Eliminating Butlers - Spoke to Celebrity. Here is conversation.

[RichYak]

51 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

According to the card in our cabin our head butler is Elizer, but we have not met him/her yet. 

Based on the time of day, I would say you’re already off to a bad start. I hope it improves. 

[abbydancer2003]

7 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Based on the time of day, I would say you’re already off to a bad start. I hope it improves. 

Not necessarily.   I didn’t meet ours til the second day and he turned out to be outstanding.   

[RichYak]

2 minutes ago, abbydancer2003 said:

Not necessarily.   I didn’t meet ours til the second day and he turned out to be outstanding.   

Well I don’t think I’m wrong. You got off to a bad start too IMO. It got better just as I hope it does for mac. 

[terrydtx]

5 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

Terry, I see you mention that the return of butlers to SS is waiting on hiring and training new butlers. Makes me wonder what happened to the old butlers that served SS up until a few months ago.

From what I was told many have moved on to other jobs on other lines, some stayed with Celebrity in other roles than butler. The changes all happened in August last year and the butlers let go had to find a job for the last 6 months. It takes time to find new people and train them properly, can't be done overnight. I hope that the better butlers will be offered a chance to return to their old jobs.

 

One other thing I forgot to mention in my original post of our B2B cruise. Some of the former premium wines in the PDP that were not available the first leg of our cruise became available the second leg, one I remember was Decoy Cabernet. Unfortunately, one of my favorites, Cherry Pie Pino Noir did not come back on the PDP.

Edited February 20 by terrydtx

[HopefulCruiser123]

2 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

According to the card in our cabin our head butler is Elizer, but we have not met him/her yet. 
 

We did meet the stateroom attendant, I mean Retreat Host, this afternoon. 
 

mac_tlc

Elizer….I wonder if that is a common name 🤔. 11 years ago our Butler’s name on our Silhouette honeymoon cruise was named Elizer.  Very pleasant, soft spoken man.

 

Edited February 20 by HopefulCruiser123

[Germancruiser]

Interessting topic. The only butler I experienced have been on MSC - Yacht Club. I never did need a butler- and I always wondered why they ( X) did not stopp that long ago.

Give me a nice cabin steward any day - Lol.

[Dolebludger]

I might agree, if stewards are given the full duties for services I expect (and a reasonable number of suites). It is that way on some lux lines. There, the stewards do everything a steward and butler did on X in the Retreat, and are assigned a fewer number of suites in order to do so. But, as I have observed, the stewards only make up suites on X and have so many that is all they have time for. Thus the need for butlers on X Retreat. 

[zitsky]

I wonder how many pax said “I never use the butler.”  So then Celebrity said why do we need so many?  At least for lower suites.

 

I think if you ignore your butler it does let them help someone else.  But their job is to help, so I can understand why they might feel out of sorts.

[abbydancer2003]

15 hours ago, RichYak said:

Based on the time of day, I would say you’re already off to a bad start. I hope it improves. 

A point I forgot to mention earlier.  When we met our room steward/retreat host, I asked about the minibar, and if we could get my sodas of choice.  They were there later in the day.  I later found out he'd just called the head butler, and he provided them.  So I had no need of the head butler on embarkation day, but I had his card if I did need anything.

[TeeRick]

13 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

I might agree, if stewards are given the full duties for services I expect (and a reasonable number of suites). It is that way on some lux lines. There, the stewards do everything a steward and butler did on X in the Retreat, and are assigned a fewer number of suites in order to do so. But, as I have observed, the stewards only make up suites on X and have so many that is all they have time for. Thus the need for butlers on X Retreat. 

Just sailed in a mid-level suite (SKY Class) on RCCL last week.  No butler (or genie).  There was a cabin steward and an assistant cabin steward.  They met all of our needs and requests.  We did not ever think about a butler.  There were also two dedicated suite concierges.  Service was excellent overall.  I think I remember back when Celebrity serviced cabins with two people (steward and assistant).

[hcat]

13 hours ago, Germancruiser said:

Interessting topic. The only butler I experienced have been on MSC - Yacht Club. I never did need a butler- and I always wondered why they ( X) did not stopp that long ago.

Give me a nice cabin steward any day - Lol.

oh boy.. watch out for pushback..

 

Many "X"  cruisers are very annoyed to lose the individual Butlers.  I believe  if  they booked with the Butler included, they should have one..They booked wanting to be pampered.   Sort of  Bait and Switch to have done otherwise...

 

Going forward, they should make a diff Category.."Junior Suite" with  no indiv assigned butler,  but with other Suite/ Retreat perks. That would be fair going forward, esp if priced accordingly and  paying grats for a "non Butler" is harsh!

 

We had a SS just  before it  changed.. Seems like she and her asst were always there..we felt stalked.. Had to bolt the door to take a shower!  We liked the room and other perks but are more independent making our own res and fetching food. And more private!

