Concierge

[Flower]

Have any of you booked concierge? What are the perks of staying/paying for concierge service on the cruise?

[Imalismom]

The Concierge will send a phone number in your Cruise Planning Kit, which is mailed about four - five months prior to your sailing date. Once you get that number, you can call them to start a dialogue about your cruise.

Here are some of the ones I remember:

• Ability to book 120 days out (if your cruise is paid in full)
• Daily treats – these were ordered the day before and you get them at the time you select (we always did 4:30pmish)
• Embarkation lounge – a special roped off place
• Special check in line
• Priority tendering on excursions
• Priority reservations for Cabanas on Castaway Cay
• Embarkation reception – this really was the one thing I wished I had skipped – but if you need reservations for ANYTHING, they will handle it there– even hair braiding for kids.
• Onboard concierge reception - this was on St. Thomas day for us - as we were leaving St. Thomas
• The ability to change your dining rotation if you do not like it (we actually were able to request the one we wanted)
• A direct line to concierge for any needs
• We were in a cat 1 suite, so we were able to order Palo for our room (we did not do this, but could have) – I know cat 2 can do this also, but not sure about cat 3’s (okay, they have new letter/numbers now, but what was the old cat 1,2, and 3’s)
• Hot breakfast (including omelets) for breakfast every morning
• Our host (Nicole) brought the two teenagers in our room arcade cards
• Sodas stocked daily in the frig along with water bottles
• Continental breakfast on debarkation morning in our room
• Whenever we ordered a DVD – we also got a bag of popcorn
• A special lithograph
• Fresh flowers in our room
• Weather report for the next day waiting for us when we got back to the room in the evening
• All of our shutter pictures were brought to our room two days before leaving, we were able to look at them in the room, spread them all out and decide what we wanted – Nicole then took back what we did not want. No special break in pricing in thes ones we did keep though.
• H20 Products daily –in both bath rooms (shampoo, conditioner, scrub, aloe and shower gel)
• Help with getting our tip envelopes and getting them dispersed



And the most important thing - when I lost my camera the night before I left (with all my cruise pictures on it), Nicole calmed me down, and she was able to find it - it was after the next cruise had left, but she personally called me, and told me she had found it - and then she mailed it to me - with a picture of her and Stitch - as the very last picture on the camera - which to me was priceless.

I’m sure there was more, but that’s all I can remember right now.

[BrerGnat]

Just for reference, I suggest doing a search for this topic (Google, or similar). There have apparently been many changes to the concierge service on the NEW SHIP, and people have posted of their experiences on the Dream over the past couple cruises while staying Concierge. Not sure if these changes carry over to the older ones, but it's worth noting. We were considering it for our cruise next year, but after reading about people's recent experience, I've decided not to do it.

Essentially, it seems as though the onboard perks have dwindled down to practically nothing...besides the separate lounge chair area and the dedicated concierge lounge with food at all times. Apparently, the Dream concierge staff has been unable (or unwilling ?) to help people with almost any sort of special requests or changes to dining times, etc. Sort of disappointing to read that, after seeing how much more Concierge costs.

[TammiMcMan]

There have apparently been many changes to the concierge service on the NEW SHIP,

Essentially, it seems as though the onboard perks have dwindled down to practically nothing...It's interesting that you mentioned this. I think with all the new room categories, more guests can book concierge. I was wondering if that would affect the service. When we cruised, there were so few concierge staterooms, that they were all easily serviced by 2 staff people. These CM's were in constant contact and always asking what they could do for us. I actually started feeling badly that we weren't "high maintenance", as they seemed genuinely disappointed when we didn't need anything.

A huge plus when my husband and I sailed alone, is that they booked us into Palo every evening for dinner. That was heavenly :cloud9:.

[BrerGnat]

It's interesting that you mentioned this. I think with all the new room categories, more guests can book concierge. I was wondering if that would affect the service. When we cruised, there were so few concierge staterooms, that they were all easily serviced by 2 staff people. These CM's were in constant contact and always asking what they could do for us. I actually started feeling badly that we weren't "high maintenance", as they seemed genuinely disappointed when we didn't need anything.

A huge plus when my husband and I sailed alone, is that they booked us into Palo every evening for dinner. That was heavenly :cloud9:.

Yeah, something that was worth noting was that the Dream only had three staff members dedicated to the Concierge guests (of which, there are a LOT). Having several suites onboard, along with a whole deck (practically) of Concierge staterooms means less perks all around.

Some notable things missing (although, probably pretty minor, but taken together adds up) were the arcade cards, Mickey ice cream bars (or ANY other special food requests), popcorn for movies/shows, in stateroom daily snacks (since there is a lounge on the new ship, no more snacks delivered to the stateroom), and a lack of hot breakfast in the lounge. Also, concierge staff were restricting room service from the dining rooms to either 6:30 or 8:30 (no other times), and the concierge staff kept the menus and had to order FOR you. No one except suite guests can order room service from Palo, and only those in the Walt or Roy suite can order from Remy.

Also, the toiletries in room are Elemis brand, and some folks apparently wanted the H20 spa brand, and were told "no". In addition, a few people needed to change their dining time and were told "sorry, too bad". Same happened with spa appointments...people were told onboard that they had to go to the spa to inquire about appointment times, etc.

Just seemed like poor service all around, and for the premium price, NOT worth it!

Some of this stuff might have been attributed to poorly trained staff (which, really, should not be an issue on the concierge level, but apparently was), and operations hiccups during the first couple voyages. However, these stories are enough to keep me away from booking concierge on the Disney cruise.

[Flower]

Just. Curoous then, if. The dwindling service seems to be on the Dream, has anyone heard if service has dwindled on the other ships since the new year/Dream launch?

I doubt we will change our mind about the Dream - my kids will want the water slide....and by kids, yes, that does include DH!!!

[BrerGnat]

Just. Curoous then, if. The dwindling service seems to be on the Dream, has anyone heard if service has dwindled on the other ships since the new year/Dream launch?

I doubt we will change our mind about the Dream - my kids will want the water slide....and by kids, yes, that does include DH!!!

I wonder that too. I would assume that things on the older ships should have remained the same.

One of the main reasons we do Concierge level at the Disney RESORTS is due to the lounge and food offerings. However, this is a sort of moot point on a cruise ship. There is food available all over the ship, all day long, and it's all free! So, really, the "extra" perks of the concierge level on a cruise seem like a huge waste of $$$. If I was going to splurge on a Disney Cruise, I'd book the Walt or Roy suite!

We are going to do the Dream next year, definitely, but we've decided on doing a Deluxe Family Oceanview stateroom, which brings the price way down. We actually don't even want a verandah...it makes me nervous with two boys who have no fear, and who like to climb stuff in defiance of me and DH. ;)