Question for Retreat experts

[Sunboater]

I am new to Celebrity and have 23 cruises previously, nothing higher than a balcony cabin. I am solo

 

I am also a newbie to a suite, a treat!!

 

My understanding is suite guests are provided with a butler.

 

Questions.

Is the butler assigned to a few cabins or the whole retreat?

Is the butler a replacement to the cabin steward and it only a title upgrade?

 

Tipping (And I don't want this thread to get into a tipping conflict)

 

When I move from Aqua Class to a suite, the daily tip increases, as part of the AQ fare the tipping was included, when you go to the suite, does the difference get added to my on-board account bill daily or the whole amount for the week?

 

I usually tip the steward $100wk above the standard ship gratuities (please don't debate this is my choice and I feel comfortable but it is what I can afford assuming I have had great service which I usually do), if there is a butler as well, is that included in the extra suite cost of tipping? 

 

If not included, I am looking for a guideline to extend to them at the end of the tip over and above the steward for both scenarios- if there tip is included and if it is not?

 

Again I am not sure what to expect. Everyone has their own opinion and I respect what is comfortable for you.

 

 

[George C]

You will have a butler and a room steward both service a number of suites. We tipped butler anywhere from 40 to 100 depending on service we normally tip room steward about 60. You will love the retreat lounge and suite restaurant Luminae. The outdoor retreat really depends on ship , it’s great on E class , very mediocre on M class. You also have a concierge who will help with anything, we tip him anywhere from 0 to 100 depending on service.

[39august]

Whether the difference in tip[s is added to your account depends on whether you got the suite as a move up bid or just upgraded. If upgraded, all suite amenities are included, which includes tips. 

[Jim_Iain]

Suites have both a room attendant and a butler.   The butler takes care of the surfaces (Water, breakfast, ice etc) and the Room attendant takes care of the room and bathroom.

 

The number of butlers vary by ship but normally their are between 4 - 8 per ship.    One recent cruise on Summit they had a shortage with butlers caused by  ending contracts and they got down to 2 for the entire ship.     They continued to provide excellent service but were really working hard.

 

Gratuity - I generally tip in the range of $5-10 per day dependent on service level.

Edited February 24, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[tcmagnum]

16 hours ago, Sunboater said:

I am new to Celebrity and have 23 cruises previously, nothing higher than a balcony cabin. I am solo

 

I am also a newbie to a suite, a treat!!

 

I'm glad you asked these questions - as we are looking at our first Retreat/Suite cruise next year on the Apex.  Didn't realize we will have both a room attendant and a butler.  

Wondering if one of you could also go into a little more detail on what is included with a Sky Suite? 

I know premium wi-fi and alcohol package and tips are included...

But what about any spa extras?  Specialty restaurants (we really enjoyed Tuscan Grille on our last cruise)?

I know on the Apex there is a separate pool deck for retreat and of course the retreat lounge and Luminae.

 

Any pointers you can share would be great.  We were able to visit a few of the Retreat areas on the Constellation and tour a Sky Suite - But we know that these are two very different ships.  But what we saw made us even more excited.

[39august]

Nothing for spa or specialty dining in Sky suites. But we like Luminae so much that we no longer do any specialties. If you ask 24 hrs. in advance in Luminae, you can get pretty much anything you wish. If the chef has the ingredients, he will make it. The last few cruises we have advised out waiters that we love Indian food and have been very pleasantly surprised to receive an extra Indian side dish for several meals. 

[George C]

Our sky suite on beyond was definitely nicer than M class, really nice bathroom with makeup mirror, chair, nice shower , toilet had separate door . While it isn’t standard our butler stocked our fridge with our choice of water , beer soda and replenished it . There is no Tuscan grill on E class there is a Tuscan restaurant but that isn’t a specialty, there is Le Petit Chef, Fine Cut a steak restaurant. My complaint which was totally my fault is we did a corner aft sky suite, which had a huge balcony but very long walk to retreat and Luminae. On port days Luminae is closed for lunch but outside retreat is open very small menu but food was good.

