is claudio gone?

[Planer's Edge]

 

The issue with regard to conceige service that NCL needs to address is widening it to "Platitude" members, guys like Claudio Alex Ruth etc cannot be expected to provide top line service to too many people!

 

I'm confused...do you believe that Platinum Latitudes members have not earned the privilege of Concierge service? If so, I think you are sadly mistaken.

 

There should be some privileges for people that have been very loyal over the years. No, it should not take away from the Penthouse and above passengers and it probably doesn't. I think what NCL is doing by phasing out concierge service for mini suites will alleviate the workload for the concierge. A few Platinum members will not take away from the service for the Penthousies. The Concierges' job is really not that difficult unless of course people are expecting him to be omnipresent and bend over backwards every time you sneeze.

 

Mind you we have been Penthouse passengers while also being Platinum and we did not expect any better service as a Penthousie then when we were traveling as lowly Platinum members.

 

PE

[maurick]

Maureen, We have had three different concierges on the Dawn and they never knew beforehand what we would or IF we would tip them. I doubt that is an issue. I imagine the front office has instructed that the GV pax should receive the max treatment, afterall, they are paying for it, big time. I am sure they are anxious for them to be return customers. I would assume they are doing their job and doing it well as instructed.

 

Eileen.

 

I agree with you. I simply am saying how he treated a group Rick and I were in one morning before getting off the ship. I guess we saw Claudio at a bad moment. We have been treated wonderful by all NCL staff member on all our past cruises.

[maurick]

This is a disgusting slur on a man who has done a great job for us everytime we have cruised with him.

 

Stop personalising this and broaden it out to all staff, it seems to me that despite the fact NCL crew are excellent, passenger "reap what they sow"

 

I have observed that those passengers who are determined to find fault, complain, expect the crew to do everything no matter how unreasonable, seem to have problems with crew. Those of us who treat the crew as we would like to be treated ourselves do not seem to have these same issues. I would also observe that those passengers with jobs that cause them to be berated by joe public fifty weeks of the year take the opportunity to get some stupid revenge on those that look after them for the length of their cruise.

 

The issue with regard to conceige service that NCL needs to address is widening it to "Platitude" members, guys like Claudio Alex Ruth etc cannot be expected to provide top line service to too many people!

 

What disgusting slur are you talking about. I am simply saying how Claudio treated a group we were in one morning on the Dawn getting off the shiip. Maybe, we saw him in a bad moment.

 

We have been treated wonderful by all NCL staff members on all past cruises.

 

I never expect them or aske them to go out of their way for us.

[Black Pearl Sailor]

I'm confused...do you believe that Platinum Latitudes members have not earned the privilege of Concierge service? If so' date=' I think you are sadly mistaken.

 

There should be some privileges for people that have been very loyal over the years. No, it should not take away from the Penthouse and above passengers and it probably doesn't. I think what NCL is doing by phasing out concierge service for mini suites will alleviate the workload for the concierge. A few Platinum members will not take away from the service for the Penthousies. The Concierges' job is really not that difficult unless of course people are expecting him to be omnipresent and bend over backwards every time you sneeze.

 

Mind you we have been Penthouse passengers while also being Platinum and we did not expect any better service as a Penthousie then when we were traveling as lowly Platinum members.

 

PE[/quote']

 

I am a Platitude but always book an owners suite, the point I am making is that NCL promote the Villa experience as something special with added perks above just the room and courtyard. However a number of these so called perks including the conceige, breakfast/lunch in Cagneys, priority disembarkation, theatre reserved seating are now offerred to Platitudes. I have been part of a group of 75 people who have priority disembarkation, or had to wait for a breakfast table, not been able to get a seat for popular shows.

 

I agree that we should be rewarded as loyal customers, however the rewards impact on services others pay for. This was/is the problem RCI now have with so many Diamond level guests you can now not get into the conceige lounge.

 

The frequent flyer scheme doesn't work when the ship has limited resources, NCL needs to decide how to reward frequent flyers without driving away premium paying passengers.

[Black Pearl Sailor]

What disgusting slur are you talking about. I am simply saying how Claudio treated a group we were in one morning on the Dawn getting off the shiip. Maybe, we saw him in a bad moment.

 

We have been treated wonderful by all NCL staff members on all past cruises.

 

I never expect them or aske them to go out of their way for us.

