Sailed on the Silhouette September 2023 in a Sunset Sky Suite. I agree exactly with all the detailed points you made about the revised 'Butler' service. The stateroom attendants have little idea of the role of butler they have added to their responsibilities. We have travelled in suite class including both royal suites and aqua class sky suites with full butler service and there is no comparison with the current offering for Sky suites. Lets hope Celebrity listen to what is being said and review this new arrangement.
My husband and I have cruised on Celebrity Cruise line for years. We have experienced all levels of rooms, from inside cabins, to Port holes, to balcony, Agua class and the last 4 cruises the Celebrity Suite. We would never go back to anything less then the Celebrity Suite. It is one up from your Sky Suite, but the service is 10 times better. Yes, it is more expensive, but at our age (76, 75) we feel it is worth it. We will be sailing on the Ascent in 2024. I will let you know if there is a marked difference in service and perks because we have had the whole experienced in The Retreat. Now it seems I have been reading that all the cruise line guest have been experienceing the lack of service because there isn't enough help and since everything is more expensive, food, fuel, etc the service is not up to snuff. We shall see.
Would you suggest Aqua Class or Sky Suite? We love the Blu Cafe and can't imagine the food is worth the higher price? We appreciate your comments and are older than you two are.
Thanks for you perspective Zach. We have sailed Retreat 4 or 5 times before the cutbacks that you experienced. It was worth every penny. BUT we won’t get to see the cutbacks until December when we sail in Retreat on Apex. If I experience what you did on Reflection then it will be our last on Celebrity. I hope they get their stuff together.
We just got off Celebrity Beyond in an aft Sky Suite. The team butler sales pitch on Celebrity is a total downgrade. So we basically had no butler service. They are cutting back now…..this was 9/18 sailing.
We were in a sky suite on the Beyond that sailed 9/18. The experience was very different from our previous times sailing in a sky suite. We don’t ask a lot of the butler or state room host either. We asked for the mini bar to be emptied as well and they emptied it but put the items on the dresser. Had to ask them to remove them so we could use the space. We noticed the room service menu for breakfast didn’t offer as much variety. Use to be able to get lox for breakfast. Luminae was not as good as what we have previously experienced. We are looking at Regeant or Silver Seas for our next cruise. We were very disappointed.
One of my complaints was I couldn’t get more water left in my stateroom until I complained. It’s the one thing I asked for from the room attendant on embarkation day. I would always bring water bottles back from the retreat lounge but I should have to go in search of water at 10pm at night.
I sailed in a Sunset Veranda next to a sky suite on Beyond 12/2022 and I remember the butler would be knocking on their door all the time that it became almost annoying to me when I was reading a book or just relaxing in my cabin. I am sorry to hear about your experience and I hope you did get some compensation especially for the guy telling you that you would never see him again, he works in an office. WTF. If I paid $8K and someone told me that on embarkation day, I probably would have downgraded to a Sunset Veranda or just have gotten off the ship. I don't feel that dining at luminae is worth 8K. I would have been happy dining at Raw on 5 the entire trip. lol. Sounds like you got a Veranda experience at a Retreat price. Super disappointed in Celebrity.
I greatly appreciate this review. I love your vids. Just goes to show how companies are cutting back, overworking the "lower man on the totem pole" just to save a buck. Management that barely lifts a finger to help their over worked staff until passengers complain. I would not have paid $8k for this. It just didn't seem worth it. I would highly, highly recommend MSC Yacht Club for less and with way more amenities. We paid about $5800 for 2 of us...a 7 night in June 2023 out of Port Canaveral on Seaside in a balcony suite. Our butler was outstanding, we had our own dining area, lounging deck, open bar nearly 24 hours, almost everything included in the mini fridge including snacks, daily snack service, free room service, free bottle of wine or hard liquor, turn down twice a day with amazing chocolates, afternoon tea, a whole separate area on the private island, free wifi, free drinks, separate pool with separate breakfast and lunch buffet and so much more! I would check it out.
I hope Celebrity is paying attention to this video. I knew the change in Butler responsibilities to a team approach was nothing but a shell game to obscure the fact that there are no butlers for sky suites guests anymore. There are a substantial number of Celebrity Retreat customers who watch this video and follow Zach’s recommendations…. I chose Celebrity and the Apex in particular based on his recommendations. I am scheduled for the Retreat on Apex in 2024 and this will be my first cruise. If the issues Zach mentioned happen on my cruise then this will be my last cruise on the Celebrity line.
