For Me, It's Buh-bye Celebrity

[Ronin23]

I have my first cruise on X booked for April and was thinking of upgrading to a Suite. Having experienced Suites on NCL, I am now thinking I may be underwhelmed...

[sunshine nana]

We have been on 2 NCL cruises in a suite and found the service great as far as priority boarding and a chance to meet others in suites while waiting to board with food etc. Also, the captain's parties in the Haven were both fun and a chance to meet and talk. They also have a small private dining room (Cagneys) for breakfast and lunch with special food and service. Both times we were able to upsell for a bargain. DH loved the aft suites for the view. It's a different experience from Princess or Celebrity, but for suites, it's great!

[Christine Frances]

I agree! I think NCL has the best suites at sea:D

[FrankinPA]

During our last cruise thru the Canal, we booked a Celebrity Suite and our butler was Robert. He is from the Philippines and was wonderful to us. He brought and set up breakfast for us just about every day. Checked with us 2-4 times during the day, delivered wonderful finger foods and pastries in the afternoon and had several things in our cabin repaired promptly. We had several laundry needs and he made them happen quickly. Could not have asked for a better experience. He was responsible for 8 suites during our cruise.

 

Our cabin attendant was from Goa, India, and was really great. So we are sold on Celebrity suites based on this past experience.

[hulamoon]

Not all HAL suites have butlers.

[sunshine nana]

The full NCL suites have a butler and a dedicated concierge. The mini-suites have neither. The butlers will lay out your whole meal that can be ordered from the MDR or the speicialty restaurants for the upcharge. If I did not have a suite on NCL, I would eat in Specialty restaurants for most dinners as the food and service in the MDR is not any where near Princess or Celebrity standards.

[librarylady19]

As others have said, I guess it depends what is important to you in your cruise experience.

On our recent Eclipse cruise, we had a less than average cabin steward but instead of worrying about the missing fruit basket I focused on how great the rest of the cruise was - food, entertainment, drinks package, service.

We did have a Sky Suite on our last cruise in Summit- 6145 next to the Penthouse. We had a good idea of what to expect from our butler, thanks to CC, and asked him to arrange invites to the bridge tour, get laundry pressed, and bring cappucinos daily. Bart from India was great and was the icing on the cake of a wonderful cruise. We loved the space we had in the suite, especially the huge bathroom.

I don't think anyone should book a Sky Suite expecting Jeeves the butler though!!

[Gracie115]

We did have a Sky Suite on our last cruise in Summit- 6145 next to the Penthouse. We had a good idea of what to expect from our butler, thanks to CC, and asked him to arrange invites to the bridge tour, get laundry pressed, and bring cappucinos daily. Bart from India was great and was the icing on the cake of a wonderful cruise. We loved the space we had in the suite, especially the huge bathroom.

 

 

I'm sure you got above the average Butler service in 6145 since that wonderful Sky Suite is sandwiched between the Penthouse and Royal Suites....no doubt you had the best Butler on the ship!!!!

[mustlovecruising]

Do you think that by adding all of the new ships (which I love) has spread all of the best help to thin?

 

I love X but have seen some problems also.

[shorebilly]

Our experience in an S1 was completely different from the original posters, we had cappucino every morning, sometimes several deliveries of cappucino about 20 mins apart, along with fresh squeezed juice. Fresh flowers were in our room on arrival and were replaced 3 times during our 12 night stay, and we got three different types of tote bags. Lawrence, who was from India, was simply a gem. He helped us get dinner reservations when we were already told that there were none by the restaurant, delivered a great cheese plate before dinner, and offered us tea service every afternoon. I miss him so much now that we are home and I have to get up and make my own coffee:eek:. BTW we did prepaid gratuities and tipped Lawrence extra because he fully deserved it! We are also friends with him on facebook!

[uktog]

Do you think that by adding all of the new ships (which I love) has spread all of the best help to thin?

 

 

Yes I think they are and they are also asking the butlers to look after more guests, very rare a butler has less than 12 suites to look after. The other issue as has been mentioned here is distance, larger ships have suites spread over a much bigger area and in the case of the aft ones, as I think the OP was in, there is no convenient stairs immediately nearby the butler can use.

