miched Posted July 9 #1 Share Posted July 9 Part of the email I received today about what the butler can do for you. interesting about the meals being served course by course. I have never received that. The food was dropped off on the table and that was it. Hope they now provide larger tables and better chairs. 3: We Will Make Reservations for You Whether you want to reserve a table at Luminae, the private restaurant exclusively for Retreat guests, or wish to dine in your suite, your Retreat Butler and team will act as your personal reservationist throughout your cruise. When dining in your suite, we’ll set the table, serve the meal course by course, then clean up afterward, while you enjoy a freshly made coffee or a glass of wine while gazing at the stars from your veranda. We will also book dining times at the other onboard specialty restaurants, as well as make appointments for spa treatments, fitness classes, and onboard special events such as cooking classes or lectures. We can also work with the onboard shore excursions team to arrange for Private Journeys excursions or Discovery Tours, or any other in-port sightseeing you might desire. Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisestitch Posted July 9 #2 Share Posted July 9 Ha ha….just their little joke 🤪 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DaKahuna Posted July 9 #3 Share Posted July 9 There are no reservations needed in Luminae. As a matter of face, with the possible exception of the higher end suites, I do not think they will even take reservations. Depending on the type of suite you have will determine what furniture you have. If you are in a Sky Suite on a ship that has been Revolutionized, there is definite no table large enough for a comfortable in room dining experience. As for in room dining being served course by course, that may happen in the upper end suites but it would be news to me if it did happen. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samplecd02 Posted July 9 #4 Share Posted July 9 28 minutes ago, DaKahuna said: There are no reservations needed in Luminae. As a matter of face, with the possible exception of the higher end suites, I do not think they will even take reservations. Depending on the type of suite you have will determine what furniture you have. If you are in a Sky Suite on a ship that has been Revolutionized, there is definite no table large enough for a comfortable in room dining experience. As for in room dining being served course by course, that may happen in the upper end suites but it would be news to me if it did happen. Course by course did not happen for us in our Edge Villa. But it was breakfast. He also had us leave it and he either picked it up while we were on excursion or in the case of the party before, he picked it up next morning. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George C Posted July 9 #5 Share Posted July 9 I know on our first and only penthouse the butler walked us over to introduce us to Luminae maitre d , when we had a dinner at fine cut he came over to make sure everything was ok. They definitely treat upper suites a little different, depending on the staff of course. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liao Posted July 9 #6 Share Posted July 9 4 hours ago, George C said: I know on our first and only penthouse the butler walked us over to introduce us to Luminae maitre d , when we had a dinner at fine cut he came over to make sure everything was ok. They definitely treat upper suites a little different, depending on the staff of course. When I was in the Edge Villa, mine did similiar. While it was not a Luminae reservation per se, he just said let me know what time you want to eat and your preferred table and I will take care of it. He also made my two reservations for Eden and both times, he came down to my table to see how I was enjoying my dinner. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHEZMARYLOU Posted July 9 #7 Share Posted July 9 We had dinner in our suite, think it was a RS on S class, from Tuscan. The butler served the appetizer and wine, then came back and cleared the table and served the entrees, afterwards he brought dessert. This was pre covid and we only did it once. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alakegirl Posted July 9 #8 Share Posted July 9 2 hours ago, cruisestitch said: Ha ha….just their little joke 🤪 I’ll bet that Celebrity copywriter thinks the butler can make reservations for you in the buffet, too 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DingoMom Posted July 10 #9 Share Posted July 10 I got the same email today as @miched for my upcoming Magic Carpet Sky Suite. I will not abuse the butler because Celebrity’s marketing is just plain stupid. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omahabob Posted July 10 #10 Share Posted July 10 Yes, the butler does it, in the dining room, with the candlestick. 1 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare chemmo Posted July 10 #11 Share Posted July 10 (edited) We have never asked for or had breakfast, lunch or a last minute dinner served course by course when in a RS or above. RS and above have unlimited speciality dining but there is no mention of this being included in suite. However, some cruises we have requested a special meal one evening. We have chatted with the butler about the food we want at least one day before and have received some lovely meals served course by course… 8 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said: We had dinner in our suite, think it was a RS on S class, from Tuscan. The butler served the appetizer and wine, then came back and cleared the table and served the entrees, afterwards he brought dessert. This was pre covid and we only did it once. This reflects our experience… Not something I would ask for or expect regularly. We see it as a treat not a right. If we asked and were refused we would accept it. Unfortunately there are some guests who can be ‘demanding’ expecting this level of service daily and last minute. Quite simply they then overwhelm what is a shared service. In our experience butlers love the ‘give us 24 hours’ to organise…If they know one suite between 7/8pm will need a bit more time they can juggle other duties. 