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

[RichYak]

59 minutes ago, bac513 said:

However, this does not appear to be official practice.  Hopefully, this unadvertised perk can continue.

All you're effectively doing is getting sealed beverages that you can get out of the Retreat Lounge and asking your butler for help carrying it all to your stateroom. There's no reason why it shouldn't continue. With this new change, I'd probably just ask a Retreat Concierge to have one of the butlers do it for me. No one is breaking any rules.

[bnurick]

I expect what I paid for and they can make changes effective on future sailings or allow refunds. However, we are fine with DCL, so we will just jump around going forward.

[terrydtx]

Over the weekend I emailed one of our past butlers that we have stayed in contact with. I was worried about how the Butler changes was going to affect her. I am not going to give her name or what ship she is currently on; she is no longer on the same ship we met her. I want to protect her from any corporate retribution. Today I got a response back from her.

 

First she is moving to only the higher end suites, which is great news. She said the only butlers being let go or not having contracts renewed are a few that consistently get lower marks on the after-cruise surveys. What disturbs her the most is the new Sky Suite teams on her ship are being filled with the newest, least experienced and lowest paid butlers. She also does not believe this new team concept is going to provide any better service than before and, in her opinion, it will be a lot less. Her comments enforce my fears about how this is going to work.

Edited August 1, 2023 by terrydtx

[terrydtx]

45 minutes ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

So. Question??

 

Its probably answered in the long list of complaints😏. 

 

Do the Sky suites now share butlers or get no butler service at all?

 

If no Butler services… is there a cutoff of suites CS, RS and above ?  

 

Thanks 

Read this whole thread for the answer. 

[prmssk]

1 hour ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

Does Celebrity state on their website that what is in their frigobar is free for Sky "Suites?"

No, it is not advertised as a perk.  And I did not have the same experience of others in this thread when in a Sky Suite.  Our butler grudgingly was willing to put a few waters in the fridge but not willing to keep stocking it or include anything else.  When my mother-in-law stayed in a Sky Suite (on a separate cruise with a different butler) she was clearly told by the butler that it was not included for Sky Suites.  Both these experiences were in the last 1.5 years.

 

I think it has been really nice that many butlers are willing to do this but it actually is not officially included from what I can tell and definitely not advertised.  

[Kelownadon]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Over the weekend I emailed one of our past butlers that we have stayed in contact with. I was worried about how the Butler changes was going to affect her. I am not going to give her name or what ship she is currently on; she is no longer on the same ship we met her. I want to protect her from any corporate retribution. Today I got a response back from her.

 

First she is moving to only the higher end suites, which is great news. She said the only butlers being let go or not having contracts renewed are a few that consistently get lower marks on the after-cruise surveys. What disturbs her the most is the new Sky Suite teams on her ship are being filled with the newest, least experienced and lowest paid butlers. She also does not believe this new team concept is going to provide any better service than before and, in her opinion, it will be a lot less. Her comments enforce my fears about how this is going to work.

Sounds to me like Celebrity is truly trying to do a proper merit based approach to spread the workload around fairly while trying to save some money at the same time and everyone should give it a chance to see if it works or not. 

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, Kelownadon said:

Sounds to me like Celebrity is truly trying to do a proper merit based approach to spread the workload around fairly while trying to save some money at the same time and everyone should give it a chance to see if it works or not. 

Sounds like you are drinking the Celebrity Kool-Aid. The point is we booked and have paid for an advertised service that Celebrity is taking away, a dedicated butler. We didn't pay for a team of pseudo butlers.

[Lastdance]

This has been quite the read; it seems the topic has been covered from A to Z.  Since this situation with the butlers has not happened to me yet, I will need to remain optimistic, but certainly understand the concern. My DH and I do not fully use a butler and never have; however, when we had Covid, our butler was exceptional with food orders and just stopping by to see how we were doing.  We really got to know and learn all about him and his journey before and on Celebrity.  As to what will be the end result with butlers, it would not affect my cruising experience due to being very low maintenance.  Of course, I have always felt the need to tip, but mostly based on the stocked fridge and a few other very small items. It is nice to have a butler like it is nice to have the premium drink package, but neither is a requirement for us.  However, with the recent pricing increases for suites, I have been looking around and even booked a different line.  It is a choice on how I spend my money, along with one that is certainly an opportunity cost for both of us.  Celebrity has made me look at finances and make a few changes, so all in all, I am making what I feel are good decisions for moving forward based on my absolute love of the “experience" of travel.  Our last cruise on Beyond was absolutely wonderful in a suite and SV, but tomorrow is always a new day! 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Lastdance
Absolutely nothing at all!

