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

[volfan1978]

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

For our cruise it was Danny, Tracey, and Angeline. They were all three very polite and very responsive to our requests. They did a great job--our 3 year old is shy, so Angeline spent the whole week playing peek-a-boo with him and finally got a hug out of him by the end of the cruise. Not sure if they will still be on board in December--for your sake I hope so!

Joey was extremely helpful keeping the snacks stocked in the lounge, and Raphael is my new favorite bartender. The first night I asked for a glass of wine before dinner, and he filled it up to the top and said "I make it rain all night, mon" and gave me a fist bump.

 

[volfan1978]

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.

Exactly! Although I wonder if they might have had a better time if I hadn't led them on a death march...my bad on that one!

llachance seemed to imply that I was getting my "just desserts" for defying the Disney gods and circumventing the system to get my 3 year old involved, and I just don't think that's the case. That's what I was trying to clarify.

I've seen other reviews with similar age children where they had a blast...just passing along our experience that it wasn't quite what I'd hoped.

 

[volfan1978]

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.

Yes...if that's the one piece of advice I could pass on from our experience, it would be to get a ride. Glad your family enjoyed it!

 

[xuxa777]

volfan was just unhappy because Butch Jones is still their coach, jk.

 

[volfan1978]

volfan was just unhappy because Butch Jones is still their coach, jk.

You have no idea. I've been lobbying for his firing for over two years now. He's a great guy, and I don't doubt his heart...I just doubt his capability. He's a classic example of the Peter Principle.

 

[KarenMP59]

For our cruise it was Danny, Tracey, and Angeline. They were all three very polite and very responsive to our requests. They did a great job--our 3 year old is shy, so Angeline spent the whole week playing peek-a-boo with him and finally got a hug out of him by the end of the cruise. Not sure if they will still be on board in December--for your sake I hope so!

Joey was extremely helpful keeping the snacks stocked in the lounge, and Raphael is my new favorite bartender. The first night I asked for a glass of wine before dinner, and he filled it up to the top and said "I make it rain all night, mon" and gave me a fist bump.

Thanks! We've had all three before and they are all great!

 

[Sytrace]

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.

My daughter is also a perfectionist and I can see where this might snowball. and she hates dark chocolate, so her experience, while fun ended at the creation ad she turned the chocolate over to her brother. lol

Exactly! Although I wonder if they might have had a better time if I hadn't led them on a death march...my bad on that one!

llachance seemed to imply that I was getting my "just desserts" for defying the Disney gods and circumventing the system to get my 3 year old involved, and I just don't think that's the case. That's what I was trying to clarify.

I've seen other reviews with similar age children where they had a blast...just passing along our experience that it wasn't quite what I'd hoped.

Sorry.. this made me smile just imagining if I had put my kids thru that experience as well that our outcome would NOT have been far different from yours/ Teens or myself actually. I am sorry you did not have a great time though.

 

[cruiser21]

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.

Disney also charges adult prices for kid age 10. Most vendors adult prices start at 13. I would never book excursions through Disney, but I especially wouldn't book them with a kid age 10- 13.

 

[Trera]

For our cruise it was Danny, Tracey, and Angeline. They were all three very polite and very responsive to our requests. They did a great job--our 3 year old is shy, so Angeline spent the whole week playing peek-a-boo with him and finally got a hug out of him by the end of the cruise. Not sure if they will still be on board in December--for your sake I hope so!

Joey was extremely helpful keeping the snacks stocked in the lounge, and Raphael is my new favorite bartender. The first night I asked for a glass of wine before dinner, and he filled it up to the top and said "I make it rain all night, mon" and gave me a fist bump.

That is a good concierge team for the Dream. Danny is one of our favorite hosts from any of the DCL ships!!

 

[Stratus22]

I to was on this cruise and yes it was hot. We stayed on the ship this time. Yeah me!!! We did however bring back with us from this cruise 10 Pounds of Candy

 

[volfan1978]

I to was on this cruise and yes it was hot. We stayed on the ship this time. Yeah me!!! We did however bring back with us from this cruise 10 Pounds of Candy

Yeah our three kids cleaned up trick or treating, plus we took bunches of candy they had sitting out at bingo.

 

[Trera]

We gave the left over candy to our stateroom host last year as we didnt need it at home with Halloween coming up and he seemed happy to have it.

 

[volfan1978]

We gave the left over candy to our stateroom host last year as we didnt need it at home with Halloween coming up and he seemed happy to have it.

Wish I had thought of that!

 

[lcarter0922]

Is the happy hour still certain hours before the dinner and shows or is it open times for example 5p-10p? Last time we sailed concierge it was 45 minutes before each dinner seating but I’ve heard that’s changed.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Is the happy hour still certain hours before the dinner and shows or is it open times for example 5p-10p? Last time we sailed concierge it was 45 minutes before each dinner seating but I’ve heard that’s changed.

I believe it is now 5-10.

 

[lcarter0922]

Thanks!

 

[kateandy08096]

Thanks for the heads up about greycliff. We were debating it for our Nov 27th cruise. We are going to do the zoo not via Disney. We are going to just catch a taxi

 

[Stratus22]

We gave the left over candy to our stateroom host last year as we didnt need it at home with Halloween coming up and he seemed happy to have it.

We bring Specialty Chocolate every trip for our stateroom host/hostess and boy are they pleased. We then leave whatever they don't eat.

 

[volfan1978]

Is the happy hour still certain hours before the dinner and shows or is it open times for example 5p-10p? Last time we sailed concierge it was 45 minutes before each dinner seating but I’ve heard that’s changed.

It's open season from 5-10pm nightly. Since we had our little ones with us we couldn't quite take full advantage of that, but I saw some fellow cruisers that did. And they're not skimpy either. One lady asked for a glass of wine, and when it got about 1/3 full she said "that's good"...but Raphael kept pouring, shook his head no and said in his Jamaican accent "you're not driving anywhere tonight" and didn't stop until her glass was nearly overflowing.

 

[Dug720]

It's open season from 5-10pm nightly. Since we had our little ones with us we couldn't quite take full advantage of that, but I saw some fellow cruisers that did. And they're not skimpy either. One lady asked for a glass of wine, and when it got about 1/3 full she said "that's good"...but Raphael kept pouring, shook his head no and said in his Jamaican accent "you're not driving anywhere tonight" and didn't stop until her glass was nearly overflowing.

See, to me, blatantly disregarding a guest’s statement that it was fine is NOT good service. It’s similar - though not quite AS bad - to baristas who admit to giving whole or 2% milk when skim was ordered, dairy when soy, almond, or coconut was ordered, caffeinated when decaf was ordered, etc. or MDR servers who refuse to order an entree you have requested. There could have been a very real reason she only wanted 1/3 (Weight Watchers is one possibility that comes to mind - that 1/3 of a DCL wine glass is ONE serving) of a glass - so then it was either drink more than she wanted or waste it.

Good service is making a suggestion but ultimately listening to the guest when it comes to drink amounts or food orders.