Concierge 1 bedroom suite

An overview of room 8548 on the Disney Magic

Today we are reviewing our stay in room 8548 on the Disney Magic Cruise Ship.

Room number 8548 is found on the 8^th deck of the Disney Magic Cruise Ship and is in a midship location.

There are no elevators (lifts) directly by room number 8548, nor are there any staterooms directly opposite. So, in my opinion, a good location.

Room number 8548 is on the starboard side of the Disney Magic.

I am told that the starboard side, is the best side to be when on an itinerary that includes Castaway Cay. I will find out next year on the Disney Wish!

Room number 8548 sleeps 4-5 guests

• 2 in the master queen sized bed
• 1 in the murphy bed found in the master bedroom
  • In some 1-bedroom suites, the murphy bed is in the living room.
• 2 in the sofa bed in the living area

This one-bedroom suite is 614 square feet, this includes the private verandah.

There is a connecting stateroom to room 8548 in case you would like more space.

Sometimes out on the verandah, there was the scrapping of chairs above. But overall, this was a quiet room and I would recommend it without hesitation.

The living room

You will find the living room just through the hallway, past the wardrobes and bathroom.

In the living room, you will find the following –

• A double sofa bed
  • The Stateroom host will make this up into a bed if required each evening and put it away each morning, to clear the space and give you a sofa back.
• Large built-in wardrobe
  • Lots of hangers
  • The emergency life vests
  • Lots of hanging space and shelves
• Room climate control
  • This room had its own controller to the right of the sink
• A free basket of fresh fruit
  • With 2 plates and 2 fabric napkins

• A free selection of cans of soft drinks, the standard selection was
  • 2 cans of still water
  • 2 cans of sparkling water
  • 2 cans of diet coke
  • 2 cans of coke
  • 2 cans of sprite.
• Sink area with fridge
  • The fridge doesn’t get as cool as a standard fridge

• Lots of storage
  • Around the TV
  • Either side of the bed
  • Around the sink area
  • Plus, as mentioned above, the wardrobe.
• Large TV
• Dining table with 4 chairs

• Side table
• Access to the verandah

The master bedroom

Access to the master bedroom is through 2 sliding doors, with frosted opaque glass.

You will find the following in and off the master bedroom –

• Queen bed
  • This was an amazingly comfortable bed, with fabulous linens, they were pleasantly cooling
  • As part of the evening turn down service a mat saying “good night, good morning” is placed either side of the bed with a pair of slippers on it.
  • Also, as part of the turn down service the Stateroom Hosts created a fabulous towel animal for us which she left on the bed along with some Dove chocolates.

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• On the first night our Stateroom Host left us a bottle of mask scent, it is a spray for our face masks that is meant to replicate the smell of the Concierge Lounge.
• Bed side tables either side of the bed
  • Clock radio and socket
  • Telephone
• Murphy bed
  • This wasn’t used during our stay.
  • The Stateroom host will make this if required each evening and put it away each morning
• Seating area with 2 chairs and a stool / table
• Large TV
• Storage around the TV
• Access to the verandah
• Walk in wardrobe
  • Large hanging space
  • Lots of hangers
  • Shelf space
  • Cupboard with drawers
  • Safe
• Desk / Dressing table
  • Situated opposite the walk-in wardrobe
  • Chair
  • Drawers
  • Shelf
  • Mirror
  • Selection of sockets
    • I did my charging here as had the most sockets.
• 2 room master bathroom
  • 1^st room
    • Large jacuzzi bath
    • Double sink unit
      • Weighing scales
      • Sharps bin
  • 2^nd room
    • Toilet
    • Shower

• Room climate control
  • This room also had its own controller, to the right of the bed.

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The bathroom off the living room

• Complete with towels, mat for floor, make up flannel, tissues
• H2O hand soap, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner
• Shower, single sink and toilet

The verandah (balcony)

• Double length verandah
• 4 chairs and 2 small tables

Minor negatives of staying in room 8548

• Cans of drink in room
  • There were only 2 of each type, but there were 3 adults in the room
• Plates and napkins with fruit basket
  • Again, there were only 2 of each, yet there were 3 of us.
• Robes and slippers
  • As above only enough for 2 people
• Bedding on sofa bed
  • This was just a sheet and very thin blanket
  • I wish I’d realised this before our daughter went to bed on the 1^st night as I would have requested a duvet for her.
• From previous cruisers I was under the impression that in a Concierge room we would get Elemis toiletries – sadly we didn’t get any of these (but this could have been due to the stock issue), we also didn’t get left any postcards.