Oh yeah, they watch the influencer videos. I just removed my name from the Move Up list on our upcoming cruise due to this video and we’ve withdrawn any interest in booking a suite unless Celebrity changes this model. Celebrity has been making so many cuts to service and food quality in the last year. We’re now pursuing other options - going with Azamara and Oceania now. We’re between Elite and Elite Plus status with Celebrity but i think we’re parting ways for the near future at least.
Just posted link to your video on cruise critic - This needs more exposure Great video highlighting the poor service with all the cutbacks Hopefully X execs will get to see this and take action
It’s being shared by many on CC hopefully the Execs at X and RCG get to see your honest and factual review Our family of cruisers all Enjoy your honest content 👍🏻
Thanks because we won't be bidding on a suite upgrade. I'm already disgusted with our cost now. The increase of costs, decreasing service is why this is our last cruise.
Nailed it 100%. Cruised in a Sunset Sky Suite on the Eclipse last month and had a very similar experience (except that we loved Luminae). Came home and booked our next cruise on Regent Seven Seas. Celebrity has lost our business.
I am interested in your take on Regents Seven Seas! We are looking too for a celebrity replacement and aren’t sure where to go? Norwegian and Princess seem to be trying to step up, but I don’t see the same level of service or offerings as celebrity.
We’ll be on Regent’s newest ship (the Grandeur) in February. I love that EVERYTHING is included in the cruise fare - WiFi, premium drinks, gratuities, first class air and ground transportation to/from the ship. Also included are excursions, a selection of about 6-8 at each port are included in the fare. As a comparison, my husband’s Celebrity fishing excursion in Ketchikan cost us about $250. His Regent fishing excursion in Belize next year is included at no extra cost. We’re also big fans of Viking, both their river and ocean cruises. We like the smaller ships with fewer passengers (less than 1,000). Both Regent and Viking ARE pricey, but I believe that we get what we pay for (as opposed to Celebrity’s bait and switch tactics).
Regent can be pricey but we booked a 7 night Caribbean cruise on the Regent Splendor for $1400 LESS than Zach paid to be in the Retreat. I like Celebrity and find no need to be in an overpriced suite when I can get a very similar experience in a balcony room on the same ship for a fraction of the cost. Our money goes to the luxury lines for a luxury vacation experience.
Considering you paid $8000 for it, they need to read the definition of 'Butler'. If that is what you were led to understand when you booked, then that is what you should have got.
Oceania Cruises butlers are some of the most amazing men and women I've ever worked with. We had a suite on Oceania Sirena - and that was exactly the kind of butler service you were expecting. He arranged everything - food reservations, laundry, coffee service each morning - - and even a sail away party in one of our ports with cakes and Bellinis. It was absolutely the most luxurious cruise vacation we've ever booked.
Thank you for the input and great information. I’m absolutely going to check out Oceania for a Mediterranean trip. Why would anyone choose Celebrity with their new bait and switch offerings? It’s not as though we’re asking for something that we weren’t paying for and expecting to receive 🤬
100% accurate. We have stayed in the retreat 3 times, once since the change in service and probably won't spend the money again. i don't see how the service now is any different than a regular room on royal caribbean.
Just back from a cruise on silhouette in a similar corner sky suite and whilst we did not have any of the cleanliness problems that you had everything else matches up completely. There is definitely a feeling that the only way to get anything sorted is to deal with the concierges in the retreat lounge. Silhouette also has the retreat terrace at the top of the ship which is a great facility particularly if it is a busy cruise. The lounge, Luminae, the retreat terrace, the drinks package and the wifi package and free room service are the worthwhile benefits. Otherwise the service to your cabin in a sky suite seems to be more or less the same as every other cabin now
This is definitely a downgrade with ridiculously higher prices. Our upcoming cruise to Spain/Italy and France was just canceled on the Ascent in the Retreat due to the ship being chartered out. When I first found out, I was devastated but hearing what you have said, I do believe it was a blessing in disguise. When we were in a sky suite on the Apex, we were unbelievably pampered so it would have been a huge disappointment to not have that same service. We are still planning on going to Europe since I have already bought our airline tickets but we will be just traveling on our own. Unless things go back to the way they were, we will not be sailing in the Retreat again because we certainly can not afford the higher end suites. I'm in the process of seeing what other lines offer a butler because it was such a joy to be pampered while on the Apex.
