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

[wineoclock]

Ok so have spoken to my Celebrity agent 

Vaping - no real answer yet from HQ & still being tested. 
Butlers - there will be a team & some requests will go through retreat hosts. They have not been given exact details yet. I neglected to ask about butlers being let go (had a coughing fit - bronchitis) so had to end call. 
 

I have a good deal I think booked provisionally & now need to persuade dh 😄

[Sigyn]

8 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

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

Agreed. Just bought my first Lexus, coming from a Volvo, and I utterly love it. Touchpad? Who cares when you're wrapped in comfort. (altho I think it's better than the Volvo's.)

 

As for the butlers, my tax for posting here just to talk about Lexus, I am not happy at all with this change. We disembarked from our first Celebrity cruise on July 14 and it was in a sky suite. I very much liked the personal attention from our butler. One time when I called him, another butler answered. He wasn't as good and couldn't get my laundry request straight. I honestly don't want to book in The Retreat again if that's going to be my future experience. I have already booked my next cruise on NCL in The Haven, thank goodness. 

[zitsky]

9 hours ago, clojacks said:

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.

 

9 hours 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).

 

@clojacks if only there was an edit button?!

 

My comment is the same.

 

Bridgestone tires?  Yea.  I’d notice the difference.

 

Just like I notice when my support staff goes from 1 person to 5.

 

Can Celebrity make any changes they want?  

Edited August 2, 2023 by zitsky

[zitsky]

26 minutes ago, Sigyn said:

Agreed. Just bought my first Lexus, coming from a Volvo, and I utterly love it. Touchpad? Who cares when you're wrapped in comfort. (altho I think it's better than the Volvo's.)

 

As for the butlers, my tax for posting here just to talk about Lexus, I am not happy at all with this change. We disembarked from our first Celebrity cruise on July 14 and it was in a sky suite. I very much liked the personal attention from our butler. One time when I called him, another butler answered. He wasn't as good and couldn't get my laundry request straight. I honestly don't want to book in The Retreat again if that's going to be my future experience. I have already booked my next cruise on NCL in The Haven, thank goodness. 

My butler really enjoys driving my Mercedes-Benz.  🙂

 

I agree.  I’d rather have one contact.

Edited August 2, 2023 by zitsky

[TeeRick]

10 hours 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?

Terry- I do get your point and agree with it.  I think most on here do too from their comments.  You have already paid for the advertised service and it is changing presumably to a lesser service without any communication or compensation.  That absolutely stinks.  For those that are beyond final payment at the very least an individual butler should be grandfathered to you on your cruise.

 

By the way, it is more like the individual Lexus being exchanged for a fleet of 10 taxi's that you could call (and wait for).

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Terry- I do get your point and agree with it.  I think most on here do too from their comments.  You have already paid for the advertised service and it is changing presumably to a lesser service without any communication or compensation.  That absolutely stinks.  For those that are beyond final payment at the very least an individual butler should be grandfathered to you on your cruise.

 

By the way, it is more like the individual Lexus being exchanged for a fleet of 10 taxi's that you could call (and wait for).

Yes your analogy is much better. We will see next month if this works, my gut says it won't, but it is making walking away from Celebrity after our 2 cruises in January much easier.

[TeeRick]

20 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Over the weekend I emailed one of our past butlers that we have stayed in contact with. I was worried about how the Butler changes was going to affect her. I am not going to give her name or what ship she is currently on; she is no longer on the same ship we met her. I want to protect her from any corporate retribution. Today I got a response back from her.

 

First she is moving to only the higher end suites, which is great news. She said the only butlers being let go or not having contracts renewed are a few that consistently get lower marks on the after-cruise surveys. What disturbs her the most is the new Sky Suite teams on her ship are being filled with the newest, least experienced and lowest paid butlers. She also does not believe this new team concept is going to provide any better service than before and, in her opinion, it will be a lot less. Her comments enforce my fears about how this is going to work.

