Upper Suite Benefits

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

12 minutes ago, chemmo said:

Totally understand your perspective…you have chosen a room that will suit you.

 

For many higher suite guests, however, the butler service is important. We are older now, less mobile and enjoy having a butler to look after us…

 

In our ‘real life’ we are independent but enjoy on our cruises having a rest from making beds, cooking, cleaning…Having breakfast served in our room is a treat as is the occasional lunch or dinner if we are tired…

 

All of us who book suits may not do so for the same reason….The important thing is that all aspects of the suite experience should be met.

I can appreciate that.

 

Having said this, looks like I'll be burning one full sea day to track down robes (or PJs). I'll brush up on my sewing skills to embroider them myself (probably on the second sea day). 🤣

Edited November 11, 2022 by 4-2-N-8

[Relaxinginthesun]

8 hours ago, Beachlover1989 said:

We just got off Infinity today and had the most amazing butler, Walter! We’re back on Infinity in February, but sadly Walter is headed to Beyond before that. 

I have sailed with Walter before and he is absolutely amazing.  I am sailing on Infinity the week of Thanksgiving and it is Walter’s last cruise on Infinity and I can’t wait to sail with him before. He know I love Indian cuisine. My unexpected lunch by Walter on our last cruise.     

[phoenix_dream]

10 hours ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

Fair enough and more power to you.

 

I view an Edge Villa just as a nice balcony room. The proximity to what I want to use is also part of my decision.

 

Couldn't care less to have the other aspects that come with it.

Says someone with obviously way more money to play with than I have LOL.  For many of us staying in a suite, and especially a higher level suite is a real treat, and also for many a once in a lifetime event for which we really have to stretch our budget. 

[Midlo]

Been thinking about this thread and my recent cruise in a PH

on the Equinox. I feel like I owe it to our butler, Sebastian, to give him kudos for his exceptional service. Having had some good ones and mediocre ones, I want to say he was one of the best. He is a true professional. He is one of those who is always watching and thinking about what he can do by almost reading your mind to make your cruise exceptional.

He found out from the Maitre d at Murano that we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. I was trying to keep it low key and hadn’t said anything to anyone else. We came back to the room afterwards and it was filled with balloons and a big Happy Anniversary sign. He made everything seem effortless and almost as if I didn’t even need to  ask, he already knew! 

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

16 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Says someone with obviously way more money to play with than I have LOL.  For many of us staying in a suite, and especially a higher level suite is a real treat, and also for many a once in a lifetime event for which we really have to stretch our budget. 

I can appreciate that.

 

All I'm trying to say is that it appeared in this thread that a few were really down on service staff. I always am thankful for service staff, my own or others.

 

Was just my (admittedly dry) sense of humor pointing out what should be an easy life.

 

I read what seemed like some showing up and behaving like "cruise monarchy."

 

Service staff have lives, too. I am cognizant of that. I think a sense of humility can go a long way in garnering superior service, regardless of one's station in life.

 

Just an outside perspective. 

 

Peace and all that jazz.

[Smmessineo]

1 hour ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

I can appreciate that.

 

All I'm trying to say is that it appeared in this thread that a few were really down on service staff. I always am thankful for service staff, my own or others.

 

Was just my (admittedly dry) sense of humor pointing out what should be an easy life

 

I read what seemed like some showing up and behaving like "cruise monarchy."

 

Service staff have lives, too. I am cognizant of that. I think a sense of humility can go a long way in garnering superior service, regardless of one's station in life.

 

Just an outside perspective. 

 

Peace and all that jazz.

 

Deleted my post because it's not worth getting banned over 😄

Edited November 12, 2022 by Smmessineo

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, Smmessineo said:

 

Deleted my post because it's not worth getting banned over 😄

Ha ha! I didn't see your post, but know that it's not just you. I've had a few responses that I didn't bother posting either.

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

 

All I'm trying to say is that it appeared in this thread that a few were really down on service staff. I always am thankful for service staff, my own or others.

