Concierge class? Is it worth it?

[2flacruisers]

On 10/5/2018 at 7:34 PM, wwcruisers said:

 

Yes -- that is the ONLY reason we would book a C-1 cabin: to get one of those fabulous aft-facing balconies, on the M-Class ships. Not a big fan of the canapes, but sometimes the room stewards will bring you cheese plate, instead. (At least, they used to.)

This the exact reason that we also book a C1 cabin...aft location cannot be beat...we were able to snag one for our next cruise at the low price of $600/pp...definitely worth it!

[BigAl94]

On ‎10‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 2:59 AM, riclop said:

Not really go Aqua class if you can.

 Aqua class exists to sell poor location staterooms to the gullible! Concierge only worth it if free or very cheap upgrade. You will notice very little real difference other than thicker robes. The afternoon "treats" are very meagre now.

[m8zenblue]

IMO, I think the little more price you pay is worth it.

I have sailed twice with CC.

The extra points, the CC embarkation, the CC lunch, cabin location, the bottle of champagne on embarkation in your cabin, daily fruit and canapés and the cabin attendant attention and priority debarkation with rolls and coffee, yes, I think it's worth the extra you pay.

[cltnccruisers]

3 hours ago, m8zenblue said:

IMO, I think the little more price you pay is worth it.

I have sailed twice with CC.

The extra points, the CC embarkation, the CC lunch, cabin location, the bottle of champagne on embarkation in your cabin, daily fruit and canapés and the cabin attendant attention and priority debarkation with rolls and coffee, yes, I think it's worth the extra you pay.

They seem like little things but we figured as a free upgrade it's worth a shot.  Thank you for your service (and mine)   Hope you came through Florence OK.

[nikel]

6 hours ago, m8zenblue said:

IMO, I think the little more price you pay is worth it.

I have sailed twice with CC.

The extra points, the CC embarkation, the CC lunch, cabin location, the bottle of champagne on embarkation in your cabin, daily fruit and canapés and the cabin attendant attention and priority debarkation with rolls and coffee, yes, I think it's worth the extra you pay.

 

Also better bathrobes and better shower heads.   All the little things add up

[Hlitner]

We are looking at a future S Class cruise and noticed that the C3 cabins were priced about the same as regular balconies.  I suspect Celebrity is having problems selling Concierge Class cabins, on S Class ships, at a higher price then a regular balcony with a comparable location.  We have previously been in Concierge and thought the extras were really not worth anything (although we do like the balcony foot stools).  The embarkation lunch is just a normal MDR lunch and not special.  The daily afternoon snacks have become real rubbish with things like a piece of celery with cream cheese, a piece of melon wrapped with a tiny piece of prosciutto, perhaps some olives, etc.  The pickings are much better in the Lido.

 

Hank

[GUT2407]

Only for location.

 

the one time I booked Concierge it was less than a standard balcony. Over seven nights the rest may have been worth $10.

[Dimarie40]

We recently booked a future cruise while on board the Eclipse. It turned out the Concierge cabins were cheaper than the veranda cabins.  Even the agent was surprised.  Needless to say we booked Concierge, mainly for the extra points and we were able to secure 2106 which has a huge balcony and great location. Also managed to get all 4 perks included.  Sometimes you just get lucky.

[Luvcrusn]

The bottle of bubbly is no longer in the cabin on embarkation day but they will bring it on request. Over the last 2 years our stewards have advised us to let them know what day we want it and they'll chill it. We usually trade it for either a bottle of Prosecco or a nice red wine. As far as the afternoon canapes, they're nothing to write home about, and for some inexplicable reason they bring 5 bites for two people to share which would be awkward if they were any good and often forget that some of them require cutlery which they never bring. We usually ask for a cheese or fruit plate.

[MixerDave]

19 hours ago, BigAl94 said:

 Aqua class exists to sell poor location staterooms to the gullible! Concierge only worth it if free or very cheap upgrade. You will notice very little real difference other than thicker robes. The afternoon "treats" are very meagre now.

