Contacting Concierge Question

[3for Me]

Hi Everyone!

We are taking our first cruise in February in a Cat 3!!

We have been assigned the late dinner rotation which I am very eager to change. I know that it has been discussed that the concierge can PERHAPS help you change your assignment. My question is...should I call about that now? I have not made my final payment yet as it is not due for a couple of months. Can I still make this request now? I just figured the sooner the better...thoughts??

 

[TammiMcMan]

Unless things have changed, you can't contact concierge ahead of time. You can call customer service though and have them note your dining request. When you get on board the ship, that's when you'll have an opportunity to meet your concierge team and if your dining time hasn't been changed, they may be able to help you then.

 

[cotomom]

Occassionally they will send you a letter or postcard with information on how to contact concierge in advance to make special requests, etc. This has only happened on a couple of my cruises, and even then our requests for servers, rotation, and dining time were messed up. Had to get them straightened out once we boarded.

 

[hjensen]

I thought I read from other posts that you can contact Concierge ahead of time!! Someone else posted this name and number....Her name is Jamira and the number is 407-566-7077! We're also sailing in a Cat. 3 in Feb! When are you going??

 

[Laurabearz]

They are sending out letters with a phone number to contact Concierge ahead of time. I talked with the CM, and she stated they are going to make a final determation about keeping the new contact person in September.

I think it's a wonderful idea. I think in the long run it will be easier on the Concierge staff on on the ship, if most things like dinning, Palo ect is shuffled around before we get on board, less last minute scrambling.

With that said, I would call DCL or your TA and have it noted on your reservation, and once you get the letter, give the Concierge CM a call.

 

[3for Me]

O.K., so since I have already noted this request with DCL at the time of booking and have not received the letter from the concierge yet, should I just sit tight? (I do have the phone number for Jamira in my notes so that I can call when the time is right...)

This is a big issue for us as late seating will be disastrous for our family of early eaters.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[cotomom]

Yes, I would just sit tight and if you don't hear anything, contact her about a week or two in advance. GL!

 

[Laurabearz]

Yes I would wait. And really NO WORRIES! Jamira is WONDERFUL!

 

[3for Me]

Thanks again for all the great advice!

 

[BethA]

We are sailing the end of dec and got our letter with the contact number about 3 weeks ago, so it should be coming soon.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I thought I read from other posts that you can contact Concierge ahead of time!! Someone else posted this name and number....Her name is Jamira and the number is 407-566-7077! We're also sailing in a Cat. 3 in Feb! When are you going??

I think we actually met her on the Wonder on 8/23. She was at the concierge meet on the first day. She was telling us how this is a new program for DCL that they are trying and that they are getting about 300 calls per week and it seems to be working out for now.

Most calls are about getting Palo and other reservations squared away. So its nice to be able to do that all in advance and not during the concierge meet onboard.

 

[A fat english gent]

We are sailing the end of dec and got our letter with the contact number about 3 weeks ago, so it should be coming soon.

Oh dear another thing us brits didn't get...

 

[m4travel]

Oh dear another thing us brits didn't get...

Well, we Californians didn't get it either! [See updated Post No. 17] If BethA received her letter 3 weeks ago for a cruise at the end of December, we should have received a letter in July for our cruise in early December, right? [We did! ]

Perhaps they're using some sort of criteria to determine who gets the mailing and who doesn't? Sort of a study where satisfaction results are compared between groups of those who receive a letter and those who don't?

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Perhaps they're using some sort of criteria to determine who gets the mailing and who doesn't? Sort of a study where satisfaction results are compared between groups of those who receive a letter and those who don't?

Oh, I hope that isn't true. I would hope DCL sends the letters to all Concierge guests. There are only 22 rooms on each sailing so its not like its a large number of letters.

I got my letter exactly five months in advance but I think I might have paid in full around that time, too. I went ahead and paid before the deadline.

If you don't get a letter by the 90 day mark then I would go ahead and just call the number anyway if you need anything.

To be honest, I was able to book everything online at the 105 day mark so I didn't need to call and speak to someone.

 

[m4travel]

To be honest, I was able to book everything online at the 105 day mark so I didn't need to call and speak to someone.

That's also true for us, so the absence of the letter is not really important, just noted.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

That's also true for us, so the absence of the letter is not really important, just noted.

After what I heard about this program at the concierge meet, I think the absence of your letter is just DCL working out the kinks and not something deliberate.

The only other thing mentioned in the letter is that it tells you exact date you can make your online reservations. Good to find out my calculation and DCL's calculation came up with the same date.

 

[m4travel]

Mea culpa - while cleaning off the dining room table (our catchall repository for incoming mail) this morning, lo and behold, there was a letter from DCL which included the information about contacting Concierge Services before sailing - dated 7/5/07!

It was out of the envelope, so we must have seen it - but out of sight, out of mind, I guess.

Truth be told, our concierges seemed happier when we had some sort of question or request for them on our last cruise, so we'd think up something for their daily visit. Many of them were still 'We're fine, thanks' kinds of chats.

I would guess, FEG, that they may not be mailing them to guests living out of the country. Many toll-free numbers here do not accept international calls, just as many freephone calls do not accept calls originating in the US.

Guess we'd better clean off the rest of the table. No telling what we might find!

 

[hjensen]

If we have a TA will the letter to go to her? Or to us?

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

If we have a TA will the letter to go to her? Or to us?

It went to our TA along with a very nice travel guide to the Wonder. So it wasn't just the letter. This was not our travel documents but something entirely different.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Mea culpa - while cleaning off the dining room table (our catchall repository for incoming mail) this morning, lo and behold, there was a letter from DCL which included the information about contacting Concierge Services before sailing - dated 7/5/07!

It was out of the envelope, so we must have seen it - but out of sight, out of mind, I guess.

Truth be told, our concierges seemed happier when we had some sort of question or request for them on our last cruise, so we'd think up something for their daily visit. Many of them were still 'We're fine, thanks' kinds of chats.

My letter has been out on the kitchen counter for so long its good food stains on it.

I agree completely that you need to think of things for Concierge to do onboard. So on my last cruise I specifically had some small things for them to do. Luckily it was just a 3 night. They loved it - I swear their eyes lit up.