Wish - Concierge or not?

[TwinsDadG]

Hi there! We just got off a 7-night Fantasy with our 4.5 year old twins and are already planning our spring break trip for March 2024.

Next year’s break falls on Easter week (usually like this year we’re a few weeks ahead of Easter) so the best option for us is a 4-night on the Wish leaving on 3/25/24. Question is: do we do Concierge or not? Is it worth it on a 4-night cruise? Does going on Easter week make it any more worthwhile? And while the argument could be if we can afford it, do concierge, I’m wondering if the benefits of Concierge are worth it on a 4-night on the Wish cost-aside. And we can’t even use our onboard reservation for this trip as it’s a blackout date. Thanks!

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

If you want a cabana or anything else hard to get, concierge can be worth it on a 4 night. We did it for a 4 night on the Wish last year because we had always wanted to do concierge so went for it. For just 2 of us with no need for a cabana, it was simply not worth the money. It was great, don't get me wrong. But for our limited vacationing money, it was not worth it to us. We simply couldn't drink enough at happy hour, eat enough free lounge munchies or drink enough free lounge non-alcoholic drinks to justify it.

 

[OKW Lover]

Concierge on the Wish is miles ahead of Concierge on any of the other four ships. Having said that, the question of worth it is very hard to justify. I agree with the above post about getting a cabana. I'd also add that the free drinks and food in the lounge are really good. The Concierge sun deck is especially nice, with its own bar.

 

[llachance]

I am doing concierge on the Wish this fall because I got the room at a considerable discount because of my cancelled Wish cruise otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. The only thing I am interested in is brunch at Palo and as a Platinum I am pretty sure I could/can get it on my own. I will find out if I appreciate the free food and/or drinks in October. You have to make up your own mind as to what "worth it" means to you and your family.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Mango7100]

I have debated this myself since we are also looking at 4 night Wish cruise. I think since it’s a completely different ship that I would want to spend more time out exploring
the ship and seeing the shows that it would not justify the price for our family of 3. I want to try the different bars and such, but if I were concierge I know I would end up just staying in the private lounge because I paid that hefty premium. Then we wouldn’t explore the ship which is kind of the point of the cruise for us. Maybe if it were my 2nd or 3rd I would spring for it or if it were a longer cruise, but I don’t know if I can justify the extra 4k over 4 nights for our family.

 

[OpieDoodle]

Disclaimer: I've never been Concierge

I made a post not too long ago asking what everyone's favorite ship was and why. I quickly found the Wish was almost NEVER picked as favorite but multiple comments mentioned that as Concierge its their favorite ship. They have a really nice concierge area. Just food for thought!

 

[shananigans]

We’ve sailed the Magic, Dream, and Fantasy non-concierge. Wonder three times - twice concierge and we loved it.

We are sailing the Fantasy non-concierge end of May. The Magic concierge in Sept. Dream non-concierge in Oct. Wish concierge in January.

I’ve read on these boards that the Wish was designed with concierge guests in mind. So we are really looking forward to seeing the differences between the Wonder Concierge and the Magic and Wish concierge.

Sept and Jan cruises are surprise bday cruises for the kids - which is why we decided concierge. I sailed concierge for my bday last Nov, but opted for regular sailing this year. We aren’t big drinkers, but I love the early boarding, welcome lunch, booking spa treatments on board, etc. If it’s not cost prohibitive- I’d say go for it! I’ve read nothing but positives for the Wish’s concierge.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Piggybacking on this question - we’ve never been on a Disney cruise but wanted to do a 3-4 night next year tacked onto a WDW trip. The Wish is the ship docked in Port Canaveral, or we’d have to fly to Ft Lauderdale to board the Dream or Fantasy. Is Wish Concierge superior to regular Dream/Fantasy staterooms? We are moderate drinkers and like to travel in style but with some of the initial feedback on the Wish I’m hesitant to make it our first ship, unless Concierge really is a superior experience.

 

[Nabas]

Piggybacking on this question - we’ve never been on a Disney cruise but wanted to do a 3-4 night next year tacked onto a WDW trip. The Wish is the ship docked in Port Canaveral, or we’d have to fly to Ft Lauderdale to board the Dream or Fantasy. Is Wish Concierge superior to regular Dream/Fantasy staterooms? We are moderate drinkers and like to travel in style but with some of the initial feedback on the Wish I’m hesitant to make it our first ship, unless Concierge really is a superior experience.

