Concierge Family Oceanview Staterooms with Verandah question

[BKROCK]

First time cruise (also with a 5 yr old) I am currently booked in a deluxe oceanview stateroom with verandah should I switch to concierge from this? Thanks!

 

[Four Swampers]

What ship, what itinerary?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

First time cruise (also with a 5 yr old) I am currently booked in a deluxe oceanview stateroom with verandah should I switch to concierge from this? Thanks!

I suppose it depends on whether you feel that the Concierge perks are something that you want.

We had a deluxe family oceanview with verandah on our last two cruises, and felt (for the two of us) was plenty of room for us. We don't need all the services that come with the extra cost for Concierge.

 

[BKROCK]

Dream, 4 night cruise to Nassau and Castaway Cay

 

[Msidescooter]

First time cruise (also with a 5 yr old) I am currently booked in a deluxe oceanview stateroom with verandah should I switch to concierge from this? Thanks!

It would really depend on your style of vacationing. If you normally fly first class and stay at the best resorts, than concierge would probably be the way to go. But if you don't, the room without concierge will be great. In other words, if you have the money to spend, spend it. If not, don't. Both rooms will give you a magical experience and will be full of memories for a lifetime.

 

[shelbell77]

The sofa bed in the concierge pulls out into a double vs folding down to a twin. If that impacts your desired sleeping arrangements. Other than that, the furnishings are slightly upgraded. Some of the deluxe family ocean views have a murphy bed. The concierge room does not.

To me the real perks of concierge are the lounge and the concierge staff and the sundeck. Personally I'd base the decision on those factors versus just purely the stateroom itself. Though as the person who sleeps on the sofa I did appreciate having a double size bed to myself.

 

[k3chantal]

Dream, 4 night cruise to Nassau and Castaway Cay

Just stayed in a cabin at this category with 5 people. (DH, me, DS /15, DS/11, and DD/5) We were comfortable. Spend the money on concierge if you won't think of the cost again but if it will constantly be in the back of your mind, keep your reservation the same.

 

[two-foxes]

We have sailed in the category you are inquiring about 2 times with our young boys (5 and 7 now) on the Fantasy and once in a one bedroom on the Dream. We have sailed 6 other times in regular verandah staterooms, one of those times with kids, (the rest of the cruises were pre kiddos!) Having that comparison, I think concierge is worth it. It simply makes sailing with kiddos much easier and the concierge staff will go out of their way to ensure you and your family have anything and everything you need for your cruise. If you have a son that needs some more quiet time more than others, the lounge is a blessing. Our son worked on homework in the lounge, we would grab a quick and easy breakfast in the lounge, and for mom and dad, the espresso machine and cocktail hour can not be beat! They have a private character meeting for concierge guests only, which is geared for the little ones (and adults too...lets be honest...). Having the lounge allowed us to have some nice settle down time without having to always head back to our room to have it. If getting specific reservations are important to you, sailing concierge is the way to guarantee what you want.

I will also say that we are not first class flyers or 5 star hotel stayers. Sailing concierge means more saving on our end and we make sure to save money in other areas (bringing our own alcohol on board, sailing in off season, etc). But we have found it makes our sailing experience with our, shall we say, "lively" boys easier and more enjoyable. Now, that being said, now that our boys are getting to the age when taking them out of school is harder and more stressful for them, we probably won't be able to afford the concierge rooms in peak season....and we will know we will have a great time without those extra services, but we will swing it as long as we can. If you can, it is worth it, IMHO.

 

[1Winston]

You don't have to be a 1st class flyer to appreciate concierge. We love it and highly recommend it. We would not cruise the dream class ships without it. We would rather skip a year of vacation and save for the concierge. Our children LOVE the lounge and the staff make their trip. The fantasy concierge staff was incredible and the kids loved Anne Marie on the dream.
It is an amazing trip and especially on sea days the lounge and sundeck are lovely. I would say in your case do it!!!!

 

[Bear3412]

No

 

[tinkerone]

everybody is going to have a different opinion of this. mine is that I could take a four day cruise and sail concierge or take a seven day cruise without concierge and pay the same.
guess what I choose......

