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

[dlh015]

7 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

I have, however, been very grateful not to see certain screen names on my cruise Roll Calls.

As have I!!  Keeping fingers crossed...🤞

[mayleeman]

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

 

I have, however, been very grateful not to see certain screen names on my cruise Roll Calls. 

 

I remember during our last cruises (2019) observing some people and wondering if they perhaps were poster @so-and-so. Fortunately never found out!

 

Back to the topic: Does Celebrity have a history of laying off people (not for cause) before their contracts expire? Is it possible the ex-butlers will just be doing cabin attendant, or other fill-in work until their contracts expire?

Edited August 1, 2023 by mayleeman

[Gracie115]

4 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

  Is it possible the ex-butlers will just be doing cabin attendant, or other fill-in work until their contracts expire?

 

VERY likely they are being moved, not sure about it being to cabin attendant.  I have been in communication with our butler from our last cruise who stated that is what is happening, several friends that have been or are being moved to lesser jobs.  

[mayleeman]

From the Optimist viewpoint: I suspect this huge shift may ensure all the remaining butlers, and perhaps anyone with customer-facing responsibilities, will be pretty attentive to detail. At least for awhile. Nothing focuses workers as much as seeing people in the better jobs get cashiered, too.

[jagoffee]

On 7/29/2023 at 8:28 AM, clojacks said:

Never having sailed in a Suite on any line, I have an honest question? What % of people sail in a Suite to have access to a butler, versus sailing in a Suite for other reasons, i.e. the size of the cabin, exclusivity of space as found in certain Suite areas, etc.

The availability of a designated Butler is very low on my list not even on my list) why I book a suite.  Personally I am not even sure having a group taking care of requests from various people is a negative at all.  As long as I receive the service I need it does not matter to me.
 

I have always felt a little uncomfortable with the concept of a Butler.  

[PTC DAWG]

I’m in before this is beat to death. 🙂

[PTC DAWG]

6 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

The availability of a designated Butler is very low on my list not even on my list) why I book a suite.  Personally I am not even sure having a group taking care of requests from various people is a negative at all.  As long as I receive the service I need it does not matter to me.
 

I have always felt a little uncomfortable with the concept of a Butler.  

I recently sailed MCS YC with a Butler…I have to admit, it was awesome. 

[PH2]

Hey, someone from PTC! I graduated from McIntosh years ago...

 

OK, decades.

Edited August 1, 2023 by PH2

[bikerunner]

1 hour ago, binro01 said:

 

Dang those Concierge prices are way too high. I have a great agent that uses group rates that can knock off at least couple grand off that concierge pricing. We are on the Beyond for the 10N cruise on January 24th 2025, and the price for our C2 Concierge Class IV with All Included and a Refundable deposit was $5,251.44 with 250.00 OBC.

Yep very similar in rates I been quoted when looking at different cruises.  

[hcat]

Just curious...aren't the BUTLERS  specially trained  and given certification/credentials? 

 

Same for Sommoliers (sorry spelling) compared to drink order takers &  servers..big difference!  

[SusieAV8R]

10 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Exactly my experience in every SS cruise we have done. I was told more than once by our past butlers, having the premium drink package included the mini fridge. I know this will no longer be the case and its one of the biggest non advertised Retreat benefits we enjoy.

This is absolutely fascinating!  When we cruised in CS, our butlers NEVER told us that.  In fact we always paid for  a "bar setup" which was limited to what it itemized.

[terrydtx]

Too many in this thread have missed the whole point of the thread and topic. It doesn't matter if you use a butler, don't use a butler, feel uncomfortable with a butler, don't want to over burden a butler, don't book suites or don't book a suite because of a butler.  Hundreds and maybe thousands of Celebrity customers have booked Sky Suites believing that they will have a dedicated personal butler not a team of pseudo class butlers. They are now after booking and for many like us, who have made final payments, are NOT GOING to get what they booked and paid for and in most US civil courts this would fraud. 

