First time in suite

[chemmo]

10 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

 

On our last cruise, the butler didn't use a table cloth.  Just playmates.  The table cloth was so much more elegant.  Next cruise, I will request if we dine on our balcony.  I find some butlers are better then others and do more .  Have had great butlers and poor butlers-  We tip accordingly.  

 

We also have experienced different levels of ‘butlering’ if there is such a word!

 

Average Butlers will do everything asked.

Good Butlers will do everything asked and a bit more (like the tablecloth).

Very good Butlers will do a bit more than you ask and may add a suggestion or two.

Excellent Butlers will almost predict what you want, surprising you with little treats or ideas.

[emmas gran]

We had a butler in the Caribbean and saw him on Day 1, never saw him again in 10 days apart from popping back to the Sky suite one day and he was stood watching tv!!

Edited October 24, 2020 by emmas gran

[CHEZMARYLOU]

5 hours ago, Ashland said:

We'll hopefully (if the ship sails) be in a category S2 on Reflection. Do we also get a butler ?

And tell me more about where/when they offer lobster rolls? This will only be our 2nd time

sailing with Celebrity. We're very low key cruiser's and don't ask for much of anything...but would like

to know exactly what we might miss in this category.

Yes, you will have a butler in your suite, all Celebrity suites have butlers assigned to them. The lobster roll is available in Luminae at lunch, usually on embarkation day.  Depending on the number of times Luminae is open for lunch it might be offered again. I like asking for it without the roll, although the roll is great too.

[TeeRick]

46 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Yes, you will have a butler in your suite, all Celebrity suites have butlers assigned to them. The lobster roll is available in Luminae at lunch, usually on embarkation day.  Depending on the number of times Luminae is open for lunch it might be offered again. I like asking for it without the roll, although the roll is great too.

I had the lobster roll in Luminae my first day lunch on Edge.  It was so small with so little lobster that I would consider it no more than an appetizer!  For me anyway.  Haha.😀

[C-Dragons]

11 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Bogdan is a pearl without price.

Agreed. We miss him so much.

[TeeRick]

15 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

Rick.... you are correct, but their titles have changed, and a new position was introduced.

The Retreat Concierges report to the Retreat Manager (formerly Suite Manager; Bogdan was the first to have this title, which was well deserved).

Give Lena a hug from me. ❤️

Thanks! It is hard to keep track of the positions and titles.  And what they all do.  But the service is always great.  And all of them generally work as a team.  The Room Steward and Butler tend to work together.  They all work with the Retreat Concierge.  The Retreat Manager is there I guess as an added layer to resolve issues (usually there are none) and coordinate where necessary.  They also coordinate with the maitre D' in Luminae.  If i ask one of these folks for anything they all seem to know about my request within a short time.  Really fantastic.  I hope this does not change in the post-Covid cruise era.

 

Lena is doing great!  She loves hugs and gets a lot of them every day.💗

[C-Dragons]

1 hour ago, chemmo said:

 

We also have experienced different levels of ‘butlering’ if there is such a word!

 

Average Butlers will do everything asked.

Good Butlers will do everything asked and a bit more (like the tablecloth).

Very good Butlers will do a bit more than you ask and may add a suggestion or two.

Excellent Butlers will almost predict what you want, surprising you with little treats or ideas.

This is spot on! 👍🏻

In fact, I must say that shortly after boarding the Butler comes to our cabin, no matter which ship, and proceeds to tell us what he can do for us. Lately it has become a little comical, as “we know the drill”. 😊Years ago, this was not always the case, and we could predict what level of service the Butler was going to provide without being asked. Imo, training and service has greatly improved.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I found that when you ask for the lobster roll without the bun you get more lobster.  Since they always offer a bread tray I don't need the roll.

[Straughn]

We/I have had great butlers and average butlers- none where ever awful. Years ago, we had a “new to the position” butler. He was very attentive, to the point, on some occasions, it was a bit much. He keep asking what he could do, so my SO asked him to shine his dress shoes. We come back later that day and the shoes were back and beautifully done- any military guy would have loved the shine. Missing are a pair of old boat shoes that my SO used on excursions where he didn't want to worry about his shoes getting wet. Shortly after we returned, the butler rings the doorbell and hands me the boat shoes. He had taken them, when he returned the dress shoes, and shined them. The boat shoes didn’t look that good when they were new.
 

This was back in the day when they delivered afternoon tea to the cabins. Same butler. The only thing we ever wanted were a couple of cookies. One afternoon, he did not have what I always selected- an oatmeal raisin cookie. He apologized and said they just weren’t available that day. We come back to the cabin well after dinner. On the table is a plate with two oatmeal cookies and two chocolate chip cookies. There was a little note that the oatmeal cookies were available that evening and he wanted me to have my favorite cookie. 
 

I could gone on  about butler experiences, but I often use these two stories to illustrate what a good butler does.

