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

[Joker54]

5 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

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

6148 Starboard side, our butler was Anand. He would scour the entire ship looking for something if you asked. We asked for some Alaska Red, which they don't carry outside of Alaska. Somehow he managed to find 6 cans. Had to be careful what we asked for as he would be on a mission. We were really delighted to have him again when we were in the Sky Suite - he is amazing.

[VMI72]

On 7/29/2023 at 5:36 PM, weregoingcruising said:

Hell hath no fury like a suite guest without a butler.

😂

[Ex-Airbalancer]

They probably had one of those efficiency engineers on board that was timing each individual butler and decided it would be more efficient to have a team to serve the people 

 

by the way, is the butler on call 24/7 ,

and what happens when a butler has a day off , does someone else take their place , or do go with out ? 

[Cap_D]

4 hours ago, bnurick said:

We use ours a great deal.  I usually write out all our special requests on day one when they come and meet us.  There have been many we follow on Instagram and see again on future cruises.  The team concept would be less personable in my opinion.

@bnurick We did the same, after reading you did this, and it helped except breakfast (and until the breakfast hang tag was not picked up).  Glad you mentioned it a few months ago.

 

Tip for anyone in Retreat (reading this in the future):  Type out and print your requests (as suggested above) and turn it in, get multiple breakfast hang tags and fill those out on day 1, and then place daily on door, take a picture with time stamp of placing hang tag on door with order.  Make all of this clear to anyone and everyone that asks "can they get you anything" - including the new "team."  

[Joker54]

Just now, Ex-Airbalancer said:

by the way, is the butler on call 24/7 ,

and what happens when a butler has a day off , does someone else take their place , or do go with out ? 

They are, but they work long hours and I have yet to find a need to call them after 8pm or so.

 

When they are on break they have one other butler that will take their calls. Not quite the same service as your own but the system works well - at least that is our experience

[Cap_D]

20 minutes ago, Joker54 said:

6148 Starboard side, our butler was Anand. He would scour the entire ship looking for something if you asked. We asked for some Alaska Red, which they don't carry outside of Alaska. Somehow he managed to find 6 cans. Had to be careful what we asked for as he would be on a mission. We were really delighted to have him again when we were in the Sky Suite - he is amazing.

To state the obvious, its stuff like this that connects Retreat passengers to Celebrity, same with the minibar setups, and other, as they say at Disney, acts of magic.  Now some of the requests/actions wouldn't be needed if Celebrity just incorporated the practices into the baseline procedures (like the minibar for premium package Retreat guests)..but that's a set of needs for another threads.  In the meantime, a good butler can sell you on the next cruise. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

4 minutes ago, Joker54 said:

They are, but they work long hours and I have yet to find a need to call them after 8pm or so.

 

When they are on break they have one other butler that will take their calls. Not quite the same service as your own but the system works well - at least that is our experience

So with a Team approach, the butlers may have a better work environment

[Joker54]

8 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

So with a Team approach, the butlers may have a better work environment

"May" being key here. Not knowing the ratio of guests to team members its a huge swag.

 

And I'm fine with the team concept if they throw some onboard credit my way (nothing huge, it's the gesture that would make me happy) for reducing the service after I paid in full. Getting a notification would also be a huge help.

 

As others have said - I am concerned for the butlers being let go. I am hoping that the butlers I know and have had are safe with the company as long as they wish to be.

 

I am thinking I have hit the max on posts on this thread. I will grab my bag of  popcorn now and just lurk:)

 

May everyone have Fair Winds and Following Sea's

Edited August 1, 2023 by Joker54

[bnurick]

18 minutes ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

Or, they can simply charge whatever is required for the top staterooms to keep every perk, privilege, and bottle of boozey delicious stuff in the stateroom  (I'll pay, and not next Tuesday and not for a hamburger today*).

 

*a cartoon character reference as part of this thread's helpful psychotherapy session.**

 

**You're welcome.

 

Any stateroom with a balcony hot tub on their new ships is awesome. These are home runs, even compared to Regent, et al.

 

Love ya, Celebrity!

 

Signed,

 

Your Psychoanalyst, Thurston Howell, III

They did charge, at booking.  Maybe they should have hedged better.

[Gracie115]

54 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

 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.

 

I think the "vote with your wallet" will be felt but suspect it will take more than a year.  And perhaps it will never be felt, if there are enough people out there who accept a product nowhere near as good as it once was and are willing to do it over & over again the prior standards will never come back.  And neither will we.   