I’m sorry you didn’t have a great experience, we are scheduled for March of next year on the Apex, we chose a sunset Sky suite because we love being on the back of the ship. We paid in full in July and one month later they announce that all the things we paid $10,000 for were no longer included! I called to cancel but they assured us that since we were already paid we would still get all those perks but I’m very skeptical, especially now. It feels like Celebrity looks down on sky suites because we didn’t pay 20 or 30 grand for suite and they’d rather just pretend those cabins just don’t exists. Our friends went on Celebrity Edge a few weeks ago and said basically the same thing you did. I don’t need a lot of attention but I did pay twice as much for this cruise as any other suite class room so I expect good service. On MSC we were treated like royalty in a comparable room in Yacht Club and for half the price. I’ll be expecting at least a similar experience.
I stayed in Sky Suite on Apex in Feb 2023. You think your room wasn't clean. I had to complain that the sofa had a huge stain where someone wet the bed. and the Blue velvet accent pillows hand body fluids on it and someone wasn't drooling. I asked for the sofa to be cleaned or removed and all accent pillows to be removed, I wanted all fresh linens and duvet not just the cover. We did have butler service and I asked fridge to be emptied and the butler said have what every you want and he would take care of it...we were told that upon arriving so that wasn't a way to appease me due to the other issues.............we paid a lot for this room and cruise. Luminae on the Apex was not that great and we did not like going to 12th floor to have dinner either
This is so disappointing. We paid $7,500 a week for 2 weeks in an aft Sky Suite on the Beyond this year and loved it. The Retreat sun deck was amazing and while the food in Luminae is just okay for me (I prefer the NCL Haven menu), the service in Luminae was great. The price difference over a non-suite was worth it to us for the uncrowded sun deck, indoor Retreat lounge with great views on both sides and the excellent service. I don’t “need” a butler but ours was fantastic, always popping up and offering to do things for us. With the increase in prices, we won’t be sailing Celebrity anymore. For the current nightly sky suite rate we can stay in a penthouse verandah on Viking with better food, more space and crew per passenger and just an overall classier experience. Our next two cruises are with Viking and we’re looking at Oceania as well.
Oh my....thank you so much for your honesty and not selling out and getting something for free just to give thrm a good review..i appreciate and respect you so much for being a good human!!❤❤
Just finished a week in the retreat on the Apex. Met my butler on day one and never saw him again. The retreat lounge and retreat pool deck was great except it took 20 minutes to get a drink at the pool. Food in luminae was disappointment.
I wish I had known this before we went the last 10 days of September out of Barcelona. We also were in a Sky Suite in the Retreat. Very disappointing. Found out from other “cruisers” where Michael’s was where we could talk to our concierge “team.” The Butler, Peter came to our room and chastised us for not knowing Celebrity had changed their services. We also received an email from our “butler” a few weeks prior to sailing. We also were disappointed with the food in Luminae. Our host was over worked. Our cruise was fool and we got no extra amenities such as nibbles we were told we would get. A lot of money for ok service.
This is how you destroy loyalty, trust and eventually your business: lying to your customers (who pays a huge amount of money) and give substandard service. We all can vote with our money: go to take other cruise lines like Oceania, etc I sailed on Oceania across the Atlantic last Dec. It has its issues (horrific WiFi due to incompetent Wifi design; I do that for a living, I know) but the service and food was never one.
I have a cruise coming up in January and booked a Magic carpet suite. I would have gone to a different cruise line had I known how cheap celebrity was going to get. Absolutely awful
The service you're describing in the first 8 minutes is the same basic service you'll get with any stateroom. Sky suite is like any other stateroom now.
All my sailings on Celebrity have been in Celebrity Suites until two weeks ago when we sailed in a Skysuite on the Apex. It was different. Never met a "Head Butler" or any butler. Stateroom attendant did a nice job cleaning but no additional interaction. Any other requests had to be directed to the concierge in the Retreat lounge. Sometimes they were available and sometimes not. Dramatically different level of service from the butler days . I have two more cruises booked on Celebrity but will be shopping around after that .
I don’t believe it. The new Celebrity CEO said she hasn’t made any cuts only rolled out things customers wanted like paying more for less. 😂 We do our next and probably last Retreat sailing in 2 weeks. This was a great review!