 

[Bear3412]

Deluxe veranda, .... first timer, ..... save your $$$. IOW, stay put, IMO.

Say no to CL, while you can. lol. unless you are considering the Cat T.
I'm still not confident a Cat T is necessary for a 4 day.

This is a short sailing. Not worth the extra big bucks for CL. IMO.

You will be out and about, busy as ever, and will not need the CL benefits.
Nor will you be in said cabin. You, and group will be excited and mobile the entire time.
CL will be a waste of $ this time. Trust me. You can do all that CL stuff the next time.
You will actually spend little time on your veranda, if the averages play out.

For active first timers, CL could be a waste. As your group will always be mobile and engaged.
Just a plausible scenario.

For your 1st sailing I would save your $$$.
CL level is nice, but not needed on a short 3-5 day sailing. Especially if if it is your first sailing.

You will survive in a cat 5, 7, 6, 4, whatever, and save $2K minimum.

And you will have the same wonderful experiences as all aboard regardless of cabin category.

Best of Luck

HTH

 

[bumbershoot]

It's really going to depend on the price difference, too.

Our first DCL cruise, we had a room booked that was the top option just under category V. One day a V came open. It was about $100 more per day of our cruise. TOTALLY worth that $300ish total extra cost (3 night cruise). Of course, then add on extra tips for the concierge hosts and bartender (and there is no guideline for tips for them, before you ask).

 

[robin19871]

We have sailed both non concierge as well as concierge and both were great cruises. With that said, if money is not an issue then we would choose concierge hands down. I know that some say that they would rather use that extra money that they saved from non concierge to cruise more but for us, that is not possible. So we take our 1 cruise and go all out. However, the price has to be right even for us. Exactly one week before our cruise in August, our Cat V is 4k more for the exact same room. We would not do that because it is just too much money for us. However, our Cat V was only $1,500.00 more for a week on the Fantasy. That to me was a great deal. If money is not an issue then it is great.. If you are going to sacrifice excursions and other things to be able to sail concierge then it is not.

 

[undertheradar]

We sail concierge and would only change if booking a T or higher. We like space, the added bathroom, the ability to have MDR in our stateroom. The lounge and concierge services are an added bonus, but the larger stateroom is our first choice.

 

[mahermusic]

Concierge!!!

 

[SnowWhite2]

I'm obviously in the minority but I didn't think that the concierge level was "all that". We spent a lot of time in the cabin and in the lounge just to make sure we felt we got our money's worth. I thought the CL hosts were OK but not great. I got tired of one of them saying the same corny lines to each person in the lounge. I know other people love him, I think it's just an act and not sincere. The one time I asked for something - booking my next cruise - when we were at the arrival meeting, it didn't happen. At the agreed to time, I asked one of the lounge hosts when future bookings would arrive and they called down to get someone up there. The guy came up and we booked the cruise but I felt awkward making him come up at the last minute. It wasn't my fault but the hosts fault in not following through and scheduling it.

I was also surprised that they didn't do anything besides give us a special moments certificate as this was a special cruise for our 30th anniversary. Oh well. We went to AKL CL afterwards and were treated like royalty.

 

[bumbershoot]

We spent a lot of time in the cabin and in the lounge just to make sure we felt we got our money's worth.

I got tired of one of them saying the same corny lines to each person in the lounge. I know other people love him, I think it's just an act and not sincere

Agreed and agreed. I think it was the day the lithographs were presented (I liked it when they just left it in our room like on our first concierge cruise), and he presented it to DS in this big huge over the top way, to a 10 year old who has cruised concierge before, as the way he presented it to a 3 year old 5 minutes later. The 3 year old ate it up. Almost any 10 year old, however, needs to be spoken to without the baby voice "guess what I have" stuff.

DH especially thinks concierge on Dream is all that...and I adore how the staterooms look, but we can easily cruise non-concierge. Like I said above, I only do it when the price difference is minimal. Since that's rare now....

Eh, our next two cruises are on Royal anyway.