Shilouette Retreat Quick Review

[Salf777]

So just got off the Shilouette and we had a sunset sky suite. Upon hearing the news that the were removing the butlers and having a team didnt bother us we tend not to really use a butler. 

 Well we never saw anyone from our  butler team. Upon boarding we went to the Retreat Lounge and explained that my wife has a medical issue and drinks a lot of water during the day. We asked if they could put extra bottles of the Evian and a few diet cokes for me in the room and the people at the lounge said NO PROBLEM. I asked the cost and they said no charge. When we went back to the room we saw the stateroom attendant and he said he doesnt have permission to do that without a charge. We told him the Retreat lounge people said it would be ok. He said fine let me call. He called and whoever answered the phone had no idea what he was talking about. So we just waited and later in the evening still no water. Walk back to the lunge and the people there said no problem we will take care of. Next day still nothing I walk down to the lounge again and ask and tip them and then later that day the water appeared. Now before people start saying these are ridiculous problems I offered and expected to pay and either way two days to get something in the room is just not great.

It seems all the work is being passed onto the stateroom attendant and poor communication makes the service feel less. Plus a lot of walking back and forth to the lounge just to have them call the attendant since we were in the very back of the ship on a higher deck and and the Retreat Lounge is front on deck 5. Poor planning on our part I guess. Other than that we never saw anyone from our Retreat "TEAM". Honestly we didnt need anything and if we did we were able to handle it ourselves. I dont know how to say it but the service just doesnt feel special anymore. I cant put my finger on why it just seems the staff cuts are actually effecting service. 

The Retreat sundeck the bartender was amazing. What i dont understand is why is there a kids club right there when they could have put a lounge there that has windows and is close to the sundeck???

Now we just found Celebrity and did 2 cruises on the Edge class in the retreat and maybe we were spoiled??? I knew and DID NOT expect the same Retreat area on this smaller ship but it felt less than. Maybe it was the ship maybe its the cutbacks I dont know.

I did look to book another cruise and apparently the Retreat for us anyway we just do Sky Suites, doesnt include gratuities or onboard credit any longer.

Three days on the Sundeck the topic of conversation between more experienced cruisers than us was how much better the service was on MSC Yacht Club. We have never experienced it but 3 different people were saying try it. They said outside the Yacht Club is a different feel than Celebrity but for the cost the the Yacht Club was far better. I cant speak to it but I wonder if Celebrity is aware that people on in the Retreat areas having discussion like this. On our first two cruises the topic was always how Celebrity is the best.

Anyway we had a nice cruise as anytine on a ship is better than being home. I am no cruise expert just thought I would share and gets some insight from others

 

 

[Cruise a holic]

8 minutes ago, Salf777 said:

So just got off the Shilouette and we had a sunset sky suite. Upon hearing the news that the were removing the butlers and having a team didnt bother us we tend not to really use a butler. 

 Well we never saw anyone from our  butler team. Upon boarding we went to the Retreat Lounge and explained that my wife has a medical issue and drinks a lot of water during the day. We asked if they could put extra bottles of the Evian and a few diet cokes for me in the room and the people at the lounge said NO PROBLEM. I asked the cost and they said no charge. When we went back to the room we saw the stateroom attendant and he said he doesnt have permission to do that without a charge. We told him the Retreat lounge people said it would be ok. He said fine let me call. He called and whoever answered the phone had no idea what he was talking about. So we just waited and later in the evening still no water. Walk back to the lunge and the people there said no problem we will take care of. Next day still nothing I walk down to the lounge again and ask and tip them and then later that day the water appeared. Now before people start saying these are ridiculous problems I offered and expected to pay and either way two days to get something in the room is just not great.

It seems all the work is being passed onto the stateroom attendant and poor communication makes the service feel less. Plus a lot of walking back and forth to the lounge just to have them call the attendant since we were in the very back of the ship on a higher deck and and the Retreat Lounge is front on deck 5. Poor planning on our part I guess. Other than that we never saw anyone from our Retreat "TEAM". Honestly we didnt need anything and if we did we were able to handle it ourselves. I dont know how to say it but the service just doesnt feel special anymore. I cant put my finger on why it just seems the staff cuts are actually effecting service. 

The Retreat sundeck the bartender was amazing. What i dont understand is why is there a kids club right there when they could have put a lounge there that has windows and is close to the sundeck???

