Any feedback about cruising concierge?

[MomOTwins]

We did the same thing as you and switched to a shorter cruise, but first time Concierge in Cat V. I am really excited for it, even though it is a 3-night cruse. We are probably not going to ever pay for concierge on a longer cruise, so this is a great way for us to experience a CC cabana and feel a little pampered after a stressful year. I feel like Concierge is particular a good addition when social distancing measures are in place: the separate embarkation lounge gives us a way to board early at our leisure if they start enforcing PAT times; the concierge lunch will be nice if the buffet at Cabanas is closed or modified to a less-good sit-down; the sun deck will help us find a seat if the regular deck has significantly reduced loungers; if shows become "ticketed" we have better odds of getting tickets at our preferred time. All in all I think it is a going to be great (if our cruise sails; fingers crossed).

That said, i am definitely going to ask at the port if there are any inexpensive same-day upgrades to Cat T. Those Cat T rooms look uh-may-zing. And the cost to upgrade at port is so much less than the cost in advance.

 

[Primeval Princess]

I feel like Concierge is particular a good addition when social distancing measures are in place: the separate embarkation lounge gives us a way to board early at our leisure if they start enforcing PAT times

Yes, this is something I considered, too. We like to board early and start swimming right away, before lunch and before the pool deck & Aqua Duck line gets overrun.

 

[DCLDVC1]

We did the same thing as you and switched to a shorter cruise, but first time Concierge in Cat V. I am really excited for it, even though it is a 3-night cruse. We are probably not going to ever pay for concierge on a longer cruise, so this is a great way for us to experience a CC cabana and feel a little pampered after a stressful year. I feel like Concierge is particular a good addition when social distancing measures are in place: the separate embarkation lounge gives us a way to board early at our leisure if they start enforcing PAT times; the concierge lunch will be nice if the buffet at Cabanas is closed or modified to a less-good sit-down; the sun deck will help us find a seat if the regular deck has significantly reduced loungers; if shows become "ticketed" we have better odds of getting tickets at our preferred time. All in all I think it is a going to be great (if our cruise sails; fingers crossed).

That said, i am definitely going to ask at the port if there are any inexpensive same-day upgrades to Cat T. Those Cat T rooms look uh-may-zing. And the cost to upgrade at port is so much less than the cost in advance.

It could be a great opportunity to get one of the Category R suites at a reasonable price.

 

[MomOTwins]

It could be a great opportunity to get one of the Category R suites at a reasonable price.

The thought did occur to me... but I'd have to see what the price difference is. A cat T looks so delightful, I'd have a hard time paying thousands more for a Cat R when I could upgrade to the T for less than $1K (based on my estimates from the port upgrade thread--though if the ship does sail and is pretty empty, who knows...).

 

[Primeval Princess]

The double dip is the outlier here with the jump from V to T typically being $400-700. So once you get to the concierge categories it is not a huge premium to get double the space.

I agree that when that's the price difference, a T is worth it if that's the stateroom you prefer. On our 3-night cruise, there is a $1,300 price difference between V & T. And that's after the $1,300 jump just to get from Cat4A to Cat V. For 3 nights & not even double dip. So that's a much different cost analysis, just to get a bigger room that in our case, we don't need or even want. Although the tub does look great, I actually prefer the streamlined layout of the V to the layout of the T. In the Cat V layout, I can always easily talk with my son as it's all one big room, we can easily watch the same TV while in our separate beds, etc. If I were traveling with multiple kids I wanted space from, or traveling with a romantic partner & sharing that great bedroom, the T would be a lot more attractive. But for this single mom and her teen son, who I rarely get enough time with in daily life, the V looks perfect for us.

It sounds like you've really enjoyed sailing in Cat T's and that they've been a good deal for you. That's great and I hope the deals stick around for both of us! Cheers!

 

[SnowWhite2]

We didn't have a good concierge experience. We went for our 30th anniversary so we splurged. The first day when they book activities for you, all we asked for was an on-board booking. It was scheduled but when we showed up for the meeting, concierge forgot and had to hurry to get the OBB agent to the lounge. Ugh...I didn't expect to sit in the lounge for 1/2 hour waiting for this to happen. The food in the lounge was fine but the vultures descended on it immediately and it took a long time to restock. Sometimes we didn't have time to wait for additional food and walked to the back of the ship to Cabanas to get breakfast. For our anniversary we got a magical moments certificate. It was nice but I expected at least a swan towel animal and maybe some chocolate dipped strawberries. Maybe my expectations were too high since we are platinum cruisers. Oh I forgot about the Cabana on CC. Besides the initial explanation of the amenities of the cabana, we never saw the host again and was never able to get a drink without running out on the beach to give our order. No one ever came to check on us even after we pushed the call button. At the end of the day, I was told by someone cleaning out the cabanas that they would take us back to the ship but then they left and we were the only ones around for as far as we could see. It was only about 15 minutes to all aboard so we left to catch the tram. We subsequently had a cabana on a non-concierge cruise and the same thing happened. For the amount of money spent on a cabana, I think the least they can do is check up on you once. Just my experience and hopefully yours will be better.

