Sky Suite Personal Butler

[ScottC4746]

My PCC at X and I were discussing when I booked my Sky Suite for Alaska 2022.  He said they changed the butlers so it is 1:1 ratio.  What exactly does a butler on X do?  I am reminded of the scene in Clue where Tim Curry is asked what a butler does and he response that he buttles. 

[TeeRick]

There are lots of posts here on the Celebrity board on butlers with exactly your question if you do a search.   A butler will be your personal assistant working in a team with your room steward and the Retreat concierge to pretty much do anything you want within reason.  Or you could choose not to use a butler at all.

[jelayne]

I think you may have been given incorrect information.  The ratio of suites to Butlers is about 12 suites per butler.  For the high end suites it may be a little lower.  At this time of being deeply in debt I can’t imagine the cost for a Butler for every suite would be realistic.

 

keep in mind most of the call center staff have never been on a ship rely on written marketing material for much of their info.

[wrk2cruise]

I think the rep misunderstood the "personal butler" which means he/she will take care of your personal requests where the cabin steward will take care of the cabin.

[GlobalMethod]

42 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

My PCC at X and I were discussing when I booked my Sky Suite for Alaska 2022.  He said they changed the butlers so it is 1:1 ratio.  What exactly does a butler on X do?  I am reminded of the scene in Clue where Tim Curry is asked what a butler does and he response that he buttles. 

Good one! ... 🙂 ... We generally get a balcony since we've done enough cruises with our primary cruise company that they wash our clothes and shine our shoes ... that is plenty of service for us.

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, ScottC4746 said:

My PCC at X and I were discussing when I booked my Sky Suite for Alaska 2022.  He said they changed the butlers so it is 1:1 ratio.  What exactly does a butler on X do?  I am reminded of the scene in Clue where Tim Curry is asked what a butler does and he response that he buttles. 

Sorry but there is no way the Celebrity rep told you that the butlers are a 1:1 ratio.  I know we can get different answers to the same question but this one just does not compute

[ScottC4746]

4 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Sorry but there is no way the Celebrity rep told you that the butlers are a 1:1 ratio.  I know we can get different answers to the same question but this one just does not compute

Well that is what he said and the words coming out of the telephone receiver to my ear.

[CalTexCruiser]

When we sailed on the Royal suite in 2019 before the pandemic shutdown, our butler serviced multiple suites, including lower level suites (so even for a higher level suite there is no 1:1 butler assignment).

 

Our butler delivered afternoon snacks, delivered breakfast room service, prepared a graduation gift for our daughter, made sure our room was free of room service clutter throughout the day, attended to our laundry service on multiple days, restocked our mini-fridge with beer/soda/water (note that free laundry service and mini-fridge restocking are Royal suite and above perks).

 

You can also ask your butler to unpack your bags (not something we're comfortable with).

[39august]

Butlers will make reservations for specialty dining if you do not wish to do so yourself. We request a cheese platter with good crackers, no soda crackers, to be left in our suite every evening. I had to request a make up mirror, as there was none in the desk when we arrived. 

[LGW59]

4 minutes ago, 39august said:

Butlers will make reservations for specialty dining if you do not wish to do so yourself. We request a cheese platter with good crackers, no soda crackers, to be left in our suite every evening. I had to request a make up mirror, as there was none in the desk when we arrived. 

Celebrity butler are THE best!!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

1 hour ago, ScottC4746 said:

Well that is what he said and the words coming out of the telephone receiver to my ear.

 

That may have been what the rep said, but that does not make it gospel.  Many reps are very poorly informed.  I can assure you that you will not have your own personal butler, even if you sail in the penthouse.  Butlers are assigned to several suites.

[drakes2]

2 hours ago, jelayne said:

keep in mind most of the call center staff have never been on a ship rely on written marketing material for much of their info.

I never knew that. Many years ago I asked an agent some info about a cruise and her response was she had never cruised and couldn't afford it. 

[Denny01]

This bad info is one of the many reasons I use a local TA who has an office and has been in different levels of Travel planning, I call that a Professional Travel Advisor. the 800/Internet ‘TAs’ are Booking Agents. The Agents working for a set line are more informed, but still their function is to book you and assist some focused on Their Products. 

