Butler Team Service in SS - Please Post Current Cruisers Comments on your Experience.

[Cruiser_Steven]

2 hours ago, jelayne said:

Some Retreat Lounges would have open bottles of a few wines that you could refill your glass.  Saw this on Edge and Apex but don’t recall seeing the open wine bottles on Beyond.
I haven’t seen self serve wine on any S or M class.  

Yep, Millie had this in Jan ‘22 to the ABCs.

[Cruiser_Steven]

3 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Just want to address one issue you had for others consideration.  It is very common on Alaska cruises to have sporadic internet and perhaps even TV signals.  It's because of the remoteness of the locations.  I think it would be the case regardless of ship and regardless of cruise line.  We've experienced this on every Alaska cruise we have sailed (and we've sailed many, including last year)

 

I'm also curious - I don't recall ever seeing self-service wine in any of my retreat experiences (of which I've had fewer than 10, most in the last couple of years).  Was this common before? I don't think I've sailed in the Retreat on Millennium, but have on Apex, Equinox, and Solstice and maybe others, I don't recall.

Fair point about Internet/tv. This was our first Alaska, so location may be a factor.

 

We had wine available in the Retreat’s self-service fridge on Millie in Jan ‘22 to Aruba/Bonaire/Curaçao. It was a great way to sample a number of wines without committing to a glass.

[odyssyus]

9 hours ago, paulh84 said:

Following in hopes that more first hand experience comes in. I am a bit fascinated. The few times this question has been posed since the changes to the butler program the thread gets nearly no traffic as opposed to the hundreds of posts that are only wild speculation and assumptions. Very strange considering the high number of Sky Suite cruisers posting here. 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by odyssyus

[MamaFej]

Even with very few people onboard in September 2021 on both Millennium and Majestic Princess a week or so later, WiFi in Alaska was very iffy. I agree with @phoenix_dream. I don't think it's fair to blame X on this one.  I'm glad to see @Cruiser_Steven acknowledge this. I'm not piling on, I'm just confirming. We've had similar issues that far north in our RV. 

 

Perhaps as the Starlink network expands, this will improve. So far, there just is not enough demand at those lattitudes to provide great connectivity...yet. 

[Cruiser_Steven]

3 hours ago, MamaFej said:

Even with very few people onboard in September 2021 on both Millennium and Majestic Princess a week or so later, WiFi in Alaska was very iffy. I agree with @phoenix_dream. I don't think it's fair to blame X on this one.  I'm glad to see @Cruiser_Steven acknowledge this. I'm not piling on, I'm just confirming. We've had similar issues that far north in our RV. 

 

Perhaps as the Starlink network expands, this will improve. So far, there just is not enough demand at those lattitudes to provide great connectivity...yet. 

To echo someone else’s comment, a little communication from X would have gone a long way. If services are regularly impacted due to location, let the passengers know that. I’d have been much more understanding if they said, “Hey, this isn’t up to our usual standards, but here’s why it’s out of our control.” They do have multiple ships in Alaska for entire seasons. If location is the issue, it’s not a new surprise to X.

[zitsky]

I want to meet the staff too.  But you gotta let them know you want something.  Don’t hold your breath and stomp your feet until they show up.  😳

Edited September 2, 2023 by zitsky

[Raemk]

I had a SS on the Beyond in March and the Edge in August (post-cuts).  These were my observations:

 

In March, our Butler was ever present.   We asked her for very little but she was always around and asked us about our needs and made suggestions.   Like coffee every morning and when she saw I liked a certain pastry, a basketful came every morning.  She would stay a few minutes and chat, and tell us about the day (tender info, timing, or whatever).   She saw we had laundry and took it away and brought it back a day later (an Elite perk, not a suite perk).  She met us at the theatre on chic nights with reserved seats and our drink order ready.   We saw her around the ship especially in the suite lounge, and she always asked if we needed anything.   She offered to pack and unpack (declined politely!) and even on departure morning she saw us in the hallways and insisted she help our luggage off (declined, again!).  She was in our suite every day (maybe multiple times!) arranging the temperature, closing the shades if it was too hot, brining waters, sodas, ice, etc.   She chilled our champagne as requested and left little treats without asking.   She noticed any maintenance issues and resolved them before we could even ask.   Our stateroom attendant was not visible, but he did an excellent job at keeping our suite clean 2x daily.   So, our butler was front of house, and our attendant was back of house.  Both excellent.

