Concierge traveling with non-concierge

[1Winston]

Hi everyone,
We are traveling with one family in concierge and the other two not. Would the non-concierge families be able to board early with us? I know they are not allowed in the lounge or sundeck correct? Anything else we should prepare for. I hope this wont cause a lot of problems. Anyone else do this?
Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Dug720]

Short answer - possibly if you beg. BUT you will be ushered to the Lounge and they will have nowhere to go.

 

[1Winston]

Short answer - possibly if you beg. BUT you will be ushered to the Lounge and they will have nowhere to go.

Thanks! Couldn't they just hang out on the ship like everyone else who isn't concierge does? Just a way to get everyone on early? Also do you have to BEG?

 

[Dug720]

Thanks! Couldn't they just hang out on the ship like everyone else who isn't concierge does? Just a way to get everyone on early? Also do you have to BEG?

It is not a perk of "friends staying in concierge", so yes.

And there would not be other people on as concierge boards first.

 

[TestingH2O]

And there would not be other people on as concierge boards first.

Concierge and platinum, right? And family of the day. And B2B cruisers.

If they let the non-concierge family board, I really don't think they'd be alone. Now, whether they do or not is a toss up and probably not something I'd ask about.

 

[1Winston]

Thanks! Couldn't they just hang out on the ship like everyone else who isn't concierge does? Just a way to get everyone on early? Also do you have to BEG?

Yes, we've done concierge but the other families board just after concierge no?

 

[kaseyC]

One or two people, you may not have a problem having them board with you. Two families may be tough, like @Dug720 posted you may have to beg and they still could say no. What would probably be best for everyone is for your family to wait and board with your friends.

 

[1Winston]

One or two people, you may not have a problem having them board with you. Two families may be tough, like @Dug720 posted you may have to beg and they still could say no. What would probably be best for everyone is for your family to wait and board with your friends.

Thank you! We may and really not a big deal when people board, just thought it would be nice and wanted to know if anyone had experience with this.

 

[Bree]

My thought is if you want the perks of concierge then book concierge. At the inflated prices DCL charges for that level of stateroom I would be a bit miffed if I paid for it and then they let Susie and all her friends and family who are not concierge board with her.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

Hi everyone,
We are traveling with one family in concierge and the other two not. Would the non-concierge families be able to board early with us? I know they are not allowed in the lounge or sundeck correct? Anything else we should prepare for. I hope this wont cause a lot of problems. Anyone else do this?
Thanks so much in advance.

There is very limited space in the concierge/platinum area at the DCL building. It gets very crowded. You could ask at check-in and the worst they can say is no. We are always escorted to the concierge waiting area after check-in.

 

[1Winston]

Yes for sure. I have never been to the San Juan terminal, anyone know the size of that concierge area? Just curious.

 

[texasgingerbread]

I was told you could ask for them to have Boarding #1 and they would receive it if someone in their party is Concierge. YMMV

 

[1Winston]

I was told you could ask for them to have Boarding #1 and they would receive it if someone in their party is Concierge. YMMV

This is very good information. Thank you so much.

 

[Marc D]

Short answer - possibly if you beg. BUT you will be ushered to the Lounge and they will have nowhere to go.

We always drop our escort and go to lunch before we go to the lounge. That way, we are first at the buffet in the sit-down venue and the other Concierge families have all been taken care of when we get to the lounge. If I was sailing with a non-Concierge family, our usual method would allow us to eat first lunch with them then go the Lounge while they take possession of their stateroom.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I was told you could ask for them to have Boarding #1 and they would receive it if someone in their party is Concierge. YMMV

If true, I find it sad that DCL would do that. I agree with the poster about "if I pay for Concierge perks, I don't want non-Concierge people also enjoying them".

If a large group (more than one room) wants Concierge perks, then they should all book Concierge.

 

[marissabee]

We booked concierge for our immediate family, and a verandah room for Grandma. She was able to do and use all the things we did (lounge, early booking, etc...) We were in the Walt suite...not sure if that made a difference.

 

[timrousbeastie]

Hi everyone,
We are traveling with one family in concierge and the other two not. Would the non-concierge families be able to board early with us? I know they are not allowed in the lounge or sundeck correct? Anything else we should prepare for. I hope this wont cause a lot of problems. Anyone else do this?
Thanks so much in advance.

Personally, I would definitely err on the side of gracefulness here. It could end up an awkward start to your cruise otherwise. If you talk privately to concierges after they get to know you, they may share some unfiltered thoughts on all the spoiled guests with entitlement issues that they have to deal with. It is clear from your post that you mean well and are not among the latter group, but it is just not the right thing to try to do. My completely honest advice is to make sure to leave a good first impression on the concierge team: it will make your interaction more enjoyable and may even pay off later. I once had a situation once where things didn't go as planned and the concierge team did something very special and unusual for our party later in the cruise.

 

[1Winston]

Personally, I would definitely err on the side of gracefulness here. It could end up an awkward start to your cruise otherwise. If you talk privately to concierges after they get to know you, they may share some unfiltered thoughts on all the spoiled guests with entitlement issues that they have to deal with. It is clear from your post that you mean well and are not among the latter group, but it is just not the right thing to try to do. My completely honest advice is to make sure to leave a good first impression on the concierge team: it will make your interaction more enjoyable and may even pay off later. I once had a situation once where things didn't go as planned and the concierge team did something very special and unusual for our party later in the cruise.

Thank you for your note. Honestly we have loved our time with all the hosts we've traveled with on the various ships and the kids are so excited to see the familiar faces of them when we luck out and get someone we have sailed with before. We are pretty low maintenance and would never want to cause problems. I just wondered about boarding together. Looks like we will likely wait to see what boarding number they get and go with them. They are first time cruisers so do they get last choice for boarding time? I'm not sure when that gets assigned or how they can request a boarding time.

 

[perditax]

Boarding early is a concierge perk. One that people pay for.

 

[1Winston]

If true, I find it sad that DCL would do that. I agree with the poster about "if I pay for Concierge perks, I don't want non-Concierge people also enjoying them".

If a large group (more than one room) wants Concierge perks, then they should all book Concierge.

I am totally different than you in that I honestly could care less if other people enjoyed the perks. I wasn't implying I wanted the other parties to have any perks aside from enquiring if we could board together. We will happily board at a later time. Not a big deal. Thanks to everyone for their responses.