Joker54

Yes they have that right still doesn't prevent them from notifying their customers of changes - of course it would be easier if their IT department had a clue, they cant even figure out whether to email me, my wife, my daughter or my nephew. My daughter and nephew are not on any of the now 9 cruises that we have booked, but they still get emails about the booked cruises....... I think its called public relations......... Cheers

I have been a bit puzzled at the targeted age group, yes I am at the high end of the 60's and have many more vacation years left. My issue is why not target those in the 50's - no need to go to a younger crowd. We also prefer longer cruises which seems to be going away. We are considering going back to flying to destinations and staying at B&B's or upscale hotels which is how we traveled when we were in our 40's and 50's. We were also on the Equinox in Jan of 25 and it was a bucket list cruise, then we just read where a Nola cruise was shortened from 12 to 8 days to accommodate families. Add up charging for some items in Luminae, vaping in casinos', where will it end........

Thought I would toss out a few additional items not related to the main topic but reflect recent price increases and customer service changes. Apologies to the Mods if this inst appropriate We were booked on the Equinox for an Antarctic cruise in Jan 2025, that cruise is being canceled due to the home port changing for the Equinox. The "Express" notification had the usual corporate koolaide about not wanting to impact our vacation. The email said that all deposits would be refunded within 30 days and if you rebooked another cruise you would get an extra 200 obc for a non suite and 400 obc for a suite. What they didn't tell us is that they are about to mass cancel those bookings and while you get your deposit refunded if you book after its canceled you have to pay the now current deposit. Our cruise was a future cruise with a 200 deposit. So if we dont rebook before it gets canceled we would be on the hook for a 900 nonrefundable deposit and the "booked on board" perks will drop off and not be reinstated. As for price increases - we are in the Iconic on the Beyond Jan 24, there is only 1 room left on that cruise and its a Penthouse - which if you booked it today you would pay more for that PH than we paid for the Iconic............ Its a popular cruise so the price might be justified but just seems a bit high for a PH with zip for a balcony... Cheers

We were in an Edge Villa this mast March on the Apex and in the Penthouse on the Equinox last Nov. The breakfast menu for both of those suites was much different from the breakfast menu's we had recently in junior suites. I have no idea what restaurant the food came from, but in the EV or PH you could get steak & eggs etc at no charge. When we were in a SS the breakfast menu was from Luminae and had about half the items as the menu in the EV or PH

I received my call as well last night. Surprised as I didn't expect to receive one. I wasn't given a number to call, but was told to bring it to management on the ship if I wasn't happy. Unless a member of the team is really out of line, I don't see me complaining to management as its not the teams fault that they were put into that position. I would complain about the change to the team concept, just not the person. I was very polite on the call, poor gal isn't a decision maker. She took copies notes on her computer as I was talking, she had me pause here and there so she could take down accurate notes. That gives me the impression that someone is interested in what we are saying. I asked about Butlers being caught up in a RIF and she said no that all of the existing butlers still have jobs, those that were not kept in a butler role was absorbed into a different department. I do hope that is true.

We will be Zenith in November if we keep that cruise. We still book shore excursions a lot, shop here and there. We don't do excursions in the Caribbean as have been to those islands so many times. So we admittedly enjoy the "yacht" while everyone else is ashore. And we take 10 to 12 cruises a year. You would probably have a heart attack if you knew how much money we give X every year.

Thank you for answering my question. I worked in the telecom engineering field for the same contracting company for 22 years. I have 2.6 million miles on just one airline, doesn't count all the others I flew. I was in the first group of Diamond-for-life members with Hilton. I retired 2 years ago after working my way to the C suite. Not only do I understand the hospitality business, I also understand how demanding customers can be in the business world. All of the above said, I still disagree with you. You wont find any post from me complaining about the food. You will find one post where I complained about the noise in Luminae on an E-Class ship since it affects my hearing aids in a really bad way. Cheers

Thank you, amazing how some things work out. We have yet to try the MDR but plan to give it a go in October

Thank you! No one can say YES if you dont ask. That question will be on my list of questions for my vacation planner Cheers

Your expectations and ours are different. And yes I may have rebooked on principle. We are not fans of the E-class ships and these days spend very little time in the retreat lounge. We also hardly ever ever dine in Luminae (E-Class), tending to eat more in specialty restaurants. My military career ruined my hearing and my hearing aids do a great job but not in really noisy environments. The noise is loud enough in Luminae on the Apex that is painful. I also do not find the prime rib dinner example to be a relevant comparison. I am curious what industry you work in?

