Sky Suite Butlers

[Covepointcruiser]

5 hours ago, Gordoncruickshank said:

The butlers that were removed were either sacked or moved on to other duties so they no longer have enough to go round so they will bring them back on the newest ship first, the Ascent, and then introduce them to the others as they find butlers.

Didn’t believe any butlers were fired.   They were reassigned, if they were at the end of their contract they may have willingly left.   With the shortage of cruise ship employees, Celebrity would not have sacked anyone.

[Texed]

16 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Didn’t believe any butlers were fired.

 

Unfortunately, there were some butlers laid off.  It might have been that they did not want to take a reasignment. Hopefully. they will all return.

Edited February 12 by Texed

[Jeremiah1212]

31 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Didn’t believe any butlers were fired.   They were reassigned, if they were at the end of their contract they may have willingly left.   With the shortage of cruise ship employees, Celebrity would not have sacked anyone.

 

14 minutes ago, Texed said:

Unfortunately, there were some butlers laid off.  It might have been that they did not want to take a reasignment. Hopefully. they will all return.

 

When this was all unfolding Celebrity told TA's several times that no one was laid off. Most had taken other positions on Celebrity ships, some did move lines to Silversea (this occurred right at the same time Silver Nova started sailing) and a few were nearing the end of contracts. 

 

They also apparently had 2x more applicants for Ascent than they had open positions so I'm not sure the staffing  troubles that persisted in 2021/2022 are really in play today. 

[8mma]

5 hours ago, Boxerlover2 said:

I spoke to a nice woman from Celebrity’s Executive Office last week who said that the butler service will be available for Sky Suites for our upcoming sailing on Edge on 13 March.

That is such wonderful news.  We sail on Edge in May and we loved having our butler set up breakfast for us and all of the other wonderful things he or she did to make our trip amazing.  

So looking forward to having a butler again!

[gmbhardy]

So those of us who sailed in Sky Suites without butler service over the last little while were shafted. Par for the course in the cruise industry.

[Veinless]

And I expect to get shafted in two weeks on the Silhouette. Celebrity has become such trash.

[K Cross]

I love it when people describe Celebrity has trash... but continue to cruise with them. 

 

I'm currently sailing on the Edge, day 20 of a 22 cruise. Have 10 Celebrity cruises under my belt, always in a Sky Suite. We have a "team" supporting our Sky Suite. The service offered has been the BEST we have had compared to all other cruises. We are very low maintenance but the head butler checks in on us every day, sometimes multiple times a day asking what he can do for us. We started out getting out own soft drinks from the Retreat Lounge which we have always done on previous cruises. Somehow the Butler figured out what we were drinking and they mysteriously started to appear in our room every night when we returned from dinner. (I first assumed it was the cabin attendant bringing the drinks but later found it it was the Butler). Multiple changes to specialty restaurants were handled immediately with a simple phone call to the Retreat phone number. Having a dedicated butler would have made no difference whatsoever in the level of support we have received. 

 

With the changes being made it might be best to give Celebrity a chance before making a judgement.

[mac_tlc]

15 minutes ago, K Cross said:

I love it when people describe Celebrity has trash... but continue to cruise with them. 

 

I'm currently sailing on the Edge, day 20 of a 22 cruise. Have 10 Celebrity cruises under my belt, always in a Sky Suite. We have a "team" supporting our Sky Suite. The service offered has been the BEST we have had compared to all other cruises. We are very low maintenance but the head butler checks in on us every day, sometimes multiple times a day asking what he can do for us. We started out getting out own soft drinks from the Retreat Lounge which we have always done on previous cruises. Somehow the Butler figured out what we were drinking and they mysteriously started to appear in our room every night when we returned from dinner. (I first assumed it was the cabin attendant bringing the drinks but later found it it was the Butler). Multiple changes to specialty restaurants were handled immediately with a simple phone call to the Retreat phone number. Having a dedicated butler would have made no difference whatsoever in the level of support we have received. 

 

With the changes being made it might be best to give Celebrity a chance before making a judgement.

Glad it is working for you -- that's the way it should be. 

 

We saw our Head Butler on Ascent last month for about a minute and a half. Certainly never checked in with us ever.

 

I'll see if it's any different on Beyond next week.

 

As many of us have stated, it's not the change itself -- it's the mis-characterization of it, the lack of information given to booked guests and the fact that people booked based on one set of expectations but were given another. 

 

Obviously, even Celebrity now is admitting it was not the same experience. 

 

 

mac_tlc

[Liao]

43 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Glad it is working for you -- that's the way it should be. 

 

We saw our Head Butler on Ascent last month for about a minute and a half. Certainly never checked in with us ever.

 

I'll see if it's any different on Beyond next week.

 

As many of us have stated, it's not the change itself -- it's the mis-characterization of it, the lack of information given to booked guests and the fact that people booked based on one set of expectations but were given another. 

 

Obviously, even Celebrity now is admitting it was not the same experience. 

 

 

mac_tlc

I was on the Summit for 9 days in Dec. and had a fantastic butler, (Ronnie) who was very visible and available in all of the suites that he was responsibe for.  My room steward (Brian) was the absolute best I have ever had.  

[RichYak]

16 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

When this was all unfolding Celebrity told TA's several times that no one was laid off.