 

Contrast to the Edge in August.  Our attendant introduced himself as "Retreat Team" which was on his name tag.  He said he just got a new title and to ask him for anything we needed.   In the end, the "retreat team" is a cabin attendant with a new title - and he wasnt only dedicated to suites but had a line of regular cabins to attend to.  The head butler came and introduced herself and said she is the boss of the retreat team and to call her if you are not getting what you need.   But it was clear we did not have a butler.  While our attendant did a good job, he was clearly exhausted.     No special treats, no fruit baskets, etc and he made it clear the mini bar, including soft drinks, was not included.    Our champage was never chilled and he never offered (to be fair, we forgot about it and never asked).   We had maintenance issues and we had to call him as well.   He took our laundry back and forth.  Again, he got the job done, but it wasnt anything more than in a regular cabin.  There was no offer to bring coffee or anything else.   We did use room service for AM coffee and it was delivered on time by a member of the room service team, not the retreat team.   The retreat lounge seemed overwhelmed, and there were three retreat hosts and they also seemed very busy.    On the Beyond, the butlers served afternoon tea in the lounge and checked on you to be sure everything was OK, on the Edge it was self serve.    The reserved seats for Chic night was more administrative than personal.  Show your suite card and get in. Again, it was fine but not personal.

 

So, saying all that (sorry, long winded!), the main difference is in the level of personalization and connection.   We essentially got every perk on the Edge that we did on the Beyond, but it was without making connection and sometimes having to do it ourselves, like ordering room service or stocking our fridge with takeaway soft drinks from the lounge, etc.   That was fine for us and it did the trick.  

 

BUT, the two takeaways for me are that Celebrity changed this without telling us and after we booked and paid.  Not fair.  And, it seems like the bubble is going to burst soon -- they all seemed overworked and overwhelmed.

 

As long as there are no more changes, I would book at SS again.  If they remove Luminae, Retreat deck, etc from SS then I'm gone!

 

[hcat]

8 minutes ago, Raemk said:

I had a SS on the Beyond in March and the Edge in August (post-cuts).  These were my observations:

 

In March, our Butler was ever present.   We asked her for very little but she was always around and asked us about our needs and made suggestions.   Like coffee every morning and when she saw I liked a certain pastry, a basketful came every morning.  She would stay a few minutes and chat, and tell us about the day (tender info, timing, or whatever).   She saw we had laundry and took it away and brought it back a day later (an Elite perk, not a suite perk).  She met us at the theatre on chic nights with reserved seats and our drink order ready.   We saw her around the ship especially in the suite lounge, and she always asked if we needed anything.   She offered to pack and unpack (declined politely!) and even on departure morning she saw us in the hallways and insisted she help our luggage off (declined, again!).  She was in our suite every day (maybe multiple times!) arranging the temperature, closing the shades if it was too hot, brining waters, sodas, ice, etc.   She chilled our champagne as requested and left little treats without asking.   She noticed any maintenance issues and resolved them before we could even ask.   Our stateroom attendant was not visible, but he did an excellent job at keeping our suite clean 2x daily.   So, our butler was front of house, and our attendant was back of house.  Both excellent.

 

Contrast to the Edge in August.  Our attendant introduced himself as "Retreat Team" which was on his name tag.  He said he just got a new title and to ask him for anything we needed.   In the end, the "retreat team" is a cabin attendant with a new title - and he wasnt only dedicated to suites but had a line of regular cabins to attend to.  The head butler came and introduced herself and said she is the boss of the retreat team and to call her if you are not getting what you need.   But it was clear we did not have a butler.  While our attendant did a good job, he was clearly exhausted.     No special treats, no fruit baskets, etc and he made it clear the mini bar, including soft drinks, was not included.    Our champage was never chilled and he never offered (to be fair, we forgot about it and never asked).   We had maintenance issues and we had to call him as well.   He took our laundry back and forth.  Again, he got the job done, but it wasnt anything more than in a regular cabin.  There was no offer to bring coffee or anything else.   We did use room service for AM coffee and it was delivered on time by a member of the room service team, not the retreat team.   The retreat lounge seemed overwhelmed, and there were three retreat hosts and they also seemed very busy.    On the Beyond, the butlers served afternoon tea in the lounge and checked on you to be sure everything was OK, on the Edge it was self serve.    The reserved seats for Chic night was more administrative than personal.  Show your suite card and get in. Again, it was fine but not personal.

