Shoreside concierge is USELESS: change my mind

[lorenni]

So we are less than a week from sailing and shoreside still isn't responding to anything. We call and sit on hold and they say - oh we'll look into this and call you back! And then they never call. We email and they never respond.

We tried to book a private charter boat right when our booking window opened. They said they would confirm once it was booked. Radio silence thereafter. We have followed up several times by phone and email. I'm now being told they last asked port excursions two weeks ago. So apparently the plan was to never let us know whether or not it was booked?

With three concierge staterooms booked for $$$$ I really expected at least email responses. This is my 10th DCL cruise and unless onboard concierge makes up for this deplorable service so far, it will be my last DCL cruise.

 

[ggfred32]

In our post-covid experience, once onboard the hosts are as excellent as they always have been, so don't give up based on shoreside. We haven't been on the Wish, and I do hear some negatives about the Wish hosts just because they are stretched so thin with all of the extra rooms, but elsewhere, our experiences have been as stellar as always. We haven't had luck with shoreside either!!!

 

[nmoody1]

I've always found shoreside anything to be quite robotic and passive and not too useful - I think its done on purpose so as to not over promise and under deliver, but it can be frustrating!

 

[NephieRN]

Their service (or lack thereof) in our post covid world is abysmal. It’s extremely frustrating that emails go unanswered for over a month. Wait times to call are usually over an hour. It didn’t use to be like this. Onboard concierge has always been fantastic so I’m willing to overlook the shortcomings of shoreside assuming onboard still continues the way it has in the past. But if not, I’ll be done cruising concierge on DCL.

My most recent issue with shoreside is them telling me there was availability to move my enchante dinner to a different night, cancelling my current reservation, and then a week later telling me there was a misunderstanding and I was only being placed on a wait list to move my reservation. So now I’m left with no Enchante reservation. But 2 days later, my cabana waitlists for both of my rooms miraculously came through. So I’m assuming that was them trying to make up for their mistake. I am extremely grateful for it because I was super bummed to not get a cabana despite sending my requests at exactly midnight 130 days out. But the whole situation has left such a sour taste in my mouth. Really hoping once we get onboard in 27 days I will be back to praising DCL concierge.

 

[goofy4prez]

My upcoming cruise in December will be my first with DCL concierge. I did send them an email a few weeks before my 120 booking window to ask about what onboard activities would be available and the times. I did not get any response. I did get the standard email from the concierge though about either going online myself or sending in my requests to them. When I received this email I called the number provided and waited about 40 minutes. The person who helped me was very informative and gave me all the information I wanted. During the conversation, I did mention not being very crazy about the MDR, that's when she told me if I wanted there was no limit to booking Palo & Remy if I desired. I did send in my requests to the concierge. I received everything I requested in excursions, on-board activities, Palo & Remy, and a cabana on Castaway Cay.

In short, it's a mixed bag for me. I did not receive a reply from concierge in any emails prior to my requests. The wait time on the phone was long, but not excessive. Where they did shine was when I had the opportunity to talk with someone and of course their ability to get the requests I sent them including the cabana. I have no doubt on-board they will be spot on and will not disappoint.

 

[Lillebelle]

I've never found Shoreside to be especially helpful (definitely not the level of service one gets from the onboard folks), but post-covid it's been pretty abysmal. I used to be able to send an email a week before our activities window and get a response in a couple days with the lists of tastings, etc. Now emails go unanswered for weeks and weeks. I tried calling recently and was quoted a 250 minute wait. I did not bother waiting to see if it would actually be that long.

So in short, you're not wrong. Hopefully your onboard experience will be much better (mine have been so far).

 

[indylaw99]

We're in the same boat...er....ship? We didn't get our cabana despite sending in the email right when it opened and then we asked about a waitlist and they were kind of non-committal about it. We emailed them asking if we needed to get a PAT and they didn't respond until after our check-in date had already passed and we waited up until midnight to check in just in case. We sail Friday and have an unanswered email into them about trying to combine a back to back mani and pedi into one mani/pedi appointment for my daughter (it would be substantially cheaper than having them separate). I really, really hope concierge is better on the ship (Wish) because it hasn't been good at all so far.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We booked a conceirge cruise on the Dream. Never heard from shoreside. Granted it was past the 130 day mark-but still. Once I was PIF in went in a selected what I wanted and was able to get Palo and the tastings I wanted. I did finally make contact and sent them an email about some requests for our room. About a week later, they did get back to me, noted my requests and told me that they had reviewed my account. We shall see how this all goes.

 

[quinnc19]

So this is my first time sailing concierge (Wish over NYE) and I am wondering if anyone has suggestions (other than contacting Shoreside apparently) for a list of tastings/times? I also am wondering if there might be special holiday activities that need to be booked in advance? Many thanks!

 

[LambertLion]

Cant change your mind. They have been on our couple of concierge cruises, mostly useless. The onboard teams have been magnificent. Shoreside is generally overwhelmed and severely understaffed and I dont think they really care anymore (if they ever did). So yeah, it sucks your wont get much support until you get on board.