 

I'm sure we will take a look when the 2025 sailings are introduced later this year, but doubtful we will see anything worth booking with Celebrity.  We have a Princess & Viking trip booked over the next 18 months.  Celebrity can't come close to those trips in either itinerary or price.  

 

 

[bnurick]

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

I'm blaming then the bookies.

 

Probably same ones in Vegas running the odds, and Celebrity is winning. Just like Vegas.

 

I think we're on to something here.

Sure thing Mr. Underhill, watch your American Express card charges.  😉 

[bnurick]

Looks like 4-2-N-8 posts vanished.  The Butler did it!

[djh]

3 hours 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. 

That’s exactly what we ask for from our butler! 

[BCHappyGal]

As some have already commented ... when X makes these changes with little to no notice (this change takes effect August 15th) it will not ruin my cruise but they are taking away an amenity which they advertised and which I paid for when I booked...

 

celebrity Sky Suite prices are high but given the amenites - Butler, All Included, Retreat Lounge, Retreat Sundeck (at least on revolunionized ships), Luminae priority embarkation and disembarkation as well as tendering at tender ports... made me feel it was money well spent... however if they start removing the amenities I will have to decide if it is worth it to book Celebrity or shouId go with another line....

 

Between the Vaping test and the removal of Butlers I have definitely started exploring my options with other cruise lines

[ChucktownSteve]

2 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

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).

Even before this, when a crew member was not performing to task, their contract was not renewed.  The only difference I see is they may be letting a few go before the contract's end.  I read in a previous post, they expect to move non experienced crew into the SS butler "team".

[RichYak]

19 minutes ago, bnurick said:

Looks like 4-2-N-8 posts vanished.  The Butler did it!

Damn, I only just put him on my ignore list.

[kasowell2]

If the butler was like our last butler in a sky suite, we wouldn’t miss him. Any time we asked him for anything his response was call the room steward. We’ve only had a butler twice so not sure if we were spoiled by our first one or was the second one the new norm. Either way unless the prices make an economic correction we won’t be sailing in suites. We would prefer to sail multiple weeks in another cabin vs one week in a sky suite

[mayleeman]

3 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Damn, I only just put him on my ignore list.

 

First time I have ever done that, so I didn't notice they were all gone. 

 

The mods act in mysterious ways! 

[terrydtx]

13 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Damn, I only just put him on my ignore list.

He must have pi**ed off finally the Mods here.

Edited August 1, 2023 by terrydtx

[dlh015]

It's funny how a few of us have one person  (well, I have two...lol...) on the iggy list...and it's the same person...  🤔  Now why would that be.......

[RichYak]

8 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

 

First time I have ever done that, so I didn't notice they were all gone. 

 

The mods act in mysterious ways! 

 

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

He must have pi**ed off finally the Mods here.

I've been having problems with yellowjackets looking to build nests in various spots on the back of my house. The exterminator literally just left. Coincidence? Or is he the best exterminator ever?

[RichYak]

4 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

It's funny how a few of us have one person  (well, I have two...lol...) on the iggy list...and it's the same person...  🤔  Now why would that be.......

"Iggy list" I like it. Of course now I'm wondering who your other is. Come to think of it, maybe you can't see this comment. 😂

[zitsky]

25 minutes ago, kasowell2 said:

If the butler was like our last butler in a sky suite, we wouldn’t miss him. Any time we asked him for anything his response was call the room steward. We’ve only had a butler twice so not sure if we were spoiled by our first one or was the second one the new norm. Either way unless the prices make an economic correction we won’t be sailing in suites. We would prefer to sail multiple weeks in another cabin vs one week in a sky suite

It was Rudy, on the Beyond that made me decide to book another SS.  He kept making those magic moments.

 

And I don’t think either of us would be considered difficult customers.  We were the ones offering to call the room attendant or the concierge etc.

Edited August 1, 2023 by zitsky

[MamaFej]

30 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

It's funny how a few of us have one person  (well, I have two...lol...) on the iggy list...and it's the same person...  🤔  Now why would that be.......

I've never put anyone on an ignore list (though I've been tempted).

 

I have, however, been very grateful not to see certain screen names on my cruise Roll Calls. 

 

Yes, I realize that I may be on some ignore lists, and some folks may be glad not to see me on theri Roll Calls. That's okay. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by MamaFej

[binro01]

2 hours ago, bnurick said:

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.

 

Dang those Concierge prices are way too high. I have a great agent that uses group rates that can knock off at least couple grand off that concierge pricing. We are on the Beyond for the 10N cruise on January 24th 2025, and the price for our C2 Concierge Class IV with All Included and a Refundable deposit was $5,251.44 with 250.00 OBC.