How has Concierge experience on the Wish been so far?

[Lillebelle]

Concierge service was very nice but you can tell the added staterooms are more than 4 hosts can handle with personalized service that we have become used to. There are just so many people they are always dealing with.

Inspired by the comment by @Trera above on another thread -- I'd love to hear more about how the Concierge experience has generally been on the Wish so far. It definitely raised an eyebrow that they doubled the number of rooms but only added one more host. I watched a really great video of the lounge and it looks huge! How are people enjoying it? Also very curious if people have used the special room service menu and how that's been.

We're already booked and I plan to go in with the mindset to enjoy our cruise regardless, but being able to set some expectations based on others' experience is helpful to a degree. Also, I feel like sometimes the perks are not very obvious unless you know to ask (I still don't understand what's going on with the supposed 'pillow menu') so I don't want to inadvertently miss out on anything!

 

[OKW Lover]

Interesting that we haven't had any responses to this thread until now.

We just got off the 3-night Wish sailing 11/4-7 in Concierge. The lounge is really nice. The extra space is appreciated and the sundeck is awesome. I believe there were 5 actual concierges working but might be wrong. There is also a good number of support staff (bar tenders, servers, etc) to work the room. You'll find it very busy at 5 pm every day when the free drinks start and people gather before dinner/show time. Otherwise it's really not that busy.

The sun deck has a lot of room and there are sun screen products for your use. There is a refrigerator filled with cans of various non-alcoholic beverages. There is also a bar up there. It was well protected from the wind, as you would expect being at the front of the ship. Very comfortable.

 

[Cyrick]

I found the concierge service to be great. The lunge was rarely crowded outside of the 5pm crowd and a small breakfast rush, but there was never a noticeable wait for anything. They didn't seem short staffed and there was always someone offering to help out whilst inside the lounge. Very spacious both inside and out as well...though I don't have another ship lounge to compare it to.

 

[tink1970]

I just returned from a b2b (on the same cruise as @OKW Lover ) and on the first, 4 night, I was truly disappointed with the host presence (or really lack thereof). Increasing the number of concierge rooms really seemed to overwhelm the team and there were several times when a guest would have a question, there was no host in the lounge and the passenger would then ask a member of the food and beverage team (understandable, since the permanent f&b staff wear very similar outfits to the hosts) and of course the poor staff would have no clue what the answer was but did their darndest to help. I enjoyed the lounge so observed a lot of absences, questions asked of the bartender, etc. One host was amazing but couldn't possibly be there 24/7, two of them were fine but often absent and the fourth...well she left on vacation and was replaced by another host for our second cruise so suspect there was some burn out there.

I really felt the team was task saturated (not their fault) and another host or two would be optimal, especially on the 4 night cruise. Sophie (UK) from Guest Services spent several shifts in the lounge and she was amazing but obviously not a host/hostess (although she would be quite good at it!).

The lounge space was very nice and almost never seemed overwhelmed with passengers, ditto the sun deck (although that could vary depending on the cruise, I suppose). We had breakfast in the lounge a couple of times and it was nice. During lunch, a menu was offered but DH and I never partook. There was a self serve dole whip smoothie and raspberry smoothie machine at the sun deck bar which paired quite nicely with a diet sprite...as well as a drink refrigerator filled with coke/cherry coke/diet coke/coke zero/sprite/diet sprite/ginger ale/canned Dasani water.

All in all, I'd do concierge on the Wish again but more for the space in the suite, the sun deck, efficient walk off debarkation, and access to Palo than for the 1:1 attention and time with hosts that I've received on the other ships with much less concierge rooms.

 

[Marthasor]

I just returned from a b2b (on the same cruise as @OKW Lover ) and on the first, 4 night, I was truly disappointed with the host presence (or really lack thereof). Increasing the number of concierge rooms really seemed to overwhelm the team and there were several times when a guest would have a question, there was no host in the lounge and the passenger would then ask a member of the food and beverage team (understandable, since the permanent f&b staff wear very similar outfits to the hosts) and of course the poor staff would have no clue what the answer was but did their darndest to help. I enjoyed the lounge so observed a lot of absences, questions asked of the bartender, etc. One host was amazing but couldn't possibly be there 24/7, two of them were fine but often absent and the fourth...well she left on vacation and was replaced by another host for our second cruise so suspect there was some burn out there.

