Is Concierge really worth the extra cost?

[pezgirlroy]

We are sailing concierge in April as a gift from my parents. I had a quick question that I thought about asking here but decided to send to Shoreside concierge. I am so impressed that I got an immediate response saying I would hear from them and I did right away. That to me is very helpful.

 

[Sytrace]

If you have sailed both, is the guest service line that bad? What types of reasons does one have to go to guest services? I think we will book premium dining and spa, but can't that be booked before the cruise?

I agree waiting in long lines several times sounds terrible, but is guest services needed that frequently?

In our 14 cruises so far, we have had to go to GS 5 times total. And the lines were not horrible. We are pretty low maintenance guests though.
I had to go to GS for the following reasons:
1. Find out if my son's flip flops were turned in (he left them by the Aquaduck),
2. get a new KTTWC the day before debarkation because my son (surprise) could not find his after CC day. (this was the same cruise by the way...so maybe ONE of us is high maintenance...or forgetful anyway.
3. To get some note cards for my daughters birthday gift (yes, I forgot to bring cards) and a birthday button. Evidently my son gets the forgetfulness from me)
4. To book Cognac tasting for my husband (back when that was not available on line) because the folks at La Piazza told us to go to GS as they were not open yet.
5. To order a surprise cake for my husbands birthday because I missed the pre order deadline by a few days.

All in all...nothing too dramatic to encourage me to pay quite a bit more to have someone else do it for me.

 

[jetskigrl]

I usually end up at guest services a couple of times to review my bill and add money to the account (to avoid the charge going to the credit card). But I don't want to put too much at one time and end up waiting for a credit after the cruise. This is on the Wonder, where you can't view it on the TV, so I have to get a print out from GS. We have also visited them to get duplicate KTTW cards when we had multiple rooms and for other questions, etc.

 

[cadien]

Totally agree. There are 3 of us and we don't spend much time in our room. We don't need help with dining or excursions or meet and greet bookings and we really don't like people on top of us - pampering/extra attention. I even hate too much attention in the dining room. I haven't seen anything in the comments above that made me think concierge is worth it.

We've done the concierge equivalent on another line and DH hated it the extra attention and pampering. It made him very self-conscious. Especially when they'd make a big show of bringing us past a long line of people waiting for the same thing. His parents won't cruise any other way, and our fare was their treat, and he ended up telling them he'd rather buy our own tickets next time than do that again.

 

[cadien]

We are sailing concierge in April as a gift from my parents. I had a quick question that I thought about asking here but decided to send to Shoreside concierge. I am so impressed that I got an immediate response saying I would hear from them and I did right away. That to me is very helpful.

But is it an extra $10,000 worth of helpful? There are definite advantages.

 

[aggiedog]

Given that we have to sail at peak times due to school aged kids, sadly right now even regular DCL prices are not worth it to me. I have sailed concierge on other lines (for significantly less than DCL) and while we also really don't need the pampering, butler, free drinks, etc, I did really, really, really like the concierge lounge. As a family of introverts, we quite enjoyed the peaceful oasis. Same for the concierge only pool.

If you have that kind of money, and don't feel the need to spend it somewhere else (like a second vacation) then go for it.

 

[phinz]

Only you can determine value, but there is an endless amount of threads regarding this subjective question. Here are just a few from this year:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/concierge-service.3002178/

https://www.disboards.com/threads/concierge-what-is-included.3172001/

https://www.disboards.com/threads/why-do-you-sail-concierge.3592018/

https://www.disboards.com/threads/concierge-with-kids-worth-the-upgrade.3595033/

https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-comes-with-concierge-cabin.3577518/

https://www.disboards.com/threads/to-cruise-concierge-or-not-the-first-time.3569955

 

[TiggerBouncy]

We have considered it often, but I am never able to justify the cost. Others have laid out the same reasons....
* We don't plan on renting a cabana - that's not a justifiable cost to us.
* I never have trouble booking my senses appointment if I want one. Same with Palo. (We don't do Remy)
* Never had a problem clicking "okay" on my shore excursions
* not looking to get into any wine tasting or anything like that. Just not our style.
So to me the main benefits are: a private lounge that saves me a few feet of walking for soda (We don't drink alcohol), a large screen tv, a private sun deck, and priority boarding. While those things may sound good, they are just not worth the extra cost of the trip which could go toward our next cruise. I would rather get more cruises then these small benefits. If the money were ENTIRELY discretionary - as in I literally have nothing else it would go toward in my life (and I can't imagine anyone having that much) then sure. However if I am having to prioritize expenditures, I am just not getting enough bang for that buck.

