Are there any hidden perks for Concierge Suites?

[John VN]

Do you think this is an added perk that should be taken advantage of?? It's my families first DCL trip and we went with concierge, and this will probably be the only time we do that. Half of our party will not be in until 12:30 cruise day, and we all have to board together, but it's not too late to make plans to come in the day before if we can decide if a couple hours extra is worth the added expense (however I would feel better having everyone there the night before).

Getting on board before others was nice even though it was only minutes before not way before. What we took advantage of during our 4 day Dream was dining in our room every night ordering from the MDR menus.

 

[Baklava]

Getting on board before others was nice even though it was only minutes before not way before. What we took advantage of during our 4 day Dream was dining in our room every night ordering from the MDR menus.

Oh, that's tempting. While DD and I would be happy in the MDR my husband and son are twitchy about the possibility of sharing a table with strangers.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Oh, that's tempting. While DD and I would be happy in the MDR my husband and son are twitchy about the possibility of sharing a table with strangers.

Concierge are assigned their own table (no strangers). Unless you request otherwise.

 

[bumbershoot]

However, what surprised me the most was how we ended up spending far more time in the concierge areas than I would have even thought of. We'd naturally use those as a base and then only leave when there was something specific that someone wanted to do. That made the experience completely different from our non-concierge cruises and it is the reason I booked concierge again

And see to me, that's the part I dislike about being concierge. I want to get what I paid for, so I stay in the lounge. And for me, that means I'm not seeing the rest of the ship, I'm not experiencing the OTHER things I paid for. And while our concierges on our first cruise were great (miss you, Wensdae!), the supposed dream team that others love were NOT our cup of tea. Even my kid, who was 10 at the time, wondered why he was being so condescended and talked down to by the beloved concierge dude. So I had very little interest in being in the lounge with them.

When we cruise concierge we stay in the lounge area; when we cruise normally we see the whole ship and do way more.

What a great idea! How did you get that to work?

They would have left dinner and gone to the lounge. There are desserts in the lounge. Or they just took their dessert out of the restaurant. They'll plate it up for you at the MDR; DH once got my dinner done that way when I just wanted to be in pajamas on our first night but still wanted dinner. (we've only done cat V for concierge, and you can't get MDR served in your room)

 

[bumbershoot]

Free bags of popcorn for the movies. Just ask

Worst, stalest popcorn ever when we did that. I would gladly have paid extra to get newly made (or at least newly warmed up LOL) popcorn before the movie.

Also, not everyone will get a phone call. It's a good idea to send an email BEFORE the 120 day point so they can schedule all your requests. You can start emailing at 125 days.

We got an *email* at 125 days for us to write in at 120 days. Or something like that. No call though, just the email. (and they didn't get my reply...I didn't know it, but you should expect an autoresponse when you write...I didn't get an autoresponse, and just felt that something was off. So I went ahead and did our Palo reservation and got our cabana, then wrote back to them saying "nevermind". And they responded to THAT, telling me that getting that email is when they got my first email. Glad I felt something was wrong!)

 

[TestingH2O]

We got an *email* at 125 days for us to write in at 120 days. Or something like that. No call though, just the email. (and they didn't get my reply...I didn't know it, but you should expect an autoresponse when you write...I didn't get an autoresponse, and just felt that something was off. So I went ahead and did our Palo reservation and got our cabana, then wrote back to them saying "nevermind". And they responded to THAT, telling me that getting that email is when they got my first email. Glad I felt something was wrong!)

And now, it depends on which email you use whether or not you get an autoresponse. They are slightly different and one gives a response, one doesn't. Cause, that level of standardization makes complete sense.

 

[geoffw35]

Reading through this thread, I feel that concierge may indeed be worth the extra cost. Here is a perk that might test the limits: When we eat at Remy on the Dream, one of the things I love (among many) is the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. It is the best I've ever tasted. Sure would love to have that every morning in my room. What are the odds?