 

We also noticed on Deck 12 on Eclipse that the butler did not use a nice trolley with the items on it for afternoon tea with the platters you could chose from. He turned up with a few items on a small trolley all on white plates so they did not look appetising and were certainly not the full range, it was no issue for us, we just went down to Cafe Al Baccio and got anything we wanted from there but it was another service decline

[nycmode]

That's too bad that you had a disappointing experience.

 

I do have to agree with you about the butler experience. Our butler on the Silhouette was not very good as well. At least compared to the butler we had on the NCL Jewel. The one on X was not very engaging and did little to communicate with us. Aside from day 1, he never asked us if we needed anything, never showed up beyond the afternoon tea service, and often deferred things to the room attendant. He also sounded annoyed in the rare times we called him to request something. That's contrary to the butler on NCL who always asked us if we needed anything and also was much more friendly. By the end of the trip, he was so nice my family actually felt quite sad when we had to say goodbye, whereas on the last day of our trip on X our butler was long gone (he was already in regular clothes ready to hop off the ship for shore leave!).

[kitty9]

My experience has been that the butlers for the RS, Celebrity suites and the PH have been fantastic on the M class ships. But the butlers on the S class ships in the SS were lacking. If the OP had been lucky to have had the likes of the infamous Rikki, I think she'd be singing a very different tune. He is the best butler in the world, even better than his counterparts on the luxury lines I've sailed. To be honest, I've had some pretty lacking butlers on Cunard, Crystal and Regent, but I've not decided to not sail those lines again because of a butler.

 

With that said, I've never allowed something like a butler to affect my cruise. I also cruise as a solo, and therefore pay the high rates, and the ability or inability of a butler has never caused me to discount an entire cruise line. I'm not a HAL person because I feel other things on that line, such as food and service, daily and evening activities, that are more important to me than a butler, are MUCH better on Celebrity than HAL. But maybe I'm not the kind who wants a crew person to do for me, fetch for me 24/7. And, I also don't get off the ship in ports because for me the ship is the destination, but I most certainly do not spend the entire time in the cabin wanting to be waited on.

 

Unfortunately, X isn't a good fit for everyone, and it's great we have choices.

[YOW]

Sorry you had a subpar experience.

 

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I am not comfortable with naming specific staff members (particularly by full name) in an Internet forum in regards to what they didn't do or could have done better. It's one thing to praise the crew, but negative comments about someone who isn't here to defend themselves or tell their side of the story somehow doesn't seem right.

[heidik]

kitty9 - Wow. The butler was not the reason I'm no longer going to book Celebrity and in no way am I discounting an entire cruise line because of the butler! If you read my original post, you will see that I listed several reasons why I was not impressed with Celebrity's S1....others ran away with the "butler topic" -- it was merely one aspect of my suite experience that I found was not a good fit for me.

[Orator]

A truism: "Each cruiseline is different". Different types of ships.Different ports of call. Different amenities. Different types of crew composition. Different dining choices. Different passenger mix. The list goes on. If one enjoys cruising there is a choice that is just the right fit for you. Obviously, Celebrity isn't the right choice for the OP and that's fine. My unoriginal suggestion is to keep shopping around until you find what works for you. Perhaps the greatest joy will be found in the search.

[Muushka]

There is a difference between being "needy" (to me that would be calling the butler for every whim) and having certain expectations met. I am not a needy passenger. I rarely ask anyone, even a butler, to perform duties that I can do myself.

 

However, that being said, I do expect a butler to do things for me that I cannot do. For example, bringing me a Cappuccino in the AM. I will not be on a beverage package, so yes, I do expect that. I cannot go get the flowers for my cabin (unless I paid for them). If it is advertised, I would like them. I enjoy flowers, I appreciate them. I expect my sparkling wine to be included in the suite. What is wrong with that?

 

You are right.. your expectations are not high maintenance.. Our experience was that the Cappuccino service was non existent!! As for the flowers, we Always had fresh ones everyday as well as fresh fruit .. Also we had a beautiful tote bag!!