 

[OffToDWD]

In general how much more is the "cheapest" Concierge compared to a Family Ocean View Veranda (4C?)? Double the price? Seems like majority of the concierge categories are booked so not able to see pricing.

 

[Shanti]

Given that we can only sail during school breaks (with DCL's peak pricing), concierge is a no go for us. Just cruising during Christmas break or summer in a regular stateroom is the cost equivalent of sailing concierge off-season. So no, we aren't going to pile the extra price of concierge on top of the school break premium. That's just not worth it for us.

If I ever have the opportunity to sail off-season, I might try concierge, but probably not. We've never had it so far, and never felt like we were missing out. I'd rather put the money toward another vacation or top-notch excursions.

 

[Shanti]

If you have sailed both, is the guest service line that bad? What types of reasons does one have to go to guest services? I think we will book premium dining and spa, but can't that be booked before the cruise?

I agree waiting in long lines several times sounds terrible, but is guest services needed that frequently?

I've never sailed concierge, have never waited in a long guest services line on DCL, and have always received really good service from them. That shouldn't really impact your decision to cruise concierge or not. Reasons I've gone to GS include to use gift cards to add money to my onboard account, to add bingo winnings to my account, and to complain about a bad experience on one DCL-booked excursion.

Specialty restaurants and spa activities can be booked before and during the cruise. Concierge guests do get first dibs on booking, but even if a restaurant showed sold out online, they reserve extra spots for people to reserve onboard the ship.

 

[justme0729]

We sailed concierge for our honeymoon in June and really loved it but we wouldn't pay for it again if it is a big difference from a verandah stateroom. Being first time cruisers, it was super nice to have someone just outside our room door in the lounge to help us with all our questions about dining, excursions, cancellations, how to get places, etc., give special surprises in the room, talk to since it was just the 2 of us, and the lounge food was very good- more healthy, tasty food than what was available at cabanas or around the pool. Also, booking excursions early and being first on the ship was also very appreciated. While we loved it, I personally can't see paying such a large amount to upgrade from a verandah room though.

 

[kmix78]

If you have sailed both, is the guest service line that bad? What types of reasons does one have to go to guest services? I think we will book premium dining and spa, but can't that be booked before the cruise?

I agree waiting in long lines several times sounds terrible, but is guest services needed that frequently?

I've never sailed concierge- but the guest service lines are really not bad. I have never waited more than a few minutes on the Wonder or Fantasy.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

If you have sailed both, is the guest service line that bad? What types of reasons does one have to go to guest services? I think we will book premium dining and spa, but can't that be booked before the cruise?

I agree waiting in long lines several times sounds terrible, but is guest services needed that frequently?

We have used guest services a few times per cruise. Mainly: To get tickets to a special event not available on shore (like GingerBread houses or the 5K). We have used them to adjust the tip that we give at the end of the cruise (we always add more than the standard and they can put it on your stateroom there) and sometimes to partial pay our bill if we want to settle our account.

Honestly - none of these things have ever been "Urgent; must do right now" things except maybe the gingerbread house. So I usually just look at the line whenever I walk by and if there is only 1-2 people, I will pop in and get my business taken care of. If it's busy, I just wait until I am that way again. Therefore I have never waited more than a few minutes except one time (person in front of me was a special snowflake).

 

[Trera]

We have used guest services a few times per cruise. Mainly: To get tickets to a special event not available on shore (like GingerBread houses or the 5K). We have used them to adjust the tip that we give at the end of the cruise (we always add more than the standard and they can put it on your stateroom there) and sometimes to partial pay our bill if we want to settle our account.

Honestly - none of these things have ever been "Urgent; must do right now" things except maybe the gingerbread house. So I usually just look at the line whenever I walk by and if there is only 1-2 people, I will pop in and get my business taken care of. If it's busy, I just wait until I am that way again. Therefore I have never waited more than a few minutes except one time (person in front of me was a special snowflake).

The last time we did the Ginger Bread house decorating, we just let our concierge host know and they got us into it even though we were told it was full.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

The last time we did the Ginger Bread house decorating, we just let our concierge host know and they got us into it even though we were told it was full.

And to me, that's the main benefit of concierge. They hold seats and appointments back from the general public to allow concierge to slip in (like the Cabana, wine tasting, Remy and Palo, etc). To be clear; it's not like it was full and concierge somehow made the room magically bigger. They just reserved spots for concierge only.

However, anyone for the most part can get GingerBread houses (for example) if they go right to GS when boarding. Concierge just makes sure you don't have to do that. That's true with MOST things (exception being cabanas which you have a hard time getting unless you are platinum or concierge).

So as I said - these are NICE things, but not worth the cost to me because I can do them myself. It's a time / value thing. I figure concierge might save me an hour or two. My vacation time isn't QUITE worth $1000 / hr! $999/hr... maybe. But not a thousand! Come on Disney.... shave off those $2 and I will book! LOL.

