Disappointed not going concierge after concierge cruise?

[Dizduke]

My family and I went on a 3-night Bahamas trip previously on the dream as a celebration and stayed in a 1-bedroom suite. We booked an onboard future cruise placeholder but things just aren't in the cards to go concierge again within the time frame. Most trips its 2x or more to go the concierge route. Has anyone here been disappointed going non-concierge once you had gone before? I took full advantage of the food throughout the day in the lounge and wasn't a big fan of cabanas so I'm concerned about the food situation ( I eat a lot). I guess this decision is either to make it work or eat the cost of the placeholder.

 

[MUN]

My family and I went on a 3-night Bahamas trip previously on the dream as a celebration and stayed in a 1-bedroom suite. We booked an onboard future cruise placeholder but things just aren't in the cards to go concierge again within the time frame. Most trips its 2x or more to go the concierge route. Has anyone here been disappointed going non-concierge once you had gone before? I took full advantage of the food throughout the day in the lounge and wasn't a big fan of cabanas so I'm concerned about the food situation ( I eat a lot). I guess this decision is either to make it work or eat the cost of the placeholder.

You should still be able to get enough to eat as a non-concierge guest.

 

[DCLDVC1]

Our first cruise was in concierge and our second wasn't and I can say the second wasn't nearly as enjoyable as the first. It was a completely different experience and we've decided we'll only cruise concierge in the future.

 

[bumbershoot]

We've done two category V cruises on Dream (the smaller concierge room), a large single porthole room, and an inside stateroom, and we have enjoyed each cruise equally. Oh and it went concierge 12528?, inside (don't recall room), concierge 12008?, big porthole 6666.

 

[mjfisherdc]

Our first was concierge, the second was not. The only complaint I had was how long it took to get things from our room steward. Then my husband reminded me we weren't in concierge anymore. We were on vacation....I had time to be patient. We were still on a Disney cruise and had a blast. Do I prefer concierge? Yes! Can I still have an enjoyable cruise without it? Yes! Remember, you can order room service if you don't like Cabanas or go to the places by the pool.

 

[Skiton]

Our first cruise was non-concierge, our second was concierge. Personally, I wasn't all that wowed by the concierge experience. It was definitely nice, but I didn't feel like my service was any better than before. The lounge was fine, but it's not like there's a lot of food options in there. We preferred Cabanas for breakfast, actually. The biggest benefit to concierge IMO was being able to book at 120 days, and scoring a cabana on CC was great. Also having our pick of times at Palo and Remy. Beyond that, though, I'd say we had just as nice an experience the first time around as we did the second.

 

[OKW Lover]

My family and I went on a 3-night Bahamas trip previously on the dream as a celebration and stayed in a 1-bedroom suite. We booked an onboard future cruise placeholder but things just aren't in the cards to go concierge again within the time frame. Most trips its 2x or more to go the concierge route. Has anyone here been disappointed going non-concierge once you had gone before? I took full advantage of the food throughout the day in the lounge and wasn't a big fan of cabanas so I'm concerned about the food situation ( I eat a lot). I guess this decision is either to make it work or eat the cost of the placeholder.

Yes, there is life after a concierge cruise.

We've done 3 (soon to be 4) more cruises after our DCL concierge cruise and lived to tell about it. Disappointed? Not at all. Always plenty to eat at either cabanas (which has a huge selection - did you walk all the way around it?) or from the windows near the pool area. As a last resort, there is also room service.

 

[sillecruisers]

Our first cruise was concierge, our second will not be. Concierge was amazing, yes, but the things that made it so, we will be fine without. For our concierge cruise we were at the front of the ship. For our next one, we will be right in the back. I figure Cabanas will be our "concierge lounge" and we'll run up there whenever we want food or whatever. We are not trying to get a cabana this time, and that was our main reason for going concierge the first time. We loved the huge room (cat T) but the next one will just be my daughter and me, so I'm fine with a smaller room, and excited that we snagged a 5E (verandah facing out the back of the ship- our family of 5 couldn't get this room because it is only for 4). Long story short, I am not worried in the slightest about not going concierge on our next cruise.

