Just off fantasy concigere room 12014. Experiencing withdraw...

[Tinker179]

This is just a quick summery I plan on doing a full gigantic review but we just off the ship yesterday and our family is experiencing withdraw. Our daughter asked to go to the kids club tonight while tucking her in (so cute). I have a son (23 mths) and daughter (3 3/4). We stayed concigere cabin #12014 w pj Julia and kemisha. Not to sound like a snob (bc I'm not trust me) but I would never ever ever do Disney cruise line with out concigere. Maybe it's bc I still have a napper who doesn't sit well during 2.5 hr long dinner times and long lines. I don't know. But now we are spoiled. Quick easy check in thru the thousands struggling to keep their little ones happy in our own ropped area. Then private entry past the side thru crowd in front quick picture and straight onto ship. Took 5 mins. Felt so bad for the masses. Up to the quiet lounge for snacks and free champagne, liquor, drinks. Then pool. Then our room luggage ready by 130. Wow. Room gigantic. Huge. Great for pack n play Nappers. Can move to left side of bed and still have rest of cabin to cohabitate. Huge balcony. Bathroom with tv in mirror?! Holy cow. Kids favorite thing to watch classic cartoons at night in tub (so cute). Evian water for free 7-10pm every day and they stock u up with ice for excursions. Need suntan lotion? It's up on private quiet sun deck. Snacks that rotated all day in lounge and they were much better than mdr food (more on that later. That stuff was gaggy). Open bar every night at 5. Was great to have wine while getting ready for dinner then Christina would always have a to go glass to take to mdr (and yes she said it was fine to do). Staff loved my kids. Kids loved the staff. Whole staff made daughter personalized coloring book of her favorite disney character. (pixie dust!!). Private character meeting. Yes that's right. No lines. Loved ordering my dinner ahead of time from my mdr to have delivered to my room at certain time so I didn't have to entertain my 23 mth old for 2+ hrs. Plus table neighbors kids (and parents) were awful. Rude to workers and stole crush show from my daughter when he clearly was asking my daughters name. ((my one giant complaint about the cruise is the rude nasty bad parents and chair hogs. One day my son and I ate on floor of pool to watch lion king and eat bc there was no chairs. I swear)). Room steward amazing. Loved my son. Son loved him. High fives every pass. Xtra towels and products all the time. Room spotless. Always happy. Got laringitus on ship kemisha made me tea w honey daily without me asking. She's amazing. Remy and palo not to be missed however then makes mdr seem worse than Denny's. In fact we had Denny's after we left ship and their eggs scrabbled were better. I guess it's hard to cook for a lot of people but it's okay. Made up for it in other ways. Can't wait to cruise again. But nothing less than concigere Will answer questions. Not too forum savvy so I'll do my best!!!!

 

[PizzieDuster]

Well, what a great start! I will be looking for your report! Sounds so wonderful!

 

[Floridagram]

Thanks for agreeing the food is not up to par on DCL. I pointed this out and others disagreed so I shut up. I know it is personal preference but after 12 cruises I knew what to expect. I actually compared it to Denny's in my mind some times. Not what one would expect when you pay a premium price for Disney.

I don't think you are a snob to stay in Concierge, who would not want to? But you are obviously very blessed if you can afford to so I hope you are thankful for that! The rest of us are just thankful to be in the masses of DCL
And actually boarding is much better now than it used to be and could be so much better if people would just do what they are supposed to do.

Can't wait to hear you TR.

 

[kmitchel]

We just got off the Wonder Cruise to Hawaii and for the first time in my 12 previous cruises with them, I felt the SAME way about the food! Several years ago, there used to be 2-3 dinners each night that I was dying to try, but this past trip I would struggle to find 1 thing on the menu that sounded appetizing. I usually ate a salad every night for dinner. We did go to Palo's one night for dinner and I was so disappointed to hear that they removed the 4-cheese pizza from the menu! Glad to hear I'm not the only one who is feeling this way about the food lately.

 

[bbn1122]

Congrats on having such a wonderful time....

I am sure without doing conceirge that it great.....I am sure everyone on these forum wishes they could do conceirge.....what a treat....

It great to hear that with the cost they really do treat you like royality and that is the way it should be....

How was the deck area for conceirge? And did you eat in your rooms most night except adult dinner because of your little ones? That sounds like heaven....

And I can only imagine how helpful it was with young ones to have that service.

Share more when you can...thanks...

 

[Bear3412]

Then our room luggage ready by 130. Wow. QUOTE]

Are you saying your checked luggage arrived @ 1:30?
Did the porters tag it priority or something?
Haven't heard this before.
TIA

 

[lmhall2000]

Just a tip on scrambled eggs, they are AWFUL!! Ask for omelets next time..that is the only way I will eat eggs on a ship...their omelets are great!!

What an awesome trip! Chair hogs really bug me, I have been on 2 cruises and never had a chair by a pool..I just do something else...not worth the hassle...next time save some chocolates from the cabin and put them on your daughter's pillow at home the next couple of nights, eases them back to reality!