Now we just found Celebrity and did 2 cruises on the Edge class in the retreat and maybe we were spoiled??? I knew and DID NOT expect the same Retreat area on this smaller ship but it felt less than. Maybe it was the ship maybe its the cutbacks I dont know.

I did look to book another cruise and apparently the Retreat for us anyway we just do Sky Suites, doesnt include gratuities or onboard credit any longer.

Three days on the Sundeck the topic of conversation between more experienced cruisers than us was how much better the service was on MSC Yacht Club. We have never experienced it but 3 different people were saying try it. They said outside the Yacht Club is a different feel than Celebrity but for the cost the the Yacht Club was far better. I cant speak to it but I wonder if Celebrity is aware that people on in the Retreat areas having discussion like this. On our first two cruises the topic was always how Celebrity is the best.

Anyway we had a nice cruise as anytine on a ship is better than being home. I am no cruise expert just thought I would share and gets some insight from others

 

 

I have a nephew who is trying out the MSC Yacht club in December.  He will report back to me- As far as the issue with water and soda, I never recall a butler, except when we sail in Royal suites, getting us any beverages.  We typically went to the Suite lounge and brought back all the water and soda we wanted and put it in our cooler.

 

 I agree, the Edge class ships have much better suite lounges and suite decks- but they are also more expensive.  We will be on the Silhouette for the third time this January. 

[chemmo]

Thank you for your review.

Promising to do something and then not delivering is definitely worse than if they had said “Sorry we don’t deliver water and soda to suites anymore but please take some now and come back for more as you need it”. I am not surprised you didn’t see anyone else from the ‘team’ if you didn’t ask for it. The new set up is definitely responsive rather than proactive….

 

I do understand what you mean when you say the service was “less than”…I remember having a slightly “”less than” cruise on Reflection one year. We tried to put our finger on what was wrong we came to the conclusion that it was a combination of several small things…

 

A butler who was less visible than usual…

Concierge staff in the lounge who greeted us as Mr and Mrs Ummm three days into the cruise.

Longer waits for drinks in the lounge, sometimes my husband’s lager being delivered immediately but then a wait for my Cosmopolitan…

A sommelier in Luminae who came over and said “Red or white” with one bottle of each in his hands.

Lack of attention to detail in the lounge (even when asked cognac coming in a tumbler)…

 

All really petty but all combined they did show a casualness which hadn’t been our usual experience. Hard to know if your experience is a consequence of change or simply a lack of attention to detail by the staff on board…
 

 

[Salf777]

5 minutes ago, chemmo said:

Thank you for your review.

Promising to do something and then not delivering is definitely worse than if they had said “Sorry we don’t deliver water and soda to suites anymore but please take some now and come back for more as you need it”. I am not surprised you didn’t see anyone else from the ‘team’ if you didn’t ask for it. The new set up is definitely responsive rather than proactive….

 

I do understand what you mean when you say the service was “less than”…I remember having a slightly “”less than” cruise on Reflection one year. We tried to put our finger on what was wrong we came to the conclusion that it was a combination of several small things…

 

A butler who was less visible than usual…

Concierge staff in the lounge who greeted us as Mr and Mrs Ummm three days into the cruise.

Longer waits for drinks in the lounge, sometimes my husband’s lager being delivered immediately but then a wait for my Cosmopolitan…

A sommelier in Luminae who came over and said “Red or white” with one bottle of each in his hands.

Lack of attention to detail in the lounge (even when asked cognac coming in a tumbler)…

 

All really petty but all combined they did show a casualness which hadn’t been our usual experience. Hard to know if your experience is a consequence of change or simply a lack of attention to detail by the staff on board…
 

 

Agreed 100%. It was a combination on several small things and I didnt want to sound critical as these are really minor issues so I too did not want to sound petty.

I was curious to hear from people as at some point these petty things are really what the cost is supposed to be for. In looking at the cost of future cruise the price has gone up substantially along with everything else in life, but it actually had me start wondering where is that point where the higher cost and less benefits and lackluster service  makes the Retreat not worth it???

[JDPCruisers]

9 minutes ago, chemmo said:

Thank you for your review.

Promising to do something and then not delivering is definitely worse than if they had said “Sorry we don’t deliver water and soda to suites anymore but please take some now and come back for more as you need it”. I am not surprised you didn’t see anyone else from the ‘team’ if you didn’t ask for it. The new set up is definitely responsive rather than proactive….

