Concierge and Non-Concierge Guests in Party

[hdnyc]

Has anyone traveled with a mixture of concierge and non-concierge guests in their party? Did you feel like you were not able to get the full benefit of the concierge level? Are the non-concierge guests in your party able to experience any of the concierge benefits?

We have a 1br concierge suite with our kids, but our parents (all 4 grandparents) are in oceanview staterooms. I don’t want to ignore our parents the whole trip sitting in the concierge lounge, but I also don’t know how much we will use it if we can’t bring the rest of our family in there!

My in-laws stayed club level at the Polynesian once (with their FL resident discount) and we were able to visit their lounge and have some of their snacks, even though we weren’t club level ourselves. It seemed like the security was pretty lax. Is is similar on the cruise ships? Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Has anyone traveled with a mixture of concierge and non-concierge guests in their party? Did you feel like you were not able to get the full benefit of the concierge level? Are the non-concierge guests in your party able to experience any of the concierge benefits?

We have a 1br concierge suite with our kids, but our parents (all 4 grandparents) are in oceanview staterooms. I don’t want to ignore our parents the whole trip sitting in the concierge lounge, but I also don’t know how much we will use it if we can’t bring the rest of our family in there!

My in-laws stayed club level at the Polynesian once (with their FL resident discount) and we were able to visit their lounge and have some of their snacks, even though we weren’t club level ourselves. It seemed like the security was pretty lax. Is is similar on the cruise ships? Thanks!

Non-concierge guests do not participate in Concierge perks. Otherwise, everyone would book non-concierge.

Your non-concierge guests may visit you in your room. They cannot go to the Concierge lounge (or sundeck).

 

[Billinaz]

Non-concierge guests do not participate in Concierge perks. Otherwise, everyone would book non-concierge.

Your non-concierge guests may visit you in your room. They cannot go to the Concierge lounge (or sundeck).

The concierge staff is very good enforcing this.

 

[kid-at-heart]

I think it is great you reserved a one-bedroom. You will have room to entertain in your suite and perhaps the grandparents will hang out with your children while you and spouse enjoy some adult time in the concierge lounge. We have only sailed Concierge on the Wonder but their lounge is not large enough to hold concierge guests and "their" additional guests. It is a very comfy place but seating is limited. I would be a bit ticked if I paid for concierge and could not enjoy the lounge because there was not a space to sit. You can use the "no guests allowed" rule to give you an excuse to escape the family.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

The ship is not like the resorts. We have stayed Club Class in several of the Disney resorts and never really found anyone making sure that only those who are staying club level are using the lounge area. The other benefits yes (like help with planning and whatnot).

I mean, when they first launched the Dream, the concierge area had gates. Although removed now, it's pretty clear of the position on the ship of non-concierge people in or near the concierge area (delivering FE gifts one time, someone stopped me and inquired nicely if they could help me find anyone particular with a clear message of "I know you're not one of our concierge guests, let's get your business done and get you out of here.")

If it were me, I'd change to a non concierge cabin and then use the extra money for some experiences for the whole family (maybe a once in a lifetime excursion or brunch for all the adults, or even a pre or post cruise stay somewhere nice).

 

[maxiesmom]

I'd either do as PrincessTrisha suggests and downgrade to a non concierge cabin, or I'd pay to upgrade the rest of the family. There is no getting around the split between the different levels you have booked.

 

[biged9973]

We had the same situation you are describing. My parents decided to come on the cruise with us after we had already booked. BUT they didn't want to spend all of the extra money for concierge. We really didn't feel like we got as much use of the concierge amenities on the cruise. We felt like we were ignoring my parents if we were in the lounge etc. As others mentioned the concierge staff are quite aware of who should have access and who shouldn't.

 

[tink1970]

We've had split stays with family members in non CL. It worked fine...we were able to have dinner together, meet up at certain times at the pools, movies and the Princess meet and greet. They would come up and spend some time in our cabin and on the very nice verandah. While we did not even consider bringing them into the lounge we did share our concierge popcorn at the movies

 

[Shanti]

Maybe you could downgrade from a Cat T to a Cat V, and use the money saved to upgrade them to a Cat V? That way you could all enjoy the concierge perks together.

Whether or not that would economically work depends on several factors (such as how many people are in each stateroom), but it's a possibility to look into.

I wouldn't do the current split you have as you will either miss out on extended family time or miss out on concierge sundeck time. Either way, the sacrifice wouldn't be worth all of the extra money you'd pay for concierge imo.

 

[hdnyc]

Thank you for everyone's feedback! The reason we booked concierge for our room is that we booked fairly last-minute (50 days before departure) and we thought that a concierge booking would help us get access to some things that were sold out. It has been completely worth it and we are so happy that we booked at least one concierge room - it's been very helpful in getting some reservations that I'm guessing would have been difficult otherwise.

There's only 1 concierge level room left on our trip, so we can't just upgrade one set of parents and not the other! Also don't want to spend that much money on such a large room for only 2 people to sleep in it. I think if we book a trip in the future, far in advance, we would have considered getting them one of the concierge family oceanview staterooms, but none are available right now. Will see how it goes in April and see if we think it would be worth it for everyone to do concierge in the future!

 

[Doofenshmirtz513]

Thank you for everyone's feedback! The reason we booked concierge for our room is that we booked fairly last-minute (50 days before departure) and we thought that a concierge booking would help us get access to some things that were sold out. It has been completely worth it and we are so happy that we booked at least one concierge room - it's been very helpful in getting some reservations that I'm guessing would have been difficult otherwise.

There's only 1 concierge level room left on our trip, so we can't just upgrade one set of parents and not the other! Also don't want to spend that much money on such a large room for only 2 people to sleep in it. I think if we book a trip in the future, far in advance, we would have considered getting them one of the concierge family oceanview staterooms, but none are available right now. Will see how it goes in April and see if we think it would be worth it for everyone to do concierge in the future!

We traveled in November as concierge with my parents, who were not in concierge and it was not an issue. We never spend a ton of time just sitting in the lounge, so them not having access there wasn't a big deal. My wife, one of the kids, or I would go get a plate of snacks to bring back to the room. If there were some remaining and my parents were in our room, they could have some. I gave them a few bottles of water at one point, too. Plus, the concierge people could move things around for the whole group if we were doing something together, like cancelling/adjusting an excursion.

Unless you plan to spend hours just sitting in the lounge, I don't think you'll notice the difference.

 

[rawdata]

Thank you for everyone's feedback! The reason we booked concierge for our room is that we booked fairly last-minute (50 days before departure) and we thought that a concierge booking would help us get access to some things that were sold out. It has been completely worth it and we are so happy that we booked at least one concierge room - it's been very helpful in getting some reservations that I'm guessing would have been difficult otherwise.

There's only 1 concierge level room left on our trip, so we can't just upgrade one set of parents and not the other! Also don't want to spend that much money on such a large room for only 2 people to sleep in it. I think if we book a trip in the future, far in advance, we would have considered getting them one of the concierge family oceanview staterooms, but none are available right now. Will see how it goes in April and see if we think it would be worth it for everyone to do concierge in the future!

Be sure to ask about upgrades in the port then. You might find that you can get another room in Concierge!