Concierge Room 12010 Quick Trip Report

[cgolf]

We just got back from our first concierge experience on the Fantasy today. PJ, Kemisha, and Alice were awesome. We had upgraded from a standard verandah stateroom and enjoyed the extra space and the nicer finish in the room (extra big balcony was awesome). The upgraded bedding and pillow options were a nice touch too.

Where to start, we absolutely loved the services that the concierge team provided. We are pretty low key guests, and I don’t believe that we even scratched the surface of what they could do for us, but just having them there knowing that they would help if needed was a relief. The lounge was wonderful, between sitting and chatting with the staff and guests, grabbing food or coffee, or the cocktails during happy hour, it was nice to know we had a place to go and relax and feel welcome.

To those out there trying to figure out if it is worth it or not, for us it turned out to be a resounding yes. It wasn't anything big that stood out that said this is worth the extra coin we shelled out, it is all the little things that they do for you that make the difference. One example is we did a Palo brunch and DW loved a certain spreadable cheese they had. We asked Kemisha if it would be possible to have it in the lounge some night around supper. We not only had it in the lounge every night the rest of the cruise, she got us our own package with some crackers to keep in our room (we hubbies could learn a lot from them). The little perks like that really sold us on it.

The sun deck was nice too, DW used it when she was not in satellite falls, because there was not a lot of lounger space up near the falls. My DM will be sailing concierge next year and I see her using the sun deck a lot. At times she had to search for a good spot to sit, so that will be perfect for her.

We also found that we didn't spend as much money this cruise because we were happy sticking to what was offered in the Lounge. The only issue we ran into was what do we tip the concierge staff. If any frequent concierge guests read this, could you pm us with some recommendations, we were a couple of 2 that really didn't burden the team with a lot of needs. We are pretty sure we tipped fair, but we are curious what others do. We did have a couple of other couples ask us for advice too, so we weren't the only ones in that boat.

I guess my worst fear came true, that we would love it so much we would need to rebook a concierge room. We even adjusted our cruise date so that we could get side by side stateroom with DM and DD so that we could open up the balcony between the two rooms.

Have pictures if anyone is interested, and will post more later.

cgolf

[mushu756]

We are booked in room 12008 in October I would love to see a picture of the balcony . I'm also curios as what to tip

[micheleq]

Thank you! We are on the Fantasy in 12510 next April & it's nice to hear the great reviews.

[Bear3412]

tipping;
http://www.disboards.com/showthread....=concierge+tip

http://www.disboards.com/showthread....=concierge+tip

[disneywonderfun]

Here is a link to the tipping poll for concierge services

http://www.disboards.com/showthread....e+tipping+poll

A 7 night cruise typically generated a tip in the $50 to $100 range per cabin. A not insignificant number, around 15%, said NO tip should be left since they are already paying for the concierge services in their fare. Less than 1/4 went over $100 for a seven night cruise per cabin.

DWF

[WickedDreamer]

Thanks for your wonderful review of concierge suites on the Disney Fantasy!! My sister and me will be travelling on the Dream in October this year, and it will be out first cruise. We have booked concierge and have been looking for some peoples reviews. We have booked into room 12508 i think?? so excited!!:good vibes

Glad you had a wonderful time on the cruise

[cypressmom]

Did you tip all three or provide one tip for them to split? Did the tip envelope have one name on it?

I ask because on the Magic, Vanessa was our concierge, yet Danny often answered the phone and was very helpful. When the envelopes came, Vanessa's name was on it. I ended up going to GS and asking for an envelope for Danny, but was very conficted about how much to tip each of them.

We are sailing on the Fantasy next year so I am curious to see how it is handled.

[cgolf]

They give you one envelope and the tip is split between the three of them. We were solidly in the 50-100 range for our tip. We did not tip the bartender who was wonderful all trip, thinking that they are paid better because it is a non tipping position. Not sure if that was a good/bad decision.

I will be downloading pictures later today. Any requests from the room , lounge, or sun deck? I will put one of the balcony up, just not sure about other pics since other threads have most of the same pictures I took.

Cgolf

[becpee]

Thanks so much for posting this!
Did you upgrade before the cruise or at the port?
My DH and I are contemplating upgrading on our cruise (next year) to a concierge stateroom and wondering if its "worth it"?
I'm pretty sure we'd also be considered pretty low key and I may feel a little strange asking for extra anything's (even though you're paying extra).

[cypressmom]

Originally Posted by cgolf7246940

They envelope you one envelope and the tip is split between the three of them. We were solidly in the 50-100 range for our tip. We did not tip the bartender who was wonderful all trip, thinking that they are paid better because it is a non tipping position. Not sure if that was a good/bad decision.

I will be downloading pictures later today. Any requests from the room , lounge, or sun deck? I will put one of the balcony up, just not sure about other pics since other threads have most of the same pictures I took.

Cgolf

Thanks! Are you talking about the bartender in the lounge? That wasn't an issue on the Magic, so definitely something else to consider. I'm curious to see what others do. Is there more than one bartender?

Just to clarify, the tip envelope did not have a name on it? Did it say Concierge Team or something like that?

[mushu756]

Originally Posted by cgolf

I will be downloading pictures later today. Any requests from the room , lounge, or sun deck? I will put one of the balcony up, just not sure about other pics since other threads have most of the same pictures I took.

Cgolf

[cgolf]

Originally Posted by becpee

Thanks so much for posting this!
Did you upgrade before the cruise or at the port?
My DH and I are contemplating upgrading on our cruise (next year) to a concierge stateroom and wondering if its "worth it"?
I'm pretty sure we'd also be considered pretty low key and I may feel a little strange asking for extra anything's (even though you're paying extra).

We upgraded about three months before the cruise. You can search back and probably find some threads I started questioning our decision to upgrade and how worried I was about it.

For us it was the best decision we have made when it comes to cruising. We truly are low key people that only have seen that level of service on this last cruise (a big meal out for us is Red Lobster once or twice a year). The concierge team was helpful and friendly without being overbearing about it. They are very good at what they do. We actually slipped one show because we just sat and talked with Kemisha and Alice for a while.

That is not to say it is for everyone, but we enjoyed it for the week we were onboard.

Cgolf

[cgolf]

Originally Posted by cypressmom

Thanks! Are you talking about the bartender in the lounge? That wasn't an issue on the Magic, so definitely something else to consider. I'm curious to see what others do. Is there more than one bartender?

Just to clarify, the tip envelope did not have a name on it? Did it say Concierge Team or something like that?

I believe it said concierge on it. For sure no ones name was on the envelope.

Cgolf

[cypressmom]

Originally Posted by cgolf

I believe it said concierge on it. For sure no ones name was on the envelope.

Cgolf

Thanks so much!!

[disbride713]

Originally Posted by cgolf

They give you one envelope and the tip is split between the three of them. We were solidly in the 50-100 range for our tip. We did not tip the bartender who was wonderful all trip, thinking that they are paid better because it is a non tipping position. Not sure if that was a good/bad decision.

I will be downloading pictures later today. Any requests from the room , lounge, or sun deck? I will put one of the balcony up, just not sure about other pics since other threads have most of the same pictures I took.

Cgolf

We just returned from the Fantasy as well and I was talking to some of the staff, specifically one of the bartenders (not in Concierge) and I learned that all of the service staff are not paid a wage. They rely solely on tips for their income, and that they work around 12-15 hours every day.