Is Cat V concierge worth $600/night?

We are booking a 7 night Western Caribbean on the Fantasy next Jan and were planning to stay in a 4E. To book a Cat V concierge instead would be about 4K more for myself, my husband and our 8 year old son (or roughly $600 more per night.). Having never sailed concierge I’m not sure if it’s worth it. But we both drink so happy hour would be appreciated, we both enjoy luxury service and we all love hot tubs. It’s also my husband’s first cruise. Having never been to the Caribbean we would also likely benefit from concierge advice for excursions. But all that being said $600 more a night is a lot - thoughts? TIA!
People keep mentioning that if getting a cabana is important to you, to book concierge, however, please know that the cabanas are not included in the cost of the concierge price. So you would be looking at an extra $600+ to use it for the day. Unless the rules have changed and they’re including them now. But i doubt it.
 
We are booking a 7 night Western Caribbean on the Fantasy next Jan and were planning to stay in a 4E. To book a Cat V concierge instead would be about 4K more for myself, my husband and our 8 year old son (or roughly $600 more per night.). Having never sailed concierge I’m not sure if it’s worth it. But we both drink so happy hour would be appreciated, we both enjoy luxury service and we all love hot tubs. It’s also my husband’s first cruise. Having never been to the Caribbean we would also likely benefit from concierge advice for excursions. But all that being said $600 more a night is a lot - thoughts? TIA!

If you can afford it and you feel you will benefit from the pre-cruise concierge services, sure! We've sailed in both concierge and non-concierge staterooms and definitely enjoy the concierge amenities, but, on our upcoming Western Caribbean cruise (which we've done before) we are going without because we aren't booking a cabana and I didn't need a lot of help in booking the other things we are interested in doing. If you want a cabana or have any other special requests that you want fulfilled - Palo or Remy reservations on a certain night or time, a private table in the MDR's, a certain dining rotation, etc., concierge may be the way to go. We will save some money on our upcoming cruise, but I certainly don't regret the money we've spent on our other concierge staterooms.
 
DH and I book the comparable version of Concierge on other lines when it is just the two of us, and where the cost is significantly less. When we travel with GS and/or nephew we book standard balcony. With the kids, we spend most of our time in the public areas of the ship, in the buffet, and at activities and shows. We don't see value in paying for exclusivity in those situations.
 


Thanks to everyone who replied - I really love this forum - so helpful!! We decided to book the Cat V. We realized for us the benefit of access to areas with less people both on the ship and if we book a cabana on CC and the ability to request a private table in the MDR will really make our trip much more enjoyable for my husband as he isn’t fond of crowds or strangers. But talking together about these comments were what really helped us to realize that was the important factor, not the happy hour or the hot tub! Thanks so much!
 
To kind of reiterate what others have said...its a personal decision..based on your finances and also what your expectations are for the trip. But, I can give you kind of an idea of how our trip went when we traveled concierge, for what its worth. This was our first cruise and we were able to board in the very first boarding group, once on the ship, a concierge host came to find us right away and personally escorted us up to the Concierge Lounge where we received drinks, snacks, etc...while the hosts went table to table to review your itinerary with them. I had a free mimosa in my hand by 11:30 am and my daughter was already enjoying a cake pop :) As soon as our room was ready (shortly after noon), we went and changed into our suits and DH and DD hit the aquaduck before others had even boarded. The happy hour wasn't just an "hour"...it was 5-10 pm (at least on the Dream), so every night DH and I would go and get a drink to take down to dinner. The bartender in the lounge would frequently give DH an extra unopened beer which he would keep in our fridge. We had breakfast every morning in the lounge (nothing big, a selection of buffet style snacks, cereals, etc...) rather than dealing with Cabanas. At our Castaway Cay day the service was amazing!! We were able to get a cabana b/c we could book activities early and our concierge host would call a golf cart to escort us around the island (to go snorkeling, etc..). We were also able to eat our lunch at our cabana...which was a fun little perk. And the cabanas were amazing! The concierge hosts were so attentive and always willing to help and truly made us and especially our DD feel "special". Do I think concierge is "necessary"? Probably not, but now that we've had the experience, we will ALWAYS go concierge as long as we can swing it. Our cruise was hands down the best vacation we've taken as a family, and we've already booked another concierge trip for this fall.