[Suite Susie]

4 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

That and a pastry from there every morning were the main things we we were looking forward to our butler providing for us. We got a sunset sky suite and planned to enjoy them on our balcony. 

Think we will ask the Retreat Team for our coffee and Almond Croissant from Al Bacio. Will report when we are back on 30th September. 

[Kelownadon]

5 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Sounds like you are drinking the Celebrity Kool-Aid. The point is we booked and have paid for an advertised service that Celebrity is taking away, a dedicated butler. We didn't pay for a team of pseudo butlers.

So I take it you wouldn’t mind getting stuck with the useless one who will now be losing his/her job for all of your 13 night cruise. 

[terrydtx]

5 minutes ago, Kelownadon said:

So I take it you wouldn’t mind getting stuck with the useless one who will now be losing his/her job for all of your 13 night cruise. 

You still do not get the point and I bet never booked suite and had a butler. Not once in 5 cruises have, we had a useless or terrible butler. This service we are losing when we get a team of inexperienced lower paid pseudo butlers. Good bye

[paulh84]

5 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

You still do not get the point and I bet never booked suite and had a butler. Not once in 5 cruises have, we had a useless or terrible butler. This service we are losing when we get a team of inexperienced lower paid pseudo butlers. Good bye

Are you doing okay? It’s really not that serious. It’s gonna be alright. Really. 

[zitsky]

7 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

You still do not get the point and I bet never booked suite and had a butler. Not once in 5 cruises have, we had a useless or terrible butler. This service we are losing when we get a team of inexperienced lower paid pseudo butlers. Good bye

Celebrity said they needed a team of new butlers just to deal with me.  😭😭😭

[wrk2cruise]

Of course in any RIF (Reduction In Force) the lowest performers are generally the first to go so it does make sense that these are the butlers that are not having their contracts renewed.   But it's still a reduction in force (and probably service).

[Whinenowine]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

What disturbs her the most is the new Sky Suite teams on her ship are being filled with the newest, least experienced and lowest paid butlers. She also does not believe this new team concept is going to provide any better service than before and, in her opinion, it will be a lot less. Her comments enforce my fears about how this is going to work.

Thanks, Terry--yeah that's not surprising to me.  I was expecting the least qualified to handle the lower-end suites...that bit actually makes sense.  My guess is that it will be worse at first, likely much worse, but that over time it'll normalize.  We're in 2 SSs on the Edge in a few weeks so I'm going to reserve judgement until I can speak to first hand specifics. As always I'll be cynically optimistic.

[wineoclock]

1 hour ago, Suite Susie said:

Think we will ask the Retreat Team for our coffee and Almond Croissant from Al Bacio. Will report when we are back on 30th September. 

They can only say ‘No’ 

 

Looking at a Beyond cruise in October. May try SV or suite guarantee so I won’t feel so cheated re the butler. But to be fair I don’t use butler that much. 
 

Edit: just got to persuade dh - now that’s going to be a hard task. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by wineoclock

[Tony UK]

I hope everyone sailing soon makes full use of the facilities they believe their butler or team should provide. Use it or lose it!

If it isnt up to scratch then have a discussion with the suite manager / hotel manager.

Its the only way we will discover what is happening and whether it is true that we will be getting the same service. 

I think Celebrity could have avoided all this by being much much clearer in the past about what suite guests should expect in the differing levels of suite. There is a lot of confusion out there. Some butlers provide more some less. Some guests demand more some nothing at all.

Maybe this is an opportunity to give a clearer picture so retreat guests have an accurate expectation of what they book.

[Joker54]

15 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

Thanks, Terry--yeah that's not surprising to me.  I was expecting the least qualified to handle the lower-end suites...that bit actually makes sense.  My guess is that it will be worse at first, likely much worse, but that over time it'll normalize.  We're in 2 SSs on the Edge in a few weeks so I'm going to reserve judgement until I can speak to first hand specifics. As always I'll be cynically optimistic.

