Can Celebrity “Retreat” on Retreat Changes

[GBeason884]

We all know Celebrity has always been making changes.   Some good (SS invited to Luminea and then to Michael’s) and other with less backlash (afternoon tea only in Michael’s rather than a cart).   
 

Cookies and vaping got quickly reversed.   
 

Do we think they will see a reduction in Retreat bookings?   How can they gracefully jibe and not tach?   

 

For me, I don’t care on OBC, Wi-Fi, grats.    I’ll add that as fare.   I book SS for Luminea and Butlers (really only for breakfast setup and return to room fruit).  I booked my October anniversary trip on RCCL as a junior suite was 300/night (500 with unlimited specialty restaurant) for same as 1000/night SS.   
 

My over under is that they will come up with a package for Butler service and market as the best thing since Retreat.  They will then just include it as part of a standard 1-2-3-4 promotion.   

[Cap_D]

Adding a charge for butler service would be insane, but they have already made some awful decisions.  

 

Oddly they could have needed additional butlers for Ascent in November.  But, now with the cuts probably will have a net total of less butlers after Ascent than the same time last year.  

[Shellyd22]

On 9/6/2023 at 11:46 PM, GBeason884 said:

We all know Celebrity has always been making changes.   Some good (SS invited to Luminea and then to Michael’s) and other with less backlash (afternoon tea only in Michael’s rather than a cart).   
 

Cookies and vaping got quickly reversed.   
 

Do we think they will see a reduction in Retreat bookings?   How can they gracefully jibe and not tach?   

 

For me, I don’t care on OBC, Wi-Fi, grats.    I’ll add that as fare.   I book SS for Luminea and Butlers (really only for breakfast setup and return to room fruit).  I booked my October anniversary trip on RCCL as a junior suite was 300/night (500 with unlimited specialty restaurant) for same as 1000/night SS.   
 

My over under is that they will come up with a package for Butler service and market as the best thing since Retreat.  They will then just include it as part of a standard 1-2-3-4 promotion.   

Ehhh idk the way I see it is Celebrity is still advertsing butler perks for the Retreat. If passengers don’t follow CC or heavily search reviews they probably won’t even know they’re going to have a dip in service. So they’ll probably still get booked. They might lose their loyal customers and trade them in for newbies like me who have never experienced it either way 🤣 my first celebrity cruise is booked on the beyond in the sky suite. Now I’m a big planner so I found out about the Butler changes just by reading reviews. I don’t see them going back on this even with the negative backlash because rehiring and moving around positions seems way more difficult than giving free cookies. 

[DaKahuna]

For us it is more of the prohibitive cost that Celebrity now wants more so that the loss of a "dedicated" Butler.  We are doing our first non-Celebrity/Royal since 2009 next February so we'll see how that works out.  

 

[robsmom]

I suspect that the changes won’t impact my booking in the future, but we shall see.   I have a sky suite in May on the Equinox.   I really never use my butler on any suite on any line and much prefer the concept of a team.   I don’t need a dedicated person and I don’t need much brought to my cabin.  If I can order room service, I don’t care who delivers it.  I don’t want course by course service.   If there is someone at a desk that will book reservations for me and answer questions that is great.  If there is service in the lounge and on the retreat deck, I am happy.   The biggest thing for me will probably be the food in Luminae.  If I see a drop in the quality of food similar to that reported in the MDR, that might cause me to change my thoughts on future bookings.   I also have reached a point where loyalty isn’t that important to me.  If I book suites, I can get perks on any line.  At this point I book based on itinerary, ship, room, and perks combined.  

[Mark_K]

On 9/6/2023 at 11:46 PM, GBeason884 said:

We all know Celebrity has always been making changes.   Some good (SS invited to Luminea and then to Michael’s) and other with less backlash (afternoon tea only in Michael’s rather than a cart).   
 

Cookies and vaping got quickly reversed.   
 

Do we think they will see a reduction in Retreat bookings?   How can they gracefully jibe and not tach?   

 

For me, I don’t care on OBC, Wi-Fi, grats.    I’ll add that as fare.   I book SS for Luminea and Butlers (really only for breakfast setup and return to room fruit).  I booked my October anniversary trip on RCCL as a junior suite was 300/night (500 with unlimited specialty restaurant) for same as 1000/night SS.   
 

My over under is that they will come up with a package for Butler service and market as the best thing since Retreat.  They will then just include it as part of a standard 1-2-3-4 promotion.   

Since they haven’t actually taken away butler service, just changed how it’s provided, I don’t see them ever charging to put it back.  For one thing, that would be admitting they took it away.

[phoenix_dream]

I don't like the new butler situation, but the main thing for me right now is cost.  They are taking away gratuities from all included, as well as taking away suite OBC.  Each of those add up to a considerable amount of $$.  Will the prices come down?  Stay the same anyway?  Rise even more?  We have a couple of weeks to see.

[bigbenboys]

Retreat tipping is $23 per day per person. So $322 for 2 people on a 7 night cruise in a suite. All gives us $600 OBC for a 7 night cruise. That means suite prices should go down $922. This will also lower your deposit for a suite. We need to check prices on Oct 3, then again on Oct 4. After that it is back to what will the market bare. 😁

As to the butlers. If I have the same butler bring on morning coffee and fruit. Then our butler will get a extra $100. But if I have different butlers, no extra $100.

