Is Celebrity going to Eliminate Butlers on Sky and Celebrity Suites?

[soflobb]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:49 PM, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

They brought back bingo 😂

Hadn't noticed

 

[dlh015]

17 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

 

They claimed it was due to "port congestion" as if they hadn't booked the berth years in advance. And the letter said nothing about reducing port taxes due to the decreased time in port. 

BTW, that line they used on you was the line they used on me last week...and I quote:

 

"We’re confident this change will provide a more enjoyable cruise vacation."

 

But what they changed for me was they cut two hours off shore time in Key West (I have never been there...) saying "made for operational efficiencies." I didn't lose a whole port! Yes, it's a "slight adjustment" but don't newspeak me that less time in port (or no time in port in your case) will provide a more enjoyable cruise vacation...

 

We are the only ship in port that day.

 

Now back to today's regularly scheduled program...

Edited July 30, 2023 by dlh015
Meant to reply to your other post...sorry...

[Kelownadon]

Looks to me like they are just trying to get a more even distribution of the workload between butlers. Why should some butlers have to work their aces off while others have little to do. For what it’s worth, it makes total sense to me.  

Edited July 30, 2023 by Kelownadon

[RichYak]

5 minutes ago, Kelownadon said:

Looks to me like they are just trying to get a more even distribution of the workload between butlers. Why should some butlers have to work their aces off while others have little to do. For what it’s worth, it makes total sense to me.  

By firing/demoting a number of butlers? This is an odd take. 

[cruisefam38]

37 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

It takes less effort and money to retain a good customer than to replace them after you've chased them off. 

This seems like common sense, ChucktownSteve, yet the two most recent presidents of Celebrity have seemed determined to demonstrate that it is possible to grow a business while alienating loyal customers. 

[RichYak]

53 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Easy for me to say as we don’t book suites.

Actually, impossible for you to say. But you continue to do so anyway. 

[ChucktownSteve]

5 minutes ago, cruisefam38 said:

This seems like common sense, ChucktownSteve, yet the two most recent presidents of Celebrity have seemed determined to demonstrate that it is possible to grow a business while alienating loyal customers. 

Yup. Until it doesn't.  At some point Celebrity will jump the shark.  It may be awhile, but it is possible as the numerous cuts become a much more stronger consideration for their current customers.

[Bill Miller]

There goes the neighborhood!

[Kelownadon]

10 minutes ago, RichYak said:

By firing/demoting a number of butlers? This is an odd take. 

I guess that gets to the heart of the matter from a corporate standpoint. If Celebrity can better spread the workload between butlers and eliminate some salaries by doing so, the company can save money. 

[MamaFej]

26 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

BTW, that line they used on you was the line they used on me last week...and I quote:

 

"We’re confident this change will provide a more enjoyable cruise vacation."

 

But what they changed for me was they cut two hours off shore time in Key West (I have never been there...) saying "made for operational efficiencies." I didn't lose a whole port! Yes, it's a "slight adjustment" but don't newspeak me that less time in port (or no time in port in your case) will provide a more enjoyable cruise vacation...

 

We are the only ship in port that day.

 

Now back to today's regularly scheduled program...

Back soon...

 

Singapore is acutally our last port. We were supposed to arrive 24 hours earlier. We will probably cancel that cruise in favor of more land time in India and in Singapore for the following cruise. We were doing 5 consecutive cruises, the second and third of which were Singapore to Mumbai, then Mumbai to Singapore, with plans to do different things on the second visit to each port on the reverse trip. 

 

Celebrity wins: they will get to sell our cabin at a much higher price than we were paying. We (sort of) win, too, as we will be breaking up the long stretch of cruises with some interesting inland time, then fly to Singapore to join the next cruise.         I think. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[hcat]

14 minutes ago, cruisefam38 said:

This seems like common sense, ChucktownSteve, yet the two most recent presidents of Celebrity have seemed determined to demonstrate that it is possible to grow a business while alienating loyal customers. 

it's the Royal.way!

[zitsky]

I don’t care about the butlers.  Just don’t tell me they’ve switched to Pepsi.

[NMTraveller]

5 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

Yup. Until it doesn't.  At some point Celebrity will jump the shark.  It may be awhile, but it is possible as the numerous cuts become a much more stronger consideration for their current customers.