 

[Fºoºz]

Looking forward to your review ...

 

[princesskenziesmom]

Are you saying your checked luggage arrived @ 1:30?
Did the porters tag it priority or something?
Haven't heard this before.

Concierge. I believe reading this on our documents, does get priority luggage arrival and ours was there promptly at 1:30 when we sailed on the Magic.

I am so glad that you had such a good time!! We are getting ready to book the Fantasy for 2014, did you like where your room was at? Trying to figure out whether we want Deck 11 or 12.

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

I miss Julia, PJ, and Kemisha!!!

 

[smootenloopers]

Then our room luggage ready by 130. Wow. QUOTE]

Are you saying your checked luggage arrived @ 1:30?
Did the porters tag it priority or something?
Haven't heard this before.
TIA

Concierge tags are a different color so they are easy for those handling the luggage to spot. I've sailed once concierge and once non. Luggage arrived around 2-3 pm concierge and around 3-4 the other time.

 

[SeaNana]

Thanks for our preview. We have tagged along on our daughter's family's concierge suites, and also sailed by ourselves without concierge. Both were equally special (Magic). Next month for the first time we shall be on concierge on the Fantasy and I hope we utilize the benefits. We last sailed last October and did not think the food was any different from the prior years. Was it the Fantasy food or just DCL in general (decreased food quality)?

 

[Tinker179]

i don't know about priority bags getting up so quickly to us...just thought it was a fluke. didn't matter to me b/c i had things packed correctly and could of lasted till 5 anyways. i'm mad at myself for packing box o wine in my bookbag b/c i didn't need to...open bar every night!! in fact we left it there on the boat. as far as having money to do concierge i would save a whole extra year (or two) just to DO concierge again. it would of been a big disapointment to be anywhere but there. and to the people who would say "how would u know if you were never down there" well, yes, then i would have to go to the MDR's, have to stand in forever lines, not get my reservations when i want then 120 days out, have my kids spoiled by the wonderful staff (Pj kemisha julia) every morning, noon, night we came into lounge. the captain and his staff would even hang out in the lounge daily---ummm thats saying something. long story short, i was hospitalized a lot before this trip and i was ordered to rest and relax for this vacation and i don't think it would of happened if my only retreat would be that pool deck. it was nuts. but then again i had a 23 mth old with me and i wasn't going to constantly keep him in nursery. my daughter LOVED the club (i think that is kid subjective;i did see some kids kicking and screaming NOT to go in however my daughter never wanted to leave). but that food was gross. to pay that money to get the food gross. my problem is the inconsistancy between Remy, Palo, concierge lounge, and MDRs. i mean really. before kids my husband and i did a lot of all inclusive mexico resorts and their food was amazing compared to that. and i get its a ship, mass people, no fire ect but those pancakes were flour and water. popcorn soup. what the heck is that. the micro shrimp in animators looked like (sorry people) maggots. and we all know those were from a can. thats gross. the shrimp with mango salsa they had in concierge lounge size was bigger then the MDR, about the size of ones in Palo. thats sad disney. BUT i give props to all the characters, shows, pixie dust, ect. i will never forget this trip. and my kids are still talking about it....

 

[Tinker179]

sorry i don't know how to quote so i have to go back to answer questions. we were room 12014 port (left) side. loved it! right next to side entry to lounge. window can see directly to our room. i liked it bc i would lay down my son for nap, and take video baby monitor over to lounge to grab snack quick and go back and can always have my eye on door (b/c can see thru glass). always rec the baby monitor b/c i took it outside on verandah with me. its too loud if he would wake. i never travel without it. port side is great for western cruise. only neg is u can't see fireworks on pirate night (or in my case great b/c won't wake kids) and u usually back into castaway so no view of beach. just view of dock. but all other ports u saw land. i loved that room!!!!!!! deck 11 has the greenhouse like verandahs...don't like them. i like deck 12 better---plus u are closer to lounge/food/drinks.

 

[ldymcbth]

as far as having money to do concierge i would save a whole extra year (or two) just to DO concierge again. it would of been a big disapointment to be anywhere but there. and to the people who would say "how would u know if you were never down there" well, yes, then i would have to go to the MDR's, have to stand in forever lines, not get my reservations when i want then 120 days out, have my kids spoiled by the wonderful staff (Pj kemisha julia) every morning, noon, night we came into lounge. :

It's so interesting how different people have different experiences. Don't get me wrong - we enjoyed concierge - but I would rather vacation more frequently at non-concierge prices. I'm glad we did it with our first cruise, though, because it WAS very helpful to have shoreside concierge to help with all of the beforehand stuff. Now that I have most of it figured out, though, we'll just sail regular rooms from now on.

I am wondering what lines you avoided by being concierge? We really didn't stand in any huge lines all week - and the lines we did stand in we would have had to regardless of status - aquaduck, getting into the theatre, character greets.