Perhaps service on board cruise ships is a little more nuanced. Included gratuities in a cruise fare, or gratuities charged to guest accounts during a cruise, go to paying wages of all staff and this minimum is guaranteed to every worker regardless of service provided.

“Tipping is a social norm that is economic in nature, in many cases the social norm of tipping has economic justification, as it solves some inefficiency and increases welfare. In particular, it can promote good service where other mechanisms fail to do so. “Norms of social behavior [eg. tipping] including ethical and moral codes. I (Arrow) suggest that they are reactions of society to compensate for market failures.”

   “University Level Look at Tipping as a Social Norm

Tipping has several different forms, : reward-tipping, price tipping, tipping-in advance, bribery-tipping, holiday-tipping and gift-tipping. The common feature of all forms of tipping is the voluntary and discretionary nature of the tip: the consumer is free to choose how much to tip, if at all. This definition excludes service charges [aka discretionary service charges] that are sometimes added to the bill (for example in many European countries), imposed gratuities (US restaurants often impose a 15-18 percent gratuity for large parties – usually six diners or more), [cruise ship imposed gratuities]and imposed tips (for example some tour packages include a certain amount that the consumer has to pay for tips). Indeed, these cases have little in common with voluntary tipping.”

   Tipping in advance was traditionally the way most people used to tip, to insure promptness and most service providers actually respond best to this form of tipping. Especially useful when one is competing for the attention of over-worked short staffed service providers.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23748777_The_Social_Norm_of_Tipping_A_Review

[bartnath]

Hopefully I'm not thread jacking here. We have our first upper suite (RS on the Beyond) trip coming up in February so I've following this thread and been taking notes. I'd like to pre-book some nights in the specialty restaurants, but have been met with some resistance from our TA. She seems to be of the impression that we can only book our first night ahead of time and the rest once we get on board. I'm worried there wont be any openings in Eden (or others). Should I be pressing this issue more? We haven't been contacted, as of yet, by the shoreside concierge.

[prmssk]

4 minutes ago, bartnath said:

Hopefully I'm not thread jacking here. We have our first upper suite (RS on the Beyond) trip coming up in February so I've following this thread and been taking notes. I'd like to pre-book some nights in the specialty restaurants, but have been met with some resistance from our TA. She seems to be of the impression that we can only book our first night ahead of time and the rest once we get on board. I'm worried there wont be any openings in Eden (or others). Should I be pressing this issue more? We haven't been contacted, as of yet, by the shoreside concierge.

You will want to book all the specialty dining reservations you know you will want through the shoreside concierge who will contact you 2-3 weeks before you sail.  We had no issues getting the reservations we wanted in those last couple weeks before we cruised.  Once on the ship, we personally had more difficulty changing a reservation (although others have had better luck making changes once on board).

[prmssk]

4 hours ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

I can appreciate that.

 

All I'm trying to say is that it appeared in this thread that a few were really down on service staff. I always am thankful for service staff, my own or others.

 

Was just my (admittedly dry) sense of humor pointing out what should be an easy life.

 

I read what seemed like some showing up and behaving like "cruise monarchy."

 

Service staff have lives, too. I am cognizant of that. I think a sense of humility can go a long way in garnering superior service, regardless of one's station in life.

 

Just an outside perspective. 

 

Peace and all that jazz.

I don't know if you are talking about my posts but we were kind and respectful in every interaction we had with our butler.  And our requests were not demanding or really asking for much (a fruit bowl, limes, room service twice).  And the one request we did make that I knew was a bigger ask (robes) was asked in a way that was made clear we were just asking what was possible and would accept no if it was not possible.  And my husband even still gave him some additional tip money despite the lack of good service.

 

That doesn't mean we have to be happy with whatever service (or lack thereof) that we received.  Even staff who have lives can still do their jobs well.  People who pay a lot of money for an upper suite should be able to expect a certain level of service.