Either way, you'll have a wonderful time, but thought I'd give you a little insight into how it went for us :)
 


Thanks to everyone who replied - I really love this forum - so helpful!! We decided to book the Cat V. We realized for us the benefit of access to areas with less people both on the ship and if we book a cabana on CC and the ability to request a private table in the MDR will really make our trip much more enjoyable for my husband as he isn’t fond of crowds or strangers. But talking together about these comments were what really helped us to realize that was the important factor, not the happy hour or the hot tub! Thanks so much!

Enjoy your trip :)
 
Agree with clojel...I have done one cruise with (cat. V) and one without and love concierge. I have a cruise booked with again. It definitely is personal preference and I just like to be spoiled on vacation, so I save up for it.
I think you will love your Cat. V for the reasons you mentioned.
(Cat V on my cruise were all booked 9 months in advance, and it's hurricane season)
 
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I know oyu've made your decision. I'm still going to answer.

We've done 2 V and 2 not-V. One of those was an inside cabin and the other was one with the BIIIIIIG porthole. All on Dream.

Our first Disney cruise was a last minute upgrade to V, at $300 extra. Total. $100/night, so about $33 per night per person...worth it. The other cruise we had concierge I booked it without an interim booking, so I don't know what the extra would ahve been, but it wasn't ALL that different.

OH wait. $380 more total. It was 720.22 per night total.

Our second concierge cruise was 689.66 per night, but 4 nights.

And that's when we stopped booking category V, because it just gets too high for *what we want to spend* on things. We like being at sea, so the more sea time the better. And throwing all our money at 4 night cruises when we could have 7 nights, or two 7 night cruises, makes no sense to us.



But all that being said $600 more a night is a lot

It is.



We realized for us the benefit of access to areas with less people both on the ship and if we book a cabana on CC and the ability to request a private table in the MDR will really make our trip much more enjoyable for my husband as he isn’t fond of crowds or strangers.

So....we did the cabana thing on our second concierge cruise, and were MORE involved with our neighbors on the beach than we've been on our non-cabana stays. Unless you stay IN your cabana (which got pretty warm for us) or on the lounges (cloth covered cushions that sweaty people sit on aren't my style), you've got the denizens of the surrounding cabanas. Then there was the safe that woudn't lock and the attendants who said it was fixed but it wasn't.

Had private tables *in the middle of the restaurants*. More surrounded by other people than we've been on non-concierge cruises. Second concierge cruise we requested to NOT have our own table, and it was far more private.

And the lounge has people in it all day long, and they feel the need to talk to each other. And you've got the hosts in your face every time you're in there. Or we did. And we didn't want them there.

As an introvert....concierge is NOT the place I like to be. I like to be a face in the crowd (the crowd that's leaving me alone), not the person someone wants to serve serve serve.....


Just want to set some better (IMO) expectations for ya...
 
Thanks to everyone who replied - I really love this forum - so helpful!! We decided to book the Cat V. We realized for us the benefit of access to areas with less people both on the ship and if we book a cabana on CC and the ability to request a private table in the MDR will really make our trip much more enjoyable for my husband as he isn’t fond of crowds or strangers. But talking together about these comments were what really helped us to realize that was the important factor, not the happy hour or the hot tub! Thanks so much!

You will love it! Enjoy!
 
As an introvert....concierge is NOT the place I like to be. I like to be a face in the crowd (the crowd that's leaving me alone), not the person someone wants to serve serve serve.....

That's my husband with the equivalent on NCL. He hated the extra attention and being in the exclusive restaurants when people were walking by and sitting in the reserved seats in the theater. Just constantly cringing.

One argument that only applies to some people is whether you can do a second cruise, or a longer cruise, for the same price. Our amount of vacation time, and that of many others, is very short and very fixed. So that can make splurging more worthwhile. We can only do one a year or every other year regardless.
 
I love luxury but not worth it to me. We have been on 20 Disney cruises and have also cruised on crystal and silver sea, all inclusive luxury lines. Haven’t paid for concierge on any. And had a wonderful time.