 

You said that he would look after people he expected to get a tip from, I know from personal experience that this is not what drives Claudio he is a man who believes in old fashioned style and service

[Leona1]

We met Claudio last year on the Dawn. He was over seeing staff in the Spinnaker area. He was not charming and wonderful as I had heard. He was very rude to staff and passengers. Was not impressed at all!

 

 

Hi Maureen,

 

This is Leona from the Dawn 12/06 cruise. We were in an Owner's Suite and Claudio was our concierge. I have nothing bad to say about him. He was always charming and made sure we were aware of all theperks of an owners suite. he called us to escort us to the chocolate buffet, he called us to escort us to the tender he checked in with us everyday to see what we needed. He couldn't be nicer to us. It saddens me to hear he was rude to some passengers. I would jump at having him as our concierge anytime.

 

As an aside how are you and the family doing. Bob tells me you are thinking about becoming an agent. Good Luck.

 

Leona

[cruizinwithkids]

I have been part of a group of 75 people who have priority disembarkation, or had to wait for a breakfast table, not been able to get a seat for popular shows.

 

I don't think "platitudes" has much impact on this. Excluding the mini-suites, the Pearl has 46 suites (I think) I may have missed some. So suites alone would account for 92 - 100 of the VIP passengers.

[Planer's Edge]

I am a Platitude but always book an owners suite, the point I am making is that NCL promote the Villa experience as something special with added perks above just the room and courtyard. However a number of these so called perks including the conceige, breakfast/lunch in Cagneys, priority disembarkation, theatre reserved seating are now offerred to Platitudes. I have been part of a group of 75 people who have priority disembarkation, or had to wait for a breakfast table, not been able to get a seat for popular shows.

 

I agree that we should be rewarded as loyal customers, however the rewards impact on services others pay for. This was/is the problem RCI now have with so many Diamond level guests you can now not get into the conceige lounge.

 

The frequent flyer scheme doesn't work when the ship has limited resources, NCL needs to decide how to reward frequent flyers without driving away premium paying passengers.

 

Your use of "Platitude" could be construed as offensive. That or you think that being loyal, to the tune of 14+ cruises with NCL, is trite and meaningless.

 

Sometimes I also book Penthouse level suites. I still would not begrudge other Platinum members the VIP service. It is great that you can book an Owner's Suite every time, some of us cannot.

 

As for Platinum Latitudes members putting a drain on services this is a lot of crap. Firstly, the reserved theater seating is for Owners and above and is not offered to Platinum members. The Concierge may seat people there occasionally because he/she knows where these other passengers are at the time. I also don't think there are that many Platinum members per sailing anyway. On our Crown sailing a few years there were 6 of us. I was told there were 4 of us on our Dawn sailing a few weeks ago.

 

Priority disembarkation has nothing to do with Latitudes level or level of cabin booked. Anyone can sign up for priority disembarkation as long as they can carry their own bags off the ship. Now VIP disembarkation is what you may be talking about. So what if there are 75 people are 5 getting off the ship at the same time, or do you feel you should stand out in a very small crowd being escorted off the ship by the Concierge?

 

PE

[seaspam25]

Please remember that NCL shore side management & officers on board read these boards. address your issues DIRECTLY on the vessel at the time of your voyage, or write to customer relations at the miami office and it will be taken seriously. this thread on cruise critic is plain ridiculous ... any such negative comment following my post is cruel and uncompassionate!

 

grow up folks ... cruise critic is a tool for cruises to better their experiance on board a vessel ... slander is foolish and simply unkind.:(

[Cosmopolitan]

Eileen.

 

I agree with you. I simply am saying how he treated a group Rick and I were in one morning before getting off the ship. I guess we saw Claudio at a bad moment. We have been treated wonderful by all NCL staff member on all our past cruises.

 

We, also, have always been treated wonderfully by NCL staff and Claudio...BUT...we also "viewed" Claudio at disembarkation.

 

Bending over backwards for GV passengers (we all had to wait for them (GV) at the pre-chocoholic buffet, we were in an AA) who took the upsell that I refused (all were in our elevator on disembarkation) ..with more passengers than allowed in the GV.

Claudio was telling them how "other" passengers tried to grab their "free" limo...and he "caught" them...I doubt that:-( A sour taste for me!

Hope they tipped him as well as I did;)

 

You can fool some of the people some of the time....