I posted the same comment about the poor location of Aqua cabins in a previous thread - it was removed!  As far as CC cabins go,  my TA scored me an upgrade after a price drop after final payment.  Friends on the same cruise had to pay $120 for the upgrade because they booked directly with Celebrity.  The Celebrity rep argued with them and told them she did not believe we did not pay more!

[cltnccruisers]

55 minutes ago, MixerDave said:

I posted the same comment about the poor location of Aqua cabins in a previous thread - it was removed!  As far as CC cabins go,  my TA scored me an upgrade after a price drop after final payment.  Friends on the same cruise had to pay $120 for the upgrade because they booked directly with Celebrity.  The Celebrity rep argued with them and told them she did not believe we did not pay more!

We booked directly with X and had no problem getting bumped to CC at no extra cost - it even included $200 OBC.  I made a point of being downright friendly with the CSR and he responded in kind.  He didn't have the authority to do the bump himself but contacted someone who did and badaboom-badabing!   We're looking forward to trying CC for the first time on Infinity next week.

[Provence55always]

The bottle of bubbly is not much good when you have a beverage package. We have used CC to get up to Elite quickly......when the the price was acceptable lol. We always cancel the afternoon canapés. The breakfast menu is good as we like breakfast on our balcony on port days. The welcome lunch is also nice and relaxing. You also get preference for seating in the MDR😉

[paulh84]

We've only done it because the travel agent I use typically sells C2/C3 cabins for less than standard balcony prices for a bit if you book early enough. The lunch on the first day is no interest to me at all. The other perks are 'nice to haves' on an S class ship but I wouldn't pay much more for them at all. 

[goofysmom99]

It's worth it to me only for hump long balcony/location (C2) and points (10/nite solo).  On my 2019 Hawaii cruise on Eclipse, C2 (upgrade from C3) hump cabin was $500 less than a 1A hump cabin.  When X converted to points per night from points per cruise, I quit booking 1A cabins which formerly had been my preference for location and price.

[cltnccruisers]

We just returned from a 4 night Key West - Nassau cruise on Infinity.  We'd booked a Veranda but got bumped to a C1 at no extra cost.  The bump included $200 OBC which we used for dinner in Tuscan Grille and the Behind the Scenes tour.  The afternoon canapes were cute and the fresh fruit was welcome after hiking around in port.  We're not overly fond of buffets so the embarkation day lunch was great for us.  Concierge Terence's daily voicemails were pretty much worthless and we only saw him once when he interrupted dinner.  DW liked the little gifts each day especially the upgraded port bag.  We'd probably do concierge again depending on cost  but it's not worth anything significant.

[bebe08]

On 10/5/2018 at 6:58 PM, bigbeergut said:

Sometimes you can get an additional perk in Concierge Class for less than the perk would cost. Locations are sometimes better. Not usually a better value on S-Class ships.

Twice when booking onboard for a future cruise that was the case for us so we booked CC to get the extra perk. Verandas got one perk and CC got 2.   Cost less to book CC than paying for the perk.  For us, only other reason to book it would be if you prefer the cabin location.  We don't feel it is worth it for the few "extras" that come with it.

On our most recent cruise the onboard offer provided 2 perks for both veranda and CC, so we booked veranda.

 

[phoenix_dream]

On ‎10‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 12:06 PM, BigAl94 said:

 Aqua class exists to sell poor location staterooms to the gullible! Concierge only worth it if free or very cheap upgrade. You will notice very little real difference other than thicker robes. The afternoon "treats" are very meagre now.

I agree that they created AQ in order to sell cabins in less desirable locations - good marketing ploy.  But we choose AQ primarily for Blu.  To us, that makes it worth it to have a potentially slightly less desirable location (and on M class - a bigger size cabin than regular balconies).  We have sailed Celebrity enough times to know exactly what we are getting into.  So please refrain from insulting comments about people's choice of cabin locations.    There is gullible, and then there is conscientious choice, knowing the pros and cons.