 

[MaleficentRN]

It's been my experience that every time I asked shoreside for something, they would tell me no. Then I would board and ask the ship's concierge and it was taken care of in a matter of minutes. I have to wonder what shoreside actually does....

 

[MaleficentRN]

So this is my first time sailing concierge (Wish over NYE) and I am wondering if anyone has suggestions (other than contacting Shoreside apparently) for a list of tastings/times? I also am wondering if there might be special holiday activities that need to be booked in advance? Many thanks!

Look for past Navigators with sailings around the holidays to get an idea. When you board and meet the concierges in the lounge, anything you want to book just tell them and they'll take care of it.

 

[KashasMom]

I just posted asking how long it's taking and am disappointed to see the comments here. This is really unacceptable. Dealing with extended wait times on the phone and not even receiving a response to an email? I assume they received it but don't know. At least I didn't have to deal with rushing to check-in at midnight as so many in my group did. Disney IT still sucking, people were online for over an hour.

 

[Lillebelle]

Revisiting this thread as I finally have a counterexample which I feel obligated to provide. I received my standard email letting me know my booking window is opening up soon. I responded to it asking what beverage tastings will be available on my sailing. *LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER* I had a response with the complete list of tastings. And this was at like 11pm EST!

I don't know if it was a fluke, if it was because I responded to an email they sent me vs sending a fresh email, or what, but less than an hour for a response. I will give them back a couple points for that.

 

[lucyem]

I sail in 2 weeks. I have not heard from shoreside at all. Not one email. When the booking window opened I did my own reservations online. For the money you’d think they might be a little better reaching out. We are not planning another Disney cruise.

 

[MrsScooby]

First time booking concierge due to DCL canceling my first Wish cruise and so far I have zero complaints. I was sent an initial form email soon after booking explaining what to expect. A few weeks before the 130 day mark I sent some emails with questions and all were answered (some taking longer than others, but all in time for my needs). Karen, Debbie, Charity and Zachary were the ones that sent personal replies to my questions. So far I haven't needed to make a single phone call. I sent my email at midnight on day 130 and just found out that all my requests were granted.
I've heard terrible stories about shoreside concierge but so far I am very happy to say my experience has been really good.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tasmen]

Revisiting this thread as I finally have a counterexample which I feel obligated to provide. I received my standard email letting me know my booking window is opening up soon. I responded to it asking what beverage tastings will be available on my sailing. *LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER* I had a response with the complete list of tastings. And this was at like 11pm EST!

I don't know if it was a fluke, if it was because I responded to an email they sent me vs sending a fresh email, or what, but less than an hour for a response. I will give them back a couple points for that.

I didn't quite have that snappy of a turn around like you, but I did hear from them in less than 24 hours after I sent a question regarding my February sailing. Comparing that to emails this last summer that went 2 weeks before a response, I want to say things are improving. Maybe they are finally getting some needed staff.

Regardless of the delay in responding to emails, I will say that it is worth it to have shoreside concierge accessibility these days just to have a dedicated phone # you can call when you need to make changes to the reservation. I needed to drop my husband from 2 sailings (his vacation time all got canceled due to his work not hiring people *grrrrr*). I called the main line: 221 minute wait. I call concierge line the next day, 6 minute wait. Right there, that's some value to me.

 

[Trisaratops]

The person who helped me was very informative and gave me all the information I wanted. During the conversation, I did mention not being very crazy about the MDR, that's when she told me if I wanted there was no limit to booking Palo & Remy if I desired.

Do you mean you could book more than once at Palo and remy??

 

[Trisaratops]

I sail in 2 weeks. I have not heard from shoreside at all. Not one email. When the booking window opened I did my own reservations online. For the money you’d think they might be a little better reaching out. We are not planning another Disney cruise.

I think you have to reach out to them now ... not them first, or perhaps I misunderstood what you're saying; either way, I'm sorry but hope you have a blast!

 

[goofy4prez]

Do you mean you could book more than once at Palo and remy??

If in concierge, yes you can. Normally if you book Palo or Remy on the first night you can book that restaurant for a second night during the cruise. But with concierge, you can book it multiple times. I have Remy booked twice for dinner and Palo twice for dinner, along with a Palo brunch on the one day I'm not doing either for dinner (a 5-night cruise). While we love DCL, we are not the biggest fans of Disney MDR (I know I"m strange and a rarity), and with our Disney rewards points, what better way to use up those points than with Palo, Remy, and a cabana on Castaway Cay. I should add that we have a great TA with Dreams Unlimited and he made sure an email was sent to concierge with our requests at midnight on the first day our window opened. We were able to get everything we asked for.

I also see that you are sailing in a couple of weeks. If you have not booked for any of these restaurants then I would see the concierge desk once you board the ship and see if they can get you a few of the bookings you would like. While it's not guaranteed, I have no doubt they will be able to assist you with this.