apologizing for not meeting her (btw which she never responded to) because until your post, I did not know the DL Concierge Cupcake Cupboard meeting was for a customs inspection. I imagine that Caroline got a good laugh out of that, but please tell her that she owes Steve and me each a cupcake!!:D

 

You are right that it is more of a buzz rather than a ding. As for the customs inspection, I don't know why we had to wait so long. We were in a separate room from the inspection room (it was a big waiting room) so I don't know who was being inspected or why it took so long. There was two different couples called before us. The porter was patient--Steve and I drank some water and I gave the Porter a bottle as well. But I know that he missed a lot of tips while waiting with us. That is why I gave him extra.

 

I also don't know what bag(s) were supposedly put on the list. We had a total of four bags, with two of them being medical bags. The customs agent called us into the search room and the luggage valet guy brought over all of our bags. The customs agent didn't specify any particular bag--we just had to identify that all of the bags were ours. When the agent said we could leave, we didn't argue or complain about the wait--we just left and got to the airport as fast as possible. With all of the delays, I was glad we had an afternoon flight. As it was, when we got to the gate they had already begun boarding.

[kmkord]

Just out of curiosity was "maxi" the sommelier during the chefs table?? We absolutely loved him!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk... Please excuse punctuation, spelling, nonsensical thoughts and brevity.

 

We had Anji. He was great! We had a nice group and the wine was great!

 

He liked to say Ta da a lot. :)

[Jetdriver787]

Despite the title of this thread, there are a lot of "wow's" with booking a suite on the Oasis. Obviously the cabin is the biggest. We stayed in a Crown loft on Allure 18 months ago and then spent 26 nights to and fro over the Atlantic in a Royal suite on Independence. Recently stayed in a Crown loft on Oasis again, and thought we might find it a little "ordinary" after the RS. However it was great, and we certainly had no complaints with the room.

 

The "concierge" experience however was significantly below that of the Indy. The facilities themselves are of course far better, but the personal interaction was lacking. On Indy' the concierge (Raj) knows how to work a room. He makes a point of greeting and talking to all of his guests as he sees them. He moves around the venue and seeks out his guests to see if there is anything he can do for them.

 

On Oasis and Allure the concierge(s) sit behind their desks like hotel receptionists and simply act as a extension of Guest services. The only time we had any interaction at all, we waited 5 minutes for the concierge to finish what appeared to be a personal phone call in Spanish, without any acknowledgement as to our presence, and when he finished he then addressed the person who had come in behind us. That person very kindly pointed out to him that they were not first in the queue, but he didn't seem particularly aware. "Wow!" he certainly wasn't.

 

However the suite was great, as was the rest of the ship.