TeeRick

This was brought up on another of the Butler threads (the one on gratuities). The automated tips paid in Sky Suites has not changed. These tips are portioned out to various staff, including butlers. But butlers have been reduced from 10+ to 2. So who gets the portion previously paid to the eliminated butlers? Does it all go to the 2 remaining (doubt it)? Extra to Sky suite cabin stewards or Luminae staff? Should the daily tip amount for Sky Suites now be reduced a bit?

Are you saying maybe three times a day in 2025?😆

Will they ever be resolved to everyone's satisfaction? Doubt it. Well maybe no vaping in the casino has been resolved. But I'm sure that somebody will complain about that outcome too. But if you need a list and poll to solicit complaints, you have not been following these boards every day!😀

And speaking of the daily gratuity for sky suites..... Celebrity has gone from 10+ butlers to now 2 on a Retreat Team (duet?). So if our daily gratuity partially goes to butlers, then where does that portion go now? To the two butlers? Or to the cabin stewards? Maybe Celebrity should now lower the daily gratuity rate for sky suites?

Not sure why we need a poll on this. All have been discussed repeatedly.😀

Unfortunately our backyard groundhogs love our home grown tomatoes. But fortunately we have a farm stand down the street where we buy them this time of year. Last night we had some heirloom tomatoes with balsamic vinegar/olive oil and a touch of salt and basil. Yum!

Years ago we had a sewer smell on Infinity in our area of the ship. And occasional non-flushing toilets. They did fix it after a couple of days. Lines needed to be cleaned out. Anyway, before we left the ship they gave us each a future cruise credit ($500) certificate. We did not ask for it.

Thanks Ken. I had not seen these Live threads since I normally do not follow those lines. Did you have any photos of your secret Vista suite? I did look up a couple of You Tubes on the Vista suite but could not find an aft-facing one.

Thanks Ken Very helpful. We are looking to try Princess soon.

You are arriving on a ship directly into a private enclave that has a security fence around the entire area, And leaving the same way.

terry- thanks! I am asking if they have a private area like the Retreat or YC? That would help on a 4000+ passenger ship.

Hotel and airline loyalty programs give you worthwhile benefits for frequent use like free flights, free nights, and upgrades to each. Cruise loyalty programs give you next to nothing like this. A free bag of laundry?

Don't worry. Labadee is owned by Royal Caribbean and is a private island destination. Many of us have been there numerous times.

@swjumbo Are you talking about tomato slices for sandwiches? Or actual whole tomatoes? I think I have only seen chopped tomatoes at the salad bar. Are you looking for small cherry or grape tomatoes?

Hi Ken- Is there anything on a Princess ship similar to The Retreat experience on Celebrity?

Your post is similar to others here asking that same question. Outside of the initial complaints about the change in benefits after booking/payments, it seems that this thread (and others recent threads on this topic) break into a couple of "camps". 1) Retreat cruisers who use the Butler a lot and call them up to several times a day. 2) Retreat cruisers who don't use their butler much and at times struggle to find things for them to do. From posts here, IMO the second camp has perhaps more members than the first camp. And the Butler Team might be all they need. In general I am a member of the second camp.

I think that RCG is keeping Silversea pretty separate for now. Hopefully that will not change IMO.

Yes the bottom line is what counts. So RCG sailings are running full and bookings are continuously increasing. And by comments here, they (Celebrity) are driving away us loyal and older passengers and replacing us with fresh (younger) blood. These new passengers, who have decades of cruising and spending ahead of them. And for whom Edge Class ships were built. And who pay the higher prices, without sucking up Loyalty benefits. People here hate the truth, but it seems to be working for them as a business.

@phoenix_dream some of us are already there checking out and actually sailing alternatives. Especially for the folks like me who have primarily sailed in The Retreat. I am doing this for a number of good reasons, and honestly having a few people at most vaping in the casino (yes annoying) are not anywhere near the top of my list. I can always avoid the casino or not go near a vaping person. But I cannot avoid the very high prices of suites and the simultaneous loss of suite amenities.

The "best" is a relative and highly subjective term - as is every food discussion on board. As is ranking specialty restaurants. I enjoy Luminae and Specialty Restaurants. Sometimes it is situational. I enjoy Luminae as my home-base restaurant on a cruise where I sail in The Retreat. It is where "everybody knows your name". It does not mean that it is the best nor does it mean that I will dine there every meal. Variety in dining experience is one thing that I like about cruising. For special occasions I usually book a Specialty.

It is unclear what outcomes of this vaping test will be the deciding factor. Many here say increased casino revenue. But zero or 1-2 vapers in the casino (reported by most of the on ship reports here) cannot really enhance revenue unless they are very high rollers - and only stay there because of the allowance of vaping. This does not seem to be a real high probability outcome (like slots !). Perhaps the real increase in revenue for Celebrity is from all of the cruisers here cancelling and losing their deposits to Celebrity😀. Those who signed up and got good fares who cancel- Celebrity will sell your cabins at higher prices. Perhaps to folks who do not have as many loyalty benefits as you. It only impacts Celebrity if there is a meaningful reduction in bookings over time. So far the ships are in high demand and sailing full.

Your Celebrity cruise will actually be similar to the three lines you mentioned.

With all of the fans of MSC YC, and new bookings, that will eventually and surely drive up the price.

It is just marketing. If tired of it, easy to ignore or move to Trash. Or to Spam.

Yes, agree that is in the cruise contract (one which not many people pay much attention). Even with that legal wiggle room, that is not really an excuse IMO for the loyal customers. It is making significant changes to their product offering without communicating to the people directly affected who have paid for that product. Legal - yes. Transparent - no. Angst and anger amongst the customer base when this keeps happening- yes.