Royal Suite/Penthouse - Help with Shoreside Requests

[JFontaine]

The x large PJs are large on the top.  If you are bigger on the bottom  they won't work.  

 

As far as specialty restaurants,  in the Penthouse,  I would make my plans directly with the restaurant manager if there's a problem going through the butler. Towards the end of a cruise we had some great meals in a restaurant,  and I told the manager I wanted to come back each night, and he said no problem.   If your party is bigger than four, it could be an issue. 

[bjahil47]

13 minutes ago, thebutlerdidit said:

October 8! I’m traveling with my sister on her first and most likely last cruise. We are celebrating our birthdays, which are one day apart - her 60th, so I thought maybe I’d place a lowball bid. I may cancel my bid as we are currently in a corner aft SS. Only size medium pajamas? Im too busty for that nonsense. 

We disembark on October 8th so we will leave the ship nice and well stocked for you!  Corner afts are also nice!  Enjoy!  I would end up throwing my sister overboard within the first 20 minutes of cruise!  😆 

[George C]

10 minutes ago, JFontaine said:

The x large PJs are large on the top.  If you are bigger on the bottom  they won't work.  

 

As far as specialty restaurants,  in the Penthouse,  I would make my plans directly with the restaurant manager if there's a problem going through the butler. Towards the end of a cruise we had some great meals in a restaurant,  and I told the manager I wanted to come back each night, and he said no problem.   If your party is bigger than four, it could be an issue. 

Once on board we always use concierge rather than butler for restaurants reservations. 

[JFontaine]

The reason that I said the restaurant manager is this: after our second really great meal I told him that his restaurant was the best service and food that we had on the cruise, and I wanted to come back every night.  That was the beginning of a nice relationship,  and he gave us my favorite table and a top waiter every night, and seemed to make a point of watching the table.  Everything was perfect, and the team was thanked with tips each night and a great review. That personal connection seemed to work out for me.  So my advice is, if you do have a great experience in a restaurant,  on your way out, stop and chat with the restaurant manager. They will know you are in a top suite and should pull up their reservations on yhe spot and try to help you. 

[thebutlerdidit]

14 minutes ago, bjahil47 said:

We disembark on October 8th so we will leave the ship nice and well stocked for you!  Corner afts are also nice!  Enjoy!  I would end up throwing my sister overboard within the first 20 minutes of cruise!  😆 

It could happen with me, too! We could not be any more different! 

[zitsky]

44 minutes ago, George C said:

Once on board we always use concierge rather than butler for restaurants reservations. 

Why is that, can I ask?  My only time in a suite, our butler wanted to do everything.

[George C]

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

Why is that, can I ask?  My only time in a suite, our butler wanted to do everything.

I always preferred dealing with concierge, I deal with butler only about the suite , personal choice , felt more comfortable dealing with them. Some butlers are great some no so much, never had negative issue with them.

[SusieAV8R]

6 hours ago, bjahil47 said:

We were in a RS on Equinox 3/2022.  We had made two specialty restaurant reservations before we cruised.  On board we asked 4 days ahead of time for additional reservations and we’re told those times are not available.  All they had was like 8:30 pm.  We also hosted a cabin crawl for about 12 people.  When I asked if some snacks could be provided I was told it’s $20 a person!  
 

We are sailing in September in RS and shoreside contacted us a few weeks ago with a bunch of questions.  I answered and no reply…been almost two weeks.  I did send a friendly Did you receive my email a week ago and nothing.  If I don’t hear anything by Monday I will contact them again.  

We are in the PH on Equinox in September and I too have sent 2 emails in response to the Shoreside Concierge who contacted us several weeks ago.  The response to my 2 emails is ZERO.  Not even a "I received your email and am currently working on your requests" emailed response back.  :(

[bjahil47]

21 minutes ago, SusieAV8R said:

We are in the PH on Equinox in September and I too have sent 2 emails in response to the Shoreside Concierge who contacted us several weeks ago.  The response to my 2 emails is ZERO.  Not even a "I received your email and am currently working on your requests" emailed response back.  😞

I just heard back today from SC.  I actually received a call!  She stated she was waiting for my dining reservations to be accepted.  She could have at least said she was working on it after I sent the second email.  She was very helpful.  Hope you hear soon!  Are you on 9/24 or 9/30 sailing ?

[chemmo]

9 hours ago, zitsky said:

Why is that, can I ask?  My only time in a suite, our butler wanted to do everything.

Generally your butler is your first point of call for making simple reservations. However, if he tries to make a reservation for you and can’t then it can be worth asking the concierge who may be able to ‘persuade’ the restaurant to find a gap for you….

