Rude onshore concierge

[FIREFLY01]

SO I AM booked on a nov cruise in a concierge room, so i called on shore desk to ask some questions the guy who answered was sooo rude. just pretty much blew me off, .. i was asking about the new check in time and how that applies to concierge and if we are linked to my parents who arent in concierge and we get earlier check in if they can check in with us? he goes nope! i said well if we are arriving together what are they supposed to just stand around outside and wait by themselves? he said u can always stand out with them...... WOW!!!! and this is Disney????

then i asked that we have early dining due to we have a 2 yr old, but shes not up early for an 815 character breakfast would it be possible to get a late seating for that breakfast? he say NOPE, unless u change all ur dining to late, ummm i have a 2 yr old not a choice, so i guess i cant go to breakfast his answer I GUESS Not...... wow is this what Disney has become, what are we paying for concierge for then??????

 

[Chicogirl]

Sounds to me like you should call back and speak to a manager. That's what I would do.

 

[jdb in AZ]

For the character breakfasts you will be assigned to eat with the same people as your dinner reservations. Basically the whole dining room is assigned for the same reservations, so to make an exception for one meal would be difficult.

If you tell your DD she's going to have breakfast with Mickey and friends, it shouldn't be too difficult to get her up early for one morning. Especially if she goes to bed early the night before.

 

[mmouse37]

SO I AM booked on a nov cruise in a concierge room, so i called on shore desk to ask some questions the guy who answered was sooo rude. just pretty much blew me off, .. i was asking about the new check in time and how that applies to concierge and if we are linked to my parents who arent in concierge and we get earlier check in if they can check in with us? he goes nope! i said well if we are arriving together what are they supposed to just stand around outside and wait by themselves? he said u can always stand out with them...... WOW!!!! and this is Disney????

then i asked that we have early dining due to we have a 2 yr old, but shes not up early for an 815 character breakfast would it be possible to get a late seating for that breakfast? he say NOPE, unless u change all ur dining to late, ummm i have a 2 yr old not a choice, so i guess i cant go to breakfast his answer I GUESS Not...... wow is this what Disney has become, what are we paying for concierge for then??????

No excuse for them being rude....send a letter or email to DCL and voice your displeasure.

As for the character breakfast....there are tons of parents of kids who might have a hard time making it to an early character breakfast but they do it if they want that character experience. I can understand them not wanting to make an exception to that as people are already assigned to specific dining times.

Heck, at WDW I hated getting my three kids up and out to a character breakfast at 7:30 am but I did it because I knew they would enjoy it and we all would enjoy the memories! Plus, if we wanted to get to the parks early that was the only time to go.

You may want to check out this thread for discussion on the new port arrival times.....many have spoken to concierge and had some replies.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2755678

MJ

 

[flexsmom]

First, I hope you took down his name as you can write a note back to Guest Services to relay how disappointed you were the tone he took with you. But, I wouldn't complain about the answers just because they are not what you would have liked them to be. He was wrong to be curt about it, no doubt.

That said, the shore-side concierge cannot really guarantee anything about changes that you might request about what goes on once you are on-board. They wouldn't be able to list somewhere now that you have a dispensation for a late breakfast, even with an early dining time. He should have been able to list is as a request, though. When you board, ask the concierge there to switch the tickets - I'll bet they will be able to accommodate you at that point.

To be honest, I've not found the shoreside concierge to be extremely helpful in DOING anything other than giving straight-answers - by the book - and taking down "requests" that may or may not be fulfilled once I get on board. On the other hand, the staff on board has been MUCH more helpful in determining what will or won't be doable. Years ago, there really wasn't much of a concierge presence on-shore. So many people fussed about not being able to talk to someone before their cruise that they finally ramped up that availability - but beyond answering questions "like it is" and taking down "requests", they don't do much more, I agree.

 

[Pudo]

Interesting. I just spoke to Eric not 15 minutes ago and he was very pleasant and helpful. I also called DCL (not concierge) and they confirmed for me that non-concierge guests linked to a concierge reservation can access the terminal so they won't have to wait outside.

 

[taswira]

One thing seems to be consistent with DCL: If you don't like what you hear from the rep you speak with, call back to reach a different CM and you will usually be told something entirely different! Been there, done that!

 

[ppiew]

If you are in concierge you get something better than a character breakfast - they have a PRIVATE meet and greet just for concierge guests! So much more personal than an autograph and photo

 

[outahere]

If you are in concierge you get something better than a character breakfast - they have a PRIVATE meet and greet just for concierge guests! So much more personal than an autograph and photo

True, but...... it is usually only with one, maybe two, characters. We've sailed Concierge on nine cruises, and only one time have we had more than one character at the Concierge party.