[Midlo]

40 minutes ago, prmssk said:

You will want to book all the specialty dining reservations you know you will want through the shoreside concierge who will contact you 2-3 weeks before you sail.  We had no issues getting the reservations we wanted in those last couple weeks before we cruised.  Once on the ship, we personally had more difficulty changing a reservation (although others have had better luck making changes once on board).

 

[Midlo]

I’ve had vastly different experiences in plus or minus. Work through your butler and see what kind of connections he or she has. I’ve had the Matre d at Murano tell me that I could just show up any time and he would personally accommodate me because we were in a top suite. Other times no such luck. 

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

1 hour ago, prmssk said:

I don't know if you are talking about my posts but we were kind and respectful in every interaction we had with our butler.  And our requests were not demanding or really asking for much (a fruit bowl, limes, room service twice).  And the one request we did make that I knew was a bigger ask (robes) was asked in a way that was made clear we were just asking what was possible and would accept no if it was not possible.  And my husband even still gave him some additional tip money despite the lack of good service.

 

That doesn't mean we have to be happy with whatever service (or lack thereof) that we received.  Even staff who have lives can still do their jobs well.  People who pay a lot of money for an upper suite should be able to expect a certain level of service.

Not intended to you. Just a generalization.

 

This is just a message board. I accept that everyone has their own perspective.  I respect all perspectives.

 

I was only adding one other. 

 

Completely at peace. No uptight. 😀

[sbcs5390]

1 hour ago, bartnath said:

Hopefully I'm not thread jacking here. We have our first upper suite (RS on the Beyond) trip coming up in February so I've following this thread and been taking notes. I'd like to pre-book some nights in the specialty restaurants, but have been met with some resistance from our TA. She seems to be of the impression that we can only book our first night ahead of time and the rest once we get on board. I'm worried there wont be any openings in Eden (or others). Should I be pressing this issue more? We haven't been contacted, as of yet, by the shoreside concierge.

You’re welcome to call in to make your bookings even before the shoreside concierge contacts you. In my case they never contacted me. They claim they emailed but they didn’t get a response (not in my junk or inbox) and never bothered calling me. The number is 1-877-RETREAT

[wineoclock]

We were in a CS on Apex, & in previous PHs & never had an issue changing or getting speciality restaurants. We just asked our butler or concierge. 

[chemmo]

6 hours ago, wineoclock said:

We were in a CS on Apex, & in previous PHs & never had an issue changing or getting speciality restaurants. We just asked our butler or concierge. 

This really can be cruise dependent. We have been on S class cruises where from mid cruise they really were struggling to get upper suite guests into Murano. Equally we have been on cruises where all restaurants were easily available.
 

Personally we had no issues as we had pre booked but we were aware there were problems. So much depends on the number of pax with dining packages, the number of upper suite guests who prefer speciality dining to Luminae, the success of on board marketing….
 

Safest option is to try to anticipate what your speciality dining options are likely to be…pre booking and then modifying if necessary once on board.

[t18c97]

We had a RS  and wanted to change a reservation time at Tuscan, their response was we were a VIP and could come down whenever we wanted to. 

[morpheusofthesea]

51 minutes ago, t18c97 said:

We had a RS  and wanted to change a reservation time at Tuscan, their response was we were a VIP and could come down whenever we wanted to. 

Did it matter what class ship ?  We will find out next week on the Beyond. From a cursory look there are many more RS cabins, 43 compared to other Celebrity ships which might influence the VIP dining experience.

[Cruise Gopher]

Is pressing of garments included in the Penthouse suite? I bought a couple new dress shirts and don’t want to iron them before we go so was hoping they would press them for free for me. 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

1 hour ago, Cruise Gopher said:

Is pressing of garments included in the Penthouse suite? I bought a couple new dress shirts and don’t want to iron them before we go so was hoping they would press them for free for me. 

I believe that it is, though we've never asked. Can I assume that dry cleaning is available as well? I just don't want to chance too much to their "regular" laundry, at least knowing how it's turned out on some other ships: white socks come back grey, things shrink (wait, perhaps that was us swelling, lol...)