Between this and the Haven I think a lot of people are being taken for a ride. For those prices even as a solo guest you could get a very good room on Regent or Silversea, where the overall experience is elevated for all guests no matter what stateroom they have.
Right. Exactly. I was surprised to see that the Haven restaurant has the EXACT same lunch and dinner menus. Every day! EEK! And the level of service recent influencers have shared about Haven is worse than the Retreat is now. We booked Azamara (where suite guests and inside cabin guests are treated the same) for our upcoming cruise in June. We will also now try Oceania and Silverseas.
We are looking at Mediterranean cruise next year on Celebrity. I have yet to cruise in the Retreat (Elite level) and was hoping that would be the trip to do it! Your honest review has changed my mind having confirmed my concerns with the new retreat model. I believe they are going in a bad direction in an attempt to save $$. Thank you for your honest and in-depth review.
Great honest review Zach! I have stayed in the sunset sky suite on Reflection for the Greek Isles, Italy and Turkey, but we had a butler that was excellent. He was the best we had on any ship. We also stayed in the corner sunset sky suite on the Eclipse in January 2023 in New Zealand and Australia. That cruise we had a butler but only saw her at the beginning of the cruise. Turns out she got hurt so we saw our stateroom attendant who did an outstanding job for us. I hope you just had an underperforming stateroom attendant as we are staying on the Beyond in December 2024 and Eclipse in June 2025. If we get bad service on the Beyond, we will cancel our Eclipse cruise and sail with SilverSea. We have been on many Celebrity Cruises, so if this change affects our trip, they will lose our business as well.
That room is not 3-4 times nicer than a normal veranda room. That’s crazy pricing for that product. I get that booking a suite is a splurge and it’s not supposed to be a value. But man, that price is insane for that room.
Very interesting video, thanks for posting this. I have an upcoming B2B on Summit in Dec and staying in a Celebrity Suite. I got an email this weekend from Celebrity asking for my preferences re boarding time, pillows etc. In my response back to them I did ask about the change in butler service. I had heard you mention about this several weeks ago. I specifically asked if there was a dedicated butler and why I was asking, telling them on sea days (we have 3) I like breakfast and lunch in my suite. I've not gotten a response yet...
@@ZachtheTravelingMan Thank you! Still no response to the email (that's not a complaint, just pointing it out as nothing to report yet). I will let you know the response as well as send you a follow-up AFTER the cruise to let you know the actual experience.
Thanks for this review. Last November I booked our first cruise on Reflection Retreat Sunset Sky Suite for cruise Nov 23 so in a few weeks to Caribbean. Bought into then Retreat marketing, Butler etc. Glad to find your candid review but disappointed that have to reset my expectations. May be our first and last cruise with Celebrity.
Good honest review......they have been slipping since travel re-started after the virus. Last cruise we walked into our room on embarkation day with poop splatters everywhere and it went down hill from there. Blue rocks IMO so it's only AQUA Class going forward.
I’d say, if you want a luxurious experience you should book with Silverseas , Seabourn or Regent. Luxury and Exclusivity is in their DNA. Unfortunately COVID caused the cruise lines to lose many employees and finding outstanding talent is not a given. Thanks for pointing this out. I’ve heard similar complaints about other cruise line ship within a ship products. Not worth the money is the general consensus!
I just booked a suite in the retreat and I actually don't love the idea of a personal butler. I like my privacy and it sounds like they used to kinda hover. 😳 I might like this new version more... although as a former hotel housekeeper myself, I'm very picky and cannot tolerate shortcuts with cleanliness of the room. I agree with you about not feeling comfortable asking for things when you know the room attendant is busy. I think it was a bit inappropriate of them to tell you about their workload. It takes away from the guest experience.
I had a reservation on a Sky Suite on the Reflection but after this review I am cancelling it. Not worth the aggravation. Plenty of other cruise lines to choose from!!
Cleanliness of staterooms has been an issue on our last two cruises (Equinox). Granted we were in a Veranda Stateroom, not Retreat, the room was poorly cleaned. There was sticky on the counters/surfaces in both staterooms. I was glad I brought wipes to clean. I realize the crew is stretched thin, so I didn't contact them. We have traveled Retreat and Aqua as well and agree that if the opportunity arises we will most likely choose Aqua for Blue, especially for the cost difference after listening to your experience.