 

Imagin if you bought and paid for a new Lexus and when it came time to deliver your new car the dealer said you aren't getting that Lexus, but we have a nice Toyota in its place and by the way you get nothing back for compensation. Then the dealer says you are still getting what we promised, nice transportation and a new car, it just won't be a Lexus. How many of you would put up with this? How many would be taking this dealer to court?

[mahdnc]

 

10 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Too many in this thread have missed the whole point of the thread and topic. It doesn't matter if you use a butler, don't use a butler, feel uncomfortable with a butler, don't want to over burden a butler, don't book suites or don't book a suite because of a butler.  Hundreds and maybe thousands of Celebrity customers have booked Sky Suites believing that they will have a dedicated personal butler not a team of pseudo class butlers. They are now after booking and for many like us, who have made final payments, are NOT GOING to get what they booked and paid for and in most US civil courts this would fraud. 

 

Imagin if you bought and paid for a new Lexus and when it came time to deliver your new car the dealer said you aren't getting that Lexus, but we have a nice Toyota in its place and by the way you get nothing back for compensation. Then the dealer says you are still getting what we promised, nice transportation and a new car, it just won't be a Lexus. How many of you would put up with this? How many would be taking this dealer to court?

 

As a primarily non-suite passenger, this moment happened for me with the surprise added fee for room service. 

 

Ironically our next cruise is in a suite on Xpedition which doesn't come with a butler of course. 

 

So far the premium suites seem to be unscathed. 

[zitsky]

21 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Too many in this thread have missed the whole point of the thread and topic. It doesn't matter if you use a butler, don't use a butler, feel uncomfortable with a butler, don't want to over burden a butler, don't book suites or don't book a suite because of a butler.  Hundreds and maybe thousands of Celebrity customers have booked Sky Suites believing that they will have a dedicated personal butler not a team of pseudo class butlers. They are now after booking and for many like us, who have made final payments, are NOT GOING to get what they booked and paid for and in most US civil courts this would fraud. 

 

Imagin if you bought and paid for a new Lexus and when it came time to deliver your new car the dealer said you aren't getting that Lexus, but we have a nice Toyota in its place and by the way you get nothing back for compensation. Then the dealer says you are still getting what we promised, nice transportation and a new car, it just won't be a Lexus. How many of you would put up with this? How many would be taking this dealer to court?

I did ask about compensation and Celebrity was unwilling to offer anything at all.

[clojacks]

19 minutes ago, zitsky said:

I did ask about compensation and Celebrity was unwilling to offer anything at all.

You’re kidding I hope. I would say a more accurate auto analogy would be that the fancy new Lexus you saw on the showroom floor had Michelin tires on it, and the one you ordered and received 4 months later showed up with Bridgestone tires. More likely than not, you wouldn’t even notice the difference, but my guess is the Bridgestones may even perform better if their rating is more appropriate for your locale. Except you saw on  Social Media that Lexus decided to start putting Bridgestones on their cars, because they have shown to be a good switch for where you live….but you know Lexus changed the tires without telling you.

 

(To be fair, we had a Lexus that we traded in after 1 year, because we weren’t that thrilled with the technology in it. The car we have that has much more instinctive tech features? Our Toyota).

Edited August 2, 2023 by clojacks

[mahdnc]

4 minutes ago, clojacks said:

You’re kidding I hope. I would say a more accurate auto analogy would be that the fancy new Lexus you saw on the showroom floor had Michelin tires on it, and the one you ordered and received 4 months later showed up with Bridgestone tires. More likely than not, you wouldn’t even notice the difference, but my guess is the Bridgestones may even perform better if their rating is more appropriate for your locale. Except you saw on  Social Media that Lexus decided to start putting Bridgestones on their cars, because they have shown to be a good switch for where you live….but you know Lexus changed the tires without telling you.

 

I saw it more as a Leah and Rachel thing.

[MamaFej]

20 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I saw it more as a Leah and Rachel thing.

I'll give you a better response... after a pregant pause. 

