Spacecoaster
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2021
My wife and I went on our 10th Disney cruise on Nov. 28th, we have only cruised on Disney and this was our first cruise on Concierge level. We have loved cruising with Disney and have never considered other cruise lines. I've never posted before, but have found other posts to be very informative and enlightening. I ended up capturing some of our experiences during the week on my iPad and thought that it may be beneficial to others that are considering concierge cruising. Some of the notes are related to covid impact, which is still admittedly is affecting all the cruise lines. From our cruise director and other CMs, there were 1800 guests on our cruise, down from 2400 on Thanksgiving week. Expected passenger count after the first of the year is going to rise to 3100 as they ramp back to 'normal'. Because of the terrific service we have had on prior Disney cruises, we admittedly had higher expectations of what a concierge cruise would be like. It turned out for us that because of a mix of things that happened during the week that we were disappointed in the value we received. I'm trying to be fair in this post (both good and not so good) and purposely waited a couple days after the cruise before posting. From my iPad notes:
1. The room was awesome! We were in 11014, which was roomy, 2 bathrooms, TVs everywhere, super clean and had the best room attendants we've ever had. There were outlets everywhere so we were not fighting over who got to charge what during the day. 3 closets, numerous drawers, double wide balcony and a table to eat at. The room was so good that it overwhelmed the bad stuff that happened.
2. 3 of 4 of our luggage pieces were misplaced and didn't make it to the room until close to 5pm. Our onboard clothes became what we wore to dinner because we had early seating. Once we notified the one of the room attendants around 4pm they found it down on deck 1. When were leaving we had a porter help us with getting the luggage back to the car and he told us that since covid they are no longer allowed on the ship to help deliver the luggage to the different decks. He said that they always prioritized delivery to decks 11 and 12 (the concierge room decks) and he asked us if we got our delivery on time - so we got to tell him our story.
3. For concierge lunch on the first day, we got to go to one of the main dining rooms instead of Cabanas. The host sat my wife and I at a table for 8, the servers wondered if other people were coming to meet us. When we said no, they asked us why we were sat at a big table. We had no idea. The lunch was great.
4. We went to lunch on Wednesday at Royal Court because they had apple strudel for dessert (it is the best, we always try to find it on any cruise). The host asked our room number for seating and we heard another host whisper in his ear- "Concierge" and we were promptly seated right next to a busy server station in a half empty dining area. We had butts in our faces when they got busy. About 10 feet away was a nice table for 2 that another party got seated at about 10 minutes later. The servers were delightful and we ended up enjoying lunch even with the occasional chair bumps. I do not complain (except, I guess in this post), but this stood out as one of the odd moments during the week.
5. Our assigned servers for evening dining were a low point, again I don't like to complain because it is their livelihood and I don't want cause trouble for them. To be fair, there was a party of 8 in the groups they were also serving that were very demanding - they celebrated the same lady's birthday at every dinner during the week and were constantly talking to the head server and even some white jacket staff on a couple evenings. I felt bad for the servers, but our service was no different than a local chain restaurant (our son works for a restaurant). Things like forgetting who ordered what food at our table (we quietly swapped dishes after they left) a few times, and mangling my lobster trying to get it out of the shell - telling me "You can get it out, they get tough when they've been baked for a while". The main server didn't remember my wife's name for most of the week. We have enjoyed getting to know a little about our serving staff on past cruises beyond small talk but we knew absolutely nothing about our servers this time, they spent very little time at our table beyond setting/clearing plates and dinner ware. The head server spent time assisting them several nights as well, something we had never seen before.
6. Concierge services were not that magical - at least for the couple areas we asked for assistance. The lightning lane to get on the boat was nice but with the reduced passenger count the lines were not long for getting on or off the boat. We had a tasting scheduled on Castaway day that we tried to reschedule for another port day and they were unable to find 2 slots so my wife and I could attend so we ended up cancelling altogether. We were able to schedule a rainforest spa session and my wife says not to tell anybody about it so we can go again next time. It was just the 2 of us for 1 hour and 45 minutes of pure delight.