I believe that they already have.  Cruises are booked a year or two in advance.  It takes people a couple of years to figure out that the product is not what it once was.

[RichYak]

2 minutes ago, Kelownadon said:

I guess that gets to the heart of the matter from a corporate standpoint. If Celebrity can better spread the workload between butlers and eliminate some salaries by doing so, the company can save money. 

I think you might want to stop drinking the “spread the workload” kool-aid. 

[Kelownadon]

4 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I think you might want to stop drinking the “spread the workload” kool-aid. 

Just calling a spade a spade. 

[twins_to_alaska]

I've been in CS on S class and sky suites on M class. Enjoyed the space and Luminae. But the M class sky suite balconies aren't great, especially with the new furniture... have twice had what used to be called a corner Family Veranda on M class all to myself... hard to beat for balcony intensive cruise. Only M Class Retreat Sundeck and it was too hot/unshaded to want to spend time there. I wouldn't miss the butler as have only used to bring hot water in morning for my eye mask... room service does that as easily. I don't drink coffee and less than 1 alcoholic beverage a day and don't care for the afternoon snacks so didn't need butler for that. Room attendant got me nicer pillows for the Family Veranda.

 

I'm looking forward to trying my first E class sky suite on Ascent in November. I found the number of sky suites mind boggling but I guess they've been built to handle the crowd on the Sundeck and in Luminae.

Edited July 30, 2023 by twins_to_alaska

[phoenix_dream]

19 hours ago, binro01 said:

I think most of the people who book suites have some sort of financial discipline. They are not vacationing on credit card interest and the demographic most likely has had their student loans paid off decades.

 

I have not or never vacationed on credit card debt and I have had my student loans paid of for over 20 years. 
 

The way prices go down is if when the market will not tolerate the pricing for the services received. Plain and simple. 

A couple years ago I would have completely agreed with you. But having sailed multiple suites this past year my personal experience has been that the demographic has significantly changed.  Much, much younger and definitely in the age where they could still be paying off student loans.  I don’t recall my exact comments, but I am really talking about the spending sprees across the board. People are racking up credit card debt at an alarming pace. I also have never booked a vacation on credit, but I’m not sure you and I are in the majority anymore. I agree with your last paragraph but interpret things differently. I think when all the debt comes to payment time, that is part of the reason people will no longer tolerate the pricing as they will no longer be able to afford it by jacking up their debt even more.  Not the only reason of course, but I think a significant factor.

[mahdnc]

We have only sailed in suites twice.  The most recent time was in 2005 on board the old Horizon.  Not quite half way into our 10 night sailing, my wife seriously injured her leg in a ziplining accident during our stop at Puerto Limon.   I will just say that our butler was a godsend for the remainder of our cruise and he took good care of my wife.

[Joker54]

4 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

A couple years ago I would have completely agreed with you. But having sailed multiple suites this past year my personal experience has been that the demographic has significantly changed.  Much, much younger and definitely in the age where they could still be paying off student loans.  I don’t recall my exact comments, but I am really talking about the spending sprees across the board. People are racking up credit card debt at an alarming pace. I also have never booked a vacation on credit, but I’m not sure you and I are in the majority anymore. I agree with your last paragraph but interpret things differently. I think when all the debt comes to payment time, that is part of the reason people will no longer tolerate the pricing as they will no longer be able to afford it by jacking up their debt even more.  Not the only reason of course, but I think a significant factor.

The post-pandemic vacation craze will also come to an end from both financial and availability to go on holiday. My thoughts are we have about one more year and then some folks will have moved on or no longer be able to go on holiday for a variety of reasons.

 

Then some cruise lines may find they have more capacity than travelers.

[phoenix_dream]

3 hours ago, zitsky said:

If you have a bad butler who do you talk to?  I never thought to change the fridge but I would have liked to have it.  What if butler says NO!?

We had one bad butler. First we addressed it directly with him. No change. We discussed it then with our Retreat hostess and she thanked us for the input and stated it was her job to make sure we were well taken care of, and based on results she did a good job. And in case anyone has doubts, we are definitely not the type to complain or report any little minor issue.  This butler was borderline rude and completely unresponsive. Thankfully he was an outlier as the vast majority of all Celebrity staff is outstanding!