[39august]

I always order the lobster salad without the roll. Get plenty of lobster that way. 

[ExArkie]

4 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

We also have experienced different levels of ‘butlering’ if there is such a word!

 

Average Butlers will do everything asked.

Good Butlers will do everything asked and a bit more (like the tablecloth).

Very good Butlers will do a bit more than you ask and may add a suggestion or two.

Excellent Butlers will almost predict what you want, surprising you with little treats or ideas.

Agreed, and very well stated - in our (limited) Celebrity suite experience, we have actually never had a butler at "average" or below, but we did encounter an average one on a different cruise line. 

 

By the way, I was taught that the verb form was "buttle" so that one who "buttles" is the noun form: "butler." Evidently, like innumerable other things that I learned in my long-ago youth, this has changed. "Butler" is now accepted as a verb, so one can now be observed "butlering" and be grammatically acceptable.

 

[chemmo]

2 hours ago, ExArkie said:

Agreed, and very well stated - in our (limited) Celebrity suite experience, we have actually never had a butler at "average" or below, but we did encounter an average one on a different cruise line. 

 

By the way, I was taught that the verb form was "buttle" so that one who "buttles" is the noun form: "butler." Evidently, like innumerable other things that I learned in my long-ago youth, this has changed. "Butler" is now accepted as a verb, so one can now be observed "butlering" and be grammatically acceptable.

 

 

So pleased my English is acceptable!!! I honest wasn’t sure if I had invented a new word.

 

 

[groryjm]

9 hours ago, chemmo said:

Good Butlers will do everything asked and a bit more (like the tablecloth).

Very good Butlers will do a bit more than you ask and may add a suggestion or two.

Excellent Butlers will almost predict what you want, surprising you with little treats or ideas.

If we had a buttler serve breakfast without a table cloth I would feel let done and make my feelings known..... Luckily it has never happened😎

[LGW59]

9 minutes ago, groryjm said:

If we had a buttler serve breakfast without a table cloth I would feel let done and make my feelings known..... Luckily it has never happened😎

I hope you never have to endure such a travesty!  🤣

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I'm perfectly fine with place mats, especially on the balcony when the breeze blows the table cloth and trips me. When dining in the suite, the table is so large there is no need for a table cloth, place mats are fine.  Save the Waves.

Edited October 24, 2020 by CHEZMARYLOU

[MamaFej]

On 10/23/2020 at 2:22 PM, LGW59 said:

jelayne was seeming COVID crabby today!  CC is for exactly as you posted to share information with one another.  Your OP question was perfect!  Butler's are amazing, I have breakfast in my suite every single day of the cruise, 3 or 4 times dinner as well.  I have learned so much valuable information from folks on here, who have FAR more cruises under their belts than I do.  

This is unnecessarily harsh. Jelayne politely mentioned that there are multiple threads on the subject where the OP could find the desired information, and that a search could lead to them. She had no way of knowing that the OP had tried and failed. 

 

To imply that someone who has been on these boards 11 years longer than you have doesn't know what CC is for is rather rude. Jelayne is a friendly, helpful poster who has given great insight and advice to many posters over the years I've been here, and I imagine that she was doing the same in the previous years. She is one of those cruisers from whom many of us have "learned so much valuable information."

 

There was nothing crabby in her post. The fact that you interpreted it as such is likely a reflection on your mood, not hers.

 

To the OP, I'm glad you've been able to find helpful information here, and that someone was able to provide a link to one of the past threads. I sincerely doubt I will ever be able to afford to travel in a suite, and I hope you thoroughly enjoy yours.

 

[jelayne]

On 10/23/2020 at 4:22 PM, LGW59 said:

jelayne was seeming COVID crabby today!  CC is for exactly as you posted to share information with one another.  Your OP question was perfect!  Butler's are amazing, I have breakfast in my suite every single day of the cruise, 3 or 4 times dinner as well.  I have learned so much valuable information from folks on here, who have FAR more cruises under their belts than I do.  

I’m sorry if my reply to to OP struck you as crabby.  Hopefully the OP,  the intended audience, read It  as the suggestion it was intended to be.  

[ChucktownSteve]

I have not had the butler experience yet but hopefully will in January.  I was wondering if the better butlers are assigned to the higher suite categories or even within the sky suite levels?  Or is it the luck of the drawer?

Edited October 25, 2020 by ChucktownSteve

[jelayne]

4 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

I have not had the butler experience yet but hopefully will in January.  I was wondering if the better butlers are assigned to the higher suite categories or even within the sky suite levels?  Or is it the luck of the drawer?

 I don’t know how they are assigned but the best Butler we have has was one when we were in a Sky Suite.  The one we preferred the least was the Butler for a RS. 

