Butler Team Service in SS - Please Post Current Cruisers Comments on your Experience.

[chemmo]

10 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

Ghostbusters...then walk to Al Bacio.  😉

 

There I was enjoying an adult evening beverage which is now down my front! Funniest post I have read in a long time!

 

Thanks for the laugh!

[8mma]

Does anyone know if Retreat guests are still escorted off the ship first when in Port?  That was a perk I always enjoyed and makes planning excursions easier.

We have a trip coming up and it would help to have that information.  Thanks in advance!

[albertb]

5 hours ago, 8mma said:

Does anyone know if Retreat guests are still escorted off the ship first when in Port?  That was a perk I always enjoyed and makes planning excursions easier.

We have a trip coming up and it would help to have that information.  Thanks in advance!

It is still happening on our current Apex cruise.

[JDPCruisers]

6 hours ago, albertb said:

It is still happening on our current Apex cruise.

Good to know for our Dec, next April and Sept cruises. Thanks.

[8mma]

6 hours ago, albertb said:

It is still happening on our current Apex cruise.

Thank you so much.  

Hope you are having a perfect cruise!

[Whinenowine]

On 9/20/2023 at 3:23 PM, chemmo said:

There I was enjoying an adult evening beverage which is now down my front! Funniest post I have read in a long time!

 

Thanks for the laugh!

Mon plaisir, Mr Chemmo.  You keep on posting your even-handed, well-thought-out, informative posts and I'll offer my one liners.  😁

[chemmo]

22 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

Mon plaisir, Mr Chemmo.  You keep on posting your even-handed, well-thought-out, informative posts and I'll offer my one liners.  😁

Just Mrs Chemmo now, sadly lost Mr Chemmo earlier this year….(we were a CC double act). Your posts are the sort we both used to love to share…I don’t know what he would have laughed at most, your post or my spilling my drink when reading it!

 

Sometimes a subtle one liner outweighs wordy posts by miles!

[Whinenowine]

3 hours ago, chemmo said:

Just Mrs Chemmo now, sadly lost Mr Chemmo earlier this year….(we were a CC double act). Your posts are the sort we both used to love to share…I don’t know what he would have laughed at most, your post or my spilling my drink when reading it!

 

Sometimes a subtle one liner outweighs wordy posts by miles!

Ah dammit, so sorry.  I recall that now--and the nice thread where hundreds posted their respects.  Apologizing for making your spill your adult beverage seems trivial by comparison now.  But our deal still holds for your value-add posts vs my one liners!  😁

[jean87510]

I wanted to thank the OP for starting this thread.  I was in a bit of a bind as I had the Reflection booked for a 6 day NYE cruise in 2024 in a sunset sky suite for $7500.  I didn't realize a few things at the time I booked a few months ago  1.  the cuts of the personal butler. 2.  No retreat deck and pool  3. Bimini is not a port I like.  Actually prefer Nassau!

 

I didn't know what to do as we had a non refundable deposit.  I knew my only logical option was to move it and take the $200 penalty.  I had my eye on a similar sailing out of New Orleans on the Brilliance in a GS which was $4100 during NYE 2024.  Yes an older ship BUT I love New Orleans port and itinerary was Progresso where I've never been, Cayman and Cozumel which were the same ports as the Reflection.  So I looked at my husband's work schedule and noted a 3 day cruise on the Reflection over Memorial Day weekend which we could transfer to.  We took a veranda GTY with no upgrades and it ended up even.  

 

I know people don't like when any negatives are posted.  However, these are very helpful.  I don't want to pay $7500 for a trip where I have to go to a lounge to load my refrigerator with free drinks.  I don't want to pay for a lounge to sit in when other ships have a retreat area.  I didn't research well before I originally purchased the NYE 2024 Reflection cruise.  Now I know and decided to stick with a regular Veranda which I will enjoy.  Eventually perhaps one day I will enjoy the Retreat and book the most expensive suite and have a private butler.  But for now, I'll stay with a regular veranda.  I still really like Celebrity and will still look for good deals.

[zitsky]

14 hours ago, jean87510 said:

I wanted to thank the OP for starting this thread.  I was in a bit of a bind as I had the Reflection booked for a 6 day NYE cruise in 2024 in a sunset sky suite for $7500.  I didn't realize a few things at the time I booked a few months ago  1.  the cuts of the personal butler. 2.  No retreat deck and pool  3. Bimini is not a port I like.  Actually prefer Nassau!

 

I didn't know what to do as we had a non refundable deposit.  I knew my only logical option was to move it and take the $200 penalty.  I had my eye on a similar sailing out of New Orleans on the Brilliance in a GS which was $4100 during NYE 2024.  Yes an older ship BUT I love New Orleans port and itinerary was Progresso where I've never been, Cayman and Cozumel which were the same ports as the Reflection.  So I looked at my husband's work schedule and noted a 3 day cruise on the Reflection over Memorial Day weekend which we could transfer to.  We took a veranda GTY with no upgrades and it ended up even.  

 

I know people don't like when any negatives are posted.  However, these are very helpful.  I don't want to pay $7500 for a trip where I have to go to a lounge to load my refrigerator with free drinks.  I don't want to pay for a lounge to sit in when other ships have a retreat area.  I didn't research well before I originally purchased the NYE 2024 Reflection cruise.  Now I know and decided to stick with a regular Veranda which I will enjoy.  Eventually perhaps one day I will enjoy the Retreat and book the most expensive suite and have a private butler.  But for now, I'll stay with a regular veranda.  I still really like Celebrity and will still look for good deals.

Did you lose your entire suite deposit or just the $200?

[micruiser2002]

14 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Did you lose your entire suite deposit or just the $200?