Can we get along without a dedicated butler, of course. Like others have said, I expect some sort of communication after they make a perk change after I have paid in full. The change isn't the problem its how it was/is being done. We could have booked in an aqua class room and been just as happy for less money, but that option isn't available since the cruise is paid in full.

Thank You - it was very interesting and I enjoyed a few of his other videos. You have saved us a cruise we probably would not have enjoyed. We are both retired and our kids are in their 40's. We have no problem with children and are happy many cruise lines cater to families. Also happy a few cater to those of us who prefer a more quite cruise experience. Hope that isn't offensive to anyone. Just wish Regent hard larger suites - oh well. For the money a high end suite costs, one could get 2 biz class airline tickets to most anywhere in the world, spend 2 weeks in a 5 star hotel like the Conrad, dine in some amazing restaurants and still have money left over. Which is how we traveled for years and to many far away destinations. We only started cruising in 2016 enjoying the "we only have to unpack once" vacation. There are pros and cons to both types of vacations - cruising or flying to a destination Cheers

"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

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

We have several cruises on the books but only 2 are paid in full. The deposits on the others are minimal so we can walk away without a huge hit. We are booking something in MSC Yacht Club in December to give them a try. We are b2b on the Equinox in Oct so between those 3 cruises we hope to be able to make an informed decision. The cruising industry is ever changing so who knows.

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.

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

Just a thought for those who get annoyed when their butler is always wanting to do something for their suite guests. Really experienced butlers should understand not everyone wants the attention. I personally enjoy my morning walk to get a coffee. Anytime our butler sees me he reminds me he could do that for me and I just explain my morning habit. I don't believe any of them are trying to be annoying, it is their job after all and they have typically 2 types of guests, those that are demanding and those that are not (and probably something in between). If it was my job and I had to spend time with those over demanding I would want to ensure I was doing enough for those that were not, also anytime your butler is spending some "relaxing time" visiting or assisting you, he or she is away from those who demand to much. We have witnessed butlers being abused and have always told them, when they need a break, bring us a coffee in the morning and stay for a short visit and relax and in the afternoon bring anything that comes to mind, but again come visit and relax. We enjoy visiting with our butler and learning about the country they are from. And sometimes they will share funny experiences which can be quite entertaining. My belief is that most of us are who we are based on our life's experiences. So too are the butlers. Cheers

I sent my email Sunday evening, it was quite long mentioning things like how we always take time from our holiday to fill out comment cards for those who are deserving and send letters to the presidents office for those who deserve much more than a comment card. We name individuals on the survey yet Celebrity has no plans to inform its loyal customers...... I doubt I will hear anything as I also told them not to insult me with a canned reply attempting to tell me how much more this will improve my experience. Side note: when in an upper suite we have the opportunity to visit with the Hotel Director. When we do, we always bring up how we feel that corporate has done to the Zeniths is horrible and that it should be corrected. Which is how we feel. We never get a reasonable answer but will continue to bring it up. We will make Zenith in November ourselves and worry that the way things are going Zeniths will end up with as few perks and the Pinnacles do - which isnt much

Interesting observations. I checked the topic subject and have read most of the posts and have yet to find an entry asking for sympathy from anyone or any group. if you don’t think you will ever sail in a suite why are you reading this thread?

You are correct, my apologies, I will throw my troll food out:)

That only penalizes the employee/associate - has no impact on the cruise line at all. You are correct - many will tip less. We no longer leave additional tips at the spa except for really above and beyond service. But we have always tipped butlers, room stewards, and wait staff. For dinners we leave a cash tip, knowing the waiter will at least get that. When we were much younger my wife was a waitress in a very upscale restaurant. We tend to be more giving to employee's who do a great job but have no control over how management runs the business. Cheers

Our last cruise was on the Silhouette this past May and the Apex the month before. Butlers were still using hand written notes. Even with the software they would need to be setting alarms so they would know who expects a cheese or fruit plate at what time and so on. Management software may help but it still wont be the same experience

Depends on what class of room we are in. If we are in an all inclusive we do it on board knowing they hold time slots for upper class suites. If we are some other class of suite then we book in advance knowing that there will not be any good time slots left once we are on board. When booking in advance there is a discount, since we are elite plus we have to work to get the larger discount and have our account credited with the difference.

my experience has been both in this past year where I get a ticket to sign and then I don't. Haven't figured out why that is, but some would still tip extra. It has happened a lot when we were in an all inclusive suite where the specialty dinner didn't cost us anything but we received a check to sign. Though we didn't get a check to sign on our last cruise when we were in the PH. Now the question is - who gets that 18% that is tacked onto the bill?