Is Disney Cruise Line concierge level worth it?

Whenever you sail on a Disney cruise, everybody will get entry to included meals, good service and nice leisure. However there’s a category of cabins that provides visitors a bit of additional pixie mud: Disney Cruise Line concierge degree.

Disney Cruise Line sits towards the pricier finish of the cruising spectrum, even in probably the most primary of lodging. However let’s assume you’ve already determined that the price to cruise with Disney — with the Disney characters, entry to an included rotating eating room schedule and night Broadway-caliber Disney exhibits — is price it for you.

As you have a look at the cabin and amenity choices accessible on Disney cruise ships, you may marvel if Disney Cruise Line’s concierge-level rooms and repair are definitely worth the further premium.

To reply this query and see what precisely all that further money will get you, we sailed in concierge-level rooms on Disney Wonder and Disney Wish. Right here’s what we came upon about Disney Cruise Line’s concierge-level rooms, advantages, service and lounge — and whether or not the perks are definitely worth the further price.

What’s Disney Cruise Line’s concierge degree?

Disney Cruise Line’s concierge degree is analogous in some methods to a club-level room at a Disney World or Disneyland resort hotel.

You pay extra for one of these lodging in change for entry to a lounge, extra attentive service and extra advantages. However the extras for concierge service on a Disney cruise ship truly go a lot additional than the added advantages of a membership room on the Disney parks.

Those that resolve to spend the additional money for a concierge-level room can be spoiled with earlier reserving dates for excursions and actions, particular onboard meals and choices, the power to ebook cabanas at Disney’s private island earlier than others, early entry to the theater within the night to nab the most effective seats, and use of a personal lounge on the ship.

To entry the concierge degree on a Disney cruise, it’s a must to ebook a concierge room sort, and the advantages and upgraded service then convey with that cabin sort. It’s not an add-on you’ll be able to tack onto an in any other case nonconcierge cabin.

Cabin types within that concierge class of rooms usually begin with verandah cabins (i.e., a room with a personal balcony) and go up in value and measurement to incorporate quite a lot of suites. If you happen to’re already considering you need to ebook a set, you don’t additionally should resolve in regards to the concierge degree; you’ll routinely get Disney Cruise Line’s concierge service included together with your premium lodging.

Reward your inbox with the TPG Day by day e-newsletter

Be a part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s consultants

By signing up, you’ll obtain newsletters and promotional content material and conform to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the info practices in our Privacy Policy. It’s possible you’ll unsubscribe at any time.

Nevertheless, in the event you plan to ebook a cabin with a balcony, you have to to resolve whether or not you desire a room with the usual inclusions or to improve to a concierge room with a balcony and all the additional Disney Cruise Line concierge advantages. The distinction may be hundreds of {dollars} and entry to a slew of further perks whereas on the ship.

Once I just lately priced out Disney Cruise Line concierge rooms, cruise fares for ships departing from the U.S. began at a bit below $4,000 for a brief crusing for 2 individuals through the much less busy cruising instances. On quick sailings from locations like Singapore on Disney Adventure and when one of many Disney ships is working quick sailings out of Australia, the beginning value for the concierge degree can drop a bit decrease than that.

On the flip facet, costs go as much as tens of hundreds of {dollars} per crusing for concierge degree for the bigger suites or on longer sailings, equivalent to for a weeklong crusing on the brand new Disney Treasure or the favored Disney sailings to Alaska.

FOR NO-COST ASSISTANCE WITH PLANNING AND BOOKING YOUR NEXT DISNEY VACATION, CHECK OUT TPG’S DISNEY BOOKING PARTNER, MOUSE COUNSELORS.

Associated: The best credit cards for booking cruises

Disney Cruise Line concierge advantages

Reserving a concierge-level room on a Disney cruise brings many perks past entry to the concierge lounge. Right here’s a fast abstract of among the Disney Cruise Line concierge advantages:

• Precedence reserving of actions and excursions 130 days earlier than crusing through the Shoreside Concierge Affiliate workforce (123 days out if you want to ebook your self on-line)
• Precedence boarding — be among the many first on the ship
• Entry to the concierge lounge with included meals and drinks
• Complimentary wine, beer and spirits within the concierge lounge within the evenings
• Free popcorn within the film theaters
• Precedence seating for the night exhibits
• Precedence walk-off on debarkation day
• Room service ordering of scorching breakfast or dinner from the primary eating places in suites
• Entry to educated and useful concierge hosts

To understand the worth of those perks, it’s a must to perceive how exercise bookings work on a Disney cruise. Most cruise traces, together with Disney, have an elite standing pecking order when it comes to when you’ll be able to board, ebook premium onboard eating places, make spa appointments, safe shore excursions and schedule onboard actions.

On Disney Cruise Line, first-time cruisers could make these bookings beginning 75 days earlier than crusing. That seems like loads of time, however those that have sailed with Disney earlier than could make the bookings 90 to 123 days earlier than setting sail, relying on their Castaway Club status.