We recently finished our first Disney cruise on the Wish. Rather than pay $1000s more for concierge, we booked a family suite on Deck 11 so we could be very close to the Festival of Foods and main pool, which also are on Deck 11.

This is also the same deck as Marceline Market, so we avoided a lot of the typical elevator use for most of our sail. It really was convenient.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

I uh…may have had a few drinks and booked the Wish concierge for 4 nights next August.

 

[TammiMcMan]

Sailed last September on the Wish in a deluxe family, sailing this August in concierge on the Wish. One thing I can report, I’m a little less stressed about booking dining and tastings this time around. I’m silver, so a lot of tastings were gone by the time we finally got to book last September. I also spent a lot of time in line at Luna on embankment day to try and change our rotation and to add a brunch (sold out completely on that cruise). Being able to sit in the lounge with a concierge team member if we need anything additional sounds much nicer.

 

[Anna131517]

I personally don’t think concierge is ever “worth” it. Do you really need / want a cabana? There’s so much to do in a Disney ship - the concierge benefits just aren’t worth it IMO. I also don’t like the cabin location for concierge.

 

[kiford]

I personally don’t think concierge is ever “worth” it. Do you really need / want a cabana? There’s so much to do in a Disney ship - the concierge benefits just aren’t worth it IMO. I also don’t like the cabin location for concierge.

We feel the same way - we don't feel that concierge on any DCL cruise is worth it, but that's a personal view. However, the thing to consider about the Wish is how much time you will spend taking advantage of the concierge services because they have only 3 and 4-day itineraries. We had a plan to explore the ship and earmarked a certain number of things to do and see. We managed about maybe 70% of that and we never even disembarked the ship except for 30 minutes to run to a Starbucks in Nassau.

The concierge sun lounge looks really nice, but then I'd have to give up spending time on one of the higher decks that was practically deserted and where the views were amazing. I would want to spend time in the concierge lounge, but then I'd have to give up spending time in the Rose looking out the giant windows (didn't manage that - only at night so I have to go back) and I wouldn't be able to get more beignets at the Bayou (but this time with the chocolate sauce). I wasn't personally enthralled with the Hyperspace lounge so we didn't spend any time there, but if we sailed her again, I might at least stop in for a drink if I've done the other things I wanted. Didn't get the chance to do the Incredi-course at the Hero Zone. I Skipped Palo because I'm not intrigued with their dinner menu now, but if I was able to get a brunch booking, I'd do that. Every time we watch a YouTube video we're constantly saying "Hey, I don't remember seeing that". Etcetera,, etc.

You'll have to decide on the value for yourself, but to me, there are just so many things to see and do in such a short period of time that you either miss a lot of it to take advantage of concierge services or you miss out on the concierge services you pay so much for. At least until you've sailed on her multiple times.

 

[Lomac924]

I sailed in concierge on the Wish last September and I would say that it was worth it to us for the concierge sundeck. The adult area was so incredibly busy all of the time.. the sundeck was so nice and never crowded. I don't know if we would splurge for concierge again but if it were for the Wish, we would definitely think about it.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

The paradox of Concierge is that it allows you to book way more activities early than you can get as a first time cruiser or even silver—but then you have so much to do you’ll spend even less time using the Concierge areas onboard. Compared to “Suite class” on other lines, it also doesn’t help you out with priority disembarkation on port days, or enhanced dining.

I really want to do a cabana on castaway cay so I plan to book Concierge for our next major celebration cruise—but we have now done 4 cruises (3/3/5/7) and never have I felt like I had enough time to do all the things I want on board, and I can’t think of any activities I would have rather skipped to be at the lounge (maybe a trivia or two where I did humiliatingly poorly?)—but we do like to chill on the adult sundeck—so perhaps the Wish would be the right ship—but then I’ve heard there are so many concierge rooms on the Wish that you’re not even that likely to get a cabana! Does anyone know if you can cancel/move/downgrade your cabin if you get shut out of cabanas on booking day?

