Disney Cruise: Is concierge level worth it?

[CheeringCharm]

Also, does it matter what boat you are on? We are looking at a 4 day cruise on the Dream or a 5 day on the Magic. The first one stops at Castaway Cay and Nassau and the other does CC and Cayman Islands. Do you think it matters? 

I am overwhelmed by all this new info. Help! lol


eta: one more question: how about aft, middle, or fore of the ship? Which is best?

[CheeringCharm]

One more question: how about aft, middle, or fore of the ship? Which is best?

[wannabe]

i'm going to say that middle is best because it'll be the most stable part of the ship.

at least, i hope so because that's what we booked.

[waterchurch]

I would choose Cayman Islands over Nassau, personally.
Middle of the ship feels the least movement and means you're more central to everything on the ship.

[CheeringCharm]

I've been looking into it and it seems like doing the 4 day cruise and leaving from Port Canaveral might be best because then we could tack on an extra day at the Magic Kingdom. Did anyone else do that? Was it like a package or did you make the reservations separately?

[saywhatnow]

We just booked a 4-night on the Magic out of Miami for next February. We were debating concierge or not but we figured for the (INSANE) amount more it costs to go concierge, we could spend less and do an "upgraded experience"...order champagne whenever we wanted, etc. We ended up booking aft for our state room location. I heard it's not that much difference in feeling the boat move and then you won't be using the central elevators as much which are the most crowded.

[jc2009]

We did concierge on the Dream in December and it was AMAZING! The main reason we choose to do concierge was because we had a 3 year old and 15 month old. The personalized attention was totally worth it to us. We picked a room that had a bump out balcony (larger balcony for the same price) and was across the hall from the lounge. It was so nice to be able to grab a quick snack or can of soda and relax in our room. Also, if you want to get a cabana on CC, concierge is basically the only way to get one (they are about $600 for the day. We really enjoyed it with little kids.

[juliej]

Mar 3, 2016 20:17:13 GMT -5 CheeringCharm said:

I've been looking into it and it seems like doing the 4 day cruise and leaving from Port Canaveral might be best because then we could tack on an extra day at the Magic Kingdom. Did anyone else do that? Was it like a package or did you make the reservations separately?

Make the reservations separately – if the rooms at WDW go done in price (and they often do), you can't get the new rates as part of a land-and-sea package. Also, having them separate means a bit longer time to pay the land portion in full (land-and-sea and cruise-only trips have to be paid up sooner).

[juliej]

I'd choose midship, as high or as low as you can get. Decks 10 and 2, for instance – you can walk up to 11 or 3 and have a much easier time getting an elevator.

[dulcemariamar]

I think the most important thing about choosing a cabin is to make sure that there is no public area above or below you. There is ususally one deck that is sandwiched between two decks that just have cabins. Go for that.

[dcrunnergirl52]

I'd do the longer cruise for sure. All the effort of packing, getting to the ship, etc. you might as well go for as long as possible.

[CheeringCharm]

Mar 3, 2016 19:22:45 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

We were on the Wonder which I think is roughly the same size as the Magic? And dream and fantasy are the bigger ships? Or am I mixing that up.

Either way the benefit of the smaller ship was really evident at Castaway Cay bc the island is designed to accommodate the larger ships. So there were ample beach chairs , snorkeling equipment, etc. it was great. We LOVED castaway cay. If any of you want to run a 5k, they do a race on the island the morning the ship docks.

What did you think of the Wonder? I ended up moving our cruise to April because I was worried about the weather in February so now we are on the Wonder instead of the Dream (which I guess is the biggest/nicest one?). What did you think of the pools, restaurants, your room etc.? Do you have any tips based on your experience?

The bolded is good to know! 

[juliej]

Mar 6, 2016 17:14:04 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

Bring a large empty photo mat with sharpies and a pillowcase with fabric markers and turn it in to guest services on your first day and all the characters will sign it and you'll get it back on your last day. 

Unfortunately they don't do this anymore. It was kind of an under the radar thing, and so many people started doing it they had to stop.

[bronxgirl]

Mar 6, 2016 20:36:37 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

Mar 6, 2016 18:52:25 GMT -5 juliej said:

Unfortunately they don't do this anymore. It was kind of an under the radar thing, and so many people started doing it they had to stop.

Oh boo. That is disappointing. It was a nice perk.

That's a bummer. When we went on our cruise we brought two photo mats- one for the Princesses and one for the "Fab Five". They're great souvenirs. We brought a big bag of peanut butter crackers as a thank you for signing. (I read about all of this on Disboards).

[smylei9]

We just got back from the 4 night cruise to Nassau and Castaway Cay on Disney Dream a week ago. We didn't go concierge and don't feel like we missed anything. Our cabin steward was super attentive to us as were our table servers. We were also happy with where our tables were in the restaurants.

Some friends of ours were on the same ship and did pay for concierge a month ago. She said the perks were nice but she wasn't sure they would pay for them again. To be fair, this was their first cruise and she said they discovered they weren't really "cruising people" so they probably won't go on another cruise again anyway. She did say that she was kind of annoyed by how over-attentive their servers and room steward was.

We were on the 9th floor right smack dab in the middle of the ship with a balcony. I didn't feel movement at all. DH said he could feel it a little.