I really felt the team was task saturated (not their fault) and another host or two would be optimal, especially on the 4 night cruise. Sophie (UK) from Guest Services spent several shifts in the lounge and she was amazing but obviously not a host/hostess (although she would be quite good at it!).

The lounge space was very nice and almost never seemed overwhelmed with passengers, ditto the sun deck (although that could vary depending on the cruise, I suppose). We had breakfast in the lounge a couple of times and it was nice. During lunch, a menu was offered but DH and I never partook. There was a self serve dole whip smoothie and raspberry smoothie machine at the sun deck bar which paired quite nicely with a diet sprite...as well as a drink refrigerator filled with coke/cherry coke/diet coke/coke zero/sprite/diet sprite/ginger ale/canned Dasani water.

All in all, I'd do concierge on the Wish again but more for the space in the suite, the sun deck, efficient walk off debarkation, and access to Palo than for the 1:1 attention and time with hosts that I've received on the other ships with much less concierge rooms.

Wow - I feel like I could have written this post because it is EXACTLY how I felt about our early October 4-night cruise. We've sailed concierge on all of the other DCL ships (except Wonder) and, I agree, the personalized service just wasn't there and many times we couldn't find a concierge host in the lounge at all. I don't know how their workload is assigned, but, I do think with so many concierge staterooms and so many high-level suites, there is just no way 4 hosts can handle all of the concierge guests. That being said, I also really enjoyed the lounge (it's GORGEOUS), the sundeck, the food and beverage offerings (though my friend who has a gluten-allergy was less than impressed), the early access to theater seating and the early morning walk off the ship. The lounge and sundeck, in particular, were a real haven on the sea day when the pool areas were so, so crowded. If we sail the Wish again, I would definitely book concierge again with the awareness that the personalized service we found on the other ships just isn't there. I still very much enjoyed the experience.

 

[runskyhy]

Does anyone know if there is there a separate fireworks viewing area offered to Concierge guests on the Wish like there is on the other ships? Thanks!

 

[KarenMom]

Does anyone know if there is there a separate fireworks viewing area offered to Concierge guests on the Wish like there is on the other ships? Thanks!

Unfortunately not. I was on the Wish last week and asked about this and they said no.

 

[jenushkask8s]

Does anyone know if there is there a separate fireworks viewing area offered to Concierge guests on the Wish like there is on the other ships? Thanks!

If you have a starboard side stateroom, you can watch the fireworks from your veranda. We were on deck 13 and the fireworks were literally shot off right above us. The flashes we so bright!

 

[NephieRN]

We sailed on a 4 night in early September. It was my 12th cruise and 6th in concierge. From an amenity perspective, the Wish is absolutely fantastic and is the reason I will still sail in concierge on this class of ship. The hosts were spread thin with so many cabins so as other mentioned you don’t have as much personalized service. We still found plenty of time to chat with them (usually in the late evening) but it definitely isn’t the same as the other ships. Often times, I found only one host in the lounge and the line to speak with them 5-10 people deep. That was my biggest gripe. I’m not bothered by the fact that I can’t sit down and have a 20 minute conversation with one of the hosts about random stuff but I am bothered when I need something and it’s a 15-30 minute line to ask for it. At that point I might as well just use guest services. This is no fault of the concierge hosts and they do the best they can but I really believe DCL needs to add at least 1 if not 2 more hosts. There should always be 2 on duty in the lounge with this many cabins. Overall, it was still a great cruise and as I mentioned previously the concierge amenities will be what brings me back to this class of ship. Not sure I’ll sail the Wish again because the 3/4 night itineraries are not my cup of tea but I will definitely give the Treasure a shot once she comes out.

 

[Lillebelle]

Thank you for the responses! We sail very soon and I'm really excited. It's good to go in just expecting that the hosts will be oversubscribed. I'm looking forward to the bigger lounge with the special menus.

 

[Flying Fish]

There are ten crew assigned to the Wish lounge. There are 5 hosts and 5 support crew (bartenders etc). Even with that many, it will feel as if there are not nearly enough, and I think we both know there is no chance Disney will add more. The amenities are great, but it's just a lot of people. One has to figure an average of 3 people and 76 staterooms: that's just a lot of people for them to handle. They do the best they can and they do a pretty good job. I won't single anyone out, but I will say that a couple of the people on the Wish are real stars.