We were on Millennium in Alaska in an Aqua Sky Suite and had a very similar experience - the butler service was non existent and the room steward handled most requests, along with a bunch of other cabins. We saw the head butler on embarkation day and only again on the last day when he was looking for a tip - sorry, not happening. We have two future Celebrity cruises booked in suites, we are seriously pondering other options at this point. We took a cruise in 22 on Equinox and the suite experience was excellent - the new model doesn't work, but I'm not sure that upper mgmt is getting that feedback. Do better Celebrity, or risk your loyal customers looking elsewhere.
Oh, wow - this video was SO interesting to see. Being totally honest, I reckon this class of cruising will be very more out of my price range, but it’s fascinating to hear your experience. This just isn’t what I’d have expected goes on with this type of cabin with Celebrity - you’ve surprised me! Excellent video as always, Zach!
It’s not going to change as long as all suites are booked. By the time this happens we will already be regulars on real luxury cruise lines. Booking now.
Some things are not worth the extra penny. Sounds like an arm and a leg compared to a basic stateroom and classic beverage. Most people cruising are looking for an inexpensive stress free getaway. I make sure to tip my room attendant, so they take good care of me, but they already do a phenomenal job. I also recommend getting the thermal spa thermal suite access; if it is a full ship, it can be difficult to find some peace and quite - for a couple hundred dollars the thermal suite is a great escape. I haven't compared the prices of this to the aquaclass or the retreat, but sounds like a few silly bells and whistles that aren't worth the price. Then you end up ruining your trip over thinking, I paid all this money! If you are going to spend that kind of money and looking for luxury, go to a high end resort. One other tip for new celebrity cruisers, make reservations to restaurants prior to the cruise.
I'm so, so sorry to hear this. I did my first Celebrity cruise earlier this year on the Summit, and stayed in an Aqua Sky suite. The biggest and best perk was having access to both Luminae and Blu. I can't say that I saw a lot of my butler, but he did check in with me several times. (I told him from Day 1, "I'm a really low-maintenance person, so I doubt I'll need much.") I did interact quite a bit with the two concierges, who were amazing. I loved that they were based in the Retreat Lounge, which made them easy to find and which meant you interacted with them daily, whenever you swung by the lounge. I understand the concept of a "butler team," and don't mind it at all. But it doesn't sound like that's what you experienced AT ALL.
Thanks for this honest review. Now is not the time for Celebrity to diminish the quality of service as you have laid out. I have seen many similar reviews of other Celebrity ships. It seems to be a trend and not one that any of us who are loyal to Celebrity are keen to experience. I hope someone is monitoring and reporting back and that they respond appropriately. I'll be in the Retreat on the Apex in a few weeks and will that experience inform our future cruise planning. Thanks again!
Thanks for your honest review Zach. My wife and I did the Mediterranean cruise aboard Celebrity Edge last month. We had a similar experience with our Butler but since this was our 1st time sailing in a Suite we just thought that we got unlucky and got a novice butler. (couldn't answer any questions regarding setting up excursions, dining reservations, etc) So thank you for letting us know that we were not alone in our experience. I will say though that the 2 Concierge hosts in the Retreat Lounge were excellent. Always available, very professional, answered the phone quickly, so that by the 2nd day I just bypassed the Butler completely and went directly to them for any help I needed. One day I was having issues with the Celebrity app on my phone and the Concierge had the ship tech support guy meet me in the Lounge within 10 minutes to fix the problem. The only time we really saw our "Butler" was when we ran into him in the hallway waiting to clean the room.
Zach, thank you for your honest opinion of a Celebrity Sky Suite. My husband and I are sailing on our first Celebrity Cruise, next month. We booked a Sky Suite on the Celebrity Constellation. I pray that we will have great vacation.
WOW Zach. Thank you for your honest review. So glad you’re covering this. Booked a Sky Suite next summer on Beyond before they made the changes and was apprehensive about this apparent bait and switch but wanted to hope for the best. Thank you for letting us know the truth. Celebrity needs to step up and fix this before they alienate their best customers.
Interesting take on the Retreat. My husband and I splurged in The Retreat on the Edge last spring and loved it. However, that was before the butler change. We felt really spoiled. We don’t have another celebrity cruise until the spring of 2025 so it will be interesting to see how these changes go. That may be our last if service remains as it was for you. Not worth the extra cost.
