Is Concierge really worth the extra cost?

[trife.]

We recently took our first cruise on the Dream at the concierge level. I totally didn’t think it was worth it at first. Then while at port in Nassau, my wife called them to ask if there was anywhere on the ship that sold Red Bull. After a few minutes of calling around, Tracey let us know that they only sold Monster energy drinks onboard.

So an hour later we get a knock on our door. It’s Tracey with 2 cases of Red Bull. I was FLOORED. They had someone go off the ship into Nassau and get us Red Bull. Yeah, it’s a minor detail but it really let me know they were working to make things smooth and special for us. I totally did NOT expect that level of service, nor did I really care to receive it. But now that I’ve experienced it, it’ll be hard to not book concierge from here on out.

If you can swing it money-wise, I say go for it. I still say it’s way overpriced, but the perks are definitely nice. They make an already great experience just a little better, IMO.

 

[abuck75]

Another concierge question. If I have one Palo night booked prior to boarding ship, can I book a second Palo dinner upon arrival to the ship, or do I need to wait for us to have our first dinner (night 3) and see if something is still available for night 6?

 

[Trera]

Another concierge question. If I have one Palo night booked prior to boarding ship, can I book a second Palo dinner upon arrival to the ship, or do I need to wait for us to have our first dinner (night 3) and see if something is still available for night 6?

We havent done it before but we have heard of people eating in Palo every night. I think if they have room, they will get you in.

We typically book a dinner and a brunch for each cruise

 

[wjs3]

Another concierge question. If I have one Palo night booked prior to boarding ship, can I book a second Palo dinner upon arrival to the ship, or do I need to wait for us to have our first dinner (night 3) and see if something is still available for night 6?

Ask to book it now (assuming you're within your window). Ask shoreside. Then cancel if you don't want it.

Any way you play it, you should be fine...

My experience has been that they don't really say no to concierge guests for any reasonable request, reservation, etc. We changed Palo and Remy multiple times and got spa services that were ostensibly booked (and then changed them too) as Concierge guests. Your request sounds like nothing compared to that.

I'm sure that I should caveat this with a "that might not always be the case" but they really seem to bend over backwards to make everything a "yes" given the price you are paying and the service you therefore expect.

 

[abuck75]

Thanks for the heads up

 

[AquaDame]

Elemis products come standard in Concierge...if you'd prefer H2O (or both) let them know and they'll make that happen. Want a particular soft drink that's not usually stocked on the ship (like Dr. Pepper or Mt Dew)? Put in your request, and they'll do their best to have it stocked in your stateroom fridge on arrival. You might also review the pillow menu and put in your requests with shoreside so it will be taken care of on arrival (you can also ask when you get there and they can hook you up quickly). These are just a few examples of things I've heard people request from shoreside...

Really???? I did not know that about the soda! May be time to put in a request for a specific kind for us!

Conversely I heard the same thing and asked them if they had any bottled unsweetened iced tea in the lounge as I don't drink soda or much alcohol, mentioning I really like green tea, and got a 'we don't know'. I feel silly for asking at all - maybe because I wasn't picky enough? I mean, I do know I like Oi ocha/Tea's Tea the best... I guess I should have requested those instead of trying to be easy going/anything works?

I think the crux for me is that I often find DCL overpriced for the product you receive. I think it’s close on a family verandah but the concierge prices really tip the scales for me, especially since compared to other lines, the concierge perks are lacking compared to other lines.

We've been OK with the price so far (no summer Caribbean for us since we're two adults) and frankly what we paid for RCCL was too much for what we got from them versus DCL in our experience. We just got off the Wonder yesterday and it was a great cruise - even better than our last couple. Our next cruise in Jan is concierge, and it is less than we paid for our Norwegian Fjords on the Magic in June, and will be less than our Christmas cruise next year on the Fantasy. Its all relative when prices can vary so wildly!

 

[phinz]

It’s Tracey with 2 cases of Red Bull.

Tracey is one of the greatest Concierge hosts ever.