 

So, saying all that (sorry, long winded!), the main difference is in the level of personalization and connection.   We essentially got every perk on the Edge that we did on the Beyond, but it was without making connection and sometimes having to do it ourselves, like ordering room service or stocking our fridge with takeaway soft drinks from the lounge, etc.   That was fine for us and it did the trick.  

 

BUT, the two takeaways for me are that Celebrity changed this without telling us and after we booked and paid.  Not fair.  And, it seems like the bubble is going to burst soon -- they all seemed overworked and overwhelmed.

 

As long as there are no more changes, I would book at SS again.  If they remove Luminae, Retreat deck, etc from SS then I'm gone!

 

Were you charged the same grats on both cruises!

[jelayne]

7 minutes ago, hcat said:

Were you charged the same grats on both cruises!

The gratuity is included in the price of the suite, not a separate line item.

[wrk2cruise]

On 9/1/2023 at 5:37 PM, jelayne said:

Some Retreat Lounges would have open bottles of a few wines that you could refill your glass.  Saw this on Edge and Apex but don’t recall seeing the open wine bottles on Beyond.
I haven’t seen self serve wine on any S or M class.  

 

We saw this on Edge and there were a couple large family groups in the Retreat.  In the evening there were unaccompanied teens getting into the self serve alcohol  (mostly beer)  Some guests brought it to the bar servers attention and she was in tears worried for her job.  So I can understand why it's not left out.

 

For me I appreciate the service in the lounge.  I'm not interested in serving myself, the service is part of what I'm paying the extra $$ for.

[phoenix_dream]

On 9/2/2023 at 1:24 AM, Cruiser_Steven said:

To echo someone else’s comment, a little communication from X would have gone a long way. If services are regularly impacted due to location, let the passengers know that. I’d have been much more understanding if they said, “Hey, this isn’t up to our usual standards, but here’s why it’s out of our control.” They do have multiple ships in Alaska for entire seasons. If location is the issue, it’s not a new surprise to X.

I understand your point.  At the same time I can't imagine any business advertising a product like that and then telling you it might not work really well in remote locations.  I think their defense would be that in this day and age where we have had internet for years, people should be knowledgeable about how internet reception works.  Not saying it's the most customer friendly defense, but .....

[verizon]

1 hour ago, Raemk said:

I had a SS on the Beyond in March and the Edge in August (post-cuts).  These were my observations:

 

In March, our Butler was ever present.   We asked her for very little but she was always around and asked us about our needs and made suggestions.   Like coffee every morning and when she saw I liked a certain pastry, a basketful came every morning.  She would stay a few minutes and chat, and tell us about the day (tender info, timing, or whatever).   She saw we had laundry and took it away and brought it back a day later (an Elite perk, not a suite perk).  She met us at the theatre on chic nights with reserved seats and our drink order ready.   We saw her around the ship especially in the suite lounge, and she always asked if we needed anything.   She offered to pack and unpack (declined politely!) and even on departure morning she saw us in the hallways and insisted she help our luggage off (declined, again!).  She was in our suite every day (maybe multiple times!) arranging the temperature, closing the shades if it was too hot, brining waters, sodas, ice, etc.   She chilled our champagne as requested and left little treats without asking.   She noticed any maintenance issues and resolved them before we could even ask.   Our stateroom attendant was not visible, but he did an excellent job at keeping our suite clean 2x daily.   So, our butler was front of house, and our attendant was back of house.  Both excellent.

 

Contrast to the Edge in August.  Our attendant introduced himself as "Retreat Team" which was on his name tag.  He said he just got a new title and to ask him for anything we needed.   In the end, the "retreat team" is a cabin attendant with a new title - and he wasnt only dedicated to suites but had a line of regular cabins to attend to.  The head butler came and introduced herself and said she is the boss of the retreat team and to call her if you are not getting what you need.   But it was clear we did not have a butler.  While our attendant did a good job, he was clearly exhausted.     No special treats, no fruit baskets, etc and he made it clear the mini bar, including soft drinks, was not included.    Our champage was never chilled and he never offered (to be fair, we forgot about it and never asked).   We had maintenance issues and we had to call him as well.   He took our laundry back and forth.  Again, he got the job done, but it wasnt anything more than in a regular cabin.  There was no offer to bring coffee or anything else.   We did use room service for AM coffee and it was delivered on time by a member of the room service team, not the retreat team.   The retreat lounge seemed overwhelmed, and there were three retreat hosts and they also seemed very busy.    On the Beyond, the butlers served afternoon tea in the lounge and checked on you to be sure everything was OK, on the Edge it was self serve.    The reserved seats for Chic night was more administrative than personal.  Show your suite card and get in. Again, it was fine but not personal.