BTW.. everyday at 4pm our Butler would bring a full compliment of hors d'hourves to our cabin and would be waiting for us when we returned from the Gym!!

 

What!!!:eek: Did they refuse to bring you a Cappuccino????

 

I just paid to upgrade to a S2. And my dreams of the butler calling to say that he or she is coming with them are dancing around in my head (we had Wilfred in a RS, what a guy!). Tell me I am not in la la land.

[Blue Wave]

I would not call it "neediness" -- I would call my expectations simply getting what was advertised and what was paid for! If you paid alot of extra money for "bells and whistles" and rented, say, a new Cadillac for a special occasion- wouldn't you expect to drive off the lot in a new Cadillac instead of some economy car? It has nothing to do with "neediness" - it is about value and quality for your money. That's what my expectations were based on.

 

I recently returned from an Equinox Cruise with a CC room. We did not get the service we were use to with an interior room on Royal. I am not a complainer and only expect what they promise and what I paid for. If I get that I'm happy. I prefer not having to ask for anything else. The Celebrity ad says that they provide service "a nanosecond before you knew you wanted it...that's modern luxury".

 

When I have to call to ask about Captains Club events or the benefit/coupon sheet it should not take 3 phone calls and 2 days to find out what I already missed. Many other basic things were missed that I waited patiently for. If the Steward would have been available/visible I would have asked for them in a friendly manner and it wouldn't be an issue.

 

I was on a vacation in an upgraded room, that I paid extra for. I did not want to feel like "the supervisor" that spends his time reminding, coaching and training a marginal employee and then has to do a performance appraisal (survey without positive comments) at the end of the work week.

 

Prior to last month Celebrity was my favorite. I cruise with a different brand next month. I do hope Celebrity can bring service up to what they advertise.

 

Blue Wave

[Fanny75]

I was referring to the Silhouette... which debuted in July 2011

[Fanny75]

just make sure your wishes are know when you first arrive in your suite. I am sure you will be fine..( we should have asked in the begining)

[Fanny75]

I was referencing the Silhouette!!! which we sailed on in Nov

[Fanny75]

Cappuccino service was non existant for us as well until I called the butler on it and went down to the pursur desk to ask. Same thing about the tote. When we came up from the pursur desk, he was at our suite delivering the tote and made some excuse that it was only for the Christmas sailing suite customers but he had one left and gave it to us. Were you in a royal suite? Perhaps that is why you received flowers? We were only in a sky suite so that might be the reason why we didn't get flowers. I did mention it to the pursur desk and they acknowledged that it was for RS only.

 

We sailed on the Nov 30th sailing. Our suite was a S2( not the one at the back of the ship) We indeed had fresh flowers every day or at least every other. As for the tote, it was waiting for us when we arrived!!

Maybe just was the luck of the draw!!??

[Gracie115]

I was referring to the Silhouette... which debuted in July 2011

 

I am aware of that...we cruised on the beautiful Silhouette in Sept. but the OP was referring to the Solstice which is 4 years old now.

[hulamoon]

I am now a little nervous about butler service. Businesses should deliver what they promise, we are not interested in working someone silly asking for what a bulter cannot do, but it is sad to hear service is about luck or getting a cabin near the Penthouse. (Mine is no where near the penthouse)

 

That concern aside, hands down our transatlantic Celebrity cruise last year delivered the best service of any cruise to date, and I hope it continues for many more cruises.

[Jade13]

kitty9 - Wow. The butler was not the reason I'm no longer going to book Celebrity and in no way am I discounting an entire cruise line because of the butler! If you read my original post, you will see that I listed several reasons why I was not impressed with Celebrity's S1....others ran away with the "butler topic" -- it was merely one aspect of my suite experience that I found was not a good fit for me.

 

My understanding from posts mainly on the HAL board is that the Royal Suites on Celebrity most closely match the "S" Suites on HAL.

 

We were in a Sky Suite on Millennium two weeks ago and they are generally less money than "S" Deluxe Suites on Holland America Line. With the Sky Suites you are paying for larger real estate than the Veranda's or Aqua Spa, plus they have a tub verses shower only.