[chemmo]

3 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

I have not had the butler experience yet but hopefully will in January.  I was wondering if the better butlers are assigned to the higher suite categories or even within the sky suite levels?  Or is it the luck of the drawer?

 

In our experience PH and RS Butlers are usually experienced. Whilst this should ensure good service it doesn’t mean less experienced Butlers are not as good. Less experienced Butlers may be more keen to get good reviews and therefore be more willing to go above and beyond. 

 

Who you are assigned will probably be more dependent on location than anything else, Butlers usually service a group of suites together rather than a type of suite.

 

Also in our experience service levels can drop if you have occasional  ‘demanding’ guests. Guests who regularly entertain in suite, regularly dine in suite, regularly have special requests....Whilst all suite guests have the ‘right’ to all of these things most are reasonable in frequency of demands on the Butlers time. If we do want anything which we know will use a significant amount of the Butler’s time (like a sail away party) we try to give him at least 24 hours notice. 

[chemmo]

5 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

I'm perfectly fine with place mats, especially on the balcony when the breeze blows the table cloth and trips me. When dining in the suite, the table is so large there is no need for a table cloth, place mats are fine.  Save the Waves.

 

Agree! On one breezy cruise our wonderful butler insisted on the table cloth on the balcony held on by clips despite our willingness to just use mats. I think the tablecloth to many Butlers as well as guests is a ‘symbol’ of a higher level of service...

Edited October 25, 2020 by chemmo

[C-Dragons]

12 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

I have not had the butler experience yet but hopefully will in January.  I was wondering if the better butlers are assigned to the higher suite categories or even within the sky suite levels?  Or is it the luck of the drawer?

The butlers are “promoted“ to the higher category suites through evaluations of their job performance. Part of this is through the end of cruise surveys that passengers are asked to fill out. We have had Hotel Managers (now Retreat Managers) thank us personally for our remarks regarding their staff as this helps them in the promotion process.

That's not to say that you won’t have an excellent Butler in a lower category suite. We usually have very good to excellent butlers. Enjoy your suite!

[Sam.Seattle]

55 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

The butlers are “promoted“ to the higher category suites through evaluations of their job performance. Part of this is through the end of cruise surveys that passengers are asked to fill out. We have had Hotel Managers (now Retreat Managers) thank us personally for our remarks regarding their staff as this helps them in the promotion process.

That's not to say that you won’t have an excellent Butler in a lower category suite. We usually have very good to excellent butlers. Enjoy your suite!

Interesting...

Wondering if the ship class has anything to with the butler promotions.  Are the butlers with higher ratings or seniority on the newer ships?

 

Do the butlers assigned to the higher categories have less suites assigned?

 

Last question (for this moment in time) Is the Retreat Manager different from the Concierge?  We have experienced service from the Concierge that I never thought about asking the Butler. Example is when we were on an Alaska cruise we were considering the Luxury train in Skagway, but we were concerned about walking out to the train when my wife was dependent on a scooter.  The Concierge escorted us to the train and took the scooter back to the ship.  When we arrived back, he was there with the scooter waiting for us.

 

Celebrity and Royal Concierges have been amazing in accommodating our special requests. 

 

Cheers!

🍷

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Butlers assigned to higher categories do have fewer suites to take care of, probably not significantly fewer though.

The Concierge and Retreat/Suite Manager are 2 different positions.  The Suite Managers first started a few years ago, 2017 I think because we were on an Alaska cruise and Denny Flores had just been promoted to Suite Manager. We sailed with him again in 2019 on Equinox after the Revolution and his title was now Retreat Manager.  He told us the change in title would be on the Revolutionized and E class ships.  Maybe this has changed and Suite Managers are now all Retreat Managers.  His duties were the same. On Millennium he was much more visible.  2 years later he was more behind the scene but still had some interaction with suite guests.

[C-Dragons]

1 hour ago, Sam.Seattle said:

Interesting...

Wondering if the ship class has anything to with the butler promotions.  Are the butlers with higher ratings or seniority on the newer ships?

Yes, but not just the butlers. Normally the best crew members are transferred to bring out the new ships.

Do the butlers assigned to the higher categories have less suites assigned?

Yes.

Last question (for this moment in time) Is the Retreat Manager different from the Concierge?  We have experienced service from the Concierge that I never thought about asking the Butler. Example is when we were on an Alaska cruise we were considering the Luxury train in Skagway, but we were concerned about walking out to the train when my wife was dependent on a scooter.  The Concierge escorted us to the train and took the scooter back to the ship.  When we arrived back, he was there with the scooter waiting for us.

Yes, the Retreat Manager is a fairly recent new position. The Retreat Concierge reports to the Retreat Manager who oversees all of the suites and the Retreat.

In your example it was probably easier for the Retreat Concierge to assist with the scooter than the Butler.

Celebrity and Royal Concierges have been amazing in accommodating our special requests. 

 

Cheers!

🍷