 

[Spiffy MacSpiff]

Re: the pull-out bed in the Cat V, depending on how old/tall your son is, you might want to ask your hosts to drop the bunk down from the ceiling and leave the couch in place. The pull-out bed blocks access to the balcony and some of the storage space in the vanity. I do like my early morning coffee time on the balcony while the rest of the family is sleeping, so I had to climb over a sleeping kid to get out there every day... but it wasn't a major inconvenience.

 

[mostlytraveling4food]

Due to an FCC and a previously scheduled 2021 5-night Magic cruise being switched to a 3-night on the Dream due to scheduling issues, we are now booked for our first concierge cruise, in March of '21. I'm so excited! I nabbed the last remaining deck 12 category V stateroom available on that cruise.

This will be our 7th DCL cruise, but our first time sailing concierge. Would anyone tell me what they particularly enjoy about cruising concierge? Any tips or recommendations to pass along? This is for myself and my teenage son. I hope to book a family beach cabana. Is there a hot tub on the concierge part of the Dream's pool deck? If so, can teens use it?

Concierge won’t be that cool anymore. The little buffet in Concierge was nice, but I bet it’ll now be served by an attendant.

 

[Primeval Princess]

Concierge won’t be that cool anymore. The little buffet in Concierge was nice, but I bet it’ll now be served by an attendant.

How is that a problem?

 

[VegastoDis]

I guess they give you a schedule of their offerings, like when you stay club level at the resorts?

As a party of 2 we really don't need more space. The cat V room looks lovely. The pull-out bed for my son looks nicer than what he gets sailing non-concierge. We want to rent a family beach cabana on CC & concierge is the only way to have a decent shot at that. My son also looks forward to using the hot tub, since there was none on the family deck on the Fantasy, and the Dream's family pool deck hot tub is likely to be removed during dry dock this fall. We like a private table at dinner, and it will be nice not having to go to dining changes upon boarding to ask about that as usual. I might actually get my request for an Enchanted Garden teacup table fulfilled this time. Who knows? I think it's going to be worth it for us. We tend to appreciate the little things.

We automatically were assigned a teacup table when we sailed concierge last year so I’d say chances are good!

 

[LunaMini]

I’m so glad someone asked about concierge. Mum and I have our first cruise in September and decided to upgrade our GTY room after sitting on the wait list for concierge. We’ve had a couple of trips to Disneyland Paris cancelled this year due to COVID-19 including my birthday trip and a joint mums 60th and princess race weekend trip, so we decided to come back to WDW and also experience our first cruise.
its interesting reading all the perks. We’re not really ‘people people“ and are looking forward to having our own table at meal times and somewhere a little quieter during the day with the lounge. We’ve done Castle Club in Paris several times, so will be interesting to compare.

 

[pangyal]

Concierge won’t be that cool anymore. The little buffet in Concierge was nice, but I bet it’ll now be served by an attendant.

If having an attendant do all of the serving means that the afternoons macarons will last longer than eight seconds, I’m all for it.

 

[Primeval Princess]

If having an attendant do all of the serving means that the afternoons macarons will last longer than eight seconds, I’m all for it.

I was wondering what the problem was with having an attendant. Who cares, as long as the food is the same? I hope no one was actually planning to take like half of the cookies all at once.

 

[undertheradar]

You can always spot the newbies when they try and take an entire tray of Mickey rice crispy treats.

 

[coloradocutie]

They have a lovely assortment of food all day. My 2 girls said it well when they said "Cabanas has fun looking desserts, but they don't taste that great... the concierge lounge desserts taste so good!" The small bites really are tasty and rich in flavor. I am gluten free and they made sure that there were always gluten free options available for me- including a sandwich every day. An attendant always gave me my GF food because she pulled it from the kitchen.

 

[coloradocutie]

.... and yes, we requested and got a teacup table. We actually were able to request Cabanas number 7, and get, as our first choice when we sent our concierge email. Another time we signed up for concierge after the 125 day request and they were able to "find" a cabana for us when we came on the boat when none were available online. They have elemis toiletries which smell great, but you can always have your stateroom host also leave the classic H2O.
You will love it!

 

[MomOTwins]

If having an attendant do all of the serving means that the afternoons macarons will last longer than eight seconds, I’m all for it.

Mmmmmmmmmm.... macarons. Yeah, I don't care how much a newbie I am, if they have macarons I'm filling my plate

 

[Primeval Princess]

You can always spot the newbies when they try and take an entire tray of Mickey rice crispy treats.

Please, no...

 

[Primeval Princess]

Is it okay to take your lounge food to your stateroom or the concierge pool deck, or are you supposed to eat in the lounge?

 

[coloradocutie]

Totally fine to do both.
Also, if there’s a certain type of soda that you like you can request for them to stock your stateroom refrigerator with that. Or alternatively, if you don’t drink soda, they can stock it with bottled water for you.