 

[Trera]

And to me, that's the main benefit of concierge. They hold seats and appointments back from the general public to allow concierge to slip in (like the Cabana, wine tasting, Remy and Palo, etc). To be clear; it's not like it was full and concierge somehow made the room magically bigger. They just reserved spots for concierge only.

However, anyone for the most part can get GingerBread houses (for example) if they go right to GS when boarding. Concierge just makes sure you don't have to do that. That's true with MOST things (exception being cabanas which you have a hard time getting unless you are platinum or concierge).

So as I said - these are NICE things, but not worth the cost to me because I can do them myself. It's a time / value thing. I figure concierge might save me an hour or two. My vacation time isn't QUITE worth $1000 / hr! $999/hr... maybe. But not a thousand! Come on Disney.... shave off those $2 and I will book! LOL.

We just look at it from the standpoint of everything that you get............some of it provides things you might couldn't get otherwise such as a cabana. Other things they provide are things that save us time or hassle such as going to guest services or shutters. We love the lounge atmosphere, happy hour drinks, free popcorn and rice krispie treats, character meets in the lounge, dedicated sun deck, early boarding, preferred tender boarding, choosing our photos in the lounge (instead of going to shutters), coffee machine, replacement KTTW card printing, final bill printing, rooms ready when boarding, they will cancel reservations inside the cancellation period for you, princess meet and greet tickets, they many times will provide a surprise to our DD during the cruise, last minute BBB reservations, pillow menu, different toiletries, etc.

We don't do it every time and I can definitely see it is not worth it to everyone................. but it is worth it to us.

 

[lcarter0922]

I said I’d never do Concierge but when our cruise got canceled in September because of Hurricane Irma and they offered us 25 percent off our next cruise and included Concierge we jumped at the opportunity, because you can’t even use onboard discount for concierge so we knew this would be our only opportunity to do it. I went through every cruise next year on the Fantasy and found the cheapest one and that was the one we booked with the discount. Since we’ve been to all the destinations on that cruise we are staying on the ship and enjoying the benefits. Once we included the discount, no excursions and the happy hour. It wasn’t that much more.

 

[volfan1978]

I'll throw in my $0.02 based on my experience. If concierge is within your budget and you place a value on being pampered and made to feel important, then it is by all means "worth" it. It started with the rock star treatment when we boarded...we were whisked right past the line of "civilians" waiting for their picture, given the next available photographer, and then personally escorted to the concierge lounge. We really enjoyed that part of it, and it was things like that over and over again for the duration of the cruise. Pretty much snap your fingers and a team of people will do what they can to fulfill any reasonable/legal request. And keep in mind that if a cabana is high on your priority list then concierge is your best shot there.

If you're considering it just for tangible things like food and beverage, I think you could do much better skipping concierge and paying for things as you go. The concierge lounge was a very nice perk, but my kids didn't like the snack offerings unless they were coated in chocolate. I could have given them a $100 budget for Vannellope's for the week and they would have been much happier. In terms of alcohol, I think my wife and I drank about 12 glasses of wine and 5 mixed drinks total...so let's say that has a dollar value of about $150. Given that we paid about $2,500 higher for our Cat V than we would have for a 4A, if you're just thinking about it in terms of dollar value then we overpaid by a factor of 10.

 

[pezgirlroy]

I'll throw in my $0.02 based on my experience. If concierge is within your budget and you place a value on being pampered and made to feel important, then it is by all means "worth" it. It started with the rock star treatment when we boarded...we were whisked right past the line of "civilians" waiting for their picture, given the next available photographer, and then personally escorted to the concierge lounge. We really enjoyed that part of it, and it was things like that over and over again for the duration of the cruise. Pretty much snap your fingers and a team of people will do what they can to fulfill any reasonable/legal request. And keep in mind that if a cabana is high on your priority list then concierge is your best shot there.

If you're considering it just for tangible things like food and beverage, I think you could do much better skipping concierge and paying for things as you go. The concierge lounge was a very nice perk, but my kids didn't like the snack offerings unless they were coated in chocolate. I could have given them a $100 budget for Vannellope's for the week and they would have been much happier. In terms of alcohol, I think my wife and I drank about 12 glasses of wine and 5 mixed drinks total...so let's say that has a dollar value of about $150. Given that we paid about $2,500 higher for our Cat V than we would have for a 4A, if you're just thinking about it in terms of dollar value then we overpaid by a factor of 10.

Can you give an idea of what some of the snack items are? I am just curious. We will concierge on the fantasy in April. And is that fancy looking coffee machine easy to figure out? Thanks.