Concierge Questions (Especially Re: Gluten)

[Shanti]

I just found out that our school district is giving us the first week of January off next year, which is the green light to book a more affordable than usual DCL winter cruise. Cruising concierge (OOV) on the Dream during this week costs about the same as cruising in an oceanview cabin during Christmas week, so for the first time I'm considering sailing concierge. I have a few questions:

1. Do they have gluten-free items (besides plain fruit) available in the concierge lounge? My young son is required to be gluten-free, so the lounge won't be a perk if he can't enjoy any of the sweet treats on display there.
2. Do you automatically get a private table in the MDR when you book concierge? This is a huge consideration for us, as we're a party of two and don't like eating with strangers. (Yes, I request a private table every time when booking non-concierge, but that request has been ignored every time, and then I have to race to dining changes upon boarding to beg for a private table...would just love to skip that routine for once and get to relax upon boarding.)
3. If you book a cabana, will the servers there bring your lunch from Cookies for you, or do you have to get it yourself? (The former would help a lot, as we always have to wait around 30 minutes for our pre-ordered gluten-free lunch to arrive.)
4. Will attendants get food from the pool deck for you and bring it to the concierge sun deck, by any chance? (Again, this would be a lot nicer than waiting around for 10-15 minutes for my son's gluten-free pizza to cook.)

Thanks for any useful info from those with experience!

 

[Trera]

1. not sure about Gluten free
2. No, we just got off the Wonder in a concierge room we upgraded to and we were put with another family at dinner. They were super sweet and our 3 year old loved talking with their 3 year old DD as well.
3. You have to get your own lunch from Cookies too if you are at the family cabana, but its not far away and you can bring it back. I am not sure about serenity bay cabanas as we have never been to serenity bay before.
4. I have not seen waiters ever bring food to the concierge sun decks.

 

[Shanti]

1. not sure about Gluten free
2. No, we just got off the Wonder in a concierge room we upgraded to and we were put with another family at dinner. They were super sweet and our 3 year old loved talking with their 3 year old DD as well.
3. You have to get your own lunch from Cookies too if you are at the family cabana, but its not far away and you can bring it back. I am not sure about serenity bay cabanas as we have never been to serenity bay before.
4. I have not seen waiters ever bring food to the concierge sun decks.

Thanks for the info. Did you request a private table from concierge shoreside, by any chance?

 

[bumbershoot]

We have dietary restrictions and just assume there will be nothing we can eat in the lounge. You could request things but I personally would have no confidence that they would have anything at all for him other than fruit.

The default is to have a private table. This doesn't always happen as you can see from the first response. But you can request it in the shoreside email at 120 days out and it is almost certain to be fulfilled.

They do not get you your food.

They do not bring you food.


Basically it's a lounge, there's food that maybe people can eat, there are sodas and waters and a cappuccino machine and an included adult beverage time each evening before dinner seatings. Private sundeck, much more likely to get a cabana. concierge "service" through Disney never compares to a TRUE concierge level at a ridiculously expensive place. It's decent, but it's not everything one can imagine.

 

[Trera]

we have never requested a private table but have had tablemates in 4 or our 12 cruises.

 

[ajo]

I think the cabana hosts might go to Cookies One and get the gluten free meal for you. We recently had a cabana and we have kids with food restrictions. It sounds like you already know this, but the special food orders are only delivered to Cookies One. The cabanas are close to Cookies Two, not Cookies One.

Our cabana host asked us something about lunch and we said we would be walking to Cookies One to get the special order for the kids. The host said, "Oh, no. We'll go and get it for you." We hadn't even thought to ask them to get it for us. The host just offered. And we very much appreciated it!

 

[Notso]

There have never been gf options in the lounge, but they have attempted to have things for my daughter with celiac (popcorn, shakes, gf items sent to the room, etc). Those items are never on the buffet and ymmv.

We've had a cabana twice and once they did bring my daughter's meal but it isn't something I'd depend on. I can't honestly even remember why they brought it.

 

[Shanti]

Thanks for sharing, everyone. The lack of gf items in the lounge sounds pretty lame, as the lounge is one of the bigger draws of concierge, and one or two gf sweets wouldn't be hard to routinely provide. I'm also unimpressed by the lack of a guaranteed private table in the MDR. A $600 cabana never held that much appeal- don't know how much this active mom & son would even use one, so we'll likely choose cost-savings over concierge, as concierge doesn't seem to offer enough amenities to make it worthwhile for us. We can add on a few deluxe resort & park days at Disney with our savings.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thanks for sharing, everyone. The lack of gf items in the lounge sounds pretty lame, as the lounge is one of the bigger draws of concierge, and one or two gf sweets wouldn't be hard to routinely provide. I'm also unimpressed by the lack of a guaranteed private table in the MDR. A $600 cabana never held that much appeal- don't know how much this active mom & son would even use one, so we'll likely choose cost-savings over concierge, as concierge doesn't seem to offer enough amenities to make it worthwhile for us. We can add on a few deluxe resort & park days at Disney with our savings.

I've always heard that Concierge guests are assigned their own table, unless you request otherwise. I have to wonder of the poster who reported being seated with others already had their seating assignment, since they said they upgraded to Concierge. @Trera did you upgrade at the port, or earlier (before your cruise)?

 

[Bear3412]

we have never requested a private table but have had tablemates in 4 or our 12 cruises.

We have sailed 7-8 times, and have never had table mates unless requested. 0 - 8, for us.

Just trying to confirm you post.

Are you saying you booked/sailed Concierge Level from the outset on 12 sailings, not port upgrades right?

And by booking CL level from the outset, you have had to share a table in the MDR's , 4 of 12 sailings without request ?

I find that unlikely.