The menu items they can serve having a dedicated galley are great and a welcome addition. The lounge is definitely an improvement as for the rest of the ship...

 

[NephieRN]

There are ten crew assigned to the Wish lounge. There are 5 hosts and 5 support crew (bartenders etc). Even with that many, it will feel as if there are not nearly enough, and I think we both know there is no chance Disney will add more. The amenities are great, but it's just a lot of people. One has to figure an average of 3 people and 76 staterooms: that's just a lot of people for them to handle. They do the best they can and they do a pretty good job. I won't single anyone out, but I will say that a couple of the people on the Wish are real stars.

The menu items they can serve having a dedicated galley are great and a welcome addition. The lounge is definitely an improvement as for the rest of the ship...

If there’s 5 hosts now, that means they did add one because there were only 4 hosts and 5 support staff on our September sailing. So that’s good news!

 

[Flying Fish]

They did just add people, but they are not fully up to speed yet. They didn't add seasoned hosts, but it is a step in the right direction.

 

[SL6827]

So how many staff members do they have on the Wish vs. the Dream for CL?

 

[John VN]

. removed

 

[tink1970]

So how many staff members do they have on the Wish vs. the Dream for CL?

We saw 4 hosts last week on the Wish (a pp said 5 but that was not my experience on my 2 cruises last week) as well as a dedicated food and beverage staff of 5 or 6 individuals, plus servers from other f&b areas. Our Palo waiter was our breakfast attendant on debarkation day, for example, and another lovely lady, Shenika, worked Donald's Cantina in the late morning to early afternoon and then in the Lounge in the late afternoon. You can differentiate the additional f&b attendants from their uniforms-not the gray with white shirts but usually wearing all black, black and white, and one day Leon (before his promotion to full time CL staff) had his bright blue Mickey vest with black pants/white shirt. There are a lot of people hustling to keep the CL patrons fed and watered and they do a great job.

It's been about 3 1/2 year since I've been on the Dream and I can only remember 3 hosts, not the number of food and beverage servers-hopefully someone who's been on more recently has that answer.

 

[Flying Fish]

The cruise starting on 11/7 (Wish) was the first cruise with the full compliment of five hosts. The other ships are said to remain at 3 hosts and less bartenders/servers, since they lack the volume of guests and have no dedicated galley. It is a sheer numbers game when it comes to how busy the lounges feel. With 76 cabins and average occupancy of 3/cabin, it's always going to feel as if they are busier and the room more full on the Wish. Truth is, though, I do not think anyone was unable to get help when they needed it; they just might have to wait a little longer than on other ships.

 

[runskyhy]

Unfortunately not. I was on the Wish last week and asked about this and they said no.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[Flying Fish]

Does anyone know if there is there a separate fireworks viewing area offered to Concierge guests on the Wish like there is on the other ships? Thanks!

I did not see this question until now, but Karen is correct. While there is no reserved spot for concierge, there are plenty of spots to see them outside of the fray if that is your desire. There are places on both 12 and 13 forward where you can watch them w/o having to be in the party madness.

 

[Lorana]

I have never sailed Concierge on Disney before sailing Concierge with the Wish, so take this with a grain of salt as my only experience:

We really loved the privacy and amenities of being concierge, though REALLY spoiling the family with a One-Bedroom stateroom I think was part of the cincher for us (admittedly, we will likely never spend that kind of money again). We did run into issues at time where we couldn't find a host to ask questions, and there were a couple of times where the hosts couldn't resolve our issues. (My biggest disappointment was an issue with our spa service and the host being unsympathetic and not willing to assist in resolving it). That said, outside of that, the hosts were amazing, and really added to our stay. The lounge was great. We had completely misunderstood and thought 1BRs got breakfast room service on the final day, only to be told no, so we ended up not making use of room service at all -- but we only did a 3 night cruise and wanted to experience all the restaurants! Being able to get a family cabana at Castaway Cay was fantastic. The food offerings in the lounge were nice, but never a substitute for a meal.

My husband would really love to sail concierge again, so maybe we will try to figure out how to budget to do so again (though likely only in a family verandah). I had wanted to see if we could upgrade on our Disney Dream cruise in January, but Concierge is showing sold out for that sailing, so not this time!