They also said that the Retreat Team concept was an enhancement. I'm not sure why you would take what they told TAs at face value.

[Gordoncruickshank]

17 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

They also apparently had 2x more applicants for Ascent than they had open positions so I'm not sure the staffing  troubles that persisted in 2021/2022 are really in play today. 

That is only for one ship. The rest will no doubt go to the Beyond which will probably be the next in line, then the Apex, then Edge. It will be at least April before they start on the S Class……

[zgscl]

What a cluster - another totally failed experiment by X management. Glad to see they are finally backtracking on this cut disguised as an “enhancement.” Fingers crossed that they backtrack on the solo pricing next. 
 

I wonder how much of a decline in sky suite bookings and service scores it took for them to change course on this. Of course it will take a long time for them to get all the butlers back in place even if no one left - lots of jobs to back fill. 

I totally understand that the pandemic was financially devastating to the travel industry, and costs increase over time, and the need to improve shareholder value, etc. X needs to figure out how to do this without alienating their customers. It’s just not sustainable to charge luxury prices far higher than any of the other premium cruise lines while cutting service levels back. There are way too many options out there (granted others made cuts too but at a fraction of the impact and price). 

[Jeremiah1212]

3 hours ago, RichYak said:

They also said that the Retreat Team concept was an enhancement. I'm not sure why you would take what they told TAs at face value.

I think on paper (and on Jason Liberty's paper -meaning the balance sheet) it did make sense. But during the last update they fully owned it wasn’t working across the fleet and as a result butlers were coming back for SS guests. 

[critterchick]

I had a chat with our butler from a cruise last year and he confirmed that they are coming back to all ships; he’s just waiting for his assignment. He was reassigned to a night shift duty, basically the Night Agent (for those who have watched that series). He’ll be happy to be back at the job for which he trained.

[Daleed77]

This is great news! We have a Celebrity suite this time (moveup win from a SS) and a SS in July for Alaska. We’ve only recently started sailed in suites after the E-class and their infinite verandas. I’m excited to have the experience. 
 

Dale

[abbydancer2003]

We’re on Beyond, and met our head butler on day 2.   He’s been very available ever since.  He told me edge class first.   He also said S class by late April.  
 

I also ran into an assistant waiter who’d been our last dedicated butler last spring.   He’s returning to his butler job early next month. Possibly the second week of March.  
 

[Veinless]

Any word what Celebrity is doing for folks in Sky Suites on S class in the interim? Other than laughing at taking money for a service, cutting the service, but keeping the money?

[Liao]

18 hours ago, Daleed77 said:

This is great news! We have a Celebrity suite this time (moveup win from a SS) and a SS in July for Alaska. We’ve only recently started sailed in suites after the E-class and their infinite verandas. I’m excited to have the experience. 
 

Dale

May I ask what ship?

[Daleed77]

22 minutes ago, Liao said:

May I ask what ship?

We are on the Ascent in March. And Edge in July. 

[Water babies]

So glad to hear this. We board Beyond on Monday, February 19 so I don't know if we'll have a dedicated Butler there yet, but fingers crossed.  I had just about resolved that this would be our last Sky Suite, on E-class at least, and maybe our last cruise on Celebrity. If Luminae is better than it was on the Apex in 2022, that and the return of the Butlers may change my mind. 

[CruisingTheWaves]

On 2/12/2024 at 9:17 AM, Boxerlover2 said:

I spoke to a nice woman from Celebrity’s Executive Office last week who said that the butler service will be available for Sky Suites for our upcoming sailing on Edge on 13 March.

We are on Apex March 9, hope we also have a butler! 

[mshaines]

2 hours ago, CruisingTheWaves said:

We are on Apex March 9, hope we also have a butler! 

@CruisingTheWaves.  Would appreciate if you would report back!  We sail on the 23rd of March.  Expect it to be a very full ship, so would be nice to have the more specialized attention.  

[CruisingTheWaves]

Just now, mshaines said:

@CruisingTheWaves.  Would appreciate if you would report back!  We sail on the 23rd of March.  Expect it to be a very full ship, so would be nice to have the more specialized attention.  

Sure! We have a full ship too. Looks like only 2 cabins still open.

[Leigh from ATL]

Hoping for some guidance for Equinox in June. We booked 20 days of back to back east west Med and SS after doing the Iceland Norway b2b on apex last summer. Loved Apex and have been on Equinox before but we are counting on having the butler service as we celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. Hoping we don’t fall victim to the numerous “tests” we have heard about on the Equinox over the past few years. Seems they like making that ship their “Guinea pig” for changes. Any feedback is appreciated   

[abbydancer2003]

11 hours ago, Leigh from ATL said:

Hoping for some guidance for Equinox in June. We booked 20 days of back to back east west Med and SS after doing the Iceland Norway b2b on apex last summer. Loved Apex and have been on Equinox before but we are counting on having the butler service as we celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. Hoping we don’t fall victim to the numerous “tests” we have heard about on the Equinox over the past few years. Seems they like making that ship their “Guinea pig” for changes. Any feedback is appreciated   

You'll probably have a dedicated butler if you're going in June.

 

And as for "tests" - nobody here knows.  At this point, Celebrity probably doesn't know.