 

Tom

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

1 hour ago, Cruise Gopher said:

Is pressing of garments included in the Penthouse suite? I bought a couple new dress shirts and don’t want to iron them before we go so was hoping they would press them for free for me. 

 

Yes.

[C-Dragons]

20 hours ago, prmssk said:

…..

 

That doesn't mean we have to be happy with whatever service (or lack thereof) that we received.  Even staff who have lives can still do their jobs well.  People who pay a lot of money for an upper suite should be able to expect a certain level of service.

IMO, considering the increase in all Suite prices paid these days, everyone should expect “a certain level of service”. 😉

I agree wholeheartedly that no one should be happy with “whatever service” we receive.

I find this topic quite relevant. On our Apex cruise last week it was the first time in 20+ X cruises in Suites that we found our Butler to be so bad that we came very close to speaking to the Retreat Manager to request service from a different Butler. Instead we tried talking to him but he he admitted and insisted that he was doing what he considered was best for us, not what we wanted or even asked for. His attitude was quite insulting.

He received a smaller than our usual tip. We will rate him appropriately on the survey we just received from X.

 

[Relaxinginthesun]

23 hours ago, bartnath said:

Hopefully I'm not thread jacking here. We have our first upper suite (RS on the Beyond) trip coming up in February so I've following this thread and been taking notes. I'd like to pre-book some nights in the specialty restaurants, but have been met with some resistance from our TA. She seems to be of the impression that we can only book our first night ahead of time and the rest once we get on board. I'm worried there wont be any openings in Eden (or others). Should I be pressing this issue more? We haven't been contacted, as of yet, by the shoreside concierge.

  
Have sailed in RS several times and Star Class on RCCL and have never been denied date and time of a dinner request including changes made the same day. Only exception was Chefs Table on RCCL. But they only do that a couple of times each cruise. Also, the Shore Concierge will contact you directly 7-10 days before the cruise and you can make reservations through them. Also they will take your preferences for the mini-bar, bar set up, pillow preferences, etc.   
 

FYI. You will love Eden.  You will also really enjoy the RS. The bathroom is  amazing. DW and I  recently sailed on Apex. PM me is you would like some actual pics of the RS or have any question. 

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by Relaxinginthesun

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

43 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

IMO, considering the increase in all Suite prices paid these days, everyone should expect “a certain level of service”. 😉

I agree wholeheartedly that no one should be happy with “whatever service” we receive.

I find this topic quite relevant. On our Apex cruise last week it was the first time in 20+ X cruises in Suites that we found our Butler to be so bad that we came very close to speaking to the Retreat Manager to request service from a different Butler. Instead we tried talking to him but he he admitted and insisted that he was doing what he considered was best for us, not what we wanted or even asked for. His attitude was quite insulting.

He received a smaller than our usual tip. We will rate him appropriately on the survey we just received from X.

 

If I may straight away indicate that I respect everyone's perspective and decisions.

 

I, too, enjoy good service.

 

I will, however, state that from my perspective, from a perspective where service staff interact often with/support me, I personalize my interactions at all times. Then again, I'm just grateful for the simple things.

 

I bear in mind always that service staff are left alone for stretches of time around my personal belongings, toothbrushes, food preparations, food deliveries, cleaning/washing, etc.

 

If less than stellar from time to time, I always understand that I am interacting with someone who may have a different yardstick for measure of service. Or, maybe for that moment/hour/day, they may have been under stress.

 

On a cruise, I can't offer them time off, but I do at all times engage with a bit of humility and understanding. 

 

I can understand that for some, maybe they can't do Iconic or Edge Villas whenever they like. Perhaps I'd be somewhat let down if I had these staterooms only for a once a year trip and the level of service left me wanting.

 

But, I'd again at least bear in mind the (possible) consequences of a distraught/dismayed person left alone around my food/belongings/etc, and engage them accordingly.

 

Never a day or reason to be uptight. Live, love, life is a beautiful thing.

 

Just another perspective. 

 

Much peace to all. 😎