Only One Retreat Concierge on Solstice

[zgscl]

Just finished a delightful Alaska cruise on Solstice - the crew and service were fantastic as always.

 

One change we noted since our last X cruise was that they went down to one Concierge instead of two. We had limited desk hours (about 3 hours in the morning and 6 hours in the PM) rather than being staffed all day. Based on what I could gather the second concierge was sent to another ship and they did not expect them to be replaced. 

Our concierge still did a fabulous job for us despite being by herself, and the butlers (excuse me, Personal Retreat Hosts) made a point to tell us that they can help with any specialty dining reservations, shore excursions, etc. 

Edited July 23, 2023 by zgscl

[Georgia_Peaches]

I remember having only one Retreat concierge when we were on Solstice in March. I believe her name was Mar and she was great!  
 

While I’m sure they are just as busy as everyone else, our butler brought us coffee in the AM and snacks in the PM…and little else (for us). Chipping in to help with reservations seems like a practical move. 

[chemmo]

As far as I can remember there has never been a concierge available all day in the lounge. Generally I think someone is there 8.30 - 10.00am and 5.30 - 11.00pm. I am sure someone can correct me if I am wrong. 
 

Some Celebrity ships have far more suites than others. E class and Reflection having significantly more than the other ships. These ships will need two whereas generally I would think one concierge would be fine for other ships. This has been our experience although I can’t remember if there was one or two concierges on Silhouette…
 

All ships also have a suite manager who could become involved if there were any significant issues.

 

 

[Reesetiff]

On the Beyond last July we has 2 hosts a majority of the time who were fantastic 

[PSU]

On Summit, there are two retreat concierges. Connor and Connie. 

[TeeRick]

In general I have only seen two Retreat concierges on the E-Class ships.  We only had one on Equinox earlier this year - but she occasionally had an assistant in the lounge.

[RichYak]

There were two Retreat Concierges on Millennium in March.

[39august]

Only Janelle on EQ in May. Glad to hear that  Conner is still around on the smaller ships. I thought he went to an E class last year. He is great. 

[chemmo]

4 minutes ago, 39august said:

Only Janelle on EQ in May. Glad to hear that  Conner is still around on the smaller ships. I thought he went to an E class last year. He is great. 

I think quality rather than quantity is more important when it comes to concierges!

 

We have been on ships with caring, hard working ones who genuinely mean ‘Have a nice day!’ and take the time and effort to look after all guests. They arrange events, take the trouble to greet all passengers by name and sometimes may organise little treats. Then on other ships we have found the concierges are responsive rather than proactive. If you ask for something they will do it but other than that they simply say ‘Hello’ in passing…

 

Definitely prefer one proactive to two responsives!

[wrk2cruise]

It really comes down to the ship having a Retreat sundeck.   There always used to only be 1 Retreat concierge.  When they introduced Edge class ships they added another 1-2 since there are so many suites.   When older ships got Revolutionized and the sundeck added they increased to 2 Retreat concierges.  Since Solstice hasn't been Revolutionized I would only expect 1.

 

[Mark_K]

7 hours ago, RichYak said:

There were two Retreat Concierges on Millennium in March.

And in April, 2022.

[prmssk]

5 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

It really comes down to the ship having a Retreat sundeck.   There always used to only be 1 Retreat concierge.  When they introduced Edge class ships they added another 1-2 since there are so many suites.   When older ships got Revolutionized and the sundeck added they increased to 2 Retreat concierges.  Since Solstice hasn't been Revolutionized I would only expect 1.

 

The Constellation (which is not revolutionized) had 2 in November of last year as well as 2 in the fall of 2021. 

[DaKahuna]

12 hours ago, RichYak said:

There were two Retreat Concierges on Millennium in March.

 As well as April/May, although one was getting ready to go home on leave before heading to the Ascent. 
 

 We had two on Reflection in 2021 and two on Silhouette in April 2022. 
 

 

[zgscl]

6 hours ago, prmssk said:

The Constellation (which is not revolutionized) had 2 in November of last year as well as 2 in the fall of 2021. 

 

 

12 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

It really comes down to the ship having a Retreat sundeck.   There always used to only be 1 Retreat concierge.  When they introduced Edge class ships they added another 1-2 since there are so many suites.   When older ships got Revolutionized and the sundeck added they increased to 2 Retreat concierges.  Since Solstice hasn't been Revolutionized I would only expect 1.

 

we had 2 on Constellation in February and 2 on Solstice in November. I had just assumed that was the norm but it sounds like it fluctuates some. Totally makes sense the Edge class would get more. I have had a couple concierges tell me they dislike working that class because they don’t get to know all of their guests in the same way.