You realize we are discussing CL bookings. They often vary from regular bookings regarding MDR assignments.

I suspect you were not sailing CL, and had normal MDR assignments. That is what makes sense. JMO

After reviewing the previous posts;
from Trera; "we just got off the Wonder in a concierge room we upgraded to and we were put with another family at dinner."

When you upgrade at port often it's too late for a private table for your party. fwiw.

Booking CL from the outset for your party significantly helps securing a private table for your party.
In fact, it is a given, and standard operating procedure for CL guests.

Perhaps you misunderstood. ? ?

If I'm mistaken please enlighten me.

And I apologize if I completely misunderstood the OP. ...... It has happened prior.

 

[Bear3412]

.... I'm also unimpressed by the lack of a guaranteed private table in the MDR. .....

This is incorrect. .... In fact, the opposite exists.
If you book CL in advance you will have a private table for your party. Unless you request otherwise in advance.

Regardless of noise posted here.

Trust me.

ETA; How did this rumor get started?

 

[MunFam]

Just FYI, our DD has food allergies and I requested a private table to avoid cross contamination and disappointment on our DD's behalf when the rest of the table ordered all sorts of yummy things that she could not eat. The request was granted and we were only in a deluxe oceanview.

Also, as a GF person myself, I was very disappointed in the GF selections available on board. This was in 2015 on the Wonder. Being from SoCal, we have GF bakeries all over the place, so seeing the slim offerings on DCL left me going what the heck? There were dry, hard, white rolls, Udis frozen GF pizza crusts, one off brand of frozen GF waffles, frozen Udis GF sugar cinnamon donuts, and a frozen mac n cheese offered. There was also a GF sandwich bread, I think. No GF hamburger or hot dog buns. Desserts offered were naturally GF items like Creme Brulee or ice creams.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

Basically it's a lounge, there's food that maybe people can eat, there are sodas and waters and a cappuccino machine and an included adult beverage time each evening before dinner seatings. Private sundeck, much more likely to get a cabana. concierge "service" through Disney never compares to a TRUE concierge level at a ridiculously expensive place. It's decent, but it's not everything one can imagine.

FYI....They have changed the adult beverage hours to 5-10 in the lounge. Nice to get an after dinner drink if you have late seating.

 

[Trera]

I've always heard that Concierge guests are assigned their own table, unless you request otherwise. I have to wonder of the poster who reported being seated with others already had their seating assignment, since they said they upgraded to Concierge. @Trera did you upgrade at the port, or earlier (before your cruise)?

We did do a port upgrade on our last cruise so I guess it makes sense we had a chance to sit with someone.

I guess we dont really mind one way or another if we sit with someone, so I never really analyzed which cruises were booked which way and if we sat with someone or not.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

We sail concuerge on The Dream and have never had tablemates.

They will do special food in the lounge they do for me.

Not sure re cabana.

It is amazing do enjoy!

 

[WiscMomof2]

Here is the direct quote from the reply I received from Shoreside Concierge when I asked about table arrangements last month:

"We seat concierge staterooms at private tables unless they request to be seated with another party".

 

[jlemieu1]

I just found out that our school district is giving us the first week of January off next year, which is the green light to book a more affordable than usual DCL winter cruise. Cruising concierge (OOV) on the Dream during this week costs about the same as cruising in an oceanview cabin during Christmas week, so for the first time I'm considering sailing concierge. I have a few questions:

1. Do they have gluten-free items (besides plain fruit) available in the concierge lounge? My young son is required to be gluten-free, so the lounge won't be a perk if he can't enjoy any of the sweet treats on display there.
2. Do you automatically get a private table in the MDR when you book concierge? This is a huge consideration for us, as we're a party of two and don't like eating with strangers. (Yes, I request a private table every time when booking non-concierge, but that request has been ignored every time, and then I have to race to dining changes upon boarding to beg for a private table...would just love to skip that routine for once and get to relax upon boarding.)
3. If you book a cabana, will the servers there bring your lunch from Cookies for you, or do you have to get it yourself? (The former would help a lot, as we always have to wait around 30 minutes for our pre-ordered gluten-free lunch to arrive.)
4. Will attendants get food from the pool deck for you and bring it to the concierge sun deck, by any chance? (Again, this would be a lot nicer than waiting around for 10-15 minutes for my son's gluten-free pizza to cook.)

Thanks for any useful info from those with experience!

1. I'm not sure they have gluten-free stuff out all the time. If you let them know they will put stuff out that is gluten-free. They are usually super helpful on those requests. On another note I recommend you tell the head server in MDR about this right away just in case they missed it or didn't tell them all be a rare occasion this happens.
2. I have done concierge 5 times and we always had a private table. Early dinning can be tricky but they usually will handle concierge request first.
3. The concierge staff is the cabana staff, just let them know and they can arrange it. Plus there is a little push button in your cabana you can get hold of them.
4. Hmmm.... that might be a tough request. The sun deck never really gets that busy. Also the quick server food on deck 11 is a pretty quick walk. The lounge will have a selection of light snacks at all times. Plus is usually lose my appetite when I cruise because I having so much fun.

 

[Shanti]

This is incorrect. .... In fact, the opposite exists.
If you book CL in advance you will have a private table for your party. Unless you request otherwise in advance.

Regardless of noise posted here.

Trust me.

ETA; How did this rumor get started?

Good to know- that's what I had originally thought before seeing a report staring otherwise.

 

[Shanti]

We sail concuerge on The Dream and have never had tablemates.

They will do special food in the lounge they do for me.

Not sure re cabana.

It is amazing do enjoy!

Did you request & get gluten-free food in the lounge, by any chance? Thanks!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Did you request & get gluten-free food in the lounge, by any chance? Thanks!

I did not but when we were running through the options of my needs it was on the list for you.