Thanks for posting the summary of her response.  It is not a surprise that the best butlers serve the CS and above suites.  That has actually always been the case.  They will in general earn higher tips too so I am happy for them.  Perhaps some of the better, more experienced  butlers will be mixed in on the new Retreat Team for training purposes but just wishful thinking.

[TeeRick]

Pages and pages of posts now.  Payback for the MDR lobster discussion for non-suite cruisers.  You can take away my lobster but don't dare take away my Butler!😁

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, TeeRick said:

Pages and pages of posts now.  Payback for the MDR lobster discussion for non-suite cruisers.  You can take away my lobster but don't dare take away my Butler!😁

Or the non-suites cruisers who are irate over having to pay for room service, something that was included and free when many booked their cruises prior to January this year.

[TeeRick]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Or the non-suites cruisers who are irate over having to pay for room service, something that was included and free when many booked their cruises prior to January this year.

Yes many many takeaways and changes can be cited.  No need for us to rehash on this thread but I was trying to point out that until now the Retreat product was relatively untouched as it has still been very successful.  And even at much higher prices.  So it is just bizarre that Celebrity management would decide to mess with it.

[terrydtx]

42 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Yes many many takeaways and changes can be cited.  No need for us to rehash on this thread but I was trying to point out that until now the Retreat product was relatively untouched as it has still been very successful.  And even at much higher prices.  So it is just bizarre that Celebrity management would decide to mess with it.

I just got off the phone with my TA and she discussed the butler changes yesterday with her Celebrity rep. Her rep said there are going to be more changes in the Retreat product by the end of this year, the rep would not say what they will be. I suspect the Team concept may go to all suite levels, just my hunch. So now it begins, Celebrity is going to mess with a great product, that IMO sets them apart from most mainstream cruise lines.

Edited August 2, 2023 by terrydtx

[emmas gran]

I wrote an email to Executive Office but as yet not received a reply, maybe because I’m UK. My Celebrity rep is on holiday so cannot persue that avenue for a response.

[bnurick]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I just got off the phone with my TA and she discussed the butler changes yesterday with her Celebrity rep. Her rep said there are going to be more changes in the Retreat product by the end of this year, the rep would not say what they will be. So now it begins, Celebrity is going to mess with a great product, that IMO sets them apart from most mainstream cruise lines.

Thank you for getting the dirt.  The cost spread between CC and Suites is crazy now.  This is not factoring the higher deposit while taking on the X counterparty risk of downgrading what you booked.  At a minimum, X should offer an OBC or free cancellation since they are modifying the contractional arrangement.  It’s more impactful when you apply numbers to it.

 

October 2023 CS $9,800

January 2024 SS $11,500

July 2024 CS $12,300

December 2024 CC $8,600

January 2025 CS $14,200

Total $56,400

 

So while some may say downgrading the Butler service is minor, for the cost I simply want what was agreed to for the entire experience.  Otherwise, let me cancel without penalty and I’ll rebook on DCL.

[wineoclock]

21 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I just got off the phone with my TA and she discussed the butler changes yesterday with her Celebrity rep. Her rep said there are going to be more changes in the Retreat product by the end of this year, the rep would not say what they will be. I suspect the Team concept may go to all suite levels, just my hunch. So now it begins, Celebrity is going to mess with a great product, that IMO sets them apart from most mainstream cruise lines.

Does anyone know how it works on other lines? Do they keep the same butler or is it ‘a pool’

[terrydtx]

9 minutes ago, bnurick said:

Thank you for getting the dirt.  The cost spread between CC and Suites is crazy now.  This is not factoring the higher deposit while taking on the X counterparty risk of downgrading what you booked.  At a minimum, X should offer an OBC or free cancellation since they are modifying the contractional arrangement.  It’s more impactful when you apply numbers to it.

 

October 2023 CS $9,800

January 2024 SS $11,500

July 2024 CS $12,300

December 2024 CC $8,600

January 2025 CS $14,200

Total $56,400

 

So while some may say downgrading the Butler service is minor, for the cost I simply want what was agreed to for the entire experience.  Otherwise, let me cancel without penalty and I’ll rebook on DCL.