 

I do understand what you mean when you say the service was “less than”…I remember having a slightly “”less than” cruise on Reflection one year. We tried to put our finger on what was wrong we came to the conclusion that it was a combination of several small things…

 

A butler who was less visible than usual…

Concierge staff in the lounge who greeted us as Mr and Mrs Ummm three days into the cruise.

Longer waits for drinks in the lounge, sometimes my husband’s lager being delivered immediately but then a wait for my Cosmopolitan…

A sommelier in Luminae who came over and said “Red or white” with one bottle of each in his hands.

Lack of attention to detail in the lounge (even when asked cognac coming in a tumbler)…

 

All really petty but all combined they did show a casualness which hadn’t been our usual experience. Hard to know if your experience is a consequence of change or simply a lack of attention to detail by the staff on board…
 

 

I'll add my thanks for the review and how disappointing the most recent experiences reported on CC on the SS changes continue to be. I can say that on the number of cruises on X in SS and CS we have never encountered these issues, but we have not cruised since the changes. Not being personally greeted by the concierge into the cruise or a Luminae sommelier whose services extended to red or white and the casual approach is not something we would have even thought of experiencing in X suites/Retreat.   

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I just boarded the Silhouette yesterday.  Can't say I've experienced any of these issues.  Service has been very attentive and all I've encountered have addressed me by name.  I do stock up on water in the Retreat Lounge as I don't have a butler.  We had the filet in Luminae last night and it was excellent.  I have a lovely cabin attendant who has been very responsive to my few requests.  So I'm a happy camper.  I was a bit worried because of all the negative reviews lately.  

[S18278C]

Retreat on an edge class ship, awesome. Older retrofit, waste of money. Was a major disappointment, even the retreat deck is unusable at sea with the wind and no pool. Booked Ascent in Feb. All will be good again.

[George C]

We love MSc yacht club, I don’t think lack of butler would be a big thing. I do love retreat on E class , we also did a few in a royal suite on M class summit , there retreat was a joke , I understand a pool would be hard to add but they had no bartenders either in outdoor retreat . 

[DeltaJoe15]

Will be on the Silhouette Dec 04 in a SS  The Retreat is Deck 5 an 15  No big deal

[gold1953]

As for ' putting the kids club there' it is in that spot on all S class ships since the time they were built. The retreat was recently added to these ships. Sorry you expectations were not met and thanks for reporting

[Georgia_Peaches]

I can attest to the Yacht Club being a very fine product. MSC has this concept perfected. Other parts of the ship, outside YC, while beautiful, can be a crap shoot. Still we have very much enjoyed our MSC cruises. 
 

Op thanks for your review. I agree, I don’t think Celebrity would like hearing that the service felt “less than”. I hope you will let them know on your post cruise survey. 

[Keys Kathy]

17 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I just boarded the Silhouette yesterday.  Can't say I've experienced any of these issues.  Service has been very attentive and all I've encountered have addressed me by name.  I do stock up on water in the Retreat Lounge as I don't have a butler.  We had the filet in Luminae last night and it was excellent.  I have a lovely cabin attendant who has been very responsive to my few requests.  So I'm a happy camper.  I was a bit worried because of all the negative reviews lately.  

Linda,

Of course, your service was stellar! They all know you by your first name!

[Bejay219]

Service less than stellar? Yet Sky Suites pay the same gratuites as the highest suites, Penthouse to Iconic Suite.  I could handle less service for less gratuity, but to charge the same when Celebrity made the cuts to the Sky Suite, that's not right.  We will be on the Ascent for the madien voyage and the following week in a Sky Suite, will go in with an open mind, but if the service has been cut then that will be a factor in our future decisions. 

[chemmo]

17 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I just boarded the Silhouette yesterday.  Can't say I've experienced any of these issues.  Service has been very attentive and all I've encountered have addressed me by name.  I do stock up on water in the Retreat Lounge as I don't have a butler.  We had the filet in Luminae last night and it was excellent.  I have a lovely cabin attendant who has been very responsive to my few requests.  So I'm a happy camper.  I was a bit worried because of all the negative reviews lately.  

I think the difference between CC readers like ourselves and those that rarely or never read CC  is that there are likely to be issues about expectations…If they last cruised Celebrity before the changes and did have the minibar filled, snacks provided and a butler available they may be shocked on boarding now. I think this could be especially true if they last cruised when the ships were sailing at low capacity and butlers did have time to do little extra things like bringing drinks. Like you, I would board expecting changes and adjust accordingly!

 

So pleased you are enjoying your cruise so far…We loved Silhouette and are sad she is no longer cruising from the UK during the Summer season…