 

[blessedmomofboys]

then i asked that we have early dining due to we have a 2 yr old, but shes not up early for an 815 character breakfast would it be possible to get a late seating for that breakfast? QUOTE]

My SIL had overlooked and missed their character breakfast. She spoke to guest services on board and she was able to go to another one. They had to get there slightly early and wait for everyone to be seated to determine if there was space available first.

 

[MagicMe]

I'm sure arrangements can be made regarding the character breakfast. Both times I went to the breakfast, there were multiple tables with no one there. In fact on our 7-day cruise, My mom and I were the only ones in our servers entire area! We got very personalized service that morning!!

 

[speedo]

My SIL had overlooked and missed their character breakfast. She spoke to guest services on board and she was able to go to another one. They had to get there slightly early and wait for everyone to be seated to determine if there was space available first.

This sounds like a good solution. There are many adults only who cruise on Disney. In January I went on a cruise with my sister and we had late seating and we were with a table of 6 other adults. none of us went to the Character breakfast. Seems like there would be a lot of adult only groups who skip the morning Character breakfast - so I am sure there will be openings the morning of.

 

[FIREFLY01]

i appreciate all the reponses i ws just blown away with the care less oh well attitude, this will be our 3rd disney cruise 2nd time w/ concierge, last year they ones on ship were awesome and so helpful i didnt use onshore last year so i thought i would attempt it this time...... last year we put in the request for 2nd dining for breakfast and they were able to accomadate, so i thought i would ask again. not even the hey i can make a note of request which is what shocked me.......
I dont do the change my kids schedule because we r on vacation, we live in Fl so if we miss the character breakfast not that big of deal, im definitly not waking my daughter up to go........ we can catch one at wdw anytime....

i just wanted to put the request in......

 

[alikat99]

We missed our character breakfast too on our last cruise. I can't remember why, but I think that either something was the exact same time or we left dinner early when they usually remind you about the next morning. Anyway, we talked to our Head Waiter and by the end of the day, we had a table at the next character breakfast. Of course, it wasn't at our regular table, since we were basically going in someone else's spot that wasn't attending the character breakfast.

That type of thing is most easily solved once you're onboard.

 

[DVC4US]

I have to agree that there is no excuse for him being rude and I think you should call back and speak to a manager or email them. I have dealt with shoreside concierge for numerous cruises and they have always been pleasant and helpful. They don't always give me the answer I am looking for but they are always pleasant.

The character breakfast is an assigned breakfast just like dinner with your wait staff and at the same table. So the shoreside concierge team is not going to be able to do a whole lot for you. I suggest you speak to concierge once you are on board and maybe they can help you out.

With the new opening time for the terminal DCL has made some changes and they will be enforcing port arrival times. We are on the August 2nd cruise(which is when this goes into effect) and we are traveling with non-concierge guests too so I have been talking to the concierge manager for the last week regarding them entering the terminal with us and boarding with us. DCL's stance on this is that if you are concierge and want to board with non-concierge guests then you would need to wait for their boarding number. I have not asked about them entering the terminal with us because they have the earliest port arrival time.

Although shoreside concierge has been very helpful in the past, I have found that on board concierge will do most things for you if they can.

 

[DVC4US]

Interesting. I just spoke to Eric not 15 minutes ago and he was very pleasant and helpful. I also called DCL (not concierge) and they confirmed for me that non-concierge guests linked to a concierge reservation can access the terminal so they won't have to wait outside.

I'm not sure this will be correct information starting on August 2nd. According to the concierge manager DCL will start enforcing port arrival times and non-concierge guests will no longer be allowed to join concierge guests for entry or boarding. I haven't specifically asked about terminal entry because the non-concierge guests traveling with us have the earliest port arrival time.

 

[grits98]

then i asked that we have early dining due to we have a 2 yr old, but shes not up early for an 815 character breakfast would it be possible to get a late seating for that breakfast? he say NOPE, unless u change all ur dining to late, ummm i have a 2 yr old not a choice, so i guess i cant go to breakfast his answer I GUESS Not...... wow is this what Disney has become, what are we paying for concierge for then??????

If it helps any, it's not a big deal to attend a differently timed character breakfast. Because some families skip it for various reasons, you can usually show up at the later (or earlier) breakfast and ask if there's an available table. We had a similar issue on one of our cruises and were actually advised to do this by the Head Server.