I just can’t see spending the extra money for a few drinks and appetizers. 600 a night covers a lot of alcohol and Palo remy dinners. Also I just don’t under stand the obsession with cabanas. There are so many umbrellas and chairs on the island it’s just crazy to spend hundred of dollars for a few hours of privacy. The kid will love the beach regardless of which one.

The Caribbean is very easy travel. Read frommers cruise port book or Rick Steves and decide what appeals to you. Either thru ship or privately. It’s very easy to get off ship, go thru cruise terminal and find local drivers for much cheaper than the excursions. They can take you anywhere.

If you are really desperate to spend an extra 4000 buy business class tickets, 100 bottles of wine and s great new purse. But that’s just me!
 
[QUOTE="cedricandsophie, post: 58843428, member: 512391Also I just don’t under stand the obsession with cabanas.


If you are really desperate to spend an extra 4000 buy business class tickets, 100 bottles of wine and s great new purse. But that’s just me![/QUOTE]


OMG we think so alike. Don’t understand the Cabana rip off. Yes rip off.( just MY opinion) IMO no value. If you get your own fully stocked premium bar and made to order menu with private chef included , maybe yes.

And best vacation was the one I had where I had so much extra cash I was able to treat myself to my small LV pochette in Singapore on my way back from Phuket. Your concierge upgrade would buy me multiple LV pochettes! Heck teo never fulls!

OP. If you got the cash and it won’t keep you from doing other stuff then do it!! Better than asking what if. Disney needs high yield customers so us cheapos can afford to book our inside!!
 
One argument that only applies to some people is whether you can do a second cruise, or a longer cruise, for the same price. Our amount of vacation time, and that of many others, is very short and very fixed. So that can make splurging more worthwhile. We can only do one a year or every other year regardless.

Yeah...I tend to assume that people who can afford concierge are also people who work the kinds of high-end jobs that get a lot of vacation time, but when I really stop and think about it I realize that's not necessarily true. In a general sense, though, I agree with you up to a point. My own annual leave is pretty tightly fixed, so in some instances if I come in low on an estimate for a trip and have a good chunk of my annual vacation budget left over, a splurge may be in order since it's not like I can take an extra trip with that money in that same year. On the other hand, if I splurge too much it might be the difference between being able to do a big trip annually versus having to skip a year.
 
Save the $4K and book another cruise or a ski trip!

We did like being on deck 9 on our last Dream cruise, and I just booked deck 9 for our fantasy cruise (we almost never used elevators taking stairs instead so deck 9 was ideal. Perhaps move up to 4A if possible.
 
Guys I hate to break it to you, but the "free" drinks and snacks in the lounge are not really free. You're actually paying a hefty premium for that stuff I hope you know that :D

Lounges are often more convenient though, but I've never had an issue waiting for drinks on a Disney ship.
 
Thanks to everyone who replied - I really love this forum - so helpful!! We decided to book the Cat V. We realized for us the benefit of access to areas with less people both on the ship and if we book a cabana on CC and the ability to request a private table in the MDR will really make our trip much more enjoyable for my husband as he isn’t fond of crowds or strangers. But talking together about these comments were what really helped us to realize that was the important factor, not the happy hour or the hot tub! Thanks so much!

I'm sure you will enjoy it for sure, especially if you don't like being around crowds or strangers.

Just wanted to clarify that ANYONE can request a private table at MDR, and you will almost certainly get it unless the head waiter isn't doing his job before the cruise.
 
We are booking a 7 night Western Caribbean on the Fantasy next Jan and were planning to stay in a 4E. To book a Cat V concierge instead would be about 4K more for myself, my husband and our 8 year old son (or roughly $600 more per night.). Having never sailed concierge I’m not sure if it’s worth it. But we both drink so happy hour would be appreciated, we both enjoy luxury service and we all love hot tubs. It’s also my husband’s first cruise. Having never been to the Caribbean we would also likely benefit from concierge advice for excursions. But all that being said $600 more a night is a lot - thoughts? TIA!
If your son loves hot tubs, the only way he'll get in one on the Fantasy is to cruise concierge. It's the only ship that has no family pool deck hot tub.

From your description, it sounds like you'd benefit from concierge. "Worth it" is a combination of how much you want something & how easily you can afford it, so no one else can really tell you that.
 

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