Nevertheless, in the event you ebook on the concierge degree, the concierge workforce asks to your exercise preferences through electronic mail earlier than your sail date. They put in your requests exactly when the 130-day reserving window opens, so basically, nobody can ebook something earlier than you. This jump-start will increase the chances that you will get your most popular spa instances, onboard tastings, adults-only restaurant reservations, excursions and even hard-to-get cabanas while at Disney’s islands in the Bahamas.

Nevertheless, even this is not a assure, particularly on ships equivalent to Disney Want and Disney Treasure, because of a bigger variety of concierge rooms on these ships. If everybody else in that degree is vying for the chance to ebook a cabana, you continue to might miss out, so consider the concierge degree as growing the chances of hard-to-get bookings, not a slam dunk.

These in a concierge-level suite can order from an expanded room service menu and have menu gadgets from the ship’s major eating rooms delivered to their cabins. To do that, you’ll be able to place an order with the concierge hosts, and the meals can be delivered to you. In actual fact, being in a concierge suite is the one technique to get a scorching breakfast delivered to your cabin.

Disney Cruise Line concierge visitors additionally get precedence tendering to ports, when required. Because of precedence boarding instances on embarkation day once we have been crusing within the concierge degree throughout a Disney Surprise crusing, we have been the third household to return aboard. This meant we obtained a number of extra hours on the ship than we did on our first cruise, once we didn’t have concierge-level entry. Boarding first additionally meant we had the swimming pools and slides to ourselves for a very long time, which was an incredible deal with.

Port Canaveral, a departure port in Florida used for a number of Disney cruise ships, gives a complete lounge with a stocked fridge the place concierge visitors can wait earlier than boarding begins for that group. Meaning your particular therapy begins earlier than you even stroll on board.

As soon as on board, plan on stopping by the unique embarkation day lunch for concierge-level visitors so you’ll be able to keep away from the lunchtime crowds and get to know your concierge host workforce. Whereas it’s not obligatory to attend, the lunch is an effective technique to kick off your cruise (earlier than or after you’ve gotten in any early swimming you need to do).

Professional tip: Get the Welcome Aboard Sundae and luxuriate in a drink; alcohol and premium nonalcoholic drinks, equivalent to smoothies, are included throughout this unique lunch.

For me, the most effective a part of the concierge magic, outdoors of the lounge itself, is the way in which the concierge employees handles disembarkation.

On our first cruise, getting off the ship took hours. We burned off our “trip excessive” in a rush. However whenever you cruise within the concierge degree, you’ll be able to take pleasure in a lightweight breakfast within the lounge, after which the employees can take you and your baggage down a personal elevator and straight to the walkway off the ship. Debarkation takes mere minutes.

This won’t sound spectacular till you’ve executed it the opposite manner, battling hundreds of cruisers additionally able to disembark. I’m right here to let you know that experiencing no traces, no stress and no regrets because the concierge employees escorted us off the ship made for a better transition again into the true world.

Contained in the Disney concierge lounge

The concierge lounge is the tangible hallmark of Disney Cruise Line’s concierge-level service.

On Disney Wonder and Disney Magic, the lounge is midship on Deck 10, which is nearly as excessive as you’ll be able to go on the ship. On Disney Want and Disney Treasure, the concierge lounge is on decks 12 and 13, that are additionally two of the topmost decks on these ships. On Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream, the lounge is discovered on Deck 12.

You could use your keycard to get into the lounge. Close to the doorway, concierge employees members are sometimes ready to help you. They are going to rapidly get to know you over the course of the cruise and principally act as your cruise fairy godparents. (On the flip facet, they’d completely know in the event you tried to usher in a non-concierge-level visitor, so don’t do this.)

The lounges themselves every have a food-and-beverage space (with an incredible espresso machine!), together with numerous seating areas. On Disney Want and Disney Treasure, the lounge had a stable bar, plus scorching tubs and a small pool deck only for concierge visitors.

Besides on debarkation day and through any non-public Disney character meet-and-greets, the lounge was hardly ever crowded once we visited. Nevertheless, it does get busier through the included completely satisfied hour instances within the early night.

Within the concierge lounge, you’ll discover gentle snacks and small plates that rotate all through the day. You may additionally discover some treats which can be solely accessible on this lounge, such because the lunchtime sushi rolls we loved on Disney Want.

On Disney Want, we beloved to pop into the lounge for a snack or dessert for the youngsters. For the reason that lounge was so near the concierge rooms on that ship, it was logistically less complicated to seize a fast breakfast or snack there moderately than heading over to the primary onboard eating places. However what I actually beloved about Disney’s concierge lounge was the help-yourself drinks fridge. We stocked the minifridge in our cabin from this major fridge and loaded up our backpacks earlier than shore excursions.

Every night, complimentary beer, wine and spirits have been served within the lounge by bartenders who appeared to know everybody’s names by the second night. Don’t fear in the event you don’t drink or if you would like one thing to your youngsters; mocktails and alcohol-free daiquiris have been accessible upon request.

Disney Cruise Line concierge rooms

Disney Cruise Line concierge rooms historically begin on the Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah degree, and they are going to be clearly labeled as concierge rooms when reserving. Nevertheless, some rooms with out verandahs, such because the Oceanview Staterooms on Disney Want and Disney Treasure, can fall inside the concierge class, too.

