Butler in "upper suite"

[samplecd02]

I was on the Apex for my first Celebrity cruise last September in an Edge Villa. I came home very impressed with the  service  provided by the butler.
I have just rebooked for another cruise in July of 2024 for my 25th anniversary in another Edge Villa and am reading about the changes with  Celebrity and especially with their butler service. Has anyone been in an "upper suite" since the changes and can advise if they felt the  service was lacking or not?
Thanks!

[DaKahuna]

36 minutes ago, samplecd02 said:

I was on the Apex for my first Celebrity cruise last September in an Edge Villa. I came home very impressed with the  service  provided by the butler.
I have just rebooked for another cruise in July of 2024 for my 25th anniversary in another Edge Villa and am reading about the changes with  Celebrity and especially with their butler service. Has anyone been in an "upper suite" since the changes and can advise if they felt the  service was lacking or not?
Thanks!

 It is my understanding that nothing has changed with regards to the Butler service  in any suites other than the Sky, Aqua Sky, and Majic Carpet suites.  For all the others above this category it is business as usual. 

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 It is my understanding that nothing has changed with regards to the Butler service  in any suites other than the Sky, Aqua Sky, and Majic Carpet suites.  For all the others above this category it is business as usual. 

I'm not sure this is how I would characterize the changes based on what I've read. There are now FAR fewer butlers on board. While upper suites still have dedicated butlers, they have very little in the way of backup.

[jagoffee]

3 hours ago, samplecd02 said:

I was on the Apex for my first Celebrity cruise last September in an Edge Villa. I came home very impressed with the  service  provided by the butler.
I have just rebooked for another cruise in July of 2024 for my 25th anniversary in another Edge Villa and am reading about the changes with  Celebrity and especially with their butler service. Has anyone been in an "upper suite" since the changes and can advise if they felt the  service was lacking or not?
Thanks!

I just returned from the August 18th Summit cruise and the butler service in our upper suite was outstanding and was not lacking in any way.  Prez provide excellent service.

[sixpackeddie]

4 hours ago, samplecd02 said:

I was on the Apex for my first Celebrity cruise last September in an Edge Villa. I came home very impressed with the  service  provided by the butler.
I have just rebooked for another cruise in July of 2024 for my 25th anniversary in another Edge Villa and am reading about the changes with  Celebrity and especially with their butler service. Has anyone been in an "upper suite" since the changes and can advise if they felt the  service was lacking or not?
Thanks!

We just came off the Edge in an Edge Villa and our experience was identical as the exact same cruise in the same cabin August of 2022. 
With the recent changes we felt this did not impact our experience one bit. I believe the changes only affected Sky Suite clients. 

We were also pleased to receive the embroidered pyjamas! Our Butler Keegan was attentive and provided excellent service!

[verizon]

3 hours ago, jagoffee said:

I just returned from the August 18th Summit cruise and the butler service in our upper suite was outstanding and was not lacking in any way.  Prez provide excellent service.

I saw the price to move up to Edge villa on my sailing is very reasonable.

May I know what come with it from a Cruise only fare from Concierge Class.

[DaKahuna]

10 hours ago, RichYak said:

I'm not sure this is how I would characterize the changes based on what I've read. There are now FAR fewer butlers on board. While upper suites still have dedicated butlers, they have very little in the way of backup.

 

 I guess I am still a glass half full kind of guy.  A dedicated butler is a dedicated butler and is quite different from no butler at all.  I have not seen any reports from anyone sailing in an upper suite that reported inferior butler service as a result of the change.  

 

[Dolebludger]

Here is something I’d like to know. What was the number of staff performing “butler service” in the old system, compared to the number performing these services now? If there is been a significant decrease (which I suspect) there will be a corresponding decrease in service quality.

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

Here is something I’d like to know. What was the number of staff performing “butler service” in the old system, compared to the number performing these services now? If there is been a significant decrease (which I suspect) there will be a corresponding decrease in service quality.

From my observations I suspect that the staff delivering room service to non Sky Suite cabins has decreased significantly with the surcharge.  And those resources are being used for delivering room service to those staying in Sky Suites and those willing to pay a surcharge.  Room service (not from the Butler) might be the most visible change to Sky Suite guests.  

[pennys mum]

Currently in a CS on silhouette. Normal butler experience. Excellent service from both room steward and Butler. Cannot complain.

[Keddy72]

2 hours ago, pennys mum said:

Currently in a CS on silhouette. Normal butler experience. Excellent service from both room steward and Butler. Cannot complain.

We board t when you dusemba4k, do you mind me asking what room and who your butler is.  We are also in CS, last 2 trips butler has not been great in a CS 

[pennys mum]

58 minutes ago, Keddy72 said:

We board t when you dusemba4k, do you mind me asking what room and who your butler is.  We are also in CS, last 2 trips butler has not been great in a CS 

We are in 1618. Butler is Gede, room steward is Jeffrey. They are both staying onboard

[SusieAV8R]

23 hours ago, RichYak said:

I'm not sure this is how I would characterize the changes based on what I've read. There are now FAR fewer butlers on board. While upper suites still have dedicated butlers, they have very little in the way of backup.

 

13 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I guess I am still a glass half full kind of guy.  A dedicated butler is a dedicated butler and is quite different from no butler at all.  I have not seen any reports from anyone sailing in an upper suite that reported inferior butler service as a result of the change.  

 

 

On 9/6/2023 at 8:50 PM, DaKahuna said:

 It is my understanding that nothing has changed with regards to the Butler service  in any suites other than the Sky, Aqua Sky, and Majic Carpet suites.  For all the others above this category it is business as usual. 

We have only sailed in PH since post covid restart.  We found that the butler service we had in CS and RS pre-covid was far superior; in fact, such service has been getting incrementally worse with each cruise post covid. (I advised X accordingly of this.)  From reading all the social media posts, I NOW know the reason:  a substantial percentage of SS were making extra demands on the Butler who claimed,  to me, he/she had a "couple of problem suites demanding their time".  Wow!  The Celebrity Board certainly educated us!