Insane concierge prices - not worth it?

[timrousbeastie]

in truth i was very disappointed with one aspect of concierge...
i asked for help with my legally blind mom...
i requested that they either let us into the theater early or reserve a seat for her in the front row (the only row from where she can see anything at all)..
they claimed they would and then they did nothing at all..
my poor mother was so disappointed she gave up going to the theater at all...
it wasn't that big a request....
and there was no way i could maneuver my legally blind mom and my very mobile challenged sister (with ovarian cancer)..
concierge was useless and didn't even apologize...

compare that to royal caribbean - i took my mom to alaska on radiance of the seas...we were in just a regular old verandah room...not even concierge..
the crew bent over backwards helping my mom...it was totally amazing..including reserving a seat for her in the front row of the theater every single night...it was such a relief for her to be able to see - albeit still just a little....but at least that...

and again, that was just standard service on the radiance..

whereas on the Dream - the concierge did nothing even when i begged them to help....
and i assure you i wasn't obnoxious.....i'm personally quite low maintenance...this was just a request to help someone who is officially legally blind...(and is obviously very low vision when you see her)..
anyway...

it was very disappointing...
i also had the feeling that the concierge hosts were being saccharine sweet in their pursuit of tips..

back when we first started with DCL, the concierge hosts were a non-tipping position....i enjoyed it much better then as i didnt' have a feeling that the hosts were focused on that one goal...

I am sorry you had such a bad experience. Unfortunately, as reasonable as reserving seats sounds, I think it would have been very difficult to accommodate at DCL, short of having a cast member sit in the seat until you arrived. However, your suggestion of getting early access sounds like something a dedicated concierge just might have been able to arrange with an extra effort.

In truth, I always dread getting seats in the theater since the occasion seems to bring the worst out in some people. It is one of the few situations on the whole cruise that I feel can be unpleasant.

We are sailing Royal Caribbean for the first time next year and I believe they do reserve seats for concierge guests. That is a nice service, in particular because I have tried traveling with guests with mobility issues: that was an important reason why we booked a suite on the Fantasy last year. In our case, the concierges were always very nice in terms of escorting us off the ship at each port. That is a godsend when you have grandparents who otherwise would be in agony standing in line.

 

[Dug720]

I am sorry you had such a bad experience. Unfortunately, as reasonable as reserving seats sounds, I think it would have been very difficult to accommodate at DCL, short of having a cast member sit in the seat until you arrived. However, your suggestion of getting early access sounds like something a dedicated concierge just might have been able to arrange with an extra effort.

In truth, I always dread getting seats in the theater since the occasion seems to bring the worst out in some people. It is one of the few situations on the whole cruise that I feel can be unpleasant.

We are sailing Royal Caribbean for the first time next year and I believe they do reserve seats for concierge guests. That is a nice service, in particular because I have tried traveling with guests with mobility issues: that was an important reason why we booked a suite on the Fantasy last year. In our case, the concierges were always very nice in terms of escorting us off the ship at each port. That is a godsend when you have grandparents who otherwise would be in agony standing in line.

They do, but at least on the Radiance and Brilliance they are in the balcony/mezzanine. They are NOT front row. (Probably because they get that front row really is NOT the best seats in the house.)