Is Celebrity going to Eliminate Butlers on Sky and Celebrity Suites?

[terrydtx]

51 minutes ago, Joker54 said:

my experience has been both in this past year where I get a ticket to sign and then I don't. Haven't figured out why that is, but some would still tip extra.

 

It has happened a lot when we were in an all inclusive suite where the specialty dinner didn't cost us anything but we received a check to sign. Though we didn't get a check to sign on our last cruise when we were in the PH.

 

Now the question is - who gets that 18% that is tacked onto the bill?

Interesting,  I just went into my Celebrity  app to book a SR on our September Apex Cruise and it now shows a 20% tip will be added to the reservation,  when did that increase from 18%? Another policy change with no announcement?

Edited July 31, 2023 by terrydtx

[weregoingcruising]

12 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I have been cruising with Celebrity since 2018 and I do not recall any back pedaling either.

  Due chocolates on the pillow at turn down service nightly and $10 Mast Grill hamburgers qualify?

Edited July 31, 2023 by weregoingcruising

[iandjm]

18 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Do you have examples of back pedaling?  I’ve not been on Celebrity very long.

Charging for burgers at the mast grill.  
removing most casual option in the ocean view during the evening (these have increased somewhat since the decision)

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, Stumptowngal said:

I’ve been following all the posts both here and on other social media about the change from a personal butler to a “Retreat team” of butlers for Sky Suites. In light of it seeming to be a done deal starting in August, I was very surprised to open an email from Celebrity a few minutes ago with the title “Personalize your upcoming Celebrity Edge cruise”. 

 

I made this reservation for a Sky Suite on The Edge for a May 2024 sailing a couple of weeks ago.  In today’s email it references all my Retreat amenities including my “Personal Butler” multiple times. It goes into great detail about all the services my “personal butler” can provide me. I am totally baffled. Does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing at the Celebrity offices?  Why on earth would they send this personal email today focusing in great detail about my “personal butler” if there is no such thing anymore for Sky Suite guests? 

More of Celebrity's being consistent about being inconsistent. 

[mahdnc]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

Interesting,  I just went into mt Celebrity  app to book a SR on our September Apex Cruise and it now shows a 20% tip will be added to the reservation,  when did that increase from 18%? Another policy change with no announcement?

 

The extra 2% is going to the newly formed Sky Suite Butler Team.

 

[NanaChar]

I have so many bad feelings about this.  First, letting go the butlers mid-contract.  That does not help morale at all.  Celebrity seemed to have better employee satisfaction rating than most mass-market lines.  Every butler we has was great.  Some were almost miraculous in anticipating our needs.  I hope they have good compensation and find new positions quickly.  
Second, when we purchased the cruise, it was advertised and a personal butler.  I know they can change, but shouldn't we be compensated for the change. 
Third, still paying the tip for a full-butler service.  (We really shouldn't have been paying for the same in the past when our butlers were assigned many more cabins than the higher suites.)  Now, we don't have that intuitive butler who knows our needs before we even know what we want.  
Please take the time to send e-mails and post on Celebrity's Facebook page.  Make sure they hear our voices.

[The_Big_M]

On 7/31/2023 at 12:39 AM, OysterD said:

But how I look at things, from an efficiency standpoint, a team should be able to provide a better service. 

 

I don't know how many suites shared the same butler, it's largely irrelevant but let's say there were 10 suites per butler. Butler A has suites 1-10 and Butler B is given suites 11-20. Passengers in Suites 1-5 are very demanding, 6-10 also make certain requests, but passengers in suites 11-20 never have any use for a butler. Having only butler A assigned to 1-10 means he is run ragged and passengers 1-10 receive slow or poor service whereas butler B is sat doing nothing. If you combine them into a team and share the load, but without a dedicated named butler to those suites, passengers 1-10 get what they request from either A or B. 

 

This sounds to me exactly like what Celebrity are proposing according to the post you were replying to, in other words what Celebrity have said they are doing. 

 

And if it is the case that that's what they're doing, it makes this whole premature outrage and 15 pages of moaning before any official announcements were made, completely redundant! 

 

Except... that's what they informally catered for at present. While your face contact is with the same butler, they work with each other to share load at times, as needed. If one butler had to attend to a specific issue for a time, they'd let a colleague know to cover their rooms for requests that come through.

 

This comes across as more of an efficiency saving, than any service improvement. They probably estimate they can cut headcount 2+ per ship by not assigning to individual rooms. (Or maybe they have other tasks in mind that the staff will take on from their 'freed up' time.) Of course the trade off is you'll no longer have someone in regular contact and familiar with your preferences. So requested tasks will get done but without as much a personal touch and awareness as before.

[bjahil47]

23 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Interesting,  I just went into my Celebrity  app to book a SR on our September Apex Cruise and it now shows a 20% tip will be added to the reservation,  when did that increase from 18%? Another policy change with no announcement?

I believe that changed July 11,2023 when they upped all the room and beverage gratuities.

[The_Big_M]

20 hours ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

Completely misunderstood -

 

Point is: it is abundantly clear that those who buy into the Sky Suite are themselves seeking an elite "feel" (call it elitist, if you like) of being in a suite, if only an entry level suite.

 

 

Wow. I'm impressed you've done a market segmentation on that product offering, and quite surprised that it turns out there is only a single customer definition. Quite frankly it boggles the mind that customers aren't buying sky suites for any other reason than the above.

