Concierge 1 Bdrm vs. 2 Verandah rooms on Magic

[pandiq65]

Hello All,

I am planning a trip on the Magic in early 2019 (probably Feb or March), for myself (grandma), my daughter and son-in-law (mid 30's) and my 4 year old grandson. I plan to spend a decent amount of time in the room--they probably will not, I am weighing the pros and cons of one Concierge 1 bedroom suite vs. booking 2 verandah rooms. The cost is just a bit more for the Concierge room. I hate standing in lines and like to get things/activities settled as soon as I can so as to not worry about them; however, I am wondering if two connecting rooms would be better for sleeping arrangements. Can any of you Disney experts chime in on your thoughts? Thanks!

[alaska_planner]

i've stayed in the one bedroom on the magic as well as on the dream..

the two configurations are completely different, so it's good that you specified the magic..

 

the one bedroom on the magic is actually a real one bedroom..

that is, there is a bedroom and a completely separate living room.....

and you also have two full bathrooms - an important thing when you have two families sharing a room..

also there is separate closet space for the living room - so anyone staying in the living room has a nice closet..

 

having concierge is definitely very nice....

in advance of the cruise, the shoreside concierge can help you with booking things..

and once you're on the ship, the ship concierge can also help you with booking things..

and you'll be placed in the best location within the dining room...

if i were you, i would request a table for just the four of you..

if you're concierge, it's almost guaranteed that you'll get it (not guaranteed, but pretty close)..

 

and there's the concierge lounge to hang out in...

i don't know if the others in the group will go there, but i'm sure you will if you're anything like me and my husband (and it sounds like you are)..

 

ok....now for the room itself...

there is a nice bedroom with a gorgeous master bathroom...

and then there is a living room with at pull out sofa for two....

my daughter slept on that, and from what i understand, it wasn't very comfortable....(though maybe they changed this after the refurbishment)...

and as i mentioned, the living room has its own full bathroom as well....not big, but you do get a second bathroom...

 

if you sleep in the master bedroom and your daugther and son in law on the less than comfortable sofabed, where would your grandson sleep?

this depends on which of the 1 bedrooms you book as there are different configurations of one bedrooms on the magic...

if you book one of the 4 midship one bedrooms, your grandson would be on a single murphy bed located in the living room ....my son said it's very comfortable....

 

if you're in one of the other one bedrooms (not the 4 midship), then the bed for your grandson would also be a murphy bed, but in this case it's located in the bedroom....

 

you need to clarify which one bedroom you're considering and where exactly that single bed is located...

 

both times we were in that one bedroom, we were in one of the four midships...

i love their layout as they seem to be bigger than the other midships...

and the layout worked well for us (having both the sofabed and murphy bed in the living room)..

 

anyway....i think if it were me, just because i love concierge, i would go for the one bedroom..

 

but i know that there are many many many people who would tell you to go with the two regular verandah rooms for the sake of privacy...

 

for the sake of reference, we were in stateroom 8534 and stateroom 8034 (on different cruises - same staterooms just one starboard the other port)..

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Edited May 1, 2018 by alaska_planner

[moki'smommy]

You nailed it--2 balcony cabins will be better for sleeping arrangements (book you and child in one room, parents in the other cabin to save a bit of money but sleep child with parents), but concierge cabin will give you the concierge perks. Beth nailed the differences well. It is just a matter of what is more important to you.

 

Honestly, unless the bed situation has changed, the sofa bed in the living room of the suite is less than optimal. And you'd obviously lose the use of the living room while the child is sleeping. The concierge perks on DCL are fewer than on some other lines, but as you noted, you won't stand in line for anything and the concierge staff will see to all of your needs.

[alaska_planner]

i found some youtube videos for the two different one bedroom configurations on the disney magic.

 

the one below is of one of the four midship one bedrooms (the midship one bedrooms are 8032, 8034, 8532, 8534)

 

and the video below is of the configuration of most of the other one bedrooms (the ones that aren't midship).

this is from the disney wonder, but the configuration is exactly the same as on the disney magic...

note how much smaller the living room is in this one bedroom as compared to the midship one bedroom (in the video above)

at least is seems that way to me..

but i know lots of people love this one bedroom as well...

 

 

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Edited May 1, 2018 by alaska_planner

[alaska_planner]

here's a video of the disney magic concierge lounge..

but it's from two years ago...

it's my understanding that something was changed in the most recent dry dock (a few months ago)...

i don't know what was changed... maybe the outdoor area?

probably there's information about it on the other fan website that has a disney cruise page

 

anyway, here's the two year old video that most likely is no longer up to date..

 

 

,

[alaska_planner]

one more post...sorry for posting so much...

 

last year i stayed in a regular (non-concierge) stateroom...

so without the concierge perks etc...

i really enjoyed it....

so i'm not one of the people who says you can only go concierge..

true, i do very much enjoy concierge...and if i had deeper pockets right now, i would travel that way exclusively..

but sadly, my pockets aren't nearly as deep as they used to be (and DCL has gotten much more expensive)..

so i've traveled with the rest of the world....and really enjoyed....disney does it well, even for the economy class :) (which isn't really economy given their very high prices!)