 

Though..Claudio is great.

[smeyer418]

I guess he will kiss up to the people who are in the Villa or passengers where he knows a tip is coming.

 

Maybe he was right you weren't walking fast enough. Did it have something to do with him leading the group to the front of the line for VIP embarkation and he wanted them to keep up? I am a gold NCL cruiser. I wasn't in a suite at all, in fact I was in a category F on deck 4 on the Dawn. Because I am a gold I get to use the concierge. I used him exactly once on the ten day cruise- yet I saw him in action many times helping the hoi polay to get off and saw a consonsumate professional in action. But when we were getting off he saw me having problem finding my luggage. He called out to me by name(how he remembered is beyond me) and came to help find the luggage and take it out for me. He didn't have to do this--- so those who say he is terrible I would bet don't know how to use him IMO....and I had left his tip in an envelop by the front desk while getting off and he was on the pier and could not have gotten it....

[angeljt]

We found Claudio to be very friendly, polite, helpful and professional. He was always available if we needed him, and checked in with us a couple of times a day, and at dinners.

I can't picture him being rude to anyone, but working with the public is not an easy job, and we all have a bad day once in a while.

I hope NCL keeps Claudio on for a very long time.

[familyof4cruising]

We found Claudio to be very friendly, polite, helpful and professional. He was always available if we needed him, and checked in with us a couple of times a day, and at dinners.

I can't picture him being rude to anyone, but working with the public is not an easy job, and we all have a bad day once in a while.

I hope NCL keeps Claudio on for a very long time.

 

I so agree with you. We all can not be "ON" at all times!

On our three Dawn sailings he was very courtesy to me and my family. Always remembered our names.

 

The only time I had a bad experience with him was on our one night when we were in the Garden Villa. I had emailed him prior to sailing and he made our dinner reservation. On board we NEVER heard from him at all. I assumed that on a one night the Concierge service is unnecessary and he takes the night off. I also think he is from the old school of service and takes pride in his job, but we all can not be perfect all the time.

[cruizinwithkids]

Please remember that NCL shore side management & officers on board read these boards. address your issues DIRECTLY on the vessel at the time of your voyage, or write to customer relations at the miami office and it will be taken seriously. this thread on cruise critic is plain ridiculous ... any such negative comment following my post is cruel and uncompassionate!

 

grow up folks ... cruise critic is a tool for cruises to better their experiance on board a vessel ... slander is foolish and simply unkind.:(

 

I agree with this post. This should not become a public whipping pole, but you seaspam25 resurrected this thread. It had faded back to about page 7 and now it's in the forefront.

[Smellytoes]

We, also, have always been treated wonderfully by NCL staff and Claudio...BUT...we also "viewed" Claudio at disembarkation.

 

Bending over backwards for GV passengers (we all had to wait for them (GV) at the pre-chocoholic buffet, we were in an AA) who took the upsell that I refused (all were in our elevator on disembarkation) ..with more passengers than allowed in the GV.

Claudio was telling them how "other" passengers tried to grab their "free" limo...and he "caught" them...I doubt that:-( A sour taste for me!

Hope they tipped him as well as I did;)

 

You can fool some of the people some of the time....

 

Though..Claudio is great.

 

That's funny how you mention him waiting for the GV pax at the chocoholic buffet. When we had the AA he waited for a little while for some other passengers. When they didn't show up he assumed they weren't coming. Then the late passengers got snotty with Claudio because he didn't wait for them. (which he did)

 

Poor Claudio. He can't win no matter what he does.lol

[coondogg97]

Let me apologize in advance for "resurfacing" this thread. I have been a member of CC for a number of years and these forums have been very helpful to me in the past. I feel as a public forum I would being doing an injustice to the community by not sharing my OWN PERSONAL experiences on the subject.

 

My wife and I have been cruising NCL for a few years, its the only line we will use. When we cruise we have always gotten a Mini Suite. We enjoy the Mini Suites for the extra space in the room and the balcony, not for the concierge. We usually use the concierge once during our trip and thats for our excursions. My wife and I pick out our excursions the first day we board and leave them for the concierge. This way they can get them to us whenever they have time and we don't have to bother them again for the rest of the trip. We understand with SO many Mini Suites on these ships we are not going to get the same service and attention as someone would get in an owners suite or a penthouse suite, and we don't expect it (you pay for what you get). But we do expect the concierge to be there for us IF we need them to HELP us take care of something that is out of our hands.