4 hours ago, DingoMom said: I got the same email today as @miched for my upcoming Magic Carpet Sky Suite. I will not abuse the butler because Celebrity’s marketing is just plain stupid. Whilst I totally agree that none of us should abuse or over expect service from the butler in our experience they love setting up little treats. Friends of ours in a SS mentioned that the next day was their wedding anniversary and pre ordered breakfast. The butler arrived with the breakfast, flowers and champagne… Edited July 10 by chemmo 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted July 10 #12 Share Posted July 10 All you people in upper suites think you are so special. Well in a Sky Suite, our butler puts the breakfast order on the door handle for us. We don’t have to lift a finger. Try topping that, “real” suites”!!! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisestitch Posted July 10 #13 Share Posted July 10 This will be fun. Tell your Butler that you got an email that he or she will make reservations for you in Luminae and watch them try hard not to roll their eyes and grimace. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeRick Posted July 10 #14 Share Posted July 10 We were in a CS suite once on an S-class ship (Eclipse). My dw was sick with some respiratory thing (not Covid). She wanted to stay in the cabin for dinner and order from Luminae. Our Butler say he could not do this for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George C Posted July 10 #15 Share Posted July 10 Butler’s are normally great but my first royal suite , we asked for some extra glasses and snacks , we normally ask roll call people if there interested in seeing our upper suite , he wanted to know if they all had drink packages? Have done that many times since never was asked that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare chemmo Posted July 10 #16 Share Posted July 10 10 minutes ago, TeeRick said: We were in a CS suite once on an S-class ship (Eclipse). My dw was sick with some respiratory thing (not Covid). She wanted to stay in the cabin for dinner and order from Luminae. Our Butler say he could not do this for us. Definitely some butlers are more willing to go ‘above and beyond’ than others but sometimes the directive can come from above. On our last Silhouette cruise we became aware two sets of RS couples (related) were trying to run circles around the suite system. They were on the suite deck insisting that the waiter should get them full meals from Luminae. Constant repetition of ‘We are in Royal Suites….’ I wonder if on your cruise several guests were regularly ‘expecting’ to order room service from Luminae to the point it was putting pressure on both the restaurant and the butlers. It is in such circumstances that the M’D of Luminae or the Suite Manager may feel the need to intervene and simply say to all butlers ‘No Luminae room service’. This is why on my earlier thread I said we would always ‘request’ a special meal and accept if it is not offered. Quite simply the few over demanding can spoil reasonable requests from others. For those with long memories when suite perks were first introduced we asked why unlimited laundry had become ‘twice per cruise’. Our butler explained that there had been several occasions where larger family groups with one couple in a RS had been sending in multiple bags for the full family daily…We have cruised many times since and, as others will I am sure agree, have never had our laundry restricted but they do have the restriction rule in place if needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted July 10 #17 Share Posted July 10 27 minutes ago, chemmo said: Definitely some butlers are more willing to go ‘above and beyond’ than others but sometimes the directive can come from above. On our last Silhouette cruise we became aware two sets of RS couples (related) were trying to run circles around the suite system. They were on the suite deck insisting that the waiter should get them full meals from Luminae. Constant repetition of ‘We are in Royal Suites….’ I wonder if on your cruise several guests were regularly ‘expecting’ to order room service from Luminae to the point it was putting pressure on both the restaurant and the butlers. It is in such circumstances that the M’D of Luminae or the Suite Manager may feel the need to intervene and simply say to all butlers ‘No Luminae room service’. This is why on my earlier thread I said we would always ‘request’ a special meal and accept if it is not offered. Quite simply the few over demanding can spoil reasonable requests from others. For those with long memories when suite perks were first introduced we asked why unlimited laundry had become ‘twice per cruise’. Our butler explained that there had been several occasions where larger family groups with one couple in a RS had been sending in multiple bags for the full family daily…We have cruised many times since and, as others will I am sure agree, have never had our laundry restricted but they do have the restriction rule in place if needed. As someone who just booked my second Sky Suite, it is stories like this that make me ask myself “why bother”? It’s great to have the additional space but it seems even upper suites can’t get what they (reasonably) want on Celebrity. I think we are going back to Aqua for our next cruise. When you pay Sky Suite prices and see Aqua go below 40% of that, it makes you reconsider booking Sky Suite. The only thing we miss with Aqua is lunch on sea days. And last time we found the MDR perfectly acceptable for lunch. We will spend our money on the specialty restaurants and better alcohol instead of a bigger cabin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare chemmo Posted July 10 #18 Share Posted July 10 2 hours ago, zitsky said: As someone who just booked my second Sky Suite, it is stories like this that make me ask myself “why bother”? It’s great to have the additional space but it seems even upper suites can’t get what they (reasonably) want on Celebrity. I think we are going back to Aqua for our next cruise. When you pay Sky Suite prices and see Aqua go below 40% of that, it makes you reconsider booking Sky Suite. The only thing we miss with Aqua is lunch on sea days. And last time we found the MDR perfectly acceptable for lunch. We will spend our money on the specialty restaurants and better alcohol instead of a bigger cabin. I think a mistake guests can make is the thought that if you book a suite your cruise will be automatically better. It will only be better if the perks it offers are the things important to you. Many guests prefer speciality dining to Luminae or are happy with the MDR and find standard rooms a perfectly adequate size. As you say, the art is to look at your holiday $$$ and decide what to spend them on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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