When we were in a sky suite on an Alaska cruise right after they started carrying passengers again and we had the same butler that we had 3 years previously when we were in the Iconic on the Edge

 

Happened again last year, we had the same butler assigned to our Sky Suite that we had when we were in the penthouse on a Panama Canal cruise in the Millineum

[sixpackeddie]

Are we certain Celebrity will no longer have butlers in sky suites. I just checked there website and shows otherwise.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/cruise-ships/celebrity-solstice/the-retreat

[Cap_D]

8 hours ago, hcat said:

Luminae was dark, tables were close together, and menu "meh." No bread basket on the tables,  bread lady often "mia" , amuse bouche..odd choices,   limp shrimp cocktail. We ate from the Classics more than the daily  menu   and  enjoyed our visit to BLU much more. 

 

Limp shrimp cocktail (I refer to it as "mushy") can also be found in Luminae on Apex and Edge.  So, its by design not an error.  Seems like an easy thing to get right considering almost all caterers/dining rooms and Costco do so.

[C 2 C]

20 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

But you see, I think the exclusion of zeniths is just a deep a cut as all the others...you sound angry at suite passengers as if they had something to do with it.  Maybe they did?  IDK.  My view is that most all cuts are negative regardless of who they immediately impact.  I'm sorry about the Zenith exclusion from Michael's...that's crappy...but try directing your anger at the appropriate entity.

There were many suite pax happy that, with Zeniths gone, the lounge would be more exclusive and not so crowded.  Zeniths were upset when sky suites were given access, because crowding would become an issue. Some suite pax are just the latest to suffer a cut.  My point is that everyone should be upset by every cut because the next "victim" will be personal.  The "appropriate entity" is untouchable.

[mayleeman]

I would never spend the money The Retreat costs now, but other than the biggger cabin I think we would not benefit much. I drink very little, my wife can't; we both enjoy doing our own event rezes; we like stopping by  to get our own snacks; we are very private so someone unpacking our stuff would feel like an unwanted intrusion; etc etc etc. (I am uncomfortable hiring someone to clean our house, so there is that!)

 

That said, I have a lot of sympathy for suite users disappointed by, or anxious about, changes to the butler service. When you pay for something you should be able to get it. But it seems a few here (reverse snobs?) are almost like French revolutionaries giddy at the notion of the aristocrats marching to the guillotine. I would like to think most cruisers are above that type of thing, but we know there are always a few....

 

Anyway, I hope the changes turn out to be relatively non-impactful (had to use that word after reading it in a story about an NFL injury). Maybe having a team will result in quicker service. Maybe it will reduce unreasonable requests. And maybe the inexperienced butlers will learn more rapidly. 

 

One last thing. A lot of people decry complaining while people continue to cruise. Many, if not most, cruising reservationns probably get made more than 6 months in addvance. Many of us who have been unhappy about reported changes to OVC or MDR, or vaping, or elimination of FCC for part of NRDs, haven't even cruised yet. Our next Celebrity cruise (Feb) will, however, be our last. We have few cruises compared to most, so we look forward to it, but our money for travel can be used for better, less stressful, trips. 

 

I doubt we are alone -- the "vote with your wallet" impact will be felt over the next year. I hope Celebrity pays attention to it, and brings back the cruising standards you veterans have previously enjoyed.

Edited August 1, 2023 by mayleeman

[bnurick]

We talked about booking a 10 night January 2025 cruise on the Beyond. Just did the math and I don’t see the benefit in The Retreat for the price difference.  Specialty Dining is better than Luminae.  Inasmuch as there is questioning regarding just the Butler service, at $5,666 more, X can have less of our money.  I’ll use it on something else and maybe if X starts losing money on suite class, they can raise the prices on all others.

[NanaChar]

38 minutes ago, sixpackeddie said:

Are we certain Celebrity will no longer have butlers in sky suites. I just checked there website and shows otherwise.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/cruise-ships/celebrity-solstice/the-retreat

We still will have butlers, but it will be pool of butlers, not a dedicated butler.  

[Whinenowine]

47 minutes ago, Joker54 said:

Happened again last year, we had the same butler assigned to our Sky Suite that we had when we were in the penthouse on a Panama Canal cruise in the Millineum

Which PH on the MIllie?  We were in 6147 last August in Alaska...had Nicasio as our butler...he was a superstar.