 

Claudio was our concierge on the NCL Spirit in 2006 going from NYC to the Bahamas. One of our excursions in the Bahamas was to Atlantis on the last day of our trip for only a few hours. Due to weather issues we skipped one island and ended up in Nassau a day early which was great since we would have a lot more time to enjoy Atlantis. We went to the front desk to get a refund on our excursion tickets but was told since it was within 24 hours of tomorrows excursion we couldn't cancel. I called Claudio and explained the situation to him. He told me that there was nothing he could do about it and to enjoy Nassau that day and wait till the following day to go to Atlantis. I expressed my disappointment in his decision. Why would we wait and cram Atlantis into 1 morning when now we have all day to enjoy it. Claudio finally said that he would try to get our money back and would call us later on in the day to let us know. I didn't plan on waiting for his call so we went to Atlantis and enjoyed our day. I figured I rather take the loss of cash then ruin the day! We got back to our room and Claudio left us a message stating that he was able to refund 100% of the excursion. My BIGGEST issue with this is that Claudio didn't even try until I expressed my disappointment. He didn't make an effort to make it right, off the bat the answer was no. We called upon Claudio 1 more time during our trip where again he didn't make an effort to try. It was no again right off the bat so we just fended for ourselves. With a little persuasion of a tip we were able to accomplish by ourselves what Claudio again didn't make an effort to help us with. When we are staying in a Mini Suite I don't expect the concierge to greet me during dinner or walk me onto the ship, although even in a higher level suite we wouldn't expect that, we are not high maintenance people. But I do expect the concierge to care a little more about their guests then the crew members that are working reception do. In our particular situation that was not the case.

 

Our next cruise is on The Gem in November. This cruise we are going to splurge and get the AD Romance suite and rumor has it Claudio will be our concierge once again! Im trying to not hold any grudges, but there are so many other concierges that do not have this kind of drama out here on CC that I would prefer to have. But hopefully Claudio will have a better week.

 

Again I am sorry to resurface this once again fading thread but I did want to share my experience on the subject. I think its very admirable of the people who are sticking up for Claudio since he has no access to the board. If you guys have had great experiences with him its only right that those are shared also. I am not saying he is a bad concierge in general, I am just sharing OUR experience with him.

 

Happy Cruising!

[nyflush]

FYI the staff on cruise ships do have access to the boards :)

[Down-Unders]

Let me apologize in advance for "resurfacing" this thread. I have been a member of CC for a number of years and these forums have been very helpful to me in the past. I feel as a public forum I would being doing an injustice to the community by not sharing my OWN PERSONAL experiences on the subject.

 

My wife and I have been cruising NCL for a few years, its the only line we will use. When we cruise we have always gotten a Mini Suite. We enjoy the Mini Suites for the extra space in the room and the balcony, not for the concierge. We usually use the concierge once during our trip and thats for our excursions. My wife and I pick out our excursions the first day we board and leave them for the concierge. This way they can get them to us whenever they have time and we don't have to bother them again for the rest of the trip. We understand with SO many Mini Suites on these ships we are not going to get the same service and attention as someone would get in an owners suite or a penthouse suite, and we don't expect it (you pay for what you get). But we do expect the concierge to be there for us IF we need them to HELP us take care of something that is out of our hands.

 

Claudio was our concierge on the NCL Spirit in 2006 going from NYC to the Bahamas. One of our excursions in the Bahamas was to Atlantis on the last day of our trip for only a few hours. Due to weather issues we skipped one island and ended up in Nassau a day early which was great since we would have a lot more time to enjoy Atlantis. We went to the front desk to get a refund on our excursion tickets but was told since it was within 24 hours of tomorrows excursion we couldn't cancel. I called Claudio and explained the situation to him. He told me that there was nothing he could do about it and to enjoy Nassau that day and wait till the following day to go to Atlantis. I expressed my disappointment in his decision. Why would we wait and cram Atlantis into 1 morning when now we have all day to enjoy it. Claudio finally said that he would try to get our money back and would call us later on in the day to let us know. I didn't plan on waiting for his call so we went to Atlantis and enjoyed our day. I figured I rather take the loss of cash then ruin the day! We got back to our room and Claudio left us a message stating that he was able to refund 100% of the excursion. My BIGGEST issue with this is that Claudio didn't even try until I expressed my disappointment. He didn't make an effort to make it right, off the bat the answer was no. We called upon Claudio 1 more time during our trip where again he didn't make an effort to try. It was no again right off the bat so we just fended for ourselves. With a little persuasion of a tip we were able to accomplish by ourselves what Claudio again didn't make an effort to help us with. When we are staying in a Mini Suite I don't expect the concierge to greet me during dinner or walk me onto the ship, although even in a higher level suite we wouldn't expect that, we are not high maintenance people. But I do expect the concierge to care a little more about their guests then the crew members that are working reception do. In our particular situation that was not the case.

