HELP! First Time DCL! Activity bookings in Concierge Questions

[bgccsownsck]

My husband and I have booked our first cruise on DCL. A little about us - we are early 30's and have taken 2 NCL cruises previously.  This is a 4 night Bahamas Cruise, and we are lucky enough to be booking Concierge- another first for us. The idea is, since we don't plan on having children, we don't know that we can afford Disney's high prices repeatedly. Booking Concierge allows us to get the early booking slot for activities so we should be able to get a very full experience of Disney. Here's my questions. 

 

We will get the early booking opportunity that most first time cruisers do not.  What things can I book early through Concierge for a 4-night Bahamas Cruise?

We aren't interested in character meet and greets or the makeovers.

We know we want a cabana on the adult beach. Which ones provide the most privacy?

What different tastings do they offer?

I've heard snippets about specialty restaurant special events, like chocolate experience and different breakfast buffets?

 

I appreciate the help from any DCL experts out there!  Even if you tried an experience and didn't like it, I'd love to hear about it and why you liked or didn't like it so I can decide for us. 

Cruise Critic has been instrumental in planning my first two cruises. You are all amazing!

[gometros]

There are only four cabanas on Serenity Bay and they're pretty close to each other. Personally I don't see a difference among them, but #25 is the furthest away from the main area and therefore the most quiet. Since you mentioned the Bahamas, I assume you will be on the Dream, which has two adult only (18+) dining options, Palo and Remy. Remy is a French-inspired, fine dining option. There is a Champagne Brunch,  dessert experience and dinner option. I won't go into the details of each, you can easily check the DCL site for full descriptions better than I can. Palo is an Italian restaurant that has a brunch and dinner offering. The brunch is very popular and tends to book up quickly. There are up charges for both restaurants, $40 for Palo brunch and dinner and $125 for Remy dinner, $75 for the brunch and $60 for the dessert experience. Prices are per person.

[Cruisin_n_Boozin]

Keep in mind, many things, like cabanas, will book up very quickly.  While you will be in the first booking window, still expect to book as soon as the window opens.

 

Other things like brunch, Palo/Remy, etc won't fill up as quickly.

[kstetser]

If you don't get a cabana on Serenity Bay, you should request Family Beach.  It's not crowded and has plenty of privacy.

 

Beverage tastings are awesome.  A week or so before you booking window opens, contact shoreside and ask for a list of the beverage tastings and the day/time of each.   Also the adult only restaurants (Palo - Italian and Remy - French) offer brunch on sea days (and sometimes  Nassau Day) and dinner each evening.  Remy also has a dessert tasting.  If you plan out each day in advance, you can request what you know you would like and not have overlap.   Keep in mind that you will have open bar happy hour in the concierge lounge from 5 to 10 each night.

 

If there are any DCL port adventures or spa treatments you are interested in, concierge can book those for you as well.

 

I hope you enjoy the experience - we feel that concierge on DCL is a wonderful indulgence when we can afford it.   We are trying Suite Class on Celebrity next summer to Alaska (After 22 DCL cruises).  I'm going to try not to compare, but I think it will be hard!

[TPgal]

Hey @bgccsownsck, sorry about your cancelled cruise, we had a 7 night Wonder Mexican Riviera booked for March of 2020, which turned into a 5 night Western Caribbean in April of 2021, which we opted to rebook for April of 2022.   Through all this we went from an inside to a verandah to the same cabin but in concierge class.   (While the bump from inside to verandah was a significant price jump the opting to book out one year meant we could go CC for ... LESS money.)  It hurts to have these funds tied up, but it's good to have something to look forward to.

 

We've also cruised NCL - in a suite, so I'm curious to see how the two products compare.   

What were your revised plans?  Still holding out for a future cruise?

 

[bgccsownsck]

@TPgal

 

We ended up pushing our cruise as far out as possible to avoid losing our $1400 deposit.  I’m waiting for cruises to open up that actually fit into my work schedule.  So... May 2023.  We used some of our money and spent 15 days at Universal Orlando and Disney World instead. We just got back. It was fabulous!