Concierge class? Is it worth it?

[xmasteach]

Agree on the connected room issue, had a noise issue with a connecting room on another cruise line.  We booked a CC guarantee, when assignment came, noticed it was connecting. I called and was assigned another C2, not connecting.  Now very happy!

[Jeremiah1212]

I'm surprised so many people are fans of the boarding day lunch. Maybe we've had a few misses, but the service is usually SO slow and the menu very limited. We thought it was buffet food plated for us last time. I wouldn't do it again.

 

My TA typically offers concierge cabins at the same price or cheaper than mid/upper-level verandas so I typically do book CC. I like the higher deck location on S class if nothing else. 

 

 

[cltnccruisers]

4 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

I'm surprised so many people are fans of the boarding day lunch. Maybe we've had a few misses, but the service is usually SO slow and the menu very limited. We thought it was buffet food plated for us last time. I wouldn't do it again.

 

My TA typically offers concierge cabins at the same price or cheaper than mid/upper-level verandas so I typically do book CC. I like the higher deck location on S class if nothing else. 

 

 

We've been CC only the one time but had fair warning that the lunch was pretty basic.  But the service was OK and it was nice, especially for DW, to sit comfortably in a quiet venue.  We're using a TA for the first time for an upcoming cruise out of San Juan.  We're taking our granddaughters on their first cruise and know where we want to stay in OSJ for a couple of days pre-cruise.  This TA is a golf buddy of mine but he's not listening well and so far has only gotten us a little extra OBC.  Probably go back to doing it ourselves if he doesn't clean out his ears.

[Tourist1292]

Embarkation lunch is not about the menu choice or service. It is about the convenience of not carrying the luggage around and avoid the crowd in the buffet during embarkation.

[cltnccruisers]

5 minutes ago, Tourist1292 said:

Embarkation lunch is not about the menu choice or service. It is about the convenience of not carrying the luggage around and avoid the crowd in the buffet during embarkation.

Bingo!  And on the other end it was very relaxing to have coffee, tea, juice and pastries in the Constellation Lounge while awaiting disembarkation.  Little things that make nice bookends for the cruise.

 

[Luvcrusn]

2 hours ago, xmasteach said:

Agree on the connected room issue, had a noise issue with a connecting room on another cruise line.  We booked a CC guarantee, when assignment came, noticed it was connecting. I called and was assigned another C2, not connecting.  Now very happy!

Sometimes it's the next door neighbor and not the connecting rooms. We e had connecting rooms that were totally quiet and non-connecting rooms where we could hear way too much!

[Luvcrusn]

7 hours ago, Beth_55 said:

Thanks for the info ! 

You're welcome. They replaces the grey ones with the blue that have a snap. The grey ones had a magnet imbedded on the inside that kept de-magnetizing the seapass cards! You couldn't see the magnet and didn't know it was there until the seapass suddenly stopped working!

[GoodScout]

I have the blue one attached to the back of my cellphone cover/case and it’s been very convenient. If you get your card punched for a lanyard, the little slit makes it easier to pull out of the case. 

[Redtravel]

Unless you want the extra space on the M ships, don’t book concierge.  On some cruises, the concierge and Aqua cabins sell for less than standard cabins. Then book concierge cabin to save money. The bottle of sparkling wine is not very good. Afternoon canapés and fruit can be ordered by anyone through room service. The embarkation lunch is nice.  Some people book concierge to get more points. Cannot understand it.  Elite level is nice.   Cocktails, laundry, and some WiFi. For me, the points are not worth much.  I am elite plus.  Now I have more laundry bags than I need, more internet minutes( never used up the limit for elite), and free specialty coffee. Love the coffee.  However if you have a beverage package, you get specialty coffees. If not, the coffee is $5. Most people have OBC. Use it to buy coffee. A The extra value being elite plus is minimal. I have lots of points that will never get me anything.  I need almost another 1800 points to get to zenith. Never will happen.  When I read that people book up to a more expensive cabin just to collect points, I am amazed. 