All of the Celebrity ships are understaffed. You have decent staffing on the Edge class ships, but the other class of ships are woefully understaffed. We just returned from an 8 day Caribbean cruise on the Equinox. There was one server per outdoor deck for the two sea days. The poor crew members are moving as fast as they can, but customer service/satisfaction suffers.
Thanks for sharing your experience, even though it was a bit painful to watch. We've stayed in the Retreat Sky Suites twice before (Apex and Beyond) and have loved our experience, so much so that we have two more booked. One this November (Beyond) and another one in August 2024, on the Silhouette. All were booked before any of the changes. Hopeful we still have an amazing trip in November, but your review does cause concern. If our experience is similar to what you experienced, we'll "reevaluate" our plans for August 2024.
We just completed 10 days cruise from Aruba with Celebrity Summit. The Main dining room is total disappointment, and they use low quality ingredients and cheap quality foods for their customers. It is just a Fancy restaurant with Cafeteria style dishes. It is a medium/small size cruise ship with great service and with mature well manner passengers. Oceanview Cafe are great, it has lot of great selections, fruit selections, Indian dishes and the Bakery, all are excellent. The Indian dishes actually are much better than American Dishes. Most of the American dishes are subpar. They look dark and taste very salty, As a minimum, MDR should use fresh ingredients for their soup base, not just Powder for the soup base for their connivence, in It is quite easy using real bean, green pea and diced potato for their soup base, they use grain powder for their watery soup base, such as for clam chowder, green pea and pasta fagioli, they are unacceptable. they may need to hire a new Chef. Main dining room is total disappointment, They also use baby meatless mussels, baby shrimps and baby scallops for Shrimp scampi, they try save money using low budget ingredients, they turn the Main Dining Room into a fancy cafeteria with great service, It is quite easy using real bean, green pea and potato for their soup base, they are not saving money at all. Coffee (flat taste) and the powder watery coffee Creamer, * one star, just lack of taste and lack of aroma, they taste so bad, need to be upgraded, Spa Cafe has much better cafe than the Oceanview Cafe, get your coffee at Spa Cafe. Shrimp scampi dish is a joke, 1 star * they put four baby shrimps on top of the yellow sauce, they call them shrimp scampi, need to learn the real scampi receipt, Prime rib (thin cut) and sirloin steak (thin cut) *** three stars, they just served them as cafeteria style. They are disappointment. Watery Pasta fagioli soup * one star, it tasted is so bad, they should use fresh diced potatoes, fresh pasta, not potato starch for their soup base, need to get to use real diced fresh potato, need new receipt. Watery green pea soup, taste so bad, they use green pea powder for soup base, need to use real green peas for soup base. Need new receipt. Shrimp cocktail ** two stars, they use Baby shrimps as shrimp cocktail Chicken breast * one star they overcooked chicken Lemon pepper chicken * one star dry and overcooked Seafood orzo * one star, they cook with baby meatless mussels, baby shrimps and baby scallops as ingredients, it may be good enough for a cafeteria, but not enough for a premium grade cruise ship. need to be improved and upgrade the ingredients. Sautéed salmon grill salmon * one start on top of pasta, * one star, need to learn the sautéed receipt, not just grill the salmon and put it on top of pasta, need to learn and understand Sauteed the Salmon, need to be improved. Mushroom tempura, they breaded the mushrooms with sauce. it is not crispy tempura style fry mushrooms. need new tempura receipt. Grill sirloin steak (less than 1/2" thick with gravy, are you kidding, they put gravy over a grilled sirloin steak, need to be improved.
@@ZachtheTravelingMan I am not a chef, but I know how to cook. MDR should use fresh ingredients for their soup base, not just Powder for the soup base for their connivence, in It is quite easy using real bean, green pea and diced potato for their soup base, they use grain powder for their watery soup base, they are unacceptable. Just like a simple dish (grilled Salmon), it looks dull and unattractive, at a minimum they need to apply final butter/syrup dressing for final browning. Coffee (flat taste) and the powder watery coffee Creamer, just lack of taste and lack of aroma, they taste so bad, need to be upgraded, Spa Cafe offers much better cafe than the Oceanview Cafe, get your coffee at Spa Cafe.