 

[mickeysimba]

I think you're absolutely right for a first time...it's a great vacation even in the smallest inside cabin they have. Experience that first, and then give concierge a try if you think it might fit.

And note that the "civilians" remark was an attempt at humor that apparently was taken seriously by some. Paying more for your cruise doesn't make you any better than anyone else on board. You're just paying for a different level of service, and part of that service is the skipping of certain lines.

Yes, I am sorry. My dry sense of humor might not translate well as read. I absolutely meant it as a joke when I used it. Or maybe I wasn't the first to use it in this thread. Don't know. Doesn't matter. It's all good!

 

[waltsdouble]

Yes.

 

[abuck75]

You can count me in the "no" column. For LESS money you can take a luxury cruise on Azamara. Way better food and service and everything is included. Sure, no Disney magic but Disney magic was never supposed to be luxurious anyways.

While I think we all agree that Disney Magic should be inclusive and available for all, a lot of early Disney stories seemed to end with the good life in luxurious castles.

 

[abuck75]

Does anyone know if they release the special menus as the cruise nears? On the original information the shoreside concierge sent me the rotation with the menu being listed as "Rotation 1, Rotation 1, Pirate, Rotation 1, Rotation 2, Rotation 2, Rotation 2". As it gets closer, will they likely add in the specialty menu's like Captains Gala, etc?

 

[undertheradar]

You can count me in the "no" column. For LESS money you can take a luxury cruise on Azamara. Way better food and service and everything is included. Sure, no Disney magic but Disney magic was never supposed to be luxurious anyways.

Perhaps you should look into Club 33.

 

[mickeysimba]

We completed our first cruise and didn't do concierge, but we rebooked another cruise as concierge. I think we weren't made to be big cruisers, so I bet this will be our last one. OR the concierge experience changes everything, and we decide we love cruises.

I will say I took the article's advice I had posted and booked Palo and Remy. Those meals were our favorite part. And I want a cabana now on CC.

 

[Stratus22]

We're big cruisers with Disney and I just booked a one bedroom stateroom Concierge for our 10th cruise. I'm also making this a surprise gift to my Husband for our Wedding Anniversary(Hopefully he isn't reading this). I'm excited and somewhat in the investigation stage as to what to request, How much to Tip, In-room dining for Breakfast and so forth. I think I have my answer's but wow, I'm excited! I can't wait to walk my husband and kids past the lines and over to the Concierge desk at Port Canaveral and have him say "Aren't we suppose to get in line over here?".

 

[CM Dad]

We're big cruisers with Disney and I just booked a one bedroom stateroom Concierge for our 10th cruise. I'm also making this a surprise gift to my Husband for our Wedding Anniversary(Hopefully he isn't reading this). I'm excited and somewhat in the investigation stage as to what to request, How much to Tip, In-room dining for Breakfast and so forth. I think I have my answer's but wow, I'm excited! I can't wait to walk my husband and kids past the lines and over to the Concierge desk at Port Canaveral and have him say "Aren't we suppose to get in line over here?".

Too bad it isn't your 11th cruise, since as Platinum you would be able to check in at the Concierge desk.

I took my wife on a 5 night cruise out of Miami for her 60th birthday. As a surprise to her, I booked us the Walt Suite (first and only time in concierge). The rest of the surprise was that I also brought our 4 adult children and their families. When we got to our stateroom and my wife was about to go in, one of my daughters had to tell her to read the sign on the door with the name of the suite.

 

[Billinaz]

Does anyone know if they release the special menus as the cruise nears? On the original information the shoreside concierge sent me the rotation with the menu being listed as "Rotation 1, Rotation 1, Pirate, Rotation 1, Rotation 2, Rotation 2, Rotation 2". As it gets closer, will they likely add in the specialty menu's like Captains Gala, etc?

The Captains gala, see you real soon, pirates, etc menus are already set.