 

So, saying all that (sorry, long winded!), the main difference is in the level of personalization and connection.   We essentially got every perk on the Edge that we did on the Beyond, but it was without making connection and sometimes having to do it ourselves, like ordering room service or stocking our fridge with takeaway soft drinks from the lounge, etc.   That was fine for us and it did the trick.  

 

BUT, the two takeaways for me are that Celebrity changed this without telling us and after we booked and paid.  Not fair.  And, it seems like the bubble is going to burst soon -- they all seemed overworked and overwhelmed.

 

As long as there are no more changes, I would book at SS again.  If they remove Luminae, Retreat deck, etc from SS then I'm gone!

 

Glad you have the head butler shown up and introduced herself.Mine didn’t show up until the last day and met him at the hallway.

[hcat]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

The gratuity is included in the price of the suite, not a separate line item.

wonder if the grat may eventually be reduced. Seems it is not the same level of service with the team plan. 

 

( We  were one and done with the SS..before the changes..did not suit us yet we paid the included suite grats plu$)

[terrydtx]

After we found out about the changes in the Butler service I sent an email to the Executive Offices about my concerns for our Apex cruise next week. I received a phone call from someone in that office to address my email. I was assured that we would have a team of 8-10 butlers to service the sky suites on the Apex cruise and that we would get the same level of service as in the past.  From what I have read so far, there are no teams of 8-10 butlers but more like 2 or 3, so my expectations next week are not very high.

[39august]

Looking forward to hearing about your experience next week, Terry. We are in Sky suite in 3 weeks on Equinox. 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

After we found out about the changes in the Butler service I sent an email to the Executive Offices about my concerns for our Apex cruise next week. I received a phone call from someone in that office to address my email. I was assured that we would have a team of 8-10 butlers to service the sky suites on the Apex cruise and that we would get the same level of service as in the past.  From what I have read so far, there are no teams of 8-10 butlers but more like 2 or 3, so my expectations next week are not very high.

Sounds like some one was referring to what was not what is.😂. 10 butlers for 146 Sky Suites is not far off from what it was before the change.

[terrydtx]

10 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Sounds like some one was referring to what was not what is.😂. 10 butlers for 146 Sky Suites is not far off from what it was before the change.

I agree, I was just saying what I was told by the always inconsistent Celebrity agents.

[Cruiser_Steven]

4 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I understand your point.  At the same time I can't imagine any business advertising a product like that and then telling you it might not work really well in remote locations.  I think their defense would be that in this day and age where we have had internet for years, people should be knowledgeable about how internet reception works.  Not saying it's the most customer friendly defense, but .....

If I was paying for 30 days Internet and there were transient issues, I’d agree. In this case, they were advertising premium Internet (specifically suggesting suitability for streaming) throughout the 7-day voyage which was unsuitable for its advertised/intended purpose for the entirety of the life of the product. If the product wasn’t what they intended to offer, they would have helped maintain their reputation by communicating their “standard” and that this was a “miss”. Yes, they have “defense” from a legalistic view, but most of us choose the products/services we spend our dollars on based on a company’s reputation.

 

I think the frustration many of us feel is that we thought we knew Celebrity’s standards and reputation and were willing to pay for the product we expected based upon past experiences and reputation. Obviously, there is a profit motive. Instead of simply offering the same product at a higher price, they’ve moved the bar and now offer an inferior product. If they had maintained the product-level and raised the price, we could make a fair decision if it was worth paying for. If I don’t know their new “standard”, I’m not willing to pay for it at any price.

 

McDonalds may have a crap product, but they’re wildly successful because everyone knows what to expect no matter where they visit a McDonalds location. Celebrity spent decades building their reputation based upon a consistent service offering that we were willing to pay for repeatedly (this was my 23rd cruise overall [I’m 54 and retiring this year, so most of my cruises are yet to come], 8 of my last 11 were on Celebrity). It was easy choosing Celebrity before because I knew what to expect. My next cruise will most likely NOT be on Celebrity because I believe there are better service offerings at Celebrity’s price level and I really don’t know what their product is anymore.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Cruiser_Steven

[Whinenowine]

6 hours ago, Raemk said:

 

Contrast to the Edge in August.  Our attendant introduced himself as "Retreat Team" which was on his name tag.  He said he just got a new title and to ask him for anything we needed.   In the end, the "retreat team" is a cabin attendant with a new title - and he wasnt only dedicated to suites but had a line of regular cabins to attend to.  The head butler came and introduced herself and said she is the boss of the retreat team and to call her if you are not getting what you need.   But it was clear we did not have a butler.  While our attendant did a good job, he was clearly exhausted.     No special treats, no fruit baskets, etc and he made it clear the mini bar, including soft drinks, was not included.     Again, he got the job done, but it wasnt anything more than in a regular cabin.  There was no offer to bring coffee or anything else.   We did use room service for AM coffee and it was delivered on time by a member of the room service team, not the retreat team.   The retreat lounge seemed overwhelmed, and there were three retreat hosts and they also seemed very busy.   