Welcome to Celebrity! We did a B2B Norwegian Fjords/Scandianvia cruise in May/22 and paid $20,000 CDN for 19 days Concierge Class PLUS purchased the Chef's Table, including the wine pairing for $350.00 CDN, among other additional costs for the Premium Beverage package. The food in the MDR was so disappointing. We were huge Celebrity cruisers with many cruises but since COVID, Celebrity has really gone downhill. So, bye bye Celebrity and our next cruise is booked with Holland America. I hope they watched your review because it was so informative. Thank you!
We cruised with family and friends in March 2023 on the Apex from Ft. Lauderdale for a 7 day cruise. We all had Sky Suites and dedicated butlers. Honestly, the butler was the most disappointing part of our cruise and didn’t come close to a true butler service compared to a hotel experience. Our butlers were not very visible and were slow in addressing minor requests. They should remove Butler from their marketing and sales materials. Looking at group cruise for early next year and will try Silverseas.
I have been a celebrity fan for years, but things are declining there, as you noted. My poor room attendant told me if I didn’t give him a 10 on my review he would be fired. There are too few people doing too much and prices are UP, way over inflation rates. So is this the result of the latest CEO change? Was she brought in to squeeze profits for the cruise line. Well, the stock isn’t going up so on a corporate level that’s a flop. I’m on Princess in Feb so we’ll see if it’s industry wide
Sorry about that experience. I'm glad you have a platform to make your concerns public. Hopefully they are embarrassed and it leads to a positive change.
We have friends in a sky suite sailing on Reflection as I type. Having spoken to them yesterday I suspect they won't be sailing with Celebrity again anytime soon. Their experience is much as your own.
Thanks for the in-depth review Zach. This is very disappointing to hear, especially since hubby and I will be in a sunset sky suite on Reflection in December. I hope Celebrity sees this and makes some major changes before our cruise.
still on the celebrity beyond, we disembark on Weds in FL retreat butler service is non existent, met the butler first day, not seen him since however that said, the room attendant is first class
Thank you for this review, for the money people pay for The Retreat videos like this are vital to help make informed decisions. I really hope Celebrity learns and improves from this.
I would be interested in your review of the Retreat on an edge-class ship, since they were designed with the retreat on mind. I agree with you about the ridiculous price, though overpriced unless you can get a cheap upgrade.
Our butler, last year on Apex, did not elect to unpack for me- he simply said, “ I’ll come back after you unpack, to see if you need anything” The Sundeck lounge was so full on sea days- umbrella loungers all taken unless you get there very early.
Ps.. a day or 2 to get shirts pressed in the Retreat?? Sad. I wouldn’t expect immediate turnaround but it’s not unreasonable to to get back by evening. I understand about the laundry bag but would I be wrong to expect them to take the ball and run with it??
I would continue to call the head butler with requests that we would normally ask the butler for. They'll eventually get the picture that this isn't a good idea. A team of butlers kinda makes sense but this sounds like a team of cabin attendants that are just cabin attendants who have no time or ability to do what your butlers always did.
After taking 10 years off of cruising, I’m headed to Beyond this summer in the Retreat Class. It’s good to point out that CC has removed any discussion of butler from the list of Features Amenities. If they set the expectation appropriately I don’t think there is an issue, but if they say you get X,Y,Z and don’t provide it, these types of videos get made and live on RUclips forever. Thank you for an honest review.
I would agree for all ships below Edge class. If it is an Edge class ship, it can be worth it. They really should lower the price for Retreat significantly for non-Edge class ships.
When a process is “owned” by multiple people in reality it is owned by no one. Sounds like you experienced this operational defect with this new team approach rather than having someone singularly accountable for giving you excellent service.
Thanks for your frank insights Zach 🇦🇺👍🙏 I really appreciate you not fence sitting and calling out the experience, warts and all. Suites are pricey enough let alone getting those bespoke services cut back … I know when I’ve saved for my holidays so I can sail in a suite, those perks are some of the things I really looked forward to as a real treat! I’ve now started pricing some other cruise lines instead 🇦🇺
No thanks. $1000 a night for a larger cabin which doesn't really make a difference when service and extras should be the selling point, not a 20c bottle of water. 2023, cruise lines have lost the plot. Reduce the executive pay and million dollar bonuses and put that back into the passenger and food.
