Mark_T

There is no sparkling water included in the classic package, the nearest would be club soda.

Pay close attention when they bring it to the table before they start to cook it so you can react if needed, our last Murano lobster on Eclipse earlier this year was a pitiful little scrap that was over-cooked by the time the waiter had added all the ingredients.

The pigeon had probably been added to the MDR menu so normal lines of communication were down...

There is similar language in the UK T&C... "5.3 Passengers under 18 years of age (or 21 years of age for US Passengers or Passengers embarking from a US port) must travel accompanied by their parents or a legal guardian. If one of the traveling minor’s parents is not cruising, a signed authorization letter – made in accordance with the laws of the country where the minor resides - from the absent parent authorizing the minor to travel has to be provided at the moment of booking." It is a standard requirement for any international travel out of the UK with a minor if only one parent is travelling, but it is something people are frequently unaware of.....

If you purchase the upgrade, the gratuity percentage will be added to your upgrade cost at the point of purchase.

Unless of course like many people you are already past final payment and have already spent the money only to have the product switched out from under you… This is the unacceptable part of all of these changes, way too many service reductions being imposed on paying guests who didn’t choose to sail with the product they are now left with…

I really do hope the 'Team' concept does amount to more than just new jackets for the room service staff... This does feel like they are going to have a Butler on duty in the Retreat Lounge, and to be honest, that is not a bad idea, it is something that MSC do and it does elevate the lounge service, but that isn't going to deliver the level of personalised service that existed prior to this change, nor is it going to incentivize the Team to engage with the guests directly as they will have no personal connection to them, nor it seems the knowledge and power to do the little extra things that are not explicitly listed for the SS suites...

Excellent news! glad to hear he is doing great. Sounds like a new TA, is something to add to the list... I know they are very common in the USA, but I would not want to work with a TA that is just operating on their own with no 'office' backup...

FWIW, when we were making our next reservation onboard Divina, the Cruise Consultant mentioned that the pricing and inclusions for UK and USA were usually cheaper than they offered to their home market in Italy... I've not fact-checked that though...

We already have Celebrity Millennium booked for Japan in April '25, but would prefer to be in YC, so just waiting for something to get released...

...been wondering the same thing...

Even if not booking new cruises with Celebrity many will still have existing future reservations not yet cancelled or not practical to cancel...

If the new Team removes these little personal touches that were always outside the official amenities, and you lose the 'just passing in the corridor' moments as the Team are not 'your Butler', then how is this new Butler Team going to be anything different to room service?

That will be part of the difference as well since the cruise prices do not get adjusted when there are sales on the cruise planner prices... ... nor do all cruises and markets necessarily get the same sales...

We cruised from Hong Kong to Singapore in December 2019, weather was great. In most cases though, the ports are not where you will want to be from a tourist perspective, so local DIY isn’t really practical. There are lots of independent tour operators available though if you don’t want to use the ships tours. I would caution that tours like the one to Siem Reap as best done on a land tour rather than from a cruise as there is much to see there but the distances make it arduous from the ship and very expensive. We had already done a Mekong River cruise a year or two before so not a problem for us. Also be prepared for last minute changes in Thailand as the current King is much more of a traditionalist than his father before him and tourists take a very distant last place behind his daily whims so it is not uncommon to arrive at a temple or palace and find it is closed.

I am expecting this to turn out to be room service with a different jacket and a close attention to the rules, so very much defense… After all, if this was going to be a good change, why limit it to the Sky Suits… wouldn’t everyone want the ‘Team’ service option?

That is where the long term damage is going to accrue... The changes over the first half of this year had little or no impact on Retreat guests, this butler change has no impact on those outside the Retreat, but all of these changes are teaching cruisers that there is nothing they can rely on when committing to a reservation up to 2 years in the future... We have a 2025 Japan cruise booked on Millennium which is hanging by a thread. Soon as MSC release their Asia cruises for 2025 we will make a decision, but if the prices are even remotely close to the 2024 season it will be a very simple decision. Celebrity will of course be happy if we cancel, as they are currently selling inside cabins for more than we paid for a C1...

Where do you draw the line..? Taken individually, you can say that almost all of the amenities are not 'that important'... The Retreat lounge can be empty half the time, so not that important... The Retreat sun deck isn't used by many either and doesn't even exist on all the ships so another one that isn't that important... Some don't enjoy Luminae, preferring Blu or even the more plain cuisine of the MDR and order from there instead, so probably not that important either... Once you start dissecting the service and experience that has been paid for and expected, you start down a very slippery slope...

Being annoyed at what Celebrity are doing doesn't mean we can't feel sympathy for those who are not getting their contracts renewed, but you have to consider that a cruise in the Retreat can be a 'bucket list' item for some and not something they will be able to repeat, and for others even going on a cruise at all can be a once in a lifetime experience, so these stealth service reductions can impact on people in very different ways...

Not everyone can just 'walk away', refundable deposits are not available in many markets and plenty of people will be beyond the final payment date as well... A lot of the frustration is down to this continuation of stealth changes with zero notice...

It is certain that there will not be a specific Butler assigned to the Sky Suites, that has been confirmed by Celebrity. What is not clear at the moment is what level of service could be expected from the replacement 'Retreat Team' which sounds more like 'Room Service' by another name...

True, even the frog eventually noticed what was going on and jumped away 🙂 ... and the escargot is reduced to a self-assembly kit, join the bits together and you might have enough to make one whole snail... They will keep nibbling away at the edges of all these services, only impacting a sub-set of the passengers each time until they reach a level where they can't fill the ship, then it just takes a little inventory management to fix that problem without changing service levels. This really is service level 'limbo dancing'...

Either of those will match to Gold on MSC.

It is not so very different in YC, I would suggest talking to the Maitra d' when you get on board and you'll find they are willing to do whatever they can to make the cruise a great experience for you, but the distance between the kitchens can make it impractical to just go grab something from the MDR, but they will prepare something different for you with a little notice.

It is certainly ironic that we are now considering returning to Regent again as they are offering better value, and a shipwide luxury experience. We started our cruising with Voyager, when the line was Radisson, not Regent.