Cat 1,2,3 and Concierge Services

[vstitt]

My TA says DCL said only Cat 1 concierge rooms could make Paolo resvations two weeks in advance by phone. I had read otherwise as recently as 4/10/02 postings. Does anyone have any recent experience with this? If so would you please let me know? I'd like to figure out in advance if we can avoid the part of the 1st day cruise scramble to make reservations and dining changes.

Our family (DW, DH,DS8, DD5) are looking forward to our first cruise on June 8th Western - less than a month away.

Also, our cruise docs were "lost in the mail." They have to be resent so I don't know if the answer to my question is in the docs.

 

[reveric]

I can't answer your question but I'm hoping someone else can since we'll be cruising in the fall in a concierge room.

So...here's a bump up the boards for you!

 

[LorraineinTO]

Vstitt
We are also on the June 8 western and in Cat 3. We are going to call the concierge desk as soon as we get the info from the May 11 folks about schedules. Our TA said that Disney said they will contact us - but of course, since reading these boards, we know better. I will post my progress as soon as I have any. If you want to e-mail me personally - feel free!
Cheers,
Lorraine

 

[howardk613]

We have been on 2 cruises and both were in a concierge suite. We did not speak to any one prior to our boarding the ship but once on board the concierge team took care of all our reservations without any hassle or problem. If you can book your reservations before you get to the ship, great, if not don't worry. The concierge team will make your reservations and you will not be stressed in the least.

 

[Michelle]

Ditto what Howard said. You will have NO PROBLEMS GETTING ALL YOUR RESERVATIONS if you wait until you meet at the embarkation day concierge meeting. It really is not necessary to talk to the concierge prior to boarding. They will take care of you once onboard.

 

[vstitt]

Thanks howardk613 and webmaster michelle for the assurance that this will all work out. I was hopeful I could take care of at least a couple of the onboard reservation tasks in advance so we can get our young kids some lunch and out to the pool as soon as possible. We'd rather be doing that than sitting in a concierge briefing meeting.

My TA has talked to DCL and it appears that they will take our request for Paolo's reservation by phone in advance. Also, the "lost in the mail" problem has been cleared up. The docs were lost in the offices of our TA, not in the mail or stuck at DCL!!! I'll pick them up tomorrow.

??Another question. Are you limited to one dinner resv. at Paolos during a 7 day cruise or is that a 3-4 day cruise limitation? (P.S. I know they offer a mega-brunch and high tea as well). We'll need to think about which night(s) would be best to upgrade to Paolos--skip one of the Parrot Cay's or go there on a formal night? Any recommendations?

LorainneinTO I'll send you an email. Perhaps we can catch up on the boat!

 

[Michelle]

Definitely do the BRUNCH and at least one dinner at Palo. They may limit you to one dinner reservation prior to boarding, but again, check with the concierge once onboard and they may work some magic for you.

The reception goes from 1:00 to about 3:30 the first afternoon so don't feel you have to rush through lunch.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[terp]

Just so you know, we we in a cat.3 and they didn't contact me but a read a number on this board and called it and they did make reservations ahead of time. It was nice not to have to do any of that on the ship. They didn't do spa reservations though. Once on the ship they had a place where you could do that and I believe since I couldn't make up my mind there someone from the spa came to my room to see if I wanted to reserve something in the spa. They also said they did massages on the balcony. I didn't do it I was wondering if anyone ever tried that.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by terp

They also said they did massages on the balcony.

Oooh, now that would be nice! I wonder if they offer that for Categories 4 - 7, or if that's only offered for Categories 1 - 3?

 

[vstitt]

Thanks to tips I have received on this board I had my TA call DCL to book Paolo's in advance. Since we are in Cat. 3 concierge they are allowing us to book Paolos dinner, tea or brunch. They will not take SPA resv. in advance.

Thanks,
VS

 

[penguins_fan]

Hi, we stayed in a Cat. 1 in January for a 7-day and through the boards found out we could pre-book some reservations. Of course, we asked our TA about it, but she was clueless. When our documents did arrive, I decided to call the number listed for DCL in Port Canaveral - they told us that they could send our request over to the ship and they would be taken care of. We requested a specific dinner rotation through this way and then when we received the letter about the conceirge meeting at 1pm there was a number listed that you could call ahead of time. I did. We prebooked a Palo dinner, brunch and a high-tea. We figured that once we got on the boat, we didn't want to tie our five children up just to make reservations when we could start enjoying the ship already. As far as the Spa went, they ended up calling our room to see if we wanted to make any reservations including they would come up to the room to do if you so choose.

P.S. the Brunch had to be one of the highlights of that cruise. We are leaving this Sunday 5/12 for a 4-day on the Wonder, just DH and myself as an anniversary gift to ourselves and were disappointed to find out there is no Brunch on the 4-day only the 7-day. Just leaves us wanting for more I guess. Enjoy.......