[Luvcrusn]

3 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Unless you want the extra space on the M ships, don’t book concierge.  On some cruises, the concierge and Aqua cabins sell for less than standard cabins. Then book concierge cabin to save money. The bottle of sparkling wine is not very good. Afternoon canapés and fruit can be ordered by anyone through room service. The embarkation lunch is nice.  Some people book concierge to get more points. Cannot understand it.  Elite level is nice.   Cocktails, laundry, and some WiFi. For me, the points are not worth much.  I am elite plus.  Now I have more laundry bags than I need, more internet minutes( never used up the limit for elite), and free specialty coffee. Love the coffee.  However if you have a beverage package, you get specialty coffees. If not, the coffee is $5. Most people have OBC. Use it to buy coffee. A The extra value being elite plus is minimal. I have lots of points that will never get me anything.  I need almost another 1800 points to get to zenith. Never will happen.  When I read that people book up to a more expensive cabin just to collect points, I am amazed. 

At the Elite+ level you are right about the points not meaning much. However moving from Classic to Select to Elite, the amount of points needed to move from one level to the next are much smaller incrementally. I agree that the benefits of Concierge Class on M-class ships with the extra square footage are worth more than on other ships, and then worth more on those ships on longer itineraries. We only book Concierge class when the cost differential is low (no more than $50-$75pp). The wine we swap out for Prosecco and the canapes are meh at best.

[Redtravel]

You can tell your cabin steward not to bring the standard canapés. We usually ask for cheese plate and shrimp.  If you want snacks at a different time, order room service.  We prefer not to automatically get the canapés. If we are out on an excursion, we don’t eat them. If we get back late, we shower and go to dinner. Want food fast.....buffet.  Nice and empty at dinner.

[Lysingers]

How do you go about swapping the bottle of sparkling wine that they provide in CC for a bottle of regular white or red wine?  Do you ask either your room steward or the concierge to do it for you, or must you take it yourself to a specific bar to make the trade?

[GoodScout]

Just ask your room steward. Same with the cheese plate substitution. 

[Luvcrusn]

4 hours ago, Lysingers said:

How do you go about swapping the bottle of sparkling wine that they provide in CC for a bottle of regular white or red wine?  Do you ask either your room steward or the concierge to do it for you, or must you take it yourself to a specific bar to make the trade?

We take it to our dining venue and ask the sommelier. We did ask our room steward a few years ago but ever since one steward couldn't, we just take it with us now. It's just as easy... we're going anyway. We usually trade ours for prosecco or red wine.

[Fishkillbill]

4 hours ago, Luvcrusn said:

We take it to our dining venue and ask the sommelier. We did ask our room steward a few years ago but ever since one steward couldn't, we just take it with us now. It's just as easy... we're going anyway. We usually trade ours for prosecco or red wine.

 

I never knew that. We never cared for the sparkling wine. So, I can just ask the room steward to swap it for a bottle of red wine? That would be great. My wife has celiac disease. The afternoon cheese plate sounds good too.  

[Luvcrusn]

6 minutes ago, Fishkillbill said:

 

I never knew that. We never cared for the sparkling wine. So, I can just ask the room steward to swap it for a bottle of red wine? That would be great. My wife has celiac disease. The afternoon cheese plate sounds good too.  

Sometimes it's easier to just take it to your dining venue (MDR, Blu, Luminae) and ask the sommelier to swap it out and they have a bit more flexibility of choices than the steward. We ask for a fruit/cheese plate instead of the mystery canapes.

[myjillian]

2 hours ago, Luvcrusn said:

Sometimes it's easier to just take it to your dining venue (MDR, Blu, Luminae) and ask the sommelier to swap it out and they have a bit more flexibility of choices than the steward. We ask for a fruit/cheese plate instead of the mystery canapes.

True story, a couple of years ago we were doing a 12 day Wine cruise on the Connie.  There were 3 over nighters.  In La Harve 4 of us took the train in Paris to climb the Eiffle Tower at night and spend the night.( not in the tower )😎  Before I left I asked the room steward to please trade off my wine.  Told him no hurry we wouldn't be back until tomorrow.