 

[horseymike]

4 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

For us it is more of the prohibitive cost that Celebrity now wants more so that the loss of a "dedicated" Butler.  We are doing our first non-Celebrity/Royal since 2009 next February so we'll see how that works out.  

 

Hope you have a great cruise 🚢 Kahuna. 👍

[horseymike]

2 hours ago, robsmom said:

I suspect that the changes won’t impact my booking in the future, but we shall see.   I have a sky suite in May on the Equinox.   I really never use my butler on any suite on any line and much prefer the concept of a team.   I don’t need a dedicated person and I don’t need much brought to my cabin.  If I can order room service, I don’t care who delivers it.  I don’t want course by course service.   If there is someone at a desk that will book reservations for me and answer questions that is great.  If there is service in the lounge and on the retreat deck, I am happy.   The biggest thing for me will probably be the food in Luminae.  If I see a drop in the quality of food similar to that reported in the MDR, that might cause me to change my thoughts on future bookings.   I also have reached a point where loyalty isn’t that important to me.  If I book suites, I can get perks on any line.  At this point I book based on itinerary, ship, room, and perks combined.  

Very few companies or businesses these day appreciate loyalty in spite of how the customers feel about it. Bottom line , take your best shot with what works best for you when booking a cruise , airline or hotel or rental car. 

[TeeRick]

Not sure how they can reverse and go back to individual butlers for Sky Suites.  Quite a few have been eliminated and some have been reassigned.

[pennys mum]

Just watched a u tube video by"Zach the travelling man" which gives his retreat views from last month. This is after the butler changes and wow  just wow . He was not happy.

[Suite Susie]

Just got off the Edge in a Sky suite. Absolutely no Butler service and no explanation given. Room steward did a great job and the Retreat team did their best, but don’t even try to phone them for anything, as they always had a queue of people waiting to see them and couldn’t pick up the phone. Still had a nice time, but it is time to move on to pastures new. Don’t like paying more and getting less. 

[PompeySailor]

This highlights the issues of the retreat changes

Zac is never biased and an X fan, but the retreat and cutbacks were shocking and the head butler and managers interactions were priceless 

 

Hopefully X execs get to watch this one on a Monday morning, “how’s that pissing off our customers going”

 

A very honest review about Retreat and Sky Suite and cutbacks 

 

 

[Susanb10567]

I watched that video as well…very disappointing…we are on the Beyond in January in a sky suite for my husband’s big birthday…

[thebutlerdidit]

1 hour ago, pennys mum said:

Just watched a u tube video by"Zach the travelling man" which gives his retreat views from last month. This is after the butler changes and wow  just wow . He was not happy.

Thanks for mentioning this. I watched and it was about what I thought would happen when they simply started calling the stateroom attendant your Retreat Host. This video highlights the downgraded service quite nicely, especially on the heels of that Power Up webinar where it was stated that nothing had changed at all, in fact it’s so much better now. Spin city, Laura. 

[Shellyd22]

23 minutes ago, Susanb10567 said:

I watched that video as well…very disappointing…we are on the Beyond in January in a sky suite for my husband’s big birthday…

I’ve been following his page to see an update and just watched it. Disappointed as well as it seems worse then I was expecting. 

[Baynanno1]

1 hour ago, pennys mum said:

Just watched a u tube video by"Zach the travelling man" which gives his retreat views from last month. This is after the butler changes and wow  just wow . He was not happy.

Thanks for posting the video which confirms much of what has been said by others since the removal of butlers.

[Cap_D]

34 minutes ago, PompeySailor said:

This highlights the issues of the retreat changes

Zac is never biased and an X fan, but the retreat and cutbacks were shocking and the head butler and managers interactions were priceless 

 

Hopefully X execs get to watch this one on a Monday morning, “how’s that pissing off our customers going”

 

A very honest review about Retreat and Sky Suite and cutbacks 

 

 

Zach has previously been a Celebrity fan, and young and new one at that.  He's been making a great go at YouTube.  So, this is significant.  

[Cap_D]

Have we heard from @terrydtx?  

[PompeySailor]

10 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

Zach has previously been a Celebrity fan, and young and new one at that.  He's been making a great go at YouTube.  So, this is significant.  

Agree

When you lose your fans the execs at X need to give their heads a wobble 

Really hope someone at X watched this and realizes the damage they are doing 

 

I normally take a review with a pinch of salt and decide for myself , when a cheerleader stops cheering - You know it’s going down hill 

Edited October 1, 2023 by PompeySailor

[Shellyd22]

5 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

Zach has previously been a Celebrity fan, and young and new one at that.  He's been making a great go at YouTube.  So, this is significant.  

He has a pretty decent amount of subscribers and I enjoy his videos. I appreciate he doesn’t sell out for freebies and seems non-biased in his reviews. Honestly, he’s made it clear multiple times he is reviewing the retreat and if they were smart they would’ve given him “extra” attention…just shows how out of the loop they are. This is 2023 social media influencers can easily impact ratings with their following. 

[DaKahuna]

8 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

Have we heard from @terrydtx?  

 

 Not lately and not on this particular issue.

 

[wineoclock]

Zach was fairly damming of his retreat experience. I wonder whether Celebrity are taking note. If not, they should be. 

[jelayne]

57 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

Have we heard from @terrydtx?  

Not that I have seen.  Hope he reports his experience as promised.