For us canceling our next 3 Celebrity cruises, September and January, is not an option, we have already paid for very expensive BC airfare to Europe and Australia. But we will no longer book with Celebrity after these 3 cruises. We only book SS with them and there are better, more premium and less costly cruise lines we can cruise with, like Oceania and Viking Ocean. Since customer loyalty means zero with Celebrity our customer loyalty with them is also zero.

Edited August 2, 2023 by terrydtx

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, wineoclock said:

Does anyone know how it works on other lines? Do they keep the same butler or is it ‘a pool’

Up to now the Retreat product has kept me from cruising on other lines with butlers, so I can't answer that. RCL has a "Genie" sort of butler on the highest end suites, but very little information is available on how a "Genie" works.

[VMI72]

I just checked my reservation on the August 28 Beyond cruise to the Greek Islands. We are in a SS. The description of the amenities with the suite has now eliminated any reference to a butler. Maybe that is just on my booking page, I don't know. I see where they talk about "personalized service with a crew to guest ratio of nearly 2:1", but no mention of a butler. So maybe they are changing the website to reflect the change that is coming on August 15. 

[bnurick]

Just now, terrydtx said:

For us canceling our next 3 Celebrity cruises, September and January, is not an option, we have already paid for very expensive BC airfare to Europe and Australia. But we will no longer book with Celebrity after these 3 cruises. We only book SS with them and there are better, more premium and less costly cruise lines we can cruise with, like Oceania and Viking Ocean.

After October, ours are all Florida and one New Jersey, so flight cancellations are not a big issue.  We are not booking anymore X cruises either, only DCL.  We love the food on DCL and they didn’t take on a tidal wave of debt to slowly pass along.  File for bankruptcy, wipe out the equity and haircut bond holders already.

[Lena11033]

12 minutes ago, wineoclock said:

Does anyone know how it works on other lines? Do they keep the same butler or is it ‘a pool’

 

Probably depends on the line. My last cruise was MSC in Yacht Club, my butler had multiple rooms to take care of and he seemed really busy (I rarely saw him which seems to be the experience of some of the people that have stayed in sky suites)

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, Lena11033 said:

 

Probably depends on the line. My last cruise was MSC in Yacht Club, my butler had multiple rooms to take care of and he seemed really busy (I rarely saw him which seems to be the experience of some of the people that have stayed in sky suites)

We have looked at MSC Yacht club, but they just do not have the longer cruises with itineraries we want. Not all of their ships have YC which is also an issue on the couple of cruises we found in the past.

[terrydtx]

15 minutes ago, VMI72 said:

I just checked my reservation on the August 28 Beyond cruise to the Greek Islands. We are in a SS. The description of the amenities with the suite has now eliminated any reference to a butler. Maybe that is just on my booking page, I don't know. I see where they talk about "personalized service with a crew to guest ratio of nearly 2:1", but no mention of a butler. So maybe they are changing the website to reflect the change that is coming on August 15. 

It will be interesting what people booked in a SS will have to say after they are on a cruise departing after Aug 15th. I hope you have a positive one but also hope you post back here on the experience. We board the Apex September 14th in a SS.

Edited August 2, 2023 by terrydtx

[C 2 C]

11 hours ago, clojacks said:

Google Lexus touchpad infotainment control before you make that offer…

(off topic of course) Ours quit after 50.000 mi.  No rearview camera, no blue tooth, no radio, no GPS, no phone connection) Only $2,000 for replacement plus taxes, plus installation.  

 

[wineoclock]

22 minutes ago, VMI72 said:

I just checked my reservation on the August 28 Beyond cruise to the Greek Islands. We are in a SS. The description of the amenities with the suite has now eliminated any reference to a butler. Maybe that is just on my booking page, I don't know. I see where they talk about "personalized service with a crew to guest ratio of nearly 2:1", but no mention of a butler. So maybe they are changing the website to reflect the change that is coming on August 15. 

Still showing butler on U.K. site. 

[VMI72]

5 minutes ago, wineoclock said:

Still showing butler on U.K. site. 

Yes, that page is totally different from my page. 

[wineoclock]

Curiouser and curiouser…