Concierge vs Veranda

[Esahuma]

We are doing B2B on Eclipse this March - 29 days onboard we have a great cabin - 8253 - at the end of the bump out - for both cruises -

 

We have a chance to 'upgrade to 1A (oncierge) but not quite the best location -  

 

My question:  Is there that much difference in C versa reg Veranda?  

 

Thank you! 🙂  

Edited January 17, 2019 by Esahuma
typo

[Orator]

1A is a regular balcony on the humps. A Concierge cabin is a C3, C2 or C1. That being said: I see no value to a Concierge on an S Class ship unless you need the extra points. With a Concierge you get an embarkation lunch in the MDR , a foot stool on the balcony, cheap sparkling wine, and afternoon snacks. I usually pass on the lunch and snacks and use the sparkling wine for mouthwash. The cabin size is exactly the same. Go for location unless you need the extra points and the price is close.

many threads on this question and a search will yield all that you want to know.

[jelayne]

Your cabin 8253 is a 1A.  I wouldn’t move to a Concierge unless it had an equivalent large veranda and a central location as what you have and for next to no $

[vermonter16]

I agree with the posters above....stay where you are.  Concierge class is nice but I'd definitely stay where you are at - I don't think it's worth it but some people may and that's ok too.

[tarps]

Before you consider moving up to Concierge for extra Captains Club points,  research if you do get the additional points.   I seem to recall reading somewhere on Cruise Critic that you don’t get the Concierge CC points, only the 3/per night that are with your present cabin.     I am sorry, I cannot recall the thread where I read this.  I just caution you to perhaps clarify this with Captains Club at Celebrity.      

 

I too would stay in the cabin you have due to location....and you most likely would not get the same cabin for your 2nd leg, so you would have to pack up and move.       Canapés are very lame and I have previously requested the Steward not to bother delivering them.

 

Enjoy the huge balcony you have with 8253!

 

[shofer]

We were in 7264 on Silhouette and would not have changed at all.  Perfect central location with the Hideaway and it's coffee station steps away.  Great balcony size.  Don't think we would ever book anything but a 1-A again.

[jelayne]

13 hours ago, tarps said:

Before you consider moving up to Concierge for extra Captains Club points,  research if you do get the additional points.   I seem to recall reading somewhere on Cruise Critic that you don’t get the Concierge CC points, only the 3/per night that are with your present cabin.     I am sorry, I cannot recall the thread where I read this.  I just caution you to perhaps clarify this with Captains Club at Celebrity.      

 

What you read regarding not getting the CC points applies to the Move Up program. When Move Up opportunities are offered on a particular sailing you can bid on a upgrade.  If yours is a winning bid you get the higher level cabin but not the Cap Club points associated with the higher cabin.

 

I believe the OP was asking about upgrading from a veranda to Concierge, probably because prices have dropped and the price difference is small.  In this situation if they upgrade they would get the 5 points per night for tge Concierge cabin.

[dkjretired]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

What you read regarding not getting the CC points applies to the Move Up program. When Move Up opportunities are offered on a particular sailing you can bid on a upgrade.  If yours is a winning bid you get the higher level cabin but not the Cap Club points associated with the higher cabin.

 

I believe the OP was asking about upgrading from a veranda to Concierge, probably because prices have dropped and the price difference is small.  In this situation if they upgrade they would get the 5 points per night for tge Concierge cabin.

 

Also don’t get the points if it’s a free upgrade,  paid upgrades you get the points.

[Baron Barracuda]

We've sailed Concierge a few times.  Made sense if price was only slightly higher than regular balcony.  Priced some future cruises yesterday  saw C3  $1,000 higher than A2.  Is this just dumb pricing or will "revolution" somehow increase Concierge value?

[Bruin Steve]

We have cruised in Concierge cabins several times now (most recently on our Alaska cruise this past June)...But have NEVER. Poked one initially.  We’ve often been able to upgrade ourselves at zero or minimal cost at some time before the sail date.  On that Alaska Cruise, we initially booked an inside...and the fare for a Concierge dropped to just LESS than we had paid just after final payment...so we moved (no brainer).  Often, since most of us don’t see the value in Concierge class, those cabins are often the last to sell...so they drop the price late.

 

I, generally, will move to a Concierge class only if the price per person difference is less than $100...OR if I don’t have one of those slant balconies and can get one in Concierge (and the price difference is low)...

 

But, for the most part, the bottle of cheap champagne, the needless appetizers, the allegedly better shampoo, etc. isn’t worth much additional cost.

[Esahuma]

Thank you all so very much - we are staying as we like the location of our cabin - to upgrade to Concierge I could get the same cabin for B2B but it is not an ideal location and the first leg is 'free' but the 2nd leg would be an additional $300 -

 

Appreciate all your help!  🙂  

[Bruin Steve]

1 hour ago, Esahuma said:

Thank you all so very much - we are staying as we like the location of our cabin - to upgrade to Concierge I could get the same cabin for B2B but it is not an ideal location and the first leg is 'free' but the 2nd leg would be an additional $300 -

 

If I could upgrade to a Concierge cabin with the same cabin for both ends of my upcoming back-to-back for just an additional $300, I would take it in a heartbeat!!!