 

[jlemieu1]

Also keep in mind you can try items from Room Services. There might be something you like from there.
Honestly I'm almost more partial from eating from the pool deck food versus Cabana's for lunch and snacks.
I like the food from the lounge but I really end up getting more from the soda cooler and popcorn than I did the finger foods.

 

[mtil]

We did the Dream in concierge twice (Cat V) and switched to an ocean view on the Fantasy (8B). The main thing that we missed was the coffee machine. The coffee from Cove Cafe was good but we remembered the lounge coffee was better. Other than that we were happy not being in concierge and in some ways non-concierge was better. We preferred the layout of the non-concierge room for my family of 5, much easier having the kids in separate beds versus having two share the sofa bed in the V. We also preferred being in the back of the boat versus up front. Closer to the restaurants and kids clubs. We also found that many of the afternoon treats that we liked from the lounge were served at Cove Cafe.

 

[cgolf]

We did a Cat V two years in a row on the Fantasy, and while we absolutely loved it, I found we did less around the ship and hung out more in the concierge areas including our room, one of which had the bump out veranda. Since our last Fantasy cruise we have sailed inside on the Magic and couldn't be happier.

I will say that we didn't use the hosts for much more than printing our boarding passes. We actually interacted with the bartenders more, they were very friendly on both trips. So losing that was not a huge deal for us. If your family made use of the concierge staff though there will definately be an adjustment.

 

[SuperDry]

I've only done Concierge in a 1-bedroom or Royal, and not in a regular concierge room, so it's a bit difficult for me to separate the benefit of having the larger room vs the concierge service. If you look at the price difference between a regular verandah room and a concierge one of the same type, it always impresses me just how much more they charge for concierge. I just don't think it's worth it for what you get. Now, add in a 1-bedroom cabin, and then the benefit is as much the bigger room as it is concierge service, if not more IMHO. If they were available separately, I'd probably prefer to get a non-concierge 1-bedroom.

 

[Dizduke]

Our first cruise was in concierge and our second wasn't and I can say the second wasn't nearly as enjoyable as the first. It was a completely different experience and we've decided we'll only cruise concierge in the future.

How was it a different experience? What were you missing?

 

[Jillikins]

I've only done Concierge in a 1-bedroom or Royal, and not in a regular concierge room, so it's a bit difficult for me to separate the benefit of having the larger room vs the concierge service. If you look at the price difference between a regular verandah room and a concierge one of the same type, it always impresses me just how much more they charge for concierge. I just don't think it's worth it for what you get. Now, add in a 1-bedroom cabin, and then the benefit is as much the bigger room as it is concierge service, if not more IMHO. If they were available separately, I'd probably prefer to get a non-concierge 1-bedroom.

Our first DCL cruise was in a 1-bedroom concierge room. This time we are going with a standard concierge cabin. I can tell you that I was stalking the DCL website for months debating on whether to get the 1-bedroom again - but the $5,000 extra just doesn't make sense (except when it does OMG). It is no longer available so I can stop that seriously unhealthy stalking activity but ... I still want it.

This is my long-winded and nonsensical way of saying that I won't cruise unless it's concierge. I just like all of the extras too much, and space is a big one for me. (I really wish we had the 1-bedroom, dangit.)

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

My family and I went on a 3-night Bahamas trip previously on the dream as a celebration and stayed in a 1-bedroom suite. We booked an onboard future cruise placeholder but things just aren't in the cards to go concierge again within the time frame. Most trips its 2x or more to go the concierge route. Has anyone here been disappointed going non-concierge once you had gone before? I took full advantage of the food throughout the day in the lounge and wasn't a big fan of cabanas so I'm concerned about the food situation ( I eat a lot). I guess this decision is either to make it work or eat the cost of the placeholder.