If you happen to’re searching for more room, the ships have one- and two-bedroom layouts and specialty suites just like the humongous 1,966-square-foot Tower Suites on Disney Want and Disney Treasure. As beforehand talked about, all Disney Cruise Line suites include included concierge entry and companies.

If you happen to’re curious, here is a glance contained in the two-story suite on Disney Want.

On Disney Want, we weren’t in that suite however did qualify for concierge entry by crusing in a 608-square-foot, one-bedroom suite only a few doorways down from the concierge lounge.

It had a main bedroom with a king-size mattress, a beautiful toilet with a “Tangled”-inspired mosaic over the bath, a lounge with a sofa that transformed to a mattress, and a eating space with a desk for 4. The divider between the residing and eating areas contained a Murphy mattress that pulled down into an extra single mattress. The suite greater than comfortably slept my two youngsters, my mother and myself.

A number of years earlier, we had a barely bigger 614-square-foot one-bedroom suite on Disney Surprise that additionally conveyed concierge advantages. This suite felt extra spacious than the one on Disney Want, although it clearly had a extra conventional look. In each instances, we have been royally spoiled with more room and repair in comparison with staying in a regular cruise cabin.

Associated: The ultimate guide to choosing a cruise ship cabin

How a lot do Disney Cruise Line concierge rooms price?

Cruise costs range dramatically, and that’s very true whenever you add concierge advantages with Disney Cruise Line.

At the moment, costs for a three-night Disney cruise from Florida to the Bahamas (together with a cease at Disney’s newest island destination, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point) can begin round $1,690 for double occupancy or $2,937 for a household of 4 in a windowless inside cabin. On the identical cruise, a nonconcierge balcony cabin begins at $1,960 for 2 or $3,237 for 4.

The bottom-level concierge room (with a verandah) begins at $3,934 for 2 or $5,757 for a household of 4.

For that further $2,000-ish, you get a bit extra time on the ship, the power to ebook actions early with no stress, complimentary night drinks within the lounge, snacks on the prepared and free popcorn on the motion pictures. Spend much more on a set, and you’ll take pleasure in further perks, equivalent to scorching room service breakfasts.

For vacationers who actually take pleasure in lounges, streamlining all of the processes, gaining access to free-flowing drinks and having the best degree of service, I’d argue {that a} concierge-level cabin may be price it for an important day or once-in-a-lifetime splurge.

Then again, for a seven-night Alaska cruise for a household of 4, costs begin round $7,000 for an inside cabin; a verandah room is greater than $11,000, and a concierge room at present begins at a staggering $20,000-plus. In that case, you’ll most likely by no means discover me in a concierge room merely because of the price.

Associated: How to book a cruise using points and miles

Is Disney Cruise Line concierge degree price it?

You don’t have to spend the additional cash on a concierge room to have an incredible cruise with Disney … and belief me on that; I’ve sailed on all of the ships and in cabin sorts starting from an interior windowless cabin to a concierge suite.

It’s already a premium cruise expertise. However in case you are debating whether or not the concierge degree is price it, I’ll attempt to enable you resolve.

For us, the most important perks have been the advance reserving for meals and actions that wouldn’t have been simple for a daily Disney cruiser to safe. The night lounge drinks, free popcorn on the motion pictures, further touches like sunscreen available and assist from the concierge employees once we had last-minute plan modifications (which occurred a couple of instances) have been additionally fairly nice.

The non-public out of doors deck for concierge visitors on Disney Want and Disney Treasure can also be a welcome addition.

I’d 100% ebook Disney concierge degree once more if my finances permitted and would say it can be price it — totally on the shorter cruises the place each minute issues greater than it will on a seven- to 10-night cruise. Moreover, on these shorter cruises, you usually tend to prioritize the night lounge completely satisfied hours and drop in a couple of instances to reap the benefits of the snacks.

These shorter cruises additionally provide fewer alternatives to slot in the adults-only eating places, spa remedies, drink tastings and onshore actions, making the booking-window benefit extra necessary. If the finances permits, I’d significantly contemplate shopping for as much as Disney’s concierge degree on a three- or four-night crusing the place I care about accessing particular eating places and actions.

Nevertheless, until cash actually is not any object, I would not often advocate the concierge degree to your first crusing on one of many bigger Disney ships, equivalent to Disney Want, Disney Treasure or the upcoming Disney Future. That’s since you may really feel compelled to spend your leisure and premeal instances within the concierge lounge when try to be out exploring all of the wonderful issues the ship has to supply, together with the meals and leisure at Disney’s no-fee eating places and bars.

It is not price reserving a concierge cabin or suite in the event you aren’t more likely to spend time within the lounge, do not need assistance or a head begin with bookings for the adults-only eating places or non-public island cabanas, and are not within the particular snacks or included drinks within the lounge within the evenings.

Nevertheless, if these advantages will improve your trip and you’ll finances for a Disney cruise with all of the concierge perks, you’re in for a deal with. Begin packing your cruise bag and planning those excursions, and don’t look again.

Associated studying: