My family is traveling concierge except for my 7 year old DD who is in an inside stateroom w/grandma, will DD be able to board concierge with us?

[DisneyChaos]

Hello all. My family is going on our first cruise ever. There are 5 people in my immediate family(me, my wife and 3 DD's 1, 5, 7) and I am also paying for my mother-in-law. My two sister-in-laws and their husbands and my two nephews are coming as well for a total of 12 people. My sister-in-laws are staying on deck 9 midship in veranda state rooms. My wife and I wanted to go concierge. When I booked, the person helping me book, suggested I put my oldest daughter in my mother in laws room since I was paying for it. My mother in law is in a stateroom on the 9th floor. I am concerned that not having my daughter booked in concierge with us is a mistake. The person helping me book assured me it would not be a problem for my daughter and mother in law to be included on our excursions as we book them, they even said we could book for the entire party of 12 as long as they are paid up by 125 days out. My biggest concern is boarding the ship, the biggest draw for doing concierge in my opinion was getting to board as early as possible. The person booking me said "we could all board together after all the concierge people board but before platinum". What does this mean, is this still early, and should I worry about this?

Main question- If we try to board the ship through concierge with just our concierge ticketed members and my 7 year old daughter who is not concierge, would you expect they would let us board or make us wait? Thanks. Does anyone out there have first hand experience with this scenario?

I appreciate all the tips and help. Thanks!!!

 

[disneylove69]

I would take a guess and say she has to board with the room she is registered with.

 

[Bonnie1222]

Why don't you just wait and all board together as a family? You may not get a definitive answer until that day.

Also, I have never stayed concierge but my guess is you daughter may not be allowed in the concierge lounge or other areas.

 

[Tasmen]

I can only speak from personal experience and this may or may not end up being true for you. When we've traveled with people in a non-concierge cabin, they were allowed to board with us. They did not go to the lounge (except the one time they were purposefully targeted by concierge staff to see if they wished to upgrade. Spoiler - they did) or lunch with us but DID get on the ship with us.

This may be port dependent too. We did this in Port Canaveral.

 

[SamFaniam]

Some other things you might want to take into consideration. Your daughter will go to the Muster Station with her grandmother, not with your family. And the Muster Station may not be the same as the one that you have. Also, if you’re planning to take your daughter off the ship, you will have to get signed permission from her grandmother, as that’s who’s cabin she is traveling in. There is often a special character meet and greet for concierge, your daughter might not be able to attend. Does your concierge cabin have room for five? You might want to reconsider where you place your daughter.

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

Neither your daughter nor the Grandmother will. E allowed in concierge with you. They are pretty strick about that. I would definitely reconsider where your daughter is placed.

 

[ajo]

You won’t be allowed to book excursions for the party of 12 at the 125 day mark. Only those guests traveling concierge will be allowed to book at 125 days. The other rooms in your party will have to wait and book when their window opens at 75 days prior to the cruise date, including your daughter in the room with grandma.

 

[TestingH2O]

Ok, so here are some official "rules"
1. Only concierge guests in concierge rooms board early
2. Only concierge guests in concierge rooms go to the lounge and events
3. Each guest must go to the muster station associated with the stateroom to which they are assigned
4. Concierge guests may book excursions and on board activities for themselves and up to 4 additional cabins assuming all rooms are paid in full by the 125 day mark
5. Minors have permission to debark the ship with adults in their stateroom. Other adults may debark with them if an easy form.is completed.

Rules 3-5 are strictly enforced.

Rules 1-2 are less strictly enforced. You will not know how much leeway you'll have until the day you board. If I were to guess, I'd say your daughter is probably ok in the lounge etc. Your mil maybe less so.

 

[FSU Girl]

I would move your daughter into your cabin if there is room. She could feel excluded from the rest of the family with not being allowed in the lounge or taking part of special concierge activities.

 

[diznymom]

I would see if you could book all of your immediate family in your concierge room. No one will care where your 7 yr old sleeps. However, she will be in the same life boat as you, instead of w/ G'ma. This way your whole immediate family can enjoy all of the perks of concierge.

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

As others have said, you're probably better off putting all of your kids in concierge with you, but it will cost you more since you'll pay the single supplement on MIL's room (same cost as having your daughter in the room with her) and your concierge room will cost a bit more. Maybe one of your other family members can stay with MIL. That will reduce the cost of one of their veranda rooms and your cost for MIL's room won't be impacted.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I get why they said to put your daughter in Grandma's room, to save the extra 5th person fee in your room while you're paying for two people in Grandma's room, when only one is staying there. Normally, that makes sense, but when you're talking about concierge vs regular rooms, there's a whole lot of amenities that go with that 5th person fee that you're daughter will be excluded from, even if she's allowed to stay in your room and that isn't even a guarantee.

Is there a chance you'd move grandma to a concierge CAT V room, then you could put DD7 in her room without any trouble. Or, is there a chance your sister (who isn't concierge) would put one of her kids in grandma's room to save on costs? While lifeboats and leaving the ship are still an issue, the concierge amenities aren't.

If I were you, I would contact shoreside now and ask them about whether they will be able to book excursions for your whole party or not. If not, it may change your strategy. They are the ones doing it, not the call center, so they would be able to best tell you whether they can bend any rules.

 

[quickcat]

I would definitely add her to your room. It would be considered a favor to let her do the extra concierge things so I wouldn’t take the chance.

 

[ajo]

Ok, so here are some official "rules"
1. Only concierge guests in concierge rooms board early
2. Only concierge guests in concierge rooms go to the lounge and events
3. Each guest must go to the muster station associated with the stateroom to which they are assigned
4. Concierge guests may book excursions and on board activities for themselves and up to 4 additional cabins assuming all rooms are paid in full by the 125 day mark
5. Minors have permission to debark the ship with adults in their stateroom. Other adults may debark with them if an easy form.is completed.

Rules 3-5 are strictly enforced.

Rules 1-2 are less strictly enforced. You will not know how much leeway you'll have until the day you board. If I were to guess, I'd say your daughter is probably ok in the lounge etc. Your mil maybe less so.

Looks like you may be able to book the excursions for the non-concierge rooms.

I get why they said to put your daughter in Grandma's room, to save the extra 5th person fee in your room while you're paying for two people in Grandma's room, when only one is staying there. Normally, that makes sense, but when you're talking about concierge vs regular rooms, there's a whole lot of amenities that go with that 5th person fee that you're daughter will be excluded from, even if she's allowed to stay in your room and that isn't even a guarantee.

Is there a chance you'd move grandma to a concierge CAT V room, then you could put DD7 in her room without any trouble. Or, is there a chance your sister (who isn't concierge) would put one of her kids in grandma's room to save on costs? While lifeboats and leaving the ship are still an issue, the concierge amenities aren't.

If I were you, I would contact shoreside now and ask them about whether they will be able to book excursions for your whole party or not. If not, it may change your strategy. They are the ones doing it, not the call center, so they would be able to best tell you whether they can bend any rules.

I agree that you should contact shoreside and confirm that you can book excursions for all 12 in your party just so you don’t have any surprises.

 

[ILoveMyKellen]

I was able to book shore excursions for my in-laws, who are in a non concierge cabin, with no problem at all but they were paid in full. As long as their reservations are linked to yours the shoreside concierge will book it all for you provided it’s not over the 4 cabin limit.

 

[lanejudy]

My biggest concern is boarding the ship, the biggest draw for doing concierge in my opinion was getting to board as early as possible.

I just want to point out that this isn't a particularly big perk -- Concierge doesn't board significantly earlier. At best, you might board 20 minutes earlier than those with low boarding numbers, even less if between concierge and platinum boarding. The boarding process starts with any back-to-back cruisers (if any), then Concierge boards "first" which is fairly quickly followed by Platinum CC members, then moving on to the "regular" cruisers with early PAT/low boarding numbers. This all happens in a matter of minutes. So I can understand how "early boarding" might sound like a big perk but in reality is not that much sooner.

You likely won't have a definitive answer about your daughter boarding with you until you arrive at the port; though it may be a non-issue. I agree with others that access to the concierge lounge and activities/perks is likely a bigger concern, as well as the muster station (which in event of a real emergency means DD is evacuated with grandma and not you as her parent).

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[bumbershoot]

My biggest concern is boarding the ship, the biggest draw for doing concierge in my opinion was getting to board as early as possible.

Ok...why? Why is this such a draw? As lanejudy said, there’s not that much difference.

Also, I have never stayed concierge but my guess is you daughter may not be allowed in the concierge lounge or other areas.

Agreed.

I would just consider the extra you’ll pay (MIL’s room will be the same rates, but you’ll add the 5th person to your room) as a convenience charge to KNOW that your daughter will be included in everything.

 

[coloradocutie]

Have you sailed concierge before? They really have a lot of perks for the little ones- private character meet and greet, one on one attention, treats in the lounge... a seven year old would absolutely love the perks . She is at the age she would really feel left out if she knew what y’all had been experiencing in concierge, and she was not. In all of our concierge sailings, the concierge staff were strict about the perks and access. Do not count on them making an exception.

Can you upgrade their room or add her to yours? Someone gave bad advice in regards to family unity when you booked.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

A more visible difference? Room key color- concierge cards are yellow everyone else is blue-

 

[lady9]

Boarding early for you staying concierge isn't a problem. I for one, do not like boarding early as we stay non concierge. Once you have lunch, you are stuck lugging your carry on bags around until your room is ready. If the kids want to swim, someone has to sit and watch the bags and in the summer, it's hot! I much prefer to board after noon, have lunch, then cabins are ready about 1:30. Then DH takes the kids swimming while I settle us into the cabin. It's been our experience the luggage has been very prompt at arriving. This is just my opinion and experience.

As far as having the 7 year old with grandma, I agree with others to get that changed so she is with you in your cabin. There could be a slim chance they would let her join you in the lounge and for meet and greets but I wouldn't risk it. You might get a different answer if you call shoreside than what you get on the ship. Shoreside could say she can join you but on board they could deny her.