thebutlerdidit

Never mind - done through app!

The website won’t let me log in after cancelling the upgrade. If booked through the app can I use my OBC?

We found our bag underneath the laundry bag in our SS suite earlier this month. It was on my list of things to ask about. We never met the head butler, and had a so-so room steward. It was the first time I haven’t felt that an extra gratuity was earned.

The app still shows show times at 7:00 and 9:00 on Summit, too.

The app shows 7:00 and 9:00 for the shows for the current cruise. Where did you hear about a time change?

Yes, 2151 was us! I believe the maitre’d was Antonio. “As in Antonio Banderas”, is what he told us. 😀 Can I ask if you received a special box of chocolates on the Chic evening? We did in our Sky Suite on Millennium in April, but not this time.

I was wary of the description of that dish and avoided. How common is “roasted ribeye”? When the ribeye served in Blu is fabulous, why not choose to at least match that quality in Luminae?

I was in one of the corner Sunset Sky Suites 10/8 - 10/14. Ian helped me set up my WiFi service on the first day , and he helped me again when I had an issue with it. Honestly, after the second day I never saw him again. Gazelle was a rock star in my opinion. I had asked our “retreat host”, aka room steward, to switch our sparkling for a Pinot noir or red blend and it was not done. I took the issue to Gazelle and she made it happen. In Grand Cayman she also plucked us out as we were headed to the back of an extremely long line waiting to go through security to get to the ship and brought us to the front of the line. And again, when I came to the lounge for help filling out the online form for the luggage valet, she literally ran down to I think she said deck 2 to grab the proper form. She was panting when she got back. I never met a butler, and had trouble getting ahold of him. I was 0 for 3 calls with nobody answering the phone after dialing the head butler’s number. After the third call I eventually got a call back from Gazelle. She said it rings to the retreat lounge if it goes unanswered by the butler. We were ultimately unable to get a reservation at Le Petit Chef. The butler system was a fail for us.

I cruised on the Equinox last week, and I also never saw or heard from a butler. I called the head butler’s extension 3 times because I had requests and the phone was never answered. There was no option to leave a message for the butler team. I finally got through to the head butler’s number to ask if we could get a reservation at Le Petit Chef for either early or late seating, but by that time there were only 2 days left in the cruise. Around 2:30 we called back from a courtesy phone to ask if he had made us a reservation and it was a no. There was no benefit to us from the butler team. None. Gazelle in the retreat lounge ran her azz off trying to juggle requests.

I was on this cruise, and didn’t notice anything that made me think Equinox was in bad shape. I was in a suite, but ordered the prime rib from the main dining room on the first night and it was very good. I can’t comment on the buffet as I never even did a walk-through. I did notice the abbreviated hours on the buffet, such as not opening for dinner until 6:00. All of the other dining rooms seem to open by 5:30 or so.

My sister and I both received notice of a $99.75 charge from Celebrity on day 1. It was just a hold to verify that our accounts were active and had funds available.

Yikes, I guess I’d call. Maybe go through your emails though and make sure you didn’t accidentally place an Oceanview bid.

I can see where that might be the case if you booked under the promo where you received “Up to $800” per stateroom. It was partly based on the number of people in the cabin. 2 people per cabin received $200, 4 people received $400.

Who knows? In the Webinar, Laura laid out an example for us: You want your tea at 3:00, your friend wants their tea at 3:00, and do does another friend. Obviously, your butler can’t deliver tea to 3 cabins at the same time! Oh, but we fixed it! We will use a team of butlers! Between them they’ll get it done! Sounds good, right? Except…it sounds like you can’t request tea, or anything really, at a specific time any more. You can call room service, and room service delivers your tea at whatever time they can get it together. Butlers are not delivering anything. Does Laura think that they are? Isn’t this what happens for passengers sailing in every cabin category on the ship? Call and request what you want, your order is placed in the queue, and it’ll be delivered when it’s ready. Alternative: Go to the Retreat Lounge and fetch your own tea and snacks. I guess that’s where the butler team hangs out? And while there, cart some beverages back. It’s so tacky asking suite passengers to grab and go.

Thebutlerdidit goes back to my very first email address; I’ve used it a lot through the years. 😂

Larger room, Luminae, and no room service fee.

When arriving back to the ship after an excursion feeling overheated, tired, and hungry, and finding the buffet all but shut down, we were irritated to realize that we’d need to order from room service and face a lengthy wait. Instead, we got back to our rooms and had fruit, cheese, and little crunchy breadsticks waiting for us! It was just what was needed, and it was supplied by our thoughtful, dedicated butler who had anticipated our needs. I was so thankful, and let him know he’d really made our day. This was on Millennium in April. Service like this is GONE. The Retreat concept has really devolved, and saying it hasn’t doesn’t make it true.

I put more stock in reviews from people who pay for the item or service. I’d be willing to overlook a lot of issues if cruising on someone else’s dime.

Thanks for mentioning this. I watched and it was about what I thought would happen when they simply started calling the stateroom attendant your Retreat Host. This video highlights the downgraded service quite nicely, especially on the heels of that Power Up webinar where it was stated that nothing had changed at all, in fact it’s so much better now. Spin city, Laura.

I would hate to experience crew having to cajole passengers for tips as they do now for a “10” rating on the post-cruise survey. They may lose employees over this issue.

I suspected as much but couldn’t confirm. Semi off-topic, I also see a Taste of Naples: Hands-on Pizza Class on day 5 offered for $72 onboard (unsure whether gratuity is added), 5% off pre-cruise. Also a Taste of Britain: Make and Decorate Cake Class on day 2 at the same price point. New and exciting ways to help us lighten our wallets! 🍕 🎂

I will be on a 6 night next week and the app shows lunch in Tuscan on day 2, a sea day.

It seems that there’s no set protocol for this. It felt welcoming to be recognized as a Retreat guest prior to arrival. Now that I haven’t been, it feels less special.

I cruise on Equinox in a week. Many activities are already listed in the app. What’s this all about? It’s in the Oceanview Cafe on a sea day and there’s a fee. This feels like another money grab to me.

I’ll be boarding the Equinox in a week and haven’t yet received the Retreat communication that I received prior to my Sky Suite sailing on Millennium in April. The one asking about any special events, preference of welcome bottle of wine etc. Has this been cut from Sky Suites along with the loss of an assigned butler?