 

Our next cruise is on The Gem in November. This cruise we are going to splurge and get the AD Romance suite and rumor has it Claudio will be our concierge once again! Im trying to not hold any grudges, but there are so many other concierges that do not have this kind of drama out here on CC that I would prefer to have. But hopefully Claudio will have a better week.

 

Again I am sorry to resurface this once again fading thread but I did want to share my experience on the subject. I think its very admirable of the people who are sticking up for Claudio since he has no access to the board. If you guys have had great experiences with him its only right that those are shared also. I am not saying he is a bad concierge in general, I am just sharing OUR experience with him.

 

Happy Cruising!

 

 

:( :( :( :( :(

[WinnieinWA]

I find personal attacks on a public board very offensive when that person being attacked has no way to defend themselves. :mad:

 

Criticize the service received if you want but there's no need to name the person.

 

Very tacky!

 

Have you never had a bad day?

 

Enjoy your next cruise. :)

[Bigdog49]

You drag up an old thread to do this. Why??

 

Trust me these threads are available onboard the ship. In fact about now Claudio is at the desk online in the Star Bar as breakfast finishes up.

[lastingtouch]

We found Claudio to be very friendly, polite, helpful and professional. He was always available if we needed him, and checked in with us a couple of times a day, and at dinners.

I can't picture him being rude to anyone, but working with the public is not an easy job, and we all have a bad day once in a while.

I hope NCL keeps Claudio on for a very long time.

Ditto! :D

[coondogg97]

I find personal attacks on a public board very offensive when that person being attacked has no way to defend themselves. :mad:

 

Criticize the service received if you want but there's no need to name the person.

 

Very tacky!

 

Have you never had a bad day?

 

Enjoy your next cruise. :)

 

I don’t know how my post can be construed as a personal attack. I have nothing against Claudio as a person and nowhere in my post did I go after him on a personal level. All I did was share my own personal experience with him. There are posts all over these boards of cruisers complimenting crew members for going above and beyond. Should those posts also be deleted for personally complimenting a crew member on such a good job? There are posts out here stating that Ryan Rabe is one of the best butlers that NCL has to offer. Is it “tacky” to mention his name even though it was done in a complementary fashion? These forums are to share EXPIERIENCES and suggestions (good and bad) about cruising and that’s exactly what I did. If reading these posts about Claudio is leaving a bad taste in your mouth, then by all means share your OWN PERSONAL experiences with the forum, but don’t try to berate another forum member for sharing with the community there experience with a certain crew member.

 

The reason I am “dragging” this post up again is the same reason the post was created in the first place, to share our experience with the community. That’s why Refman initially created the post and that’s exactly what my post is about, OUR OWN PERSONAL experience. Again, if someone else who is reading this post disagrees and has had a great experience with Claudio, then by all means share your story and let others make up their own opinion. That’s what these forums are all about, helping others form their own opinions from our experiences.

[nyflush]

I agree the boards are for the good and bad. I always hope that the new cruiser can get the information they are looking for without getting caught up in some of the drama, But everyone is entitled to share their experience and I for one welcome them:)

[Smellytoes]

Ditto! :D

 

Me three:D :D :D

[exclusivecruiserjock]

I want to say 1st it is not a personal attack against Claudio, he is extremely friendly and nice to talk to when you find him in a bar.

It is good to know that everybody thinks he caters more for the Garden Villa People...NOT true! I have sailed 10 days in the Garden Villa (3 of us) and have seen him for embark (terminal) and debark (at the gangway).

He never showed up or even called, if we would need anything or if there is a problem he could help us with. I would say it was the poorest concierge service I have had ever received.