[mac_tlc]

19 hours ago, RichYak said:

Based on the time of day, I would say you’re already off to a bad start. I hope it improves. 

It’s dinner time on Day 2 — still no head butler sighting.

 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Just sailed in a mid-level suite (SKY Class) on RCCL last week.  No butler (or genie).  There was a cabin steward and an assistant cabin steward.  They met all of our needs and requests.  We did not ever think about a butler.  There were also two dedicated suite concierges.  Service was excellent overall.  I think I remember back when Celebrity serviced cabins with two people (steward and assistant).

Did you have a Crown Loft? They have two attendants to service the CL’s.

mac_tlc

[abbydancer2003]

23 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

It’s dinner time on Day 2 — still no head butler sighting.

 

mac_tlc

At this point, I'd talk to the the concierges, they're pretty helpful.  Let them know you haven't seen/met your head butler.  

[TeeRick]

58 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Did you have a Crown Loft? They have two attendants to service the CL’s.

mac_tlc

Yes we had a very nice Crown Loft on Deck 17 on Symphony.  We loved it!

[abbydancer2003]

35 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Yes we had a very nice Crown Loft on Deck 17 on Symphony.  We loved it!

We had one in December.  We loved it too!

[Dolebludger]

Question ; Do those of you who are having a good SS experience have included access to the mini fridge? Just asking, because that is an important perk to me

[zitsky]

1 minute ago, Dolebludger said:

Question ; Do those of you who are having a good SS experience have included access to the mini fridge? Just asking, because that is an important perk to me

Well there is not a lock on it.  Do you mean everything included, because I don’t think you get that in a SS?

[markeb]

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

Well there is not a lock on it.  Do you mean everything included, because I don’t think you get that in a SS?

You are correct. It’s never been included. 

[RichYak]

2 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

It’s dinner time on Day 2 — still no head butler sighting.

 

mac_tlc

That’s unfortunate. Of course it’s your choice how you want to handle it, if at all. FWIW I wouldn’t have let it get past embarkation day. Talk to the Retreat Concierges or look for the QR code in the daily. 

[Shellyd22]

2 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

It’s dinner time on Day 2 — still no head butler sighting.

 

mac_tlc

This is kind of wild to me. So many varying  experiences I’ve read recently. Wild that a company would market the same benefits/perks/inclusions but give vastly different service to customers. I know it will take time to rehire/train people but they just can’t treat everyone differently lol I know it’s not funny but seriously for real??? Following your live, I will be on Beyond in April. Enjoy your cruise 

[zitsky]

45 minutes ago, Shellyd22 said:

This is kind of wild to me. So many varying  experiences I’ve read recently. Wild that a company would market the same benefits/perks/inclusions but give vastly different service to customers. I know it will take time to rehire/train people but they just can’t treat everyone differently lol I know it’s not funny but seriously for real??? Following your live, I will be on Beyond in April. Enjoy your cruise 

It’s not just that Celebrity drops the ball.  It’s also that some pax don’t bother speaking up.

 

Someone at work recently told me, “Why didn’t you help me with my problem?  Did you ask for help?  Well, no.  But you should have known I needed it.”

[abbydancer2003]

50 minutes ago, Shellyd22 said:

This is kind of wild to me. So many varying  experiences I’ve read recently. Wild that a company would market the same benefits/perks/inclusions but give vastly different service to customers. I know it will take time to rehire/train people but they just can’t treat everyone differently lol I know it’s not funny but seriously for real??? Following your live, I will be on Beyond in April. Enjoy your cruise 

You'll have a regular butler.  They're coming back in early March (I was told this by the Assistant Waiter who was my last dedicated butler - he's going back to his butler job then).

[Germancruiser]

Oh I am not afraid to get a kick - somewhere- LOL. Well anyway- one can always bring along his own butler- can´t we? Usually my personal vallet is on holiday when I go- so my butler would be a perfect choice.

[mac_tlc]

17 hours ago, RichYak said:

That’s unfortunate. Of course it’s your choice how you want to handle it, if at all. FWIW I wouldn’t have let it get past embarkation day. Talk to the Retreat Concierges or look for the QR code in the daily. 

We will probably talk to the Retreat Concierge today —- still no head butler sighting. The difference and inconsistency in service level is disappointing. It’s not that we have a long list of unattended items.

 

The entire change in the butler situation has pushed the responsibility for things to the guest. Fill out the breakfast card, grab a couple sodas from the lounge etc. 

 

Day 1 we filled out the breakfast card. It was delivered on time, accurate and hot by a gentleman who said he would be our breakfast server and he does the Retreat area. He set up the breakfast, poured the first cup of coffee and chatted for a few minutes. 
 

Day 2 we do the same, it’s delivered this morning by someone different who pleasantly delivered the tray and left .

 

Still beats making breakfast ourself! 
 

mac_tlc

 

 

Edited February 21 by mac_tlc