 

[ashleyt]

It's so interesting how different people have different experiences. Don't get me wrong - we enjoyed concierge - but I would rather vacation more frequently at non-concierge prices. I'm glad we did it with our first cruise, though, because it WAS very helpful to have shoreside concierge to help with all of the beforehand stuff. Now that I have most of it figured out, though, we'll just sail regular rooms from now on.

I am wondering what lines you avoided by being concierge? We really didn't stand in any huge lines all week - and the lines we did stand in we would have had to regardless of status - aquaduck, getting into the theatre, character greets.

Agreed. We had our first cruise about 6 weeks ago in concierge, and there wasn't enough there for us to justify the price. Granted, we don't drink much, and we like to DIY when it comes to planning our vacation so we don't need someone else to click the mouse for us to book things. You can't see the ocean from that concierge deck (at least on the dream). We only went up once to see. We don't snack between meals, so the food samples had no value.

We are fortunate in that we sold a successful business a few years ago that provided us with more money than we will ever be able to spend in our lifetimes. However, we come from frugal families and don't believe in spending money unless the value is there, be it 50 cents or $15,000. We also don't mind spending money if the value is there.

I wouldn't bother with concierge next time. Far too much money for too little for our family. For others, it's concierge and nothing but.

I wouldn't have known unless we tried it though.

 

[Tinker179]

the lines/choas in terminal. full of screaming crying kids. we just got usher into back right hand corner of concierge check in and it was peaceful. no one else there. looking back a big thing is the fact of having a 23 mth old. cant really talk. still naps. cranky during meals ect. cant kids club him yet. have to nursery, yet old enough that he knew that he was getting dropped off so he was sad second drop off time. no we didn't get special line character treatment like princess gatherings ect. i have a well behaved 3 year old that is used to lines (we have a family theme park nearby) so we would get there early, 30 mins so that wasn't a big deal. it was special to have minnie visit the lounge. i wouldn't know/how i would nap my son if i wouldn't have a 1 bedroom. he's sensistive to noise, ect and wouldn't just sleep in chair (oh wait there was no chairs b/c of the hogs haha--had to put in a funny) poor kids on ship, constant meltdowns b/c of sleep depervation. us moms wouldn't just look at eachother with the "im so sorry he didn't get a nap" eyes. thats why i avoided the MDR's..that and the evil family next to us. ruined crush show for my daughter. crush clearly asking my daughters name (b/c they already asked her sons name) and she screamed out her daughers name. they were rude, loud, and ignored their screaming angry children (that prob got no naps). what really made me mad is the way they treated the staff...they were really rude and that makes me uncomfortable. other familys made trip unenjoyable it was a shame. poor disney employees. i personally told 4 people to take their babies in swim diapers out of the poor. they look at me and go "really?!"..yeah! go read the rules!!" mickey pool was closed daily for hours b/c of bad parents. i don't get it. i just hope disney pays their employees well, b/c it sure isn't going into the food.

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

I'm one who would rather wait longer and only do the Fantasy or the Dream in concierge. The Magic and the Wonder are fine without it.

I don't like the crowds, and concierge gave me a place to get away from the masses. Loved the lounge! I did use the services, and the happy hour to have a nightly glass of champagne, which was a real treat to me!

Also, when boarding, we checked in quickly, sat in a mostly empty area away from the tons of people. Boarded quickly and went to the concierge lounge. Decided to have our lunch there. I think my checked bag was there when we went to the room.

But it is a YMMV type of thing. For me it was worth it. I still have some balance/mobility problems from brain surgery two years ago, and being away from masses of people helped. I'm not saying I'll never sail the new ships non-concierge, but I'd rather save up and sail less so I can.

Now I did notice a difference in crowds from the Dream in February to the April sailing I did on the Fantasy. Definitely not a full ship. I really felt overwhelmed with too many people on the Dream. It was a three day, and people, especially kids would run right into people with no regard. I almost got knocked over several times.

So having a more quiet area with less people, snacks, beverages, made things worth it - for ME. Others may not agree and that is fine and is part of what makes the world go around. People like different things, have different things that matter to them, etc.

 

[Tinker179]

my hospitalization was complex migraines (among other things) so i couldn't deal with the masses either. the MDR was enough. cabananas was almost too much. i needed quiet calm. i didn't need to fight with chair hogs. well said phantomgirl. well said!!

 

[budamacdvcr]

I am so glad that you had such a good time!! We are getting ready to book the Fantasy for 2014, did you like where your room was at? Trying to figure out whether we want Deck 11 or 12.[/QUOTE]

Did concierge on Dream and layout is the same and our like is deck 12 because verandahs are not "bubble like" with the plexi panes, lounge is on deck 12 plus walking out to exterior deck 12 is nice.

Regarding concierge or not, we are doing again this summer because with aa total of 5 - 2 17 year old girls and 15 year old boy the 1 bedroom with 2 bathrooms and ability to get to verandah in the morning without having to climb over pullout couch combined with the extra perks makes it almost a must have for us.