7. Getting off the boat on Castaway day was chaos. Virtual queues were either not working or not being followed. Total breakdown of social distancing with people jammed shoulder to shoulder. We were even a little better off because our concierge was able to get us to deck 1 on the express elevator. It was a mess with people shoving and showing general disregard for other families while trying to get off the ship. We were also late to dock because of weather which made people even more impatient.
8. As mentioned above, Concierge services were not much value to us, although others seemed to require their attention frequently and probably do see value. The concierge area on deck 13 was nice although it sometimes got as loud as a playground. Great hot tub, but no ocean view. There was a drink cart that came through the hallways most evenings before dinner that was nice and there were free drinks in the lounge in the evening but we ended up buying drinks in the Tube during the entertainment there (the "Match your Mate host was hilarious). We just felt that the extra thousands of dollars we spent to upgrade to concierge did not provide the equivalent amount of value to us. I am not sure if we will use concierge again, but would certainly have lower expectations next time. It would also be nice if there were a simple list of things that the concierge team can help with and what their limitations are - would help with first timers like us. We had no idea what could be asked for - probably our fault for not asking.
9. Shows in the Walt Disney theatre were spread out such that there were 2 nights of the same show in order that everybody would get to see them. Alternate seating rows were blocked off and families had to be spaced 3 seats apart so it was fairly inefficient. I felt bad for the CMs that assisted/directed seating, Long lines formed outside the theatre before every show and at some point people had to be turned away and told to come back the next night after standing in line for a while. This is very different from past non-covid cruises we've been on when there were more shows and you could show up at the last minute and still get a seat. We saw Aladdin, Frozen, and Believe. The actor who plays Genie/Olaf is a national treasure. We have seen him on multiple cruises and he never has an off night. Dr. Greenaway in Believe was also terrific. As for the rest of the shows, something was a little off that we can't put our finger on, maybe it was the smaller spread out seating, not sure. We've seen more energy in our local community theatre for some reason.
10. Comment card - the last night of the cruise there are frequent reminders to return the comment card. One was not left in our room and we actually felt like we could provide something beyond the string of "excellent" marks in the past comment cards so we went to guest services to see if they had some extras. Guest services was really busy and there was a crew member standing alone so I asked him if we could get one. He first asked our room number then went to speak to another crew member after saying "Give me a hot second". He returned in a minute and said that they were making a phone call and our concierge team would make sure we got one. It turned into a much bigger production than we intended - I suggest they keep a stack of cards in the atrium somewhere.
I know this was long, but hope was of some value to you if you are deciding whether to cruise while covid protocols are still in force or considering a concierge upgrade. We overall love Disney and have 2 cruises planned on the Wish next year. Happy cruising!
1. The room was awesome! We were in 11014, which was roomy, 2 bathrooms, TVs everywhere, super clean and had the best room attendants we've ever had. There were outlets everywhere so we were not fighting over who got to charge what during the day. 3 closets, numerous drawers, double wide balcony and a table to eat at. The room was so good that it overwhelmed the bad stuff that happened.
2. 3 of 4 of our luggage pieces were misplaced and didn't make it to the room until close to 5pm. Our onboard clothes became what we wore to dinner because we had early seating. Once we notified the one of the room attendants around 4pm they found it down on deck 1. When were leaving we had a porter help us with getting the luggage back to the car and he told us that since covid they are no longer allowed on the ship to help deliver the luggage to the different decks. He said that they always prioritized delivery to decks 11 and 12 (the concierge room decks) and he asked us if we got our delivery on time - so we got to tell him our story.
3. For concierge lunch on the first day, we got to go to one of the main dining rooms instead of Cabanas. The host sat my wife and I at a table for 8, the servers wondered if other people were coming to meet us. When we said no, they asked us why we were sat at a big table. We had no idea. The lunch was great.
4. We went to lunch on Wednesday at Royal Court because they had apple strudel for dessert (it is the best, we always try to find it on any cruise). The host asked our room number for seating and we heard another host whisper in his ear- "Concierge" and we were promptly seated right next to a busy server station in a half empty dining area. We had butts in our faces when they got busy. About 10 feet away was a nice table for 2 that another party got seated at about 10 minutes later. The servers were delightful and we ended up enjoying lunch even with the occasional chair bumps. I do not complain (except, I guess in this post), but this stood out as one of the odd moments during the week.