 

So, saying all that (sorry, long winded!), the main difference is in the level of personalization and connection.   We essentially got every perk on the Edge that we did on the Beyond, but it was without making connection and sometimes having to do it ourselves, like ordering room service or stocking our fridge with takeaway soft drinks from the lounge, etc.   That was fine for us and it did the trick.  

 

BUT, the two takeaways for me are that Celebrity changed this without telling us and after we booked and paid.  Not fair.  And, it seems like the bubble is going to burst soon -- they all seemed overworked and overwhelmed.

 

 

We just got off the Edge on Saturday and had a great cruise, despite the changes made by management.   We had two sky suites and our experience was almost identical to yours.  The steward was not a butler or host--despite what management wanted to call him...there is no value add there other than to overtax a hard working steward with additional responsibilities and expectations.  Similarly, the 3 Retreat Concierges were swamped--they worked their butts off, but were slow to respond to simple queries due to a lack of resources, I think due to a large increase in the volumes of requests. It seems unfair that the hard working staff have to bear the brunt of management's cost-cutting regime, but that's what's happening.  We went into the cruise eyes wide open, so it didn't take away from our enjoyment....I just hope the same can be said of the Edge staff negatively impacted by these changes.  Time will tell.

 

[zitsky]

5 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

We just got off the Edge on Saturday and had a great cruise, despite the changes made by management.   We had two sky suites and our experience was almost identical to yours.  The steward was not a butler or host--despite what management wanted to call him...there is no value add there other than to overtax a hard working steward with additional responsibilities and expectations.  Similarly, the 3 Retreat Concierges were swamped--they worked their butts off, but were slow to respond to simple queries due to a lack of resources, I think due to a large increase in the volumes of requests. It seems unfair that the hard working staff have to bear the brunt of management's cost-cutting regime, but that's what's happening.  We went into the cruise eyes wide open, so it didn't take away from our enjoyment....I just hope the same can be said of the Edge staff negatively impacted by these changes.  Time will tell.

 

I hope in the 18 months before my Millie sailing that Celebrity fixes their screwup.  If I didn’t lose my deposit we would consider dropping to Aqua like our December cruise.

[phoenix_dream]

8 hours ago, Cruiser_Steven said:

If I was paying for 30 days Internet and there were transient issues, I’d agree. In this case, they were advertising premium Internet (specifically suggesting suitability for streaming) throughout the 7-day voyage which was unsuitable for its advertised/intended purpose for the entirety of the life of the product. If the product wasn’t what they intended to offer, they would have helped maintain their reputation by communicating their “standard” and that this was a “miss”. Yes, they have “defense” from a legalistic view, but most of us choose the products/services we spend our dollars on based on a company’s reputation.

 

I think the frustration many of us feel is that we thought we knew Celebrity’s standards and reputation and were willing to pay for the product we expected based upon past experiences and reputation. Obviously, there is a profit motive. Instead of simply offering the same product at a higher price, they’ve moved the bar and now offer an inferior product. If they had maintained the product-level and raised the price, we could make a fair decision if it was worth paying for. If I don’t know their new “standard”, I’m not willing to pay for it at any price.

 

McDonalds may have a crap product, but they’re wildly successful because everyone knows what to expect no matter where they visit a McDonalds location. Celebrity spent decades building their reputation based upon a consistent service offering that we were willing to pay for repeatedly (this was my 23rd cruise overall [I’m 54 and retiring this year, so most of my cruises are yet to come], 8 of my last 11 were on Celebrity). It was easy choosing Celebrity before because I knew what to expect. My next cruise will most likely NOT be on Celebrity because I believe there are better service offerings at Celebrity’s price level and I really don’t know what their product is anymore.

Sounds like your issues go way beyond internet problems. You are not alone in that.