[Lastdance]

7 minutes ago, 39august said:

Nothing for spa or specialty dining in Sky suites. But we like Luminae so much that we no longer do any specialties. If you ask 24 hrs. in advance in Luminae, you can get pretty much anything you wish. If the chef has the ingredients, he will make it. The last few cruises we have advised out waiters that we love Indian food and have been very pleasantly surprised to receive an extra Indian side dish for several meals. 

Unfortunately, when I was on Apex for the fall TA, they would not even consider Chateaubriand for our anniversary; we always got it in the past.  I was told to ask for it in Fine Cut, but I chose not to go there on this trip.

[DCPIV]

2 hours ago, tcmagnum said:

Specialty restaurants

 

Specialty dining (other than Chef's Table) is included only for "higher suites" (i.e., above a Celebrity suite).

[George C]

22 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

 

Specialty dining (other than Chef's Table) is included only for "higher suites" (i.e., above a Celebrity suite).

Higher suites also get a liquor setup you get two liters of your choice along with a bottle of champagne, lower suites get a bottle of sparkling wine.

[blackshirt]

2 hours ago, tcmagnum said:

Wondering if one of you could also go into a little more detail on what is included with a Sky Suite? 

I know premium wi-fi and alcohol package and tips are included...

But what about any spa extras?  Specialty restaurants (we really enjoyed Tuscan Grille on our last cruise)?

As noted already, not included but your retreat reservation should include a significant amount of OBC which, of course, can be used for specialty dining or the spa.

[tcmagnum]

Thank you all for the information.

Yes, plenty of OBC to be used for specialty dining if we feel the need.

We did look at the menus each day at Luminae and would have been very happy to dine there most nights.

Not too worried about the liquor set up - with the drink package included, we will be good.

And we've looked at the layout of the Apex before deciding which room type/location to go with.  We would like to be kind of close to the Retreat area and Luminae.

Very excited to try out a new experience!!

[mac_tlc]

6 minutes ago, tcmagnum said:

Thank you all for the information.

Yes, plenty of OBC to be used for specialty dining if we feel the need.

We did look at the menus each day at Luminae and would have been very happy to dine there most nights.

Not too worried about the liquor set up - with the drink package included, we will be good.

And we've looked at the layout of the Apex before deciding which room type/location to go with.  We would like to be kind of close to the Retreat area and Luminae.

Very excited to try out a new experience!!

Our favorite location is deck 10 forward, right near the elevators. 10123 to be exact 😂. Don’t forget about the infamous “pole on some balconies”. As you look at the deck plans, the Sky Suites are in groups of four cabins. The outer two do not have the pole, the inner two do. For instance, 10123 and 10117 don’t have it, 10121 and 10119 do.

 

 

mac_tlc

[KKB]

10 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

 infamous “pole on some balconies”. 

mac_tlc

hmmmmmmmm

Interesting to be sure....

I think we will be good with our "regular" S1 suite....

[FlyGal25]

17 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Our favorite location is deck 10 forward, right near the elevators. 10123 to be exact 😂. Don’t forget about the infamous “pole on some balconies”. As you look at the deck plans, the Sky Suites are in groups of four cabins. The outer two do not have the pole, the inner two do. For instance, 10123 and 10117 don’t have it, 10121 and 10119 do.

 

 

mac_tlc

Do you have a pic of the infamous pole? I have never read about this. And of course, I am in room 10121. 😕

[jpsykes]

23 minutes ago, FlyGal25 said:

Do you have a pic of the infamous pole? I have never read about this. And of course, I am in room 10121. 😕

 

you can see poll in this review

 

[FlyGal25]

2 minutes ago, jpsykes said:

 

you can see poll in this review

 

Thanks. Not ideal, but we will be ok. We managed with the pole inside our room on the Solstice class ships so we will be fine. However, good to know for the future. 

[TeeRick]

Some Sky Suites are Aqua Sky Suites and have some Spa benefits I believe.

[terrydtx]

Our first retreat experience was on the Equinox, and we found both Murano and Tuscan grill to not be that much better than Luminae to justify the cover charge. In both cases the service was not even close to what we got in Luminae.  On our Apex cruise in September, we are only going to try Eden because it is unique to E Class and the rest of our dinning will be in Luminae.