 

9 hours ago, JFontaine said:

The reason that I said the restaurant manager is this: after our second really great meal I told him that his restaurant was the best service and food that we had on the cruise, and I wanted to come back every night.  That was the beginning of a nice relationship,  and he gave us my favorite table and a top waiter every night, and seemed to make a point of watching the table.  Everything was perfect, and the team was thanked with tips each night and a great review. That personal connection seemed to work out for me.  So my advice is, if you do have a great experience in a restaurant,  on your way out, stop and chat with the restaurant manager. They will know you are in a top suite and should pull up their reservations on yhe spot and try to help you. 

I also think it is worth chatting to the M’D. In our experience they usually greet us by name on arrival or come over to our table soon after we are seated (first visit) and greet us and tell us if we want anything just to ask. They usually return over coffee to check everything has been OK. We do have preferred seating spots and invariably they are ready for us. It is nice when they remember us from previous cruises and greet us at the door with “We have your favourite table ready for you…”

 

Also agree that saying thank you for good service is important too. We also try to be reasonable in any requests. Usually we pre book in advance and avoid last minute requests for a table. If do want to change a booking we politely ask if it possible rather than expect or demand…We often do this personally and will say something like “So sorry to mess you about but would it be possible to change our 8pm booking to something earlier, about 6.30ish if possible”…Unfortunately there are a few demanding suite guests who can expect the world to revolve around them…

[chemmo]

7 hours ago, SusieAV8R said:

We are in the PH on Equinox in September and I too have sent 2 emails in response to the Shoreside Concierge who contacted us several weeks ago.  The response to my 2 emails is ZERO.  Not even a "I received your email and am currently working on your requests" emailed response back.  😞

 

I do think contacting guests too early is not the best policy. They send out the generic email which we respond to then wonder why we are not getting a response. Quite simply I think they are sitting on the responses until about three weeks pre cruise which was the usual approximate contact time until a few years ago…

 

Hope you hear soon. Our experiences in recent years with shoreside concierges has been better but we have had a few glitches over the years where either we have had to chase contact or our requests have not reached the ship.
 

I must confess this is why I always take a copy of our email listing our room set up requests and dining requests on board with us to give to the butler just in case…

[billc23]

Great information! I agree that upper suite guests are usually accommodated with respect to speciality dining. However, I usually book any important speciality dining ahead of time on the website for a few reasons. By having my dining booked and paid for ahead of time, when I converse with the shoreside concierge it is a simple matter to be refunded for the bookings and my preferred times are already in place. Then, if I take the refund as refundable OBC, I receive credit card points provided I do not have any unused OBC refunded to the same credit card. If not in an Upper Suite, booking and paying ahead of time will ensure that you receive the times and places you want to dine at rather than taking the chance of being disappointed when trying to book once you are on the ship. Sort of like booking shore excursions way in advance of your sailing date.

 

The above is generally not necessary on M class ships, helpful to secure Murano reservations on S class ships and a good plan for E class ships because the speciality dining fills up early. Also, more important on itineraries with many sea days where NR OBC needs to be used and a nice leisurely meal becomes one of your daily pleasures.

 

Does anyone know if the PH on the Solstice ship includes a daily free cabana? I know that the Reflection PH and RF does but I am not sure about other S class ships.

 

 

[billc23]

Also, is the list of liquor and beers the "actual" list or are there even better options we may not know about. 

 

While they may have other liquor on the ship the list is the actual list. In my experience it is best to request  an item that is not on the list ahead of time and they may be able to provide it. I have been on a cruise where they could not source the Scotch I requested and they gave me permission to bring my own bottle on board. Once on the ship they had found a source and gave me 2 bottles. I gave one to the bartender at my favorite bar and enjoyed it with others on board.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

12 hours ago, SusieAV8R said:

We are in the PH on Equinox in September and I too have sent 2 emails in response to the Shoreside Concierge who contacted us several weeks ago.  The response to my 2 emails is ZERO.  Not even a "I received your email and am currently working on your requests" emailed response back.  😞

She was on vacation last week. I just spoke to her yesterday.

[chemmo]

2 hours ago, billc23 said:

 

 

Does anyone know if the PH on the Solstice ship includes a daily free cabana? I know that the Reflection PH and RF does but I am not sure about other S class ships.

 

 

I have never known any PH coming with an included cabana… 

[chemmo]

2 hours ago, billc23 said:

Also, is the list of liquor and beers the "actual" list or are there even better options we may not know about. 