Zach, I just discovered you and have happily subscribed! Your videos and opinions you share are so fair and informative! I am a long time Princess cruiser (my first cruise was on the Diamond, way before it was remodeled for it’s home port in Japan, and I fell in love with her and sister ship, the Sapphire. It was your Diamond video that introduced you to me!). Things certainly have changed over the years, and not necessarily for the better. I have to say that the canapés you received in your Sky Suite looked much more appealing than what Princess is currently considering a canapé perk these days! I look forward to seeing and hearing about all your future adventures! Lois
Zach I've been 22 celebrity cruises of those Suites when I'm in a Suite my butler fills out my laundry form for me . That was when there was butlers. Zach I don't care how many cabins your attendant had you paid $8000 for that cruise SPEAK UP. 25:45
We had decided, before this video, not to book in the Retreat as we had planned. I was afraid that the service was going to be lacking and you just confirmed it. Thank you for your review! I love your channel btw, awesome work
You are correct on decor, that is the exact room on our one (and only) suite experience back in 2014, and they looked exactly like your room does in the video. Back then, it was an excellent deal we stumbled into and they did have the full butler service. Back then you had a butler button you could use anytime, even in the dead of the night as there was a backup butler to monitor any possible needs for the suites, which was nice although only used once. I'm sorry you experienced the clothing issues, again back in the day they picked up our clothes personally and had it dealt with. I'm assuming it's another cost cutting move to make up for the lost years, but still sad to hear especially with the price hikes too. Thank you for the video. That all being said it is a unique and great room to book, you do roast on the back patio as there is rarely any shade during the main part of the day, but hey - we all have to deal with some "suffering!" ;)
I was very disappointed when they changed the butler service for sky suites…we are booked on the Beyond in January in one for a big birthday cruise for my husband…we booked it when it came out probably close to two years ago so at least the price is better than what they are charging today…we have sailed exclusively in sky suites and really have enjoyed them but on either Edge class or revolutionized ships and have really loved it…now between the decrease in services and the huge price increases we have switched to Aquaclass going forward…I still can’t believe they are taking away the tips from the all included in addition to the OBC that they had given..We are sailing on the Equinox in a couple of weeks in Aquaclass for the first time …we got a good rate and hoping we have a great time
Thank you for creating and sharing this video. Sounds like you experience was very distasteful and unacceptable. I really hope you allowed them compensate for some of this experience at the very least. I'm a type of person if my room isn't up to standards it will greatly impact my stay and experience. Definitely for $7,000, Sadly they took advantage. You could had easily booked 2-3 suites on other ship and had a better experience. Its so disappointing that Celebrity promote The Retreat on such a high and sought after perk But Failed to Deliver. Hope you will have some better experiences soon. But I know I would've Been so UPSET. I hope Celebrity Heard you and willing to make some better changes.
We sailed Aqua Class to Alaska in 2022. Amazing experience, I agree Blu was incredible and we had the service experience you had in Luminae. I felt like we had great value for money. I think we will be trying another line for our next cruise though since I keep hearing stuff like this about Celebrity.
I want to hear your opinions on the food! I have a sky suite booked on the beyond and have two specialty restaurants booked but I will book more if needed…. I take my food seriously! I know the MDR has had negative feedback about the changes so I am curious about Luminae.
Interesting, we had the very same experience, 2 weeks ago when we cruised in The Retreat for the first time on the Edge. We usually cruise AquaClass because we love Blu. Our room attendant was our host and I saw no difference in service, we also met the head Butler the first day and never saw him again. The requested type of drink we requested on the survey was not what we received. Although the service was excellent in Luminae, we actually enjoyed the menu in Blu better. The plus side was the Sky Suite, it was beautiful, the Retreat lounge was great and spent a lot of time there as well as the Retreat Pool deck. Bottom line, we will stick with AquaClass, as it’s not worth the double price tag.
Although we have never sailed in the retreat, and probably never will, I am enjoying this series very very much… And your honesty is commendable… Thank you
I have been on a HAL cruise for the last two weeks in the Mediterranean. I’m just in a regular balcony stateroom. I did upgrade to the Have it all program and Club Orange. I can’t say enough about the cleanliness, great service, and friendliness of the crew. We have had cleaning of the room twice a day. Earlier this year I sailed with Oceania which I have always loved. This cruise has been comparable to that. I do think the food is a little better on Oceania. However the food on this trip has been good to fabulously on this HAL ship. I had the filet mignon in