[zitsky]

3 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

We had one bad butler. First we addressed it directly with him. No change. We discussed it then with our Retreat hostess and she thanked us for the input and stated it was her job to make sure we were well taken care of, and based on results she did a good job. And in case anyone has doubts, we are definitely not the type to complain or report any little minor issue.  This butler was borderline rude and completely unresponsive. Thankfully he was an outlier as the vast majority of all Celebrity staff is outstanding!

Retreat Hostess?  How do you contact them?  I thought the butler was the Retreat Host?

[bjahil47]

15 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

We had one bad butler. First we addressed it directly with him. No change. We discussed it then with our Retreat hostess and she thanked us for the input and stated it was her job to make sure we were well taken care of, and based on results she did a good job. And in case anyone has doubts, we are definitely not the type to complain or report any little minor issue.  This butler was borderline rude and completely unresponsive. Thankfully he was an outlier as the vast majority of all Celebrity staff is outstanding!

Same with us.  Finally talked to Retreat Concierge and it helped a bit.  I just hope I never never him again!  

[phoenix_dream]

16 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Retreat Hostess?  How do you contact them?  I thought the butler was the Retreat Host?

Maybe I don’t have the correct title. I mean the person who manages the Retreat lounge. 

[phoenix_dream]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Surprise, surprise, I just got a phone call from Celebrity Executive offices after my scathing email I sent to them yesterday. I could not understand the name of the woman who called other than she was with Celebrity Executive offices.

 

Here is what I was told:

 

All Suites under a Celebrity Suite will no longer have a dedicated butler but instead a team of 8 to 10 butlers who will do what the old butlers did but on a rotating basis. The change is fleetwide effective on all cruises leaving after Aug 14th. I asked how will they all know what our individual needs and wants?  I was told that the whole team will know our information and wants and needs. (I do not believe this) I was told that Celebrity does not intend making any public announcements about the change and that no compensation would be offered or allow any cancelations of cruises for the change without penalties. They plan on booked passengers finding out when they board, (This is taking the chicken way out). I told her that finding out when you board is not the way to roll these changes out. I also let her know after our two cruises in January we will no longer be a Celebrity customer, she said she would convey all of my sentiments to corporate management. She was trying to sell me the Kool-Aid that having a team of Butlers will be a vast improvement. I told her I disagreed and that they may think they are giving us more but we are really getting less for the same cost. She also said that Corporate had complete confidence from their research that this was a good idea that would be welcomed by all customers. What a load of BS. I also told her corporate should check social media like CC and FB to see how this change is going over so negatively

I think expecting us to swallow the koolaid is the most insulting part. I’d almost feel better if they said we think we can provide you just as good a service and save some $$ at the same time.  At least that’s closer to honesty. Still don’t believe it’s true though. Fewer people, but the same service. Hmm. I don’t need an MBA to know that doesn’t calculate.

[Octavias]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Surprise, surprise, I just got a phone call from Celebrity Executive offices after my scathing email I sent to them yesterday. I could not understand the name of the woman who called other than she was with Celebrity Executive offices.

 

Here is what I was told:

 

All Suites under a Celebrity Suite will no longer have a dedicated butler but instead a team of 8 to 10 butlers who will do what the old butlers did but on a rotating basis. The change is fleetwide effective on all cruises leaving after Aug 14th. I asked how will they all know what our individual needs and wants?  I was told that the whole team will know our information and wants and needs. (I do not believe this) I was told that Celebrity does not intend making any public announcements about the change and that no compensation would be offered or allow any cancelations of cruises for the change without penalties. They plan on booked passengers finding out when they board, (This is taking the chicken way out). I told her that finding out when you board is not the way to roll these changes out. I also let her know after our two cruises in January we will no longer be a Celebrity customer, she said she would convey all of my sentiments to corporate management. She was trying to sell me the Kool-Aid that having a team of Butlers will be a vast improvement. I told her I disagreed and that they may think they are giving us more but we are really getting less for the same cost. She also said that Corporate had complete confidence from their research that this was a good idea that would be welcomed by all customers. What a load of BS. I also told her corporate should check social media like CC and FB to see how this change is going over so negatively

If it was a great improvement, they would include this improvement to ALL suites and not just the lower ones.  What a load of bull.