 

While they may have other liquor on the ship the list is the actual list. In my experience it is best to request  an item that is not on the list ahead of time and they may be able to provide it. I have been on a cruise where they could not source the Scotch I requested and they gave me permission to bring my own bottle on board. Once on the ship they had found a source and gave me 2 bottles. I gave one to the bartender at my favorite bar and enjoyed it with others on board.

We generally request ahead of time and off the list but usually within the premium drinks list. I agree that they will usually try their best to source your preferences or offer alternatives. 

[billc23]

1 hour ago, chemmo said:

I have never known any PH coming with an included cabana… 

We were on the Reflection for 4 weeks and the PH and RF (one of each on the ship) included a cabana called the Alcoves. The reserved ones were closest to the Lawn Club Grill. This was in January of 2023.

[George C]

Would.love to do a upper suite in a S class ship , my only S class was before Luminae and Michaels , have done them on M and E class

[love2crews.]

On 7/27/2023 at 4:47 AM, madat said:

We have booked a PH on the Solstice next year and this will be our first time in a suite with X.  This has been a really helpful thread with lots of good information.  Thank you!

 

I'm hoping someone might please elaborate a bit more on how the unlimited, speciality dining works for the upper suites?  Our cruise is for 17 nights.  Can we expect to dine in any restaurant, at any time, with relatively short notice (e.g. the day before)?  Or do we still need to make a reservation well in advance to guarantee our preferences?  I'm a bit concerned that waiting for the Shoreside Concierge to make contact a few weeks out may mean we miss out on our first preferences?  If I do make a reservation online, will the usual surcharge be automatically waived?

 

Related to all of that - is there an expanded room service menu for upper suites?  The website indicates that in-suite dining is available for breakfast, lunch and dinner, yet the room service menu for Suites on the App seems a bit limited.  Not that we would go hungry!  Any advice is appreciated, thank you.

 

Have not been on the Solstice, but on the Apex we were able to walk up and they seated us immediately, always at a window table.  We changed our minds regarding dining several times and were always accommodated. 

 

I booked dining through the cruise planner to secure our times.  Once the shoreside concierge made contact with the team onboard and confirmed our reservations, she cancelled the reservations I had made through the cruise planner.  We didn't have to worry about the surcharge being waived because the reservations were confirmed onboard beforehand.

 

For room service, we did find the menu to be limited and dining in general had odd hours (at least for us).  

 

I did a "live from" thread of our experience.  We are big foodies, so you will find lots of food deets.  I also have room service menu photos.  Suites have their own menu, but upper suites do not have a different menu than the rest of the suites.  If you have a request, let them know and they will do what they can with the ingredients they have on board.  We requested Ethiopian food and they were able to accommodate. 🙂 

 

 

[SusieAV8R]

12 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

She was on vacation last week. I just spoke to her yesterday.

Thanks CHEZMARYLOU!  (Curious that that there was no automatic response to my 2 emails, to wit:  "I am on vacation.  If this is urgent, contact...fill in the blank")

[Jim_Iain]

On 7/27/2023 at 2:37 PM, zitsky said:

Why is that, can I ask?  My only time in a suite, our butler wanted to do everything.

 

For us we find the Concierge more convenient as she is booking live while you are standing there.   Instead of going back and forth with the butler with 8pm not available but get get you 8:30.    I've also found the Concierge and the Restaurant managers have more clout getting you in if "fully booked". 

[zitsky]

1 minute ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

For us we find the Concierge more convenient as she is booking live while you are standing there.   Instead of going back and forth with the butler with 8pm not available but get get you 8:30.    I've also found the Concierge and the Restaurant managers have more clout getting you in if "fully booked". 

We’re talking about the Concierge in the Retreat lounge, yes?  I thought they just helped with excursions.

[groryjm]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

For us we find the Concierge more convenient as she is booking live while you are standing there.   Instead of going back and forth with the butler with 8pm not available but get get you 8:30.    I've also found the Concierge and the Restaurant managers have more clout getting you in if "fully booked". 

Jim i totally agree going straight to michaels is usually far more effective and you are served a drink while they confirm😎

Edited July 29, 2023 by groryjm

[RichYak]

9 hours ago, zitsky said:

We’re talking about the Concierge in the Retreat lounge, yes?  I thought they just helped with excursions.

They will help you with any need or issue you have. Dinner reservations, billing issues, excursions, whatever.

[zitsky]

2 minutes ago, RichYak said:

They will help you with any need or issue you have. Dinner reservations, billing issues, excursions, whatever.

Then why have butlers?