Just returned from 4 night concierge on Disney Dream...AMA

[volfan1978]

Sailed 10/9 - 10/13 on the Disney Dream out of Port Canaveral, stateroom 12510 (Cat V) concierge. Family of 5 (kids 10, 8, 3). Flew in on Sunday and stayed at Holiday Inn Express in Cocoa Beach. Did Graycliff chocolate excursion on Nassau day, cabana on Castaway Cay. Wife and I did Palo on Pirate Night.

If you have any questions, I'll answer them the best I can...

 

[tlprice]

Sailed 10/9 - 10/13 on the Disney Dream out of Port Canaveral, stateroom 12510 (Cat V) concierge. Family of 5 (kids 10, 8, 3). Flew in on Sunday and stayed at Holiday Inn Express in Cocoa Beach. Did Graycliff chocolate excursion on Nassau day, cabana on Castaway Cay. Wife and I did Palo on Pirate Night.

If you have any questions, I'll answer them the best I can...

I'm booked for the Graycliff chocolate excursion in December. What was it like? Was it worth doing?

 

[volfan1978]

I'm booked for the Graycliff chocolate excursion in December. What was it like? Was it worth doing?

I'll start by giving you the typical caveat that "worth" is a subjective term...

I think it could be really good, but for our particular experience we weren't impressed. First, let me tell you that we booked the excursion directly through Graycliff and NOT through Disney. Disney wouldn't allow our 3 year old to participate, but Graycliff said he was free although he'd have to "help" one of the adults. It was also cheaper to do it that way.

So we were booked for 11:15am...they told us we'd be paired with an existing tour group. We walked...I'm athletic, I run at least 6 miles on Saturdays and work out through the week, but I wasn't prepared to carry my 3 year old the whole way in the heat and humidity. But our sweaty family made it to Graycliff with five minutes to spare, only to be told that the tour group were joining (also from Disney) was running late due to traffic. A few minutes after noon the bus finally shows up, and by this time my wife and I are about out of patience because our kids have touched every single item in the store.

That just set the stage for a less than positive experience for us, although I will say our tour guide was very energetic and engaging. Some of the tourists were non-English speakers, and so the language barrier slowed us considerably.

When it came to the chocolate making, the directions were unclear and things were really messy. But the results (at least with my chocolate bar) were delicious.

Bottom line...children will need a LOT of help and will make this experience less enjoyable than it otherwise might be. But if you're a patient person who can tolerate a great deal of ambiguity and open ended instructions then you'll probably have a great time.

 

[llachance]

Disney does look at the experience and the "difficulty" that you had with your three year old was probably why they didn't want the young one as part of the excursion. I think that you experienced a bit of this.

 

[Dug720]

Disney does look at the experience and the "difficulty" that you had with your three year old was probably why they didn't want the young one as part of the excursion. I think that you experienced a bit of this.

Exactly.

I get that age limits are frustrating, but Disney does not arbitrarily impose them. In this case, since the vendor allowed you to book the child but did caution you that you would have to assist, my best guess is either that in initial conversations and negotiations Disney determined it would not be a great experience for kids that small OR that maybe they initially did and got such poor feedback they raised the limit.

 

[volfan1978]

Disney does look at the experience and the "difficulty" that you had with your three year old was probably why they didn't want the young one as part of the excursion. I think that you experienced a bit of this.

With all due respect, you assumed that my 3 year old was the issue. The only problem I had with him was that he insisted on being carried. He was an angel during the actual tour/activity part. It was my 10 year old and 8 year old who were very difficult. They just didn't "get" the instructions, got frustrated, and generally made us miserable in the process.

And Disney would have had no problem with them going. It was my 3 year old, who Disney refuses to allow, who gave us some amazingly cute photo ops in his sanitary gown/hairnet that actually made the trip somewhat bearable. I'd say it's more likely that Disney doesn't allow children under 5 because Graycliff allows them for free and so Disney can't monetize them.

 

[displacedhoosier]

We were on the same cruise and had an absolute blast. My kids are 6 & 8 and we were in stateroom 6648. Our family already misses the kids club! We really had a magical time. Kids and I stayed on the boat in Nassau but husband & in-laws went to Greycliff Cigar Company and did a self-guided walking tour and also visited a brewhouse.

 

[Sytrace]

We did the Greycliffe Chocolatier tour via DCL a year or so ago as well. My two are teens and actually said this was their favorite excursion to date in Nassau. And we have done a few others over the past couple of years.

Our guide was Coco...really...that was her name, and she was fantastic and funny. We found it easy to complete the mold they gave us and the waiting time while the chocolate set in the mold was busy with making other treats. Chocolate covered strawberries for my husband and kids (I dislike strawberries) as well as some really good treats with various toppings to pile on.
Definitely messy so I was thankful for the gloves (even though I don't like the sweaty hand thing) and the smock. The hairnet was uncomfortable but necessary.
All in all, I keep thinking I would like to do it again at some point, if not just to see Coco.

 

[quickcat]

How was your meet and greet in the concierge area? What character did you have?

 

[llachance]

No assumption at all except you started the post with your miserable walk. I am happy that there are age limits on the excursions and welcome folks to go off the beaten path if they want - each person has to choose what is best for them. And Disney has plenty of excursions that allow youngsters under 4 and don't charge for them. It just wasn't what you happened to do.