 

Either that or your commentary is just a load of bollocks.

[DaKahuna]

5 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

If I remember right the bill presented had the 18% tip added.

 

Yes, it did.  There was also a place to add an additional gratuity as you mentioned earlier.

 

It reminds me of going to a restaurant with a group of people and receiving a bill with the gratuity already added.  There was always a place for gratuity on the bill even though the standard percentage was already charged. 

 

[Tony UK]

I recall they changed butler to retreat host in the past which caused much confusion! Then they changed it back to Butler!

The retreat venture has been so very successful for Celebrity I am amazed that they want to disrupt the category in any way. 

I feel so bad for the very excellent staff who have helped Celebrity recover from the covid crisis and now find themselves discarded by the company. I dont know how many will lose their jobs but hope they find a job where they are valued. 

[1Virgo]

Not just Sky Suites but also Aqua Ky Suites, Celebrity and Horizon apparently 

[terrydtx]

30 minutes ago, Stumptowngal said:

I’ve been following all the posts both here and on other social media about the change from a personal butler to a “Retreat team” of butlers for Sky Suites. In light of it seeming to be a done deal starting in August, I was very surprised to open an email from Celebrity a few minutes ago with the title “Personalize your upcoming Celebrity Edge cruise”. 

 

I made this reservation for a Sky Suite on The Edge for a May 2024 sailing a couple of weeks ago.  In today’s email it references all my Retreat amenities including my “Personal Butler” multiple times. It goes into great detail about all the services my “personal butler” can provide me. I am totally baffled. Does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing at the Celebrity offices?  Why on earth would they send this personal email today focusing in great detail about my “personal butler” if there is no such thing anymore for Sky Suite guests? 

The sad thing is anyone booking a Sky Suite today who doesn't follow any social media sites has no idea what they are not going to get when they booked. They will get the same BS email you got and board to find the email and Koo-AID was all a lie.

[The_Big_M]

17 hours ago, Kelownadon said:

Looks to me like they are just trying to get a more even distribution of the workload between butlers. Why should some butlers have to work their aces off while others have little to do. For what it’s worth, it makes total sense to me.  

 

But they don't. 

 

The next cruise the cabins have different occupants, and the extra load is elsewhere. Over time, that is spread across all the staff, just as in the 'team' concept.

 

It's not as though the 'demanding guests' are only ever taking the same cabins/certain butlers.

[terrydtx]

49 minutes ago, iandjm said:

Charging for burgers at the mast grill.  
removing most casual option in the ocean view during the evening (these have increased somewhat since the decision)

Those were all changes that did not require mass redistribution of personnel and layoffs and were much easier to back pedal on, this change will be much harder if not impossible, if they decide they made a huge mistake.

Edited July 31, 2023 by terrydtx

[RichYak]

7 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

Either that or your commentary is just a load of bollocks.

The ignore feature is kind of fun. I still get to see how others react to his foolish posts. Thanks @Jim_Iain for the suggestion.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

With a team approach , it may give better service and let crew have more time off 

[zitsky]

13 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

 

Wow. I'm impressed you've done a market segmentation on that product offering, and quite surprised that it turns out there is only a single customer definition. Quite frankly it boggles the mind that customers aren't buying sky suites for any other reason than the above.

 

Either that or your commentary is just a load of bollocks.

I book Sky Suites so I can get a banana split in Luminae.  And so I can tell people to get out of my way.

[iandjm]

8 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Thos were all changes that did not require mass redistribution of personnel and layoffs and were much easier to back peddle on, this change will be much harder if not impossible, if they decide they made a huge mistake.

Totally agree. It’s a bad decision, devaluing a product. 

[hcat]

45 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Interesting,  I just went into my Celebrity  app to book a SR on our September Apex Cruise and it now shows a 20% tip will be added to the reservation,  when did that increase from 18%? Another policy change with no announcement?

our next  2 and only Celeb bookings have pre paid grats in our fare.

 

increases will backfire as folks won't hand out  as much of a cash bonus.

 

when they mandated the spa grat onto the bill...I stopped cash tips and the  workers def lost..at least from me

Edited July 31, 2023 by hcat

[jelayne]

42 minutes ago, weregoingcruising said:

  Due chocolates on the pillow at turn down service nightly and $10 Mast Grill hamburgers qualify?

Yes😊

Along with the double cheeseburger on the dinner menu.

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, hcat said:

our next  2 and only Celeb bookings have pre paid grats in our fare.

Those prepaid grats do not include the SR bookings or non suite room service charge.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

13 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Today its the Butlers, tomorrow it could be Luminae access, then the Retreat lounge, taking away amenities, one bite at a time hoping no one notices or cares. That is the Celebrity Kool-Aid.

That would be making them in line with JS on RCI ships. Calling it a Suite but not coming with the Suite amenities. Although on RCI JS on ships with Coastal Kitchen can dine there on a space available basis. 

 

[emmas gran]

20 minutes ago, zitsky said:

I book Sky Suites so I can get a banana split in Luminae.  And so I can tell people to get out of my way.

I wish there was a ~What on earth are you talking about~ button

[zitsky]

4 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

I wish there was a ~What on earth are you talking about~ button

I try and try and try but you can’t please everyone.

 

The topic is about butlers and suites.

 

And the banana split was really good and I was joking with the staff but they thought I was serious.

 

Yes I have taken my meds today.