When we got back there was a BOX of wine in our cabin.  WOW didn't know Celebrity had boxes of wine...took it to dinner to share at our table for 8.  The waiter said he couldn't open it because they don't open boxes of wine( unless I paid the $15 fee.?)

I said it's the ships wine you gave it to us....he denied it...I immediately went to the main desk and complained...they said it wasn't their wine....they didn't believe me that my bottle of wine was exchanged for a 3 liter box.  Now I was upset because nobody believed me...they called my room steward.  It seems that this was his first job and I was the first person to ask for a bottle exchange...and...there was a couple that was on the last cruise and gave him 2 BOXES of wine with instructions for him to give them away because they didn't want to fly back with them....so he gave us a box!

 

[QCAZ]

10 hours ago, myjillian said:

True story, a couple of years ago we were doing a 12 day Wine cruise on the Connie.  There were 3 over nighters.  In La Harve 4 of us took the train in Paris to climb the Eiffle Tower at night and spend the night.( not in the tower )😎  Before I left I asked the room steward to please trade off my wine.  Told him no hurry we wouldn't be back until tomorrow.

When we got back there was a BOX of wine in our cabin.  WOW didn't know Celebrity had boxes of wine...took it to dinner to share at our table for 8.  The waiter said he couldn't open it because they don't open boxes of wine( unless I paid the $15 fee.?)

I said it's the ships wine you gave it to us....he denied it...I immediately went to the main desk and complained...they said it wasn't their wine....they didn't believe me that my bottle of wine was exchanged for a 3 liter box.  Now I was upset because nobody believed me...they called my room steward.  It seems that this was his first job and I was the first person to ask for a bottle exchange...and...there was a couple that was on the last cruise and gave him 2 BOXES of wine with instructions for him to give them away because they didn't want to fly back with them....so he gave us a box!

 

 

Too funny!  😁.  Love it!

Edited April 12, 2019 by QCAZ

[DebInAntigua]

On 11/6/2018 at 10:35 AM, celebritydave said:

we always sail concierge class if it's less than 200. On our November cruise we upgraded for 50$. We have a cruise booked for August 2019 and concierge class is 500$ more. Definitely not worth it. 

Previous price comparisons of our S-class balcony (hump angled one) vs. a concierge cabin in the same location one deck up was $500 - $600 more up until today. Checked today and was able to change to concierge for only $53pp more on a 7 day to Alaska. I'll take it.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

On 4/9/2019 at 3:13 PM, Tourist1292 said:

Embarkation lunch is not about the menu choice or service. It is about the convenience of not carrying the luggage around and avoid the crowd in the buffet during embarkation.

 

I thought I had read on here somewhere that you could take your luggage to your cabin right away.

[Iamthesea]

You can now...on some ships.  It changed when the ship gets Revolutionized.

 

On the M-class Revolutionized Millennium, are the CC staterooms still larger than the AQ staterooms?  Does anyone have a photo of a CC class?

Edited July 11, 2019 by Iamthesea

[Luvcrusn]

2 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

You can now...on some ships.  It changed when the ship gets Revolutionized.

 

On the M-class Revolutionized Millennium, are the CC staterooms still larger than the AQ staterooms?  Does anyone have a photo of a CC class?

Concierge and Aqua cabins are about 20 sq. ft. larger than regular balcony cabins on M-class ships. 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

25 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

You can now...on some ships.  It changed when the ship gets Revolutionized.

 

 

That must be why. We will be on the Summit. 

 

21 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

Concierge and Aqua cabins are about 20 sq. ft. larger than regular balcony cabins on M-class ships. 

 

That would be nice. Is the balcony any bigger?

[Luvcrusn]

29 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

 

That must be why. We will be on the Summit. 

 

 

That would be nice. Is the balcony any bigger?

No, sorry. 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

9 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

No, sorry. 

 

My bid probably isn’t high enough anyway. It said it was low.