The only thing I would add to the above is the placeholder is refundable as long as you cxl 90 days before your must sail date. That is unless you booked a concierge placeholder, which I don't even know if there is such a thing.

 

[phinz]

We've been concierge and we've not been concierge. We're going concierge again in November. We like both. We prefer concierge, but that doesn't stop us from booking VGT (that won't happen again because of crappy room placement) or other steerage cabins. In fact, my wife just yesterday said that she wants to try an inside stateroom on the Fantasy sometime, or one of the big Deck 5 Forward Oceanview rooms.

 

[TestingH2O]

We did Cat V last summer and are trying Cat T this spring. Next February we are doing the 8A split floor plan on deck 5. Since these are our first cruises, I think there's a lot of benefit in trying different things to see what we like.

 

[Bella29]

We have cruised 7 times, only 1 concierge (our third cruise). After that one we went back to regular rooms because we just didn't feel the value was there for concierge. We didn't miss anything! In fact, I found the concierge staff to be unhelpful and.. I guess unkind is the word. They did a few things for us but seemed weirdly grudging about it (and we weren't asking for much). Which is strange because I find most of the other staff to be very kind and helpful - I always run out of room on the comment cards filling in the names of the people who made our cruise magical! The only concierge benefit that I have ever missed was having more options for ordering room service @ breakfast, but my kids don't mind going up to Cabana's and I can either have them bring me back a croissant or use the door hangar to pre-order. It's the same food afaik. We were on the Magic before the lounge so I am not familiar with their food options.

We also tried a cabana on CC and felt the same way. It was nice but not a big deal. For our last 2 cruises there were cabanas available when I checked in so I instinctively grabbed them but ended up canceling as we just didn't care to use them.

Now a balcony is something we would definitely miss, so we would never book a room without one again (our first cruise was a porthole room). It's different for everyone so I don't know that you can truly answer your question until you give it a try on the other side of the tracks.

 

[Bear3412]

.... a concierge placeholder, which I don't even know if there is such a thing.

There was 4 months months ago IRRC. Well, I'll rephrase, ... It was implied at the future cruise desk.

DCL; "Yes, we will help you book a future CL booking. Unsure of your sail date? No problem, we will book a CL non refundable place holder date for you. You don't need a specific date. That's the beauty of it. You have all the flexibility. The choice is in your court. Do you understand the [ridiculous limiting] parameters and non refundable language listed here? If so, or not, sign here."

Not sure why any future pax would book this, unless they truly knew they would sail CL within a year. And actually booked a specific cabin and sailing that they felt had limited cabins or whatnot.

I feel it would be helpful in these CL discussions to mention the vessel, itinerary, and date/year which is severely lacking.
I'm confident the Fantasy would fare well, IMO.

I have a hard time accepting someone on the Fantasy CL unhappy.
One thought though, is during the summer, if you are Cat V. Perhaps explainable.\

Safe Sails

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

There was 4 months months ago IRRC. Well, I'll rephrase, ... It was implied at the future cruise desk.

DCL; "Yes, we will help you book a future CL booking. Unsure of your sail date? No problem, we will book a CL non refundable place holder date for you. You don't need a specific date. That's the beauty of it. You have all the flexibility. The choice is in your court. Do you understand the [ridiculous limiting] parameters and non refundable language listed here? If so, or not, sign here."

Not sure why any future pax would book this, unless they truly knew they would sail CL within a year. And actually booked a specific cabin and sailing that they felt had limited cabins or whatnot.

I feel it would be helpful in these CL discussions to mention the vessel, itinerary, and date/year which is severely lacking.
I'm confident the Fantasy would fare well, IMO.

I have a hard time accepting someone on the Fantasy CL unhappy.
One thought though, is during the summer, if you are Cat V. Perhaps explainable.\

Safe Sails

Thanks for the info. But it makes no logical sense to me why someone would book a non-refundable place holder deposit. Do you have to put more money down than the $200 regular placeholder? If you do, then that makes even less sense to me.