 

[tlprice]

Thank you for the feedback volfan1978. I only have a 10 year old and she loves anything to do with making food with chocolate so she should be okay. I'm surprised you were able to book through Graycliff directly. When I have looked into it, they only have direct tours at 9 (before we are ashore) and 3 (on days that we aren't there). It would save us $13 each to book directly through them, but it doesn't include transportation and I'm not sure I would feel totally comfortable walking through Nassau with just me and my daughter anyway.

 

[volfan1978]

How was your meet and greet in the concierge area? What character did you have?

We got Stitch in his pirate costume. It was great...it was relaxed, everyone got plenty of time for pictures and interactions. And Raphael kept the drinks flowing as he did every evening, which was nice!

 

[volfan1978]

We did the Greycliffe Chocolatier tour via DCL a year or so ago as well. My two are teens and actually said this was their favorite excursion to date in Nassau. And we have done a few others over the past couple of years.

Our guide was Coco...really...that was her name, and she was fantastic and funny. We found it easy to complete the mold they gave us and the waiting time while the chocolate set in the mold was busy with making other treats. Chocolate covered strawberries for my husband and kids (I dislike strawberries) as well as some really good treats with various toppings to pile on.
Definitely messy so I was thankful for the gloves (even though I don't like the sweaty hand thing) and the smock. The hairnet was uncomfortable but necessary.
All in all, I keep thinking I would like to do it again at some point, if not just to see Coco.

I think teens and adults are probably the sweet spot for this excursion (no pun intended). Glad you had a good time...and I think under the right circumstances we would have had a much better time.

 

[volfan1978]

No assumption at all except you started the post with your miserable walk. I am happy that there are age limits on the excursions and welcome folks to go off the beaten path if they want - each person has to choose what is best for them. And Disney has plenty of excursions that allow youngsters under 4 and don't charge for them. It just wasn't what you happened to do.

I'm not trying to argue, I'm just trying to understand your logic...

You're correct in pointing out that the long walk in the heat set the tone for our experience. Just to clarify--I was sweaty after carrying our little guy but I recovered quickly--but the wife and daughters don't work out at all and so they were tired and unhappy and pretty much stayed that way. Chalk that up to me underestimating the physical effort that would be required on their part, otherwise I would have arranged transportation or just taken a taxi for $20. Had Disney allowed us to go as a family, a ride would have been included and that would have all been avoided.

So I wouldn't say that Disney "warned" us about allowing children under 5 to participate. In fact, I would submit that we would have had a much better time if Disney had allowed us to go on their excursion. I see the fault as mine for not arranging transportation. But I don't see how this is an "I told you so" on Disney's part in terms of whether my 3 year old should have been allowed to participate.

 

[bumbershoot]

It was my 10 year old and 8 year old who were very difficult. They just didn't "get" the instructions, got frustrated, and generally made us miserable in the process.

What were they having a hard time with?

A few years ago when we did it it was pretty simple. Pour chocolate here, add what you want...

Maybe they changed it?



If you don't want assumptions made about what kid made it hard, specify what kid made it hard in the OP.


And yes, walking through an area in the Bahamas is almost always going to be hot and sweaty. People who don't like this are going to be unhappy. Good lesson for us all.

 

[DCSWO]

We stayed in 12510 - love the bubble veranda

 

[KarenMP59]

Who were the concierge hosts and do you know if
they will still be on board for the December 1 cruise?

 

[AndreAggie]

I think teens and adults are probably the sweet spot for this excursion (no pun intended). Glad you had a good time...and I think under the right circumstances we would have had a much better time.

I don't know. My 6 (almost 7) year old son LOVED it. We too booked independently and when we arrived (we had walked...won't do that again), they were terribly confused as to how to handle our reservation. We had to wait for the Disney bus to get there (at least 30 minutes). The tour was quick and we all enjoyed the candy making experience. The tour guide allowed us to ride back to the ship on the bus, which I was ever so grateful for! It was only March and it was HOT! I do not recall our tour guide at Graycliff, but it wasn't Coco. I'd researched prior and had heard of her...clearly she wasn't our guide. However, I'd definitely do it again, but likely will spend the extra change and book through Disney.

 

[volfan1978]

What were they having a hard time with?

A few years ago when we did it it was pretty simple. Pour chocolate here, add what you want...

Maybe they changed it?



If you don't want assumptions made about what kid made it hard, specify what kid made it hard in the OP.


And yes, walking through an area in the Bahamas is almost always going to be hot and sweaty. People who don't like this are going to be unhappy. Good lesson for us all.

For the 10 year old...she's a perfectionist. Filling the mold for the bar was no issue, but then when it came to "doing your own thing" with the rest of her chocolate she FTFO when her Mickey design didn't turn out exactly the way she wanted. It snowballed from there with her.

For the 8 year old...she just couldn't understand the instructions, but the heat had her in a foul mood and so any effort to try to help her was met with resistance.

Agreed, in retrospect my OP didn't spell out who the difficult children were during the tour/candy making. I can see how it would have been interpreted the wrong way.

 

[Dug720]

For the 10 year old...she's a perfectionist. Filling the mold for the bar was no issue, but then when it came to "doing your own thing" with the rest of her chocolate she FTFO when her Mickey design didn't turn out exactly the way she wanted. It snowballed from there with her.

For the 8 year old...she just couldn't understand the instructions, but the heat had her in a foul mood and so any effort to try to help her was met with resistance.

Agreed, in retrospect my OP didn't spell out who the difficult children were during the tour/candy making. I can see how it would have been interpreted the wrong way.

Got it now. It sounds like it’s really a more kid-specific thing that could have happened even if booked through Disney rather than an endemic issue with the excursion.