5. Our assigned servers for evening dining were a low point, again I don't like to complain because it is their livelihood and I don't want cause trouble for them. To be fair, there was a party of 8 in the groups they were also serving that were very demanding - they celebrated the same lady's birthday at every dinner during the week and were constantly talking to the head server and even some white jacket staff on a couple evenings. I felt bad for the servers, but our service was no different than a local chain restaurant (our son works for a restaurant). Things like forgetting who ordered what food at our table (we quietly swapped dishes after they left) a few times, and mangling my lobster trying to get it out of the shell - telling me "You can get it out, they get tough when they've been baked for a while". The main server didn't remember my wife's name for most of the week. We have enjoyed getting to know a little about our serving staff on past cruises beyond small talk but we knew absolutely nothing about our servers this time, they spent very little time at our table beyond setting/clearing plates and dinner ware. The head server spent time assisting them several nights as well, something we had never seen before.
6. Concierge services were not that magical - at least for the couple areas we asked for assistance. The lightning lane to get on the boat was nice but with the reduced passenger count the lines were not long for getting on or off the boat. We had a tasting scheduled on Castaway day that we tried to reschedule for another port day and they were unable to find 2 slots so my wife and I could attend so we ended up cancelling altogether. We were able to schedule a rainforest spa session and my wife says not to tell anybody about it so we can go again next time. It was just the 2 of us for 1 hour and 45 minutes of pure delight.
7. Getting off the boat on Castaway day was chaos. Virtual queues were either not working or not being followed. Total breakdown of social distancing with people jammed shoulder to shoulder. We were even a little better off because our concierge was able to get us to deck 1 on the express elevator. It was a mess with people shoving and showing general disregard for other families while trying to get off the ship. We were also late to dock because of weather which made people even more impatient.
8. As mentioned above, Concierge services were not much value to us, although others seemed to require their attention frequently and probably do see value. The concierge area on deck 13 was nice although it sometimes got as loud as a playground. Great hot tub, but no ocean view. There was a drink cart that came through the hallways most evenings before dinner that was nice and there were free drinks in the lounge in the evening but we ended up buying drinks in the Tube during the entertainment there (the "Match your Mate host was hilarious). We just felt that the extra thousands of dollars we spent to upgrade to concierge did not provide the equivalent amount of value to us. I am not sure if we will use concierge again, but would certainly have lower expectations next time. It would also be nice if there were a simple list of things that the concierge team can help with and what their limitations are - would help with first timers like us. We had no idea what could be asked for - probably our fault for not asking.
9. Shows in the Walt Disney theatre were spread out such that there were 2 nights of the same show in order that everybody would get to see them. Alternate seating rows were blocked off and families had to be spaced 3 seats apart so it was fairly inefficient. I felt bad for the CMs that assisted/directed seating, Long lines formed outside the theatre before every show and at some point people had to be turned away and told to come back the next night after standing in line for a while. This is very different from past non-covid cruises we've been on when there were more shows and you could show up at the last minute and still get a seat. We saw Aladdin, Frozen, and Believe. The actor who plays Genie/Olaf is a national treasure. We have seen him on multiple cruises and he never has an off night. Dr. Greenaway in Believe was also terrific. As for the rest of the shows, something was a little off that we can't put our finger on, maybe it was the smaller spread out seating, not sure. We've seen more energy in our local community theatre for some reason.
10. Comment card - the last night of the cruise there are frequent reminders to return the comment card. One was not left in our room and we actually felt like we could provide something beyond the string of "excellent" marks in the past comment cards so we went to guest services to see if they had some extras. Guest services was really busy and there was a crew member standing alone so I asked him if we could get one. He first asked our room number then went to speak to another crew member after saying "Give me a hot second". He returned in a minute and said that they were making a phone call and our concierge team would make sure we got one. It turned into a much bigger production than we intended - I suggest they keep a stack of cards in the atrium somewhere.
I know this was long, but hope was of some value to you if you are deciding whether to cruise while covid protocols are still in force or considering a concierge upgrade. We overall love Disney and have 2 cruises planned on the Wish next year. Happy cruising!