[pandiq65]

Beth-

Thanks sooo much for all the great information and the videos. I am thinking I would really use the Concierge Lounge to just hang out sometimes by myself. I plan to skip some of the onshore trips. I really appreciate the distinction between the "different" layouts of the suites depending on where you are on the boat. So many decisions--LOL

 

Andrea

[alaska_planner]

as i said, you can enjoy DCL in concierge or in regular (not concierge), but i definitely do enjoy concierge and hanging out in the concierge lounge...

 

i would guess that maybe your daughter and son in law will leave their son in the kids club while they go on an excursion..

it would be perfect if you stay on board, in case your grandson has a problem so you can go pick him up...

and if he does like the club, you can hang out on your own in the concierge lounge..

 

by the way, DCL also has open houses every day in their kids club...

they do that for kids who are too shy or for whatever reason don't want to stay in the club on their own, but want to try out the stuff they have in there..

during the open house, he can go into the club having the open house with you or your daughter/son in law...(or all 3 of you can go in there with him....no restriction on numbers....)..

 

anyway, when one club is having an open house, the other club is still operating in closed secured mode for the kids who do go in there on their own...

 

in other words, there's a place for both kinds of kids....

 

so you could go with him to the open house while his parents go out on an excursion..

or he could go into the closed club while you luxuriate in the lounge....and if he has a problem, you can be the person that they contact to come get him..

 

.

 

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[pandiq65]

Beth--since you seem to know a lot about these cruises, can you tell me about switching cruises? I would like to go ahead and book something since there are apparently only a couple of rooms left in the category that I want, but don't know yet if my daughter and son-in-law can get those exact dates off work. Is there a provision to change to a different date for basically the same trip?

[moki'smommy]

Beth--since you seem to know a lot about these cruises, can you tell me about switching cruises? I would like to go ahead and book something since there are apparently only a couple of rooms left in the category that I want, but don't know yet if my daughter and son-in-law can get those exact dates off work. Is there a provision to change to a different date for basically the same trip?

Concierge bookings are not refundable, but can be moved once to a different date. Deposits on all other cruises are refundable up to the "penalty date" which is listed on your booking information. The number of days varies with the cruise selected--most are slightly under 3 months before embarkation, but some are 120 days.

 

No, there is no special deal to change dates--you cancel and rebook. A travel agent can "hold" a booking for you for 48 hours before you need to make a payment. That reserves your room(s) for that time period.

[alaska_planner]

Beth--since you seem to know a lot about these cruises, can you tell me about switching cruises? I would like to go ahead and book something since there are apparently only a couple of rooms left in the category that I want, but don't know yet if my daughter and son-in-law can get those exact dates off work. Is there a provision to change to a different date for basically the same trip?

 

 

moki'smommy gave you the definitive answer to this question (in the post just above this one).

You can trust her answers - she is without question the most knowledgeable person on this board about DCL!!

[STHCruising]

We used to cruise mostly in concierge on the Disney Magic and Wonder. We stopped a few years ago, as, in our opinion, the perks were not worth the extra costs of concierge, and as our kids have gotten older (now in their early 20's) we found the sleeping arrangements more suitable with two adjoining/connecting verandah staterooms. Keep in mind we are Platinum and already board early, so we don't see a benefit to board with concierge. About 75% of the cruising we do is as a couple and we have found no need for concierge in our situation. I am sure we would enjoy the concierge lounge, but would not use it that much to justify the price difference.

 

There are now some concierge staterooms (not suites) on the Magic and Wonder. They have upgraded interiors with nice use of inlaid wood, etc., and you would could have all of the concierge perks. These concierge staterooms are on deck 8 on the Magic and Wonder. The downside is that I do not believe they connect to anything other than a concierge suite. It might be worth your while to check with DCL on this option.

[emjayel56]

Hello All,

I am planning a trip on the Magic in early 2019 (probably Feb or March), for myself (grandma), my daughter and son-in-law (mid 30's) and my 4 year old grandson. I plan to spend a decent amount of time in the room--they probably will not, I am weighing the pros and cons of one Concierge 1 bedroom suite vs. booking 2 verandah rooms. The cost is just a bit more for the Concierge room. I hate standing in lines and like to get things/activities settled as soon as I can so as to not worry about them; however, I am wondering if two connecting rooms would be better for sleeping arrangements. Can any of you Disney experts chime in on your thoughts? Thanks!

 

i've done it both ways on DCL and definitely prefer with the concierge 1 bedroom suite. I think all the perks associated with it are worth it. MJ

[moki'smommy]

I know that I implied it above, but the best way to book if you go with 2 separate rooms is to place 2 people in each cabin. If you book a solo cabin, you'll pay 200% of the normal cruise fare portion of the ticket + one set of taxes and fees. You will essentially pay the same amount as for 2 adults. In the parents cabin would be 2 adults at regular adult fare + one child at the 3rd person fare. Total cost will be 4 adult fares + one 3rd person fare.

 

If you book the child in with you, you'll pay 2 adult fares (the first 2 people pay adult rates regardless of age) and the other cabin will pay 2 adult fares. Total cost is 4 adult fares.

 

DCL doesn't care who sleeps where. They only care about who is booked where. Booking 2 people in each cabin will save you the cost of a "third person" fare. That's typically $1000 or more depending on the length of the cruise.

 

If you go with the concierge suite, it won't matter. There will be 2 people booked at the "first 2" rates and the other two at 3rd and 4th person rates.