 

[Billinaz]

Our first cruise was an impulse to try concierge. Big mistake. Now we cant do anything but. We booked with Expedia, and it was a mess. Never again. The next few cruises I transferred to DU. They were nice and I never had a single problem. They gave me a few hundred for an OBC. Now I transfer our cruises to Costco. With the cash card they give you that is worth 8.5% of the cruise cost really pays off for concierge, and it actually pays for the executive membership by the amount of the cruise alone. Our next 2 cruises (7 nights) are $11,700. We get a Costco cash card worth $1045, plus another 2% at the end of the year with the executive membership. I havent seen anyone beat their deal. I like a certain room so we book it op opening day as soon as they open. You have 30 days to transfer it, but I usually do the transfer that day.

 

[ACQUADUCK]

To be honest I flick very easy between concierge and non concierge, people say you can't go back, but actually it is very easy.
IMHO the Disney Concierge services are not as good as other cruise lines and the cost disproportionate to the very high cost now, yes DCL prices have gone up, but Concierge is through the roof, something like $74k on an 11 night cruise now ( Iceland/ Norway 2019).
If your platinum and say organise your own private shore trips like us, the concierge service doesn't add value.
Yes their there if you need them, but the concierge lounge, getting on 5 minutes before anyone else do not justify the high upcharge cost.
On my six concierge cruises we didn't use the hosts a lot, I think on the Fantasy back to back we used the CL the most, for early breakfast, and very late bedtime drink, but it is the difference of getting a drink at the soda station five minutes away.
So concierge gets you,
Extra palo meals.
Express tender, if you tender,
1/2 concierge meets, party, private character meets. - used to get the CD and captain there but recently they didn't show.
Occasionally we got a senior official like Karl Holtz there.
Private viewing, Tracy Arm, Stockholm entry / exit.
Free wifi on the Royals.
Some limited pre booking by email 125 days, but basically the value only is, getting a cabana at Castaway if your cruise calls there.
A slightly better seat at dinner, but say actually all seats are ok.
If you go to lunch in an MDR you get a bit of extra service, own table, sat quickly.
( was once told on arrival at lunch, 45 minutes wait, had to share, then when they asked our room number, we got own table in five minutes).

As said, I flick between the two, I think it's very over priced, other lines give you more.
Reserved seating in shows.
Use of a premium restaurant, like Palo for sit down breakfast including coming going from the buffett, saves you finding seats in the main buffet .
Regular meet the officers,
Free upgrades on coffee in restaurants.


We have had extra surprises from DCL hosts but very dependent on the host, sometimes you had to give them a nudge or give a hint, but for the upcharge, really it is not value for money. In fact can get embarrassing that you see the hosts, they can do anything for you, you do not want anything, and then you know they would like a top, but you really haven't used anything they can provide.

So, I can use either, you get what service you book to choose, but if I want concierge again, I think more than likely it will not be DCL.

 

[TestingH2O]

After our first cruise I couldn't imagine not cruising concierge. We got in at the tail end of the "reasonable" pricing. Now that we've started cruising in non-concierge, I realize that was silly. I actually think we do more and experience the DCL advantage more this way. We always felt tied to the lounge and didn't appreciate all the awesome stuff on board because we were in the lounge. The lounge didn't even have windows on the new ships! Silly us.

If you want to hear something totally shocking, we actually have started cruising with a verandah and the inside accross the hall. The darkness helps my daughter sleep later and, since we let her stay up late on cruises, this helps us all enjoy the vacation more. Plus with the money we save, we've been cruising much more and doing lots of extra stuff on those trips.

So no, I am not convinced it's "worth it," but I also could set us doing it again as a celebration.

 

[Stratus22]

Too bad it isn't your 11th cruise, since as Platinum you would be able to check in at the Concierge desk.

I took my wife on a 5 night cruise out of Miami for her 60th birthday. As a surprise to her, I booked us the Walt Suite (first and only time in concierge). The rest of the surprise was that I also brought our 4 adult children and their families. When we got to our stateroom and my wife was about to go in, one of my daughters had to tell her to read the sign on the door with the name of the suite.

Huh? I'm sailing Concierge on this cruise so I'll be able to check in at the concierge desk anyway. Keeping this a secret from my family is going to be a bear.