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This was a once-in-a-lifetime splurge, and I figured I'd tell everyone some about it in case you want to attempt the same thing. I've never even sailed concierge before.
First off, we were booked into a family stateroom with verandah on deck 8, and I'd noticed leading up to sailing that 12502 was still available. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency at MCO and-- waking up a bit slow-- were on the third bus from the airport to the port. At this point I figured we were pretty much screwed and had no chance. We got into the main line because the Castaway Club line looked no shorter, and signed in as quickly as possible and headed all the way right to the supervisor desk, where various people were addressing problems with missing birth certificates, etc.
Finally we got up there, and I presented our cards, and asked if any upgrades were available. The lady told me "no, I don't think I have anything better than what you have" and I was crestfallen "except, well, the Royal Suite". How much, I asked? $9k more for the 5 of us. One signed authorization later and we were being whisked aboard.
So, for anyone curious, here's what concierge and the royal suite gets you:
- Priority boarding. We'd boarded platinum/boarding group 1 before and this was way better. We were aboard before 11AM. (All of concierge).
- Concierge boarding lunch-- table service instead of the buffet.
- A concierge came to our table during that lunch and got us booked to things that looked otherwise full (Frozen gathering, mixology class, etc).
- A cheese platter in the room (I think this is just the suite, though concierge guests got a coconut or something? heh.)
- Full-sized fridge filled with bottled water, soda, etc. There is a wine fridge, too, but no alcohol was comp'd (there's a price list).
- A huge section of deck that we used extensively-- you could easily entertain 15-20 people in this room between the table, the large couch inside... and the couch, loungers, chairs, and hot tub outside. I'm sorry that this sailing we were not traveling with anyone. A lot of the deck is covered, too, so during a thunderstorm we sailed through the boys and I stayed outside and watched lightning.
- Access to the concierge lounge (nice) and concierges (nicer). It's a big deal to never, ever go down to the guest services line-- probably the biggest draw of this. Until this cruise I didn't realize how much time my wife and I would end up spending on this. Now, booking something was as simple as an off-hand comment to the concierge and we'd find tickets in the clip by the door the next day. Open bar each afternoon in the lounge with premium liquor, too-- tipping the bartender at the end of cruise.
- Palo in the room. We ordered earlier in the day (we'd have been in the Enchanted Garden on pirate night, which is probably both the most boring MDR and menu...) and waiters showed up and set the table 30 minutes before our specified time, and then brought all the food. We paid $30 each for two adults and there was plenty to share with kids (they'd never gotten to try Palo before). This is a royal suite exclusive perk but from what I understand you can order MDR food in any concierge room with a dining table.
- Priority debarkation. Just down the hall from our room was the lounge, which we stumbled down to at 7:15ish and had some cereal and pastries. Then the concierge took us and a few other families in a big group at about 8 where we were able to skip most of the debarkation line and get onto our bus to WDW.
Would I do this again? Probably not. It's difficult to economically justify it-- the only thing that comes close is all the time saved getting aboard, getting off, and dealing with administrative stuff-- and it's not $9k worth. But as far as a one-time, unique experience, it sure delivered. Next sailing we're booked onto is a pair of deck 2 inside staterooms on the Magic, which will be a bit of a contrast.
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