From everything I have read if you are just changing a booking and not cancelling it completely you do not lose your deposit.  You are only charged a change fee.

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

Did you lose your entire suite deposit or just the $200?

Only charged $200 because I moved it and didn't cancel.  I booked this cruise a while ago.  

[Suite Susie]

Just got off the Edge in a Sky Suite. We didn’t see a Butler at all and no explanation given by their absence. Our cabin steward did a great job, but it wasn’t quite the same as having a Butler as well. The Retreat team were very helpful, but I could never get an answer on the phone as they were too busy, so always had to queue up to speak to them. We did have a very enjoyable cruise, but cutbacks were very noticeable. The food in Luminae was disappointing, particularly breakfast and the dinner portions were very small and some odd things on the menu. Staff, service and entertainment were all good and Edge is a beautiful ship. Think this was our 11th Celebrity cruise, but will sadly be our last. Charging more, but giving you less is not what we signed up for. 

[piemom9397]

We're looking forward to our second time in a Sky Suite in 42 days! We tipped our butler extra at the end of our last cruise, and am curious -- I'm sure we'll do the same this trip. Do y'all know if the tip will be split amongst the team of butlers we'll have? It sounds to me that we might not get the same person each day. I'm not high maintenance by any stretch of the imagination; the only thing I asked of our butler on our last cruise is a cappuccino in the morning. 

 

Regardless, I'm withholding judgment of this whole change and hoping the cruise will be wonderful. It'll be better than being at work, amirite?! 🙂 

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, piemom9397 said:

 I'm not high maintenance by any stretch of the imagination; the only thing I asked of our butler on our last cruise is a cappuccino in the morning. 

 

 

Good luck with that as from what I understand, this is one of the things that are no longer being provided.

 

[Shellyd22]

23 minutes ago, Suite Susie said:

Just got off the Edge in a Sky Suite. We didn’t see a Butler at all and no explanation given by their absence. Our cabin steward did a great job, but it wasn’t quite the same as having a Butler as well. The Retreat team were very helpful, but I could never get an answer on the phone as they were too busy, so always had to queue up to speak to them. We did have a very enjoyable cruise, but cutbacks were very noticeable. The food in Luminae was disappointing, particularly breakfast and the dinner portions were very small and some odd things on the menu. Staff, service and entertainment were all good and Edge is a beautiful ship. Think this was our 11th Celebrity cruise, but will sadly be our last. Charging more, but giving you less is not what we signed up for. 

 

I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise but X should be ashamed of the false advertising they continue to promote on their bookings site. 

[abbydancer2003]

1 minute ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Good luck with that as from what I understand, this is one of the things that are no longer being provided.

 

It seems that the service level is varying between ships.  Hopefully feedback from people will make the service closer to what it was by the time I get to the Edge in 2025.  I hope everyone who notices a service drop puts it in their comments at the end of the cruise.

[Baynanno1]

 

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, abbydancer said:

It seems that the service level is varying between ships.  Hopefully feedback from people will make the service closer to what it was by the time I get to the Edge in 2025.  I hope everyone who notices a service drop puts it in their comments at the end of the cruise.

 

 Our only scheduled Celebrity cruise is Millennium in May in an Aqua Sky Suite.  Going to be interesting to compare with our April/May 2023 sailing in a Sky Suite on Millie.  Our Butler stopped by at least once a day to make sure things where going well and to ask if we needed anything. 

[Baynanno1]

We had a great cruise on Eclipse last December and have lowered our expectations for our cruise this month.

We do not appreciate paying for amenities and having them removed whether with or without any suggestion of compensation.

We will pack a cooler bag to transport our own drinks from the Retreat Lounge to our room, as it seems that is now also required.

We have five more booked . . . . decisions will be made during or after this month's cruise.

 

@DaKahuna apart from access to the Retreat Lounge and Luminae, it seemed from the video above that Aqua Sky Suites received better attention than a corner Sunset Sky Suite.

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, Baynanno1 said:

@DaKahuna apart from access to the Retreat Lounge and Luminae, it seemed from the video above that Aqua Sky Suites received better attention than a corner Sunset Sky Suite.

 

 We will see how it works our.  We have the aft Aqua Sky Suite next to the Penthouse so that may or may not work out in our favor as the Penthouse still has a dedicated butler.

 

 One of the best  Butler's we ever had was when we sailed on Reflection for a B2B in December 2021.  We had an aft corner Sky Suite on the first leg and a Celebrity Suite on the 2nd.  Our butler, Hilario, was amazing and never failed us.

 

[Cap_D]

@Baynanno1thank you for posting the video in appropriate threads.  

 

@terrydtx did you share your recent experience and I missed it?

 

[abbydancer2003]

22 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 We will see how it works our.  We have the aft Aqua Sky Suite next to the Penthouse so that may or may not work out in our favor as the Penthouse still has a dedicated butler.

 

 

 

For us, it will be very interesting.  We're on the Apex in December, but on the Connie in January in the same aft Aqua Sky suite that you have on the Mille.  I'll let you know if there's a difference.

Edited October 1, 2023 by abbydancer

[DaKahuna]

9 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

For us, it will be very interesting.  We're on the Apex in December, but on the Connie in January in the same aft Aqua Sky suite that you have on the Mille.  I'll let you know if there's a difference.

 

 My plan is to do a live report of my Millennium sailing in May so that will give you some sort of baseline, although a lot can change in 8 months.  For us whether we cruise again with Celebrity will be determined in large part by our next two cruises (MSC & Celebrity).

 

 

 

 

[CAicruiser]

35 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

@Baynanno1thank you for posting the video in appropriate threads.  

 

@terrydtx did you share your recent experience and I missed it?

 

Squeaky wheels get the oil.

That's why he is silence.