 

Of course, my situation is a little different than yours.  I don't currently have the same cabin for both legs (two 12 night Northern Europe cruises on Reflection--the first a Baltic, second a British Isles).  We booked the British Isles cruise first...and got a great rate on a balcony cabin--only about $200 pp more than an OV and $500 pp more than an inside--and, by booking so early, got our choice of cabins and chose a nice "slant" balcony.  Then we debated for some time about how to extend our trip without completely crushing the budget...and settled on adding the cruise before it as a "back-to-back".  But, by that time, our cabin for the original cruise was booked for that first cruise...and the prices were considerably higher.  So, in order to economize, we decided we could deal with an inside cabin for 12 days, then move to the nicer cabin for the next 12--thereby saving well over $2000!

 

I have been watching the prices ever since, hoping for a price drop...and even waiting for them to start offering those "MoveUp" deals...I would gladly pay an additional $300...or even $500...maybe even $1000 if I could have gotten the same balcony cabin for each leg--even giving up the midship slant...But, alas, the prices have only gone UP...and all of the categories between Inside and Aqua have been showing as "sold out"...

 

Of course, I know well that, especially around final payment day, several bookings are likely to drop away...So, I am just waiting for the opportunity to place a bid...Though I am also prepared to just deal with the inside cabin for that first leg...We just got back from a 14 night SE Asia cruise on Millennium--with a big balcony--and my wife noted that, in 14 days, she almost never even went out on the balcony...

 

[s0479]

I just changed from 1A just off hump with largest balcony to a C2 just off the hump in the second largest balcony- it was $120 for two but also got $100 more OBC.  So I figured it was worth it!

[cruisin lady ca]

We are sailing on the 3/24 cruise with you.  I originally booked a C2 cabin at the C3 fare (with Captain's Club complimentary one category upgrade).  One of the reasons I booked the C2 cabin was to get the 5 points/night rather than 3 points/night.  The other Concierge "perks" are rather meaningless IMHO.  

 

Given the fare drops for the 3/24 cruise prior to final payment, we upgraded to AQ because we do like dining in Blu and enjoy the Persian Gardens.  The AQ fare was actually a little less than the C3 fare at the time of my original booking.  My DH preferred upgrading to AQ rather than take the savings for the cabin I originally booked.  

 

The AQ guarantee fare is currently $1799.  A few folks on our roll call did upgrade from  CC to AQ in December with the guarantee rate (which I think was even lower then) and were assigned cabins right away.  There are currently 2 forward A2 cabins available - 1531 and 1529.  These are pretty good AQ cabins.  We sailed in 1527 on Eclipse last July and were quite happy with that cabin.  It is an easy stroll to the circular staircase up to the Persian Garden and gym.  It was quiet too.   If I hadn't been able to get a cabin on the hump, I would have chosen one of those A2 cabins.

 

We have sailed in 1A cabins before and thought the over-sized balconies were nice.  However, we just didn't use the balcony enough to make that a requisite for our more recent bookings.  The higher priority has been a good cabin location (not too far from the mid-ship or forward elevators).  If I can book AQ or CC (in order to get more points) for a minimally higher cost than a veranda cabin, I consider that option.   

 

Looking forward to meeting you at our sail away or Connections Party.

Edited January 22, 2019 by cruisin lady ca

[GoodScout]

We like the Concierge level, and if you can upgrade to it for a similar sized/located cabin for not much money, do it. Taken individually, the perks aren't worth it. But when you bundle them together, for us, the extra $100 or so we pay seems like a good value. Specifically:

• The embarkation lunch in the MDR. I hate battling the masses at the buffet, especially on day one when no one knows where they're going. Sitting with new faces at a civilized table for a civilized meal just starts me out on the right foot.
• Nicer seats and foot stools on the balcony. We spend a lot of time there, and love breakfasting there, so these get used. There are a few extra items on the Concierge room service menu that aren't on the regular one. Nothing major, but again, a nice little extra if you want it.
• Nicer bathrobes. Seems like a little thing, but when you're morning routine is breakfast in your bathrobe on the balcony, a comfortable terry robe is a nice thing.
• Nice shower head. Have no idea what to compare this to. A shower head is a shower head, right?
• More CC points. Can't complain about that. 
• Sparkling wine. We're not wine drinkers, so not a huge plus. Still, it's the thought.
• Afternoon fruit. Loved having fresh fruit waiting for us in the room when we returned from the pool in the afternoon. Later at tea time there were canipes. Again, alone not a big deal, but we started getting used to seeing them and marveling as we tried to guess what they were!
•  Events - When we traveled on Equinox, Concierge guests got invited to two exclusive events: A sail-away social on the ship's helipad up front, and a private tour of the kitchens. 
• Concierge - Ironically this is the benefit we used least. Whenever we needed a dinner reservation we just called the restaurant and had no problems (not sure if this was because Concierge level is supposed to have some special pull or not). We kept wishing we had some need that we could ask the concierge for help with, but alas, no. God help us if we were ever in a suite and had a butler - they'd die of boredom!

Again, it's a personal choice. We're not super spa people, so Aqua doesn't make much sense for us (although I'd love to see if Blu is all it's said to be). So if it's not too much more, and you can still keep a hump, then go for it!

Edited January 23, 2019 by GoodScout

[Esahuma]

Thank you all - we have decided to stay as the C1 for both cruises is no longer available and the price didn't drop on the 2nd leg 😞