[clojacks]

25 minutes ago, clojacks said:

You’re kidding I hope. I would say a more accurate auto analogy would be that the fancy new Lexus you saw on the showroom floor had Michelin tires on it, and the one you ordered and received 4 months later showed up with Bridgestone tires. More likely than not, you wouldn’t even notice the difference, but my guess is the Bridgestones may even perform better if their rating is more appropriate for your locale. Except you saw on  Social Media that Lexus decided to start putting Bridgestones on their cars, because they have shown to be a good switch for where you live….but you know Lexus changed the tires without telling you.

 

(To be fair, we had a Lexus that we traded in after 1 year, because we weren’t that thrilled with the technology in it. The car we have that has much more instinctive tech features? Our Toyota).

Zitsky…I quoted the wrong poster. My post was obviously in reply to terrydtx hypothetical scenario, not in reply to your answer to their post.

[NMTraveller]

28 minutes ago, clojacks said:

(To be fair, we had a Lexus that we traded in after 1 year, because we weren’t that thrilled with the technology in it. The car we have that has much more instinctive tech features? Our Toyota).

Anytime you want to trade a Lexus for the comparable Toyota model give me a call first!

[clojacks]

1 minute ago, NMTraveller said:

Anytime you want to trade a Lexus for the comparable Toyota model give me a call first!

Google Lexus touchpad infotainment control before you make that offer…

[NMTraveller]

Just now, clojacks said:

Google Lexus touchpad infotainment control before you make that offer…

I have two.  I much prefer the smoother ride over a bit better control...

[PTC DAWG]

3 hours ago, PH2 said:

Hey, someone from PTC! I graduated from McIntosh years ago...

 

OK, decades.

Still live here, my Son graduated in 2010, he recently bought his own house..golf cart too. 🙂

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Too many in this thread have missed the whole point of the thread and topic. It doesn't matter if you use a butler, don't use a butler, feel uncomfortable with a butler, don't want to over burden a butler, don't book suites or don't book a suite because of a butler.  Hundreds and maybe thousands of Celebrity customers have booked Sky Suites believing that they will have a dedicated personal butler not a team of pseudo class butlers. They are now after booking and for many like us, who have made final payments, are NOT GOING to get what they booked and paid for and in most US civil courts this would fraud. 

 

Imagin if you bought and paid for a new Lexus and when it came time to deliver your new car the dealer said you aren't getting that Lexus, but we have a nice Toyota in its place and by the way you get nothing back for compensation. Then the dealer says you are still getting what we promised, nice transportation and a new car, it just won't be a Lexus. How many of you would put up with this? How many would be taking this dealer to court?

That seems a bit if a reach…and I like Lexus 🙂 the tire analogy above makes perfect sense to me. 

Edited August 2, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[chemmo]

6 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

 

So far the premium suites seem to be unscathed. 

This is the where the “trust” bit comes in…Those of us booked in higher suites don’t know if our next experience will change…

 

Without saying a word they could still give us a butler but with a worse staff:suites ratio. 
 

They could remove some of those unwritten perks like in suite (Luminae/speciality) dining by arrangement.

 

Someone else has already said in a higher suite they were told to go to the Retreat for afternoon tea. A generic afternoon snack being the only ‘choice’.

 

There have always been anomalies in butler service. I remember on Equinox a few years ago in a RS asking our butler in the morning if he could bring us a bottle of wine (within premium package) as we were going to order room service for lunch. He said he couldn’t bring us a bottle but he could bring us a glass each…We told him not to worry about it and as we ordered room service my DH headed to the nearest bar for two glasses…As he returned the butler arrived with two glasses and half an hour later with two more…Work that one out!  We later found out that the Retreat Manager had told the butlers that they were not allowed to take bottles of wine to suites as they were not part of the suite package. I can only assume they had experienced some guests abusing the request. Perhaps asking for bottles of wine and then sharing them with guests without a drinks package? I know numerous Sky Suite guests have had no issue getting bottles of wine delivered to their suites.
 

Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be…The future isn’t ours to see but Celebrity could tell all guests in all categories of room about changes to come…A bit of transparency would be much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by chemmo

[wineoclock]

Ok so having gone looking at other boards

for now I’ll stick to the devil I know & go for more ‘bargains’ if possible so I don’t feel cheated 😁