[4774Papa]

The cruises that we have booked in the past 2-3 years the difference between a veranda and concierge runs $400-500 per person.   Not a great deal.

[Luvcrusn]

I wouldn't pay more than about $150 more for Concierge, even on M class ships on a longer itinerary (where the cabin is about 20 square feet bigger) unless I needed the extra 2 points per night to move up in loyalty level more quickly. Even then, the benefits are definitely questionable. We've sailed in concierge class many times, but only because the cost differential was small, the itinerary was long, and we were on an M-class ship. Almost all of those sailings were before they even added the embarkation day lunch in the MDR. The fare differentials I'm seeing more often now between verandah and concierge class IMHO aren't worth it for the few benefits offered. The bottle of bubbly loses its appeal with a beverage package, the plate of afternoon savories can be better replaced with a quick visit to the OVC. I don't need the heavier bathrobe and can exist with a less fancy showerhead. The fruit can be ordered from room service or another visit to the OVC, the concierge will help anyone on the ship and the lunch in the MDR, while nicer than jockeying for a table in the OVC on embarkation day isn't worth $300-$500 more per person to us. I also don't care about the color my seapass card.

[cruizefam]

On 11/3/2018 at 10:38 AM, phoenix_dream said:

I agree that they created AQ in order to sell cabins in less desirable locations - good marketing ploy.  But we choose AQ primarily for Blu.  To us, that makes it worth it to have a potentially slightly less desirable location (and on M class - a bigger size cabin than regular balconies).  We have sailed Celebrity enough times to know exactly what we are getting into.  So please refrain from insulting comments about people's choice of cabin locations.    There is gullible, and then there is conscientious choice, knowing the pros and cons.

 

 

We enjoy Blu as well, that's the reason we choose AQ. 

[Aussieguys]

We've travelled twice in Concierge Class on the Solstice and have just made another booking in Concierge Class on the Silhouette.  For the second time we've booked cabin 2105 located on the hump of deck 12, and we don't mind paying a bit extra for it.

 

For us, the large balcony and the easy access from deck 12 to the bistro, the pool and the elevators,  all make for a pleasant cruise.  We know the afternoon canapes aren't very exciting and the absence of thicker bathrobes would not ruin our holiday, but nonetheless we enjoy the few little extras and find it all adds to the overall experience, if only in a minor way.

 

Whilst we enjoy the cabin location and the few perks, we don't for one minute think someone not travelling in Concierge Class would enjoy their cruise any less.  Horses for courses.  

[celebritydave]

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. 

[mdcelebrity]

We booked Concierge Class to get the cabin we wanted.

We like the aft Sunset Veranda cabins and all the regular SVs were sold out except for the lowest deck.

The CC perks are nice, but not enough of a addition by itself to make it worthwhile to get a CC cabin, IMO.

 

BTW, never had an issue with an aft cabin, just a lovely, peaceful, view of the wake (especially at night).

 

"Location, location, location."

[ASell]

2 hours ago, mdcelebrity said:

BTW, never had an issue with an aft cabin, just a lovely, peaceful, view of the wake (especially at night).

 

Have had 2 aft cabins; I really like them.  If I could afford it, would always be my first choice.

[CU64]

On 10/21/2018 at 6:03 PM, Hlitner said:

We generally cruise S Class ships and are fine with Concierge as long as we are not paying extra.   On our last cruise we were able to get a C3 cabin for the same price as a regular balcony and it looks like our next booking will be similar.  DW and I do not consider the Concierge thing to be worth anything...although we like having the footstools on our balcony.

 

As to Aqua, we used to do a lot of Aqua but quickly tired of Blu.  The menus in Blu got boring (they did not change for years) and our inside joke was how many ways they could make short ribs, braised lamb shanks, etc.  which all tasted the same.  We finally realized that it made more sense to book a regular balcony (or a free upgrade to Concierge) and buy a dining package that allowed us to make Murano our normal restaurant.  It usually ends up less costly then the AQ cabins and Murano is just in a totally different class then Blu.

 

Hank

Totally agree about Blu