Concierge with Kids... Worth the Upgrade?

BAIC03

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
I'm seriously debating an upgrade on my Wonder sailing in December. My DD5, and DD3 will be with my DH and I. I've read multiple posts on how wonderful it is, but it almost sounds like it's a "worth it if you're old enough" kinda thing.
I know they will be at the Aqua Lab most of the day, and we don't need a verandah. My DD5 has food allergies, we really want a cabana at CC, and a BBB ressie. I've read these will be non issues at concierge level.

My kids still take naps during the day. We will have 3 sea days, so we will use the room. I've seen Club level at the parks in florida, but there aren't many accounts of people with kids taking advantage of this perk on DCL.
For once I have the cash, but don't know if I should spend it! We are currently in a 9A, haha! TIA
 
We cruised twice with DD in concierge on the Dream. Getting a cabana and bbb was very easy.

In terms of other services, one thing we loved most was the fact that the lounge was just across the hall. This meant that we felt comfortable running over there while she napped to grab a snack or a soda. That setup is different on the classic ships.

We really enjoyed our concierge experiences but we also just really enjoyed our non-concierge cruise too. How much is the fare difference? When we priced our obb, it was about 13k more. Nope. Not worth that.
 
We really enjoyed our concierge experiences but we also just really enjoyed our non-concierge cruise too. How much is the fare difference? When we priced our obb, it was about 13k more. Nope. Not worth that.

We are in a 9A, looking at the new Cat V on the Wonder (6 categories up) it's about $4K.
 
We love concierge with kids! Ours are 8,6,3. Our first concierge trip was when our youngest was 8 months old in the Dream. The Wonder concierge lounge is fabulous- probably my favorite of the 4.

The priority boarding is great with kids your age. No standing in super long lines to check in and you get on the ship so much faster. It was nice to have a place to go grab a quick breakfast in the morning with the kids without fighting crowds at Cabanas or having a drawn out breakfast at the MDR. I am a coffee snob and I love being able to grab a specialty coffee from the lounge when needed. And my husband and I always enjoyed he happy hour drinks at night while the kids went to the Kids Clubs. They also have a private character meet and greet for concierge, which the kids love! Being able to get all of the excursions we want (including cabanas at CC) is a huge perk for us. The concierge team even arranged to bring a pack and play to our CC cabana so our baby could sleep and we wouldn't have to go back onboard for his nap. So yes- for us we find it is definitely worth it. But it's all relative. Others will disagree, but in the end just decide what's important for you and your family and enjoy
 


We love concierge with kids! Ours are 8,6,3. Our first concierge trip was when our youngest was 8 months old in the Dream. The Wonder concierge lounge is fabulous- probably my favorite of the 4.

The priority boarding is great with kids your age. No standing in super long lines to check in and you get on the ship so much faster. It was nice to have a place to go grab a quick breakfast in the morning with the kids without fighting crowds at Cabanas or having a drawn out breakfast at the MDR. I am a coffee snob and I love being able to grab a specialty coffee from the lounge when needed. And my husband and I always enjoyed he happy hour drinks at night while the kids went to the Kids Clubs. They also have a private character meet and greet for concierge, which the kids love! Being able to get all of the excursions we want (including cabanas at CC) is a huge perk for us. The concierge team even arranged to bring a pack and play to our CC cabana so our baby could sleep and we wouldn't have to go back onboard for his nap. So yes- for us we find it is definitely worth it. But it's all relative. Others will disagree, but in the end just decide what's important for you and your family and enjoy
We feel the exact same way. Our DD is almost 5 now and she is disappointed when we cruise and are not in Concierge!
 
I'm seriously debating an upgrade on my Wonder sailing in December. My DD5, and DD3 will be with my DH and I. I've read multiple posts on how wonderful it is, but it almost sounds like it's a "worth it if you're old enough" kinda thing.
I know they will be at the Aqua Lab most of the day, and we don't need a verandah. My DD5 has food allergies, we really want a cabana at CC, and a BBB ressie. I've read these will be non issues at concierge level.

My kids still take naps during the day. We will have 3 sea days, so we will use the room. I've seen Club level at the parks in florida, but there aren't many accounts of people with kids taking advantage of this perk on DCL.
For once I have the cash, but don't know if I should spend it! We are currently in a 9A, haha! TIA
Of course it's worth it if you have the cash! I say go for it!

MUN
 
There have been plenty of threads here about the benefits (and costs) of sailing concierge. The bottom line is, are the benefits worth the extra money to you? Many people can't look past the price difference - thinking about all the other things (including more cruises) they could spend that money on. Personally, I'm not trying to see how many cruises I can take, but after spending 25 years sailing around the world on Navy ships, when I sail now, I want to be pampered and I don't mind paying for it. Enjoy your cruise!
 


“Worth it” is dependent upon what one values, but even if it makes no difference to the kid(s), the cruise is yours as well. If it is worth it for you, if concierge makes a difference in the degree that mom and dad enjoy the vacation, then by all means indulge.
Half the reason we (my wife and I) cruise is to relax and even to feel pampered - raising kids is exhausting. If concierge helps with that (and for us it’s not necessarily every cruise) then we do it whether or not it adds to our kids’ enjoyment (it certainly doesn’t detract from their pleasure.)
 
We've sailed once in Concierge on the Wonder and four times not in Concierge. It definitely has it's benefits, but either way was great for us. You just can't go wrong with a Disney cruise!

When we sailed on the Wonder, there was no lounge or BBB yet on the ship so I can't comment on that. We did not get a cabana on CC but I will say that they kept offering them to us even as we were docking on CC. Maybe they hold some for Concierge passengers?

Boarding was a breeze in Miami...had a special room in the terminal for us. And then when you board you're whisked away to a lounge with drinks and snacks and you sit down with your concierge that will be with you for the duration of the cruise.

I will say that the biggest benefit of concierge was with food allergies. Our son also has food allergies and they were amazing with that. A sous chef introduced himself to us at the beginning of the cruise and was anywhere we were with food, it was amazing. Having been in non-concierge as well I will say that Disney is amazing when it comes to food allergies. But this was above and beyond...they even brought Palo for all six of us to our cabin and he made something special that our son could eat !! (we had a dining room table in the Walt Disney Suite). Since you mentioned your daughter has food allergies, this might be a great benefit of concierge if they're still doing this.
 
My kids are older, so I can't address concierge for young children, but it does spoil them. Not in a bad way. Such a lovely treat. We were on a non-concierge cruise a year later and ran into one of the hosts. They remembered us and said they missed us this time around. How they remembered us a year later after all the passengers they receive was pretty amazing. You can only determine the value and what it means to you and your family. But, it sounds like you have enough reasons to make it worth it. Good luck with your decision and enjoy your cruise!
 
We sailed concierge for the first time when our kids were ages 3 and 5 and it was completely amazing. The little one still napped and we loved having the extra space in the room and huge verandah to enjoy. We've sailed in both the T and the R suites on the Wonder and really appreciated the space and ability to have the full dining room menus in our rooms. We ordered hot breakfast into our room every morning! The concierge hosts were really helpful and having a cabana was great too when the kids were younger. I think your kids are actually at a perfect age for you to enjoy the perks of concierge. Those 3 sea days to have a bit more space would be great!

Our kids are older now and are hardly ever in the room on the boat. On Castaway Cay they are either on Pelican's plunge, on the beach, or in the water and we would never make use of a Cabana the way we did when they were little. For us, the perks of concierge are almost less useful to us now than when they were little.

We do find the service just as phenomenal without concierge as well and the kids don't really seem to miss it.
 

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