[spectres]

Just got off the Apex September 2’nd after a 12 night “Best of Scandinavia” cruise. Overall, very enjoyable, other than coming done with COVID our 1’st day back, so it had been gestating several days. Before commenting on changes, I will mention like a few others have said, we are very low maintenance. This was our first SS. The previous 5 Celebrity cruises were in RS. The only thing we asked of our butler then was keep the mini fridge stocked with our preferences. Some of what I list will be a restatement of thing’s previously mentioned.

 

1) The cabin steward is now the Retreat host. The only thing we asked of him was to clear out the fridge, which he immediately did.

 

2) The head butler dropped by day 4 to introduce himself. We never saw him after that.

 

3) On the Apex the Retreat Team is composed of 4 former butlers. We only made one small request of a hair appointment for my wife. But, I feel confident they would have diligently worked to fulfill any reasonable request. Three of the four individually approached me proactively to see if I needed anything done. I did observe they were run pretty ragged by the 20% who makes 80% of the requests.

 

4) Luminae was a disappointment. The staff was fantastic, but it was obvious they were feeling the stress of more limited and repetitive menus, and the guests reactions to such. Several times I elected to “go classic” with shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad and now sirloin steak rather than New York strip. The beef cuts were all excellent. I had been worried about this.

 

All in all, the cutbacks are noticeable, but didn’t really result in us feeling the experience was devalued, to any great degree. I am however, closely watching what comes next. We have 4 cruises currently booked- 2 on Regent, 1 Oceania, and 1 Celebrity to Japan in late 2024. Even though it’s a non refundable deposit, I am definitely willing to cancel if this trend continues.

Be glad to answer any questions.

[zitsky]

3 hours ago, spectres said:

Just got off the Apex September 2’nd after a 12 night “Best of Scandinavia” cruise. Overall, very enjoyable, other than coming done with COVID our 1’st day back, so it had been gestating several days. Before commenting on changes, I will mention like a few others have said, we are very low maintenance. This was our first SS. The previous 5 Celebrity cruises were in RS. The only thing we asked of our butler then was keep the mini fridge stocked with our preferences. Some of what I list will be a restatement of thing’s previously mentioned.

 

1) The cabin steward is now the Retreat host. The only thing we asked of him was to clear out the fridge, which he immediately did.

 

2) The head butler dropped by day 4 to introduce himself. We never saw him after that.

 

3) On the Apex the Retreat Team is composed of 4 former butlers. We only made one small request of a hair appointment for my wife. But, I feel confident they would have diligently worked to fulfill any reasonable request. Three of the four individually approached me proactively to see if I needed anything done. I did observe they were run pretty ragged by the 20% who makes 80% of the requests.

 

4) Luminae was a disappointment. The staff was fantastic, but it was obvious they were feeling the stress of more limited and repetitive menus, and the guests reactions to such. Several times I elected to “go classic” with shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad and now sirloin steak rather than New York strip. The beef cuts were all excellent. I had been worried about this.

 

All in all, the cutbacks are noticeable, but didn’t really result in us feeling the experience was devalued, to any great degree. I am however, closely watching what comes next. We have 4 cruises currently booked- 2 on Regent, 1 Oceania, and 1 Celebrity to Japan in late 2024. Even though it’s a non refundable deposit, I am definitely willing to cancel if this trend continues.

Be glad to answer any questions.

Your Japan 2024?  How late is it?  Husband wants to do that but we were thinking spring.  Not sure about weather.  Thanks.

[micruiser2002]

On 9/4/2023 at 10:04 PM, zitsky said:

I hope in the 18 months before my Millie sailing that Celebrity fixes their screwup.  If I didn’t lose my deposit we would consider dropping to Aqua like our December cruise.

Have you checked on that?  I do not think if you stay on the exact sailing and just want to downgrade your cabin category that there is any penalty.

[Cap_D]

Thank you for sharing.

 

Not sure why anyone would book Celebrity Retreat after reading the above reviews, and Knowing what we know from the other threads.  Even the thread I started about super awesome experienced has not netted anything Retreat related from after the cuts.  It just seems so pedestrian and as if they are asking to be criticized.  Not one report of a surprised positive moment, no observations of unique human interactions other than empathy with overworked room attendants, and so on. 

 

I'm hoping someone will take some video of how ridiculous the cutbacks are with the price paid and post it to social media like Celebrity's Instagram feed where the cutbacks don't appear in their publicity shots. 

 

@terrydtx, I am very much looking forward to your report, and hope you have a relaxing trip despite the situation.