 

I started with an 800 and then went internet because of the perceived deals. I usually pick a cruise on my own and now go to my TA and that works so much better. 

 

Our Oct 2022 Edge cruise will be our first Sky Suite experience. Decided it was time to give it a go and not worry that I’m spending 2+ cruise costs on 1. Most of the things you’ve mentioned about the Butler are things my room steward did for us on obtaining items. But don’t worry, I’ll give the Butler a shot helping with reservations and snacks I like and so on. You Know I don’t get enough to eat on these cruises and an afternoon snack will bide me over between the 6 or 7 dining experiences.

 

All I can say is, I can’t believe I’m in the situation to be able to do this. Not only cruise (a lot!) but now upgrade to what I don’t really need, but What The Heck!

 

Den

[George C]

20 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Celebrity butler are THE best!!

Some are excellent some are so so.

[LGW59]

9 minutes ago, George C said:

Some are excellent some are so so.

The so so has not been my experience 

[C-Dragons]

14 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

 

Our Oct 2022 Edge cruise will be our first Sky Suite experience. Decided it was time to give it a go and not worry that I’m spending 2+ cruise costs on 1. Most of the things you’ve mentioned about the Butler are things my room steward did for us on obtaining items. But don’t worry, I’ll give the Butler a shot helping with reservations and snacks I like and so on. You Know I don’t get enough to eat on these cruises and an afternoon snack will bide me over between the 6 or 7 dining experiences.

 

All I can say is, I can’t believe I’m in the situation to be able to do this. Not only cruise (a lot!) but now upgrade to what I don’t really need, but What The Heck!

 

Den

Den , there's a famous quote that says, “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough”.

 

[C-Dragons]

15 minutes ago, George C said:

Some are excellent some are so so.

Agreed.

But thinking back, I would probably attribute the not so excellent service to newly promoted Butlers. The best ones are “well seasoned”.

[ScottC4746]

I guess I should have said my PCC is a PCC with X so I would think they would have more accurate information than just a regular TA.

[C-Dragons]

2 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

I guess I should have said my PCC is a PCC with X so I would think they would have more accurate information than just a regular TA.

One would expect that to be true, but unfortunately that's not always the case.

[ECCruise]

3 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

I guess I should have said my PCC is a PCC with X so I would think they would have more accurate information than just a regular TA.

The reverse is largely true.

[George C]

20 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Agreed.

But thinking back, I would probably attribute the not so excellent service to newly promoted Butlers. The best ones are “well seasoned”.

I don’t think so , since my only so so was my last cruise in a royal suite which normally comes with the senior butlers I believe, had always liked the ones in sky and celebrity suites. Have another royal suite in July.

[jelayne]

16 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

I guess I should have said my PCC is a PCC with X so I would think they would have more accurate information than just a regular TA.

A good TA who specializes in cruises makes their living by understanding the product they are selling and have most likely been on many cruises on different cruise lines.  

 Call center personnel turn over frequently.  I have been assigned 5 PVP/PCCs in the past 2 years.   They don't rely on commission for the majority of their income and don't seem to receive great training.

[marieps]

2 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Sorry but there is no way the Celebrity rep told you that the butlers are a 1:1 ratio.  I know we can get different answers to the same question but this one just does not compute

More likely the phone rep misread the script.  To accuse the OP of mishearing is a stretch.   There may be "no way" there's a 1:1 ratio, but there's definitely a way a rep could get it wrong.  

[Oceangoer2]

3 hours ago, Denny01 said:

All I can say is, I can’t believe I’m in the situation to be able to do this. Not only cruise (a lot!) but now upgrade to what I don’t really need, but What The Heck!

Go for it.....ENJOY....!  At a certain age each of us 'needs' to get the best we can/cannot afford.  🤑 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Oceangoer2

[Oceangoer2]

2 hours ago, marieps said:

There may be "no way" there's a 1:1 ratio, but there's definitely a way a rep could get it wrong. 

Or....the rep could have misunderstood the question.  The butler IS one on one when dealing with the OP's cabin...then moves on to be the next suite's 1:1....😉👍