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When do Concierge rooms become available?


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Ok, here’s a question for the experts. We are looking at a April cruise for next year and there are no Concierge rooms available. However the cruises both prior and after the one we want have several rooms available. Stupid question, but are they all spoken for or are the travel agents still holding them to be released closer to the cruise date ? TIA

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Odds are high that they are sold out. I have never heard of TAs holding concierge cabins - especially since the deposits are non-refundable.

 

Occasionally the cabins DO come available if people either eat the deposit or manage to get it moved to a new date, but they are non-refundable, so most people are pretty sure they're going to cruise if they're booking them.

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On DCL, unlike on other lines, agents are not permitted to hold cabins that are not assigned to specific guests. They can do a 3 day hold prior to a deposit, but a name is needed for that. If the deposit is not paid within the hold period, the cabin reverts to DCL. This applies to regular cabins as well as concierge level bookings.

 

Yes, concierge cabins do open. While the deposit is non-refundable, it can be moved to another date. In addition, there are people who have emergency situations and have to give up their cruise (and let's hope they bought insurance!) We were on one cruise were the Walt suite was available for an upgrade at the terminal. When I expressed my surprise, knowing that DCL does keep a waitlist of people for that level booking, the supervisor CM explained that the family had a medical emergency and had canceled that morning--too late for anyone on the list to take advantage of the cabin. No, we didn't grab it. I still couldn't justify a 2 bedroom suite for 2 of us!

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Although I only book royal suites myself (which explains why we're only on our third Disney cruise unlike others who are on their third dozen), I am constantly amazed at how quickly the concierge cabins sell out. In fact, on many sailings we've looked at, by the time mere mortals can book (after the 24-hour advantage platinum and gold CC guests have), either all concierge cabins are booked or only a few 1BR/family cabins are left.

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Although I only book royal suites myself (which explains why we're only on our third Disney cruise unlike others who are on their third dozen), I am constantly amazed at how quickly the concierge cabins sell out. In fact, on many sailings we've looked at, by the time mere mortals can book (after the 24-hour advantage platinum and gold CC guests have), either all concierge cabins are booked or only a few 1BR/family cabins are left.

I don't know if they are still doing it, but DCL Inventory Control used to keep a record of people who were requesting the concierge suites for specific dates--there was a form that had to be faxed to inventory control and after you were contacted, you had 24 hours to plunk down your non-refundable deposit. They actually worked the list at the same time as the platinum bookings opened, so depending on the requests, some suites were booked before they ever showed up as "available." This applied to the "old" cat 1 and 2 on the Magic and Wonder. I do not know what the current policy is--whether it is "open season" to all when platinum booking starts or whether they still maintain the list.

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I don't know if they are still doing it' date=' but DCL Inventory Control used to keep a record of people who were requesting the concierge suites for specific dates--there was a form that had to be faxed to inventory control and after you were contacted, you had 24 hours to plunk down your non-refundable deposit. They actually worked the list at the same time as the platinum bookings opened, so depending on the requests, some suites were booked before they ever showed up as "available." This applied to the "old" cat 1 and 2 on the Magic and Wonder. I do not know what the current policy is--whether it is "open season" to all when platinum booking starts or whether they still maintain the list.[/quote']

 

yes we did that way back in 2002....but i don't know if they still do that..

we really wanted the walt disney suite on the disney wonder and the only way to get it was by faxing DCL a year before the cruises were even released for booking...

i was sure we wouldn't get it but we did!! really loved that suite...that was back when it still had the grand piano!! :)

 

but i don't know if they still do that today...

 

.

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  • 1 month later...

We used to regularly book concierge on DCL. My experience was that if I wanted the concierge suite for a specific date, we had to call in on the day the new cruise itineraries were announced. We never failed to get one using this approach. We were also able to occasionally find one available on other than the first day, but first day seemed to work well.

 

Our kids are now adults, we are retired, and we still love to sail with DCL. We no longer book concierge, primarily due to price, but also with the kids being older a separate stateroom for them seems to be best. We also used to insist on the top deck. A few years ago we realized that we really like deck 6 on the classic ships, especially when its just the two of us. It cost a bit less, and we don't hear chairs and the like being moved on the pool deck.

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We used to regularly book concierge on DCL. My experience was that if I wanted the concierge suite for a specific date, we had to call in on the day the new cruise itineraries were announced. We never failed to get one using this approach. We were also able to occasionally find one available on other than the first day, but first day seemed to work well.

 

Our kids are now adults, we are retired, and we still love to sail with DCL. We no longer book concierge, primarily due to price, but also with the kids being older a separate stateroom for them seems to be best. We also used to insist on the top deck. A few years ago we realized that we really like deck 6 on the classic ships, especially when its just the two of us. It cost a bit less, and we don't hear chairs and the like being moved on the pool deck.

 

same with us...we used to only book concierge...

now we've found we're just as happy in a regular room for a lot less money!!

and without noise above us (on the classics), or being forced to be at the front of the ship (on the dream/fantasy)!!

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