I didn’t highlight any of the above to our stateroom host, or the Concierge team, if we were on a longer cruise I might do.

One other negative was maybe because we changed our booking to a Concierge one-bedroom suite, just 2 weeks before the cruise, but we never received a Concierge welcome email, I did email them with a request, but they never replied. I then had to phone through my request and was on hold for over an hour. Didn’t affect our cruise, but disappointing.

Tipping Concierge Hosts

Now this topic was at the back of my mind throughout the cruise, yes I am from the UK, but I am used to tipping, both in the US and in the UK. We are completely comfortable with tipping.

But the recommended amount to cover the 3 Concierge Hosts I have read is at least $20 per person per day, so for our room and cruise, that would have been $120.

But I don’t know what they did for us. They may have been doing things in the background, but we were not aware.

Each time we went into the Concierge Lounge, if one of them was at the desk they would say hello, but that was it.

There was no –

• Is there anything you need our help with
• What do you have planned today
• Have you had a nice day so far

Nothing

So, what were we tipping?

But all the same, we felt obliged to tip, so we put $60 in their envelope and popped it to them in the Concierge Lounge on deck 9 on the last day.

Once at home I asked on our Facebook group, many people felt the same as us, but some (particularly regulars) have had above and beyond treatment, for example, if they hadn’t seen them that day, the Concierge Host would pop to their stateroom to check if they needed anything.

Also, my Husband had noticed some groups being treated like royalty when entering the Concierge Lounge, they were taken to a table, asked what they would like to eat and drink. We had none of that, we had to find our own table and head to the food and drink area to request what we would like.

Other benefits of being in a concierge room

• Earliest Port Arrival Time (PAT), without having to rush to check in on check in day.
• A separate Concierge check in desk
• Boarding Group 1
• First on the ship after the Family Of The Day.
• A private welcome lunch at Rapunzel’s Royal Table
  • Here one of the Concierge team will introduce themselves and some of their services.
  • Includes free alcohol, including cocktails
• The concierge rooms are ready before the standard rooms
  • Ours was ready once we had finished at Rapunzel’s
• An evening knock on the stateroom door with the alcoholic drinks trolley
• The Concierge Lounge
  • With free speciality hot drinks (including fabulous coffee), free snacks and free alcohol between 5 and 10pm (including amazing cocktails).
  • Open from 7am till 10pm daily.

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• The Concierge Sundeck
  • Overlooking the adult only pool
  • Seats both in the sun and shade
  • Free sun cream
  • Free cooling spray water
• Via the Concierge team the day before, if you are in a suite (as has a dining table) you can request room service off any of the main dining room menu’s.
• On disembarkation day only Concierge guests can order a room service breakfast. Again this should be arranged with the Concierge team the day before and is only available for suites.
• The awesome Concierge Team.
  • The team will aim to look after your every request and will be in place of Guest Services for Concierge guests.
• I believe we had fabulous seats in the Main Dining Rooms as we were Concierge.
• Additional 50 mb of data
  • We didn’t use any data, but a useful addition should you need or want it.
• If you buy anything from the Shutters photographic service, this will be waiting for you on the last morning at the desk in the Concierge lounge.
• A limited-edition Disney lithograph, by Don “Ducky” Williams, left for us on our last evening.

We only booked 2 weeks before our cruise but if we’d booked earlier, we would have also received the following benefits, by communicating with the shoreside Concierge team.

• The first choice of all paid bookable activities.
  • For example, spa treatment and speciality restaurant reservations
  • You give your preferences at 125 days out, so the Concierge shoreside team are prepared once the 120-day window opens to make your bookings.
• The first choice of all free bookable activities
• Concierge requests get priority over all other requests.
• You can also request your soda selection, pillow choice etc prior to your cruise.

Further information

Your Stateroom Host will aim to meet you on the first afternoon in your room. They will use this time to understand which beds you would like making up and any other requirements, relevant to the room.

Overall thoughts

• WE LOVED IT!
• We would absolutely do concierge again
• We would happily stay in this room again.
• If the above is normal, I am disappointed that guests above the first 2 guests, get a second classed stay.