 

[Mango7100]

We feel the same way - we don't feel that concierge on any DCL cruise is worth it, but that's a personal view. However, the thing to consider about the Wish is how much time you will spend taking advantage of the concierge services because they have only 3 and 4-day itineraries. We had a plan to explore the ship and earmarked a certain number of things to do and see. We managed about maybe 70% of that and we never even disembarked the ship except for 30 minutes to run to a Starbucks in Nassau.

The concierge sun lounge looks really nice, but then I'd have to give up spending time on one of the higher decks that was practically deserted and where the views were amazing. I would want to spend time in the concierge lounge, but then I'd have to give up spending time in the Rose looking out the giant windows (didn't manage that - only at night so I have to go back) and I wouldn't be able to get more beignets at the Bayou (but this time with the chocolate sauce). I wasn't personally enthralled with the Hyperspace lounge so we didn't spend any time there, but if we sailed her again, I might at least stop in for a drink if I've done the other things I wanted. Didn't get the chance to do the Incredi-course at the Hero Zone. I Skipped Palo because I'm not intrigued with their dinner menu now, but if I was able to get a brunch booking, I'd do that. Every time we watch a YouTube video we're constantly saying "Hey, I don't remember seeing that". Etcetera,, etc.

You'll have to decide on the value for yourself, but to me, there are just so many things to see and do in such a short period of time that you either miss a lot of it to take advantage of concierge services or you miss out on the concierge services you pay so much for. At least until you've sailed on her multiple times.

This is exactly how I feel. The main point for us on the Wish is to explore the ship and try all the new bars, shows, kids club activities, etc. If I did concierge I would put pressure on myself to just stay in that area because I paid so much for it. I wouldn’t go to a different bar because I would feel like that would be a waste when the concierge lounge drinks are free (for only certain hours). I could go on 2 4 night wish cruises in an ocean view for what i would pay for one concierge. Now if I had been on the ship multiple times, then maybe I would consider it. All in all, we are looking at booking a 4 night Wish cruise in a regular verandah for end of July

 

[disnygirl55]

We have sailed concierge on all five ships. I love them all, but it's a world apart on the Wish. Honestly, you hardly ever have to leave that beautiful lounge. The hot food kitchen, the full bar with multiple bartenders, the outdoor space and views - the only thing I didn't like was the itinerary. The "not-worth-it" comments are both spot-on and also very subjective. The extra dollars spent will never equate to the special food, drinks, etc. from a monetary standpoint - but every family's vacation budget is different as well. My husband and I both feel that the additional service and relationships made with the concierge team enhances our vacation a lot, and we are willing to save more for vacation and go less often as a tradeoff. Neither way is wrong - just a preference. But the Wish concierge is definitely something worth experiencing at least once if you can swing it!

Once we got off, I remember thinking this was probably a one-and-done since the itinerary is so blah for us. But when I reflect back on the vacation as a whole, I wouldn't mind a repeat some day if no other itineraries were appealing to us. It really was a fantastic cruise.

 

[goofy4prez]

When it comes to concierge and whether it's of value on a dollar bases, I'd have to say no. I did concierge on the Dream in a Family Stateroom with Verandah in December and was much more than a regular verandah not in concierge. I also have a 1 bedroom concierge suite booked in April 2024 on the Fantasy for 3 of us. The cost of the cruise in 2024 is almost as much as our 10 night cruise with Regent Seven Seas last month in March for my wife and me.

But the reason I book concierge is not because I find it a value compared to how much I spend, it's because the other benefits are of value to me and what I'm willing to pay to receive. While I love DCL, the atmosphere, the ships, the shows, and the Disney experience, I am not a fan of the MDRs food or service. I use concierge to book Remy for dinner twice, Palo for dinner twice, Palo brunch, port adventures, on board activities and tastings, and a cabana on Castaway Cay. Being able to get on the ship with little fuss is an added bonus. The same is also the case with using the lounge, having a private sundeck and hot tubs, snacks and drinks, early access to the shows, not needed to go to guest services, and easy disembarkation. For many, concierge is just not worth it to do, and I certainly understand where they are coming from and their opinions. For some, such as myself, it's the way I prefer to cruise when I do a Disney cruise.

 

[Marthasor]

We sailed concierge on the Wish in October and am so glad we did. As others have said, the lounge and sun deck are extraordinary and they were able to get us all of the reservations we wanted fairly last minute. The pool deck on the Wish is mass chaos so it was nice to be able to go to the concierge areas to get out of the fray.