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Eliminating Butlers - Spoke to Celebrity. Here is conversation.

LMHSRN

By LMHSRN,
in Celebrity Cruises

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TeeRick

TeeRick

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

Same for me. Never had a butler but also don't see the need. I'm one who is a do it yourself as well. Just the way I've always operated. 

Again that is perhaps why you should have the choice of an assigned butler or the butler team concept.  It seems many here might choose the team.

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drakes2

drakes2

Posted
Posted
On 8/14/2023 at 5:30 PM, Mark_T said:

This is what I've been expecting from the start, they just give room service a different jacket and call them the 'Retreat Team', not hard to see the appeal of that from a cost perspective.

On my recent Apex TA the couple a few doors down had a butler. I always passed him in the hall with hands crossed in front of him with nothing to do. Could have been a guard at Buckingham palace. 😆 

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jelayne

jelayne

Posted
Posted (edited)
21 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Now where are the people that said that this could be better? 🙂 🙂🙂 

Maybe some booked in Sky Suites will report their experience.  
A report from 1 cruiser in a Suite that still has a butler doesn’t give me any idea of how the Sky Suite experience differs.  
 

The beer and drink service the mentioned on the latest thread ( NOW I ) was very much dependent on who the butler was.  Some butlers bent the rules others didn’t.  Our experience was always no drinks/wine delivered, mini bar not restocked with wine or liquor however some sailing 1 or 2 bottles of wine would appear in the suite. 

Edited by jelayne
Correction
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TeeRick

TeeRick

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

They could be eating crow??  🦤

I did not see a lot of posts saying this will be better.  Most people (like me) are saying they will wait and see based on their experience on board and hearing from a number of posters actually experiencing the change in a sky suite.  Not one poster, one cruise.  The poster was not even in a sky suite, but in an upper level suite and reported they could not order dinner for their balcony from a specialty restaurant.  I am still negative about the lack of transparency and communication.  But when (or if) I get a Sky suite on Celebrity again will depend on seeing a number of relevant posts from cruise critic members in sky suites. Right now they do not have any new Retreat business booked from me.

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terrydtx Great Review Rare

terrydtx

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I did not see a lot of posts saying this will be better.  Most people (like me) are saying they will wait and see based on their experience on board and hearing from a number of posters actually experiencing the change in a sky suite.  Not one poster, one cruise.  The poster was not even in a sky suite, but in an upper level suite and reported they could not order dinner for their balcony from a specialty restaurant.  I am still negative about the lack of transparency and communication.  But when (or if) I get a Sky suite on Celebrity again will depend on seeing a number of relevant posts from cruise critic members in sky suites. Right now they do not have any new Retreat business booked from me.

I will know first hand next month, in a SS on the Apex, and I fully intend to test the limits of what we can and can no longer get through our butler.

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TeeRick

TeeRick

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I will know first hand next month, in a SS on the Apex, and I fully intend to test the limits of what we can and can no longer get through our butler.

And I very much look forward to your report on this change as I value your opinion.

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tce40

tce40

Posted
Posted

I'm in a SS in about two weeks out of Amsterdam, but since I'm not very needy and very self-reliant, I doubt it will affect me or my trip at all.  I'm sure I'll have a wonderful time because I look forward to the good and don't search for the bad.  That's just me, of course.  🙂

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terrydtx

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, 39august said:

Terry, what date is your cruise, please? We go on EQ Sept. 24. Hope you are reporting before our date. 

September 14th from Rotterdam to Athens for 12 nights on the Apex.

Edited by terrydtx
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C4HCG

C4HCG

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, tce40 said:

I'm in a SS in about two weeks out of Amsterdam, but since I'm not very needy and very self-reliant, I doubt it will affect me or my trip at all.  I'm sure I'll have a wonderful time because I look forward to the good and don't search for the bad.  That's just me, of course.  🙂

Great attitude, make the most of your holidays, they’re special. Something spectacularly bad would have to happen to spoil ours and to go to test the limits of a service is beyond me. Each to their own. I 

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zitsky

zitsky

Posted
Posted
46 minutes ago, tce40 said:

I'm in a SS in about two weeks out of Amsterdam, but since I'm not very needy and very self-reliant, I doubt it will affect me or my trip at all.  I'm sure I'll have a wonderful time because I look forward to the good and don't search for the bad.  That's just me, of course.  🙂


I just think if I pay a lot of money for a product, I should use it.  Does that make me needy?

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Shellyd22

Shellyd22

Posted
Posted

I have my first Celebrity cruise booked on the Beyond in April. My husband and I are not typical “cruisers” but have been wanting to go on a vacation alone for awhile (we have a young child at home). We decided to splurge on a SS after much research. To be honest, the main appeal was the retreat deck, lounge, Luminae and alcohol/gratuity included. We were really excited about the dedicated butler since we’ve never had that experience before. I was pretty disappointed when I read these threads on CC but I’m trying to remain optimistic that they will have these kinks worked out by the time our cruise comes around. I do agree with previous posters that if they can change this could they take away the other amenities because if they do that to me, the price would not be worth it. What I find odd is the change in verbiage on the website. Celebrity is now advertising a “Butler and retreat team” when it appears that there is only going to be a team…. The AND is really misleading to people and disappointing. I usually don’t post on sites like this, but I’ve been avidly following these threads because I’m very interested to see how this turns out. 

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chemmo Holiday Sharing Rare

chemmo

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I will know first hand next month, in a SS on the Apex, and I fully intend to test the limits of what we can and can no longer get through our butler.


It would be useful if you could separate between included perks like coffee delivered and room service and ‘treat service’ like your mini bar being restocked and receiving alcoholic beverages being delivered to your suite…

 

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terrydtx

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, chemmo said:


It would be useful if you could separate between included perks like coffee delivered and room service and ‘treat service’ like your mini bar being restocked and receiving alcoholic beverages being delivered to your suite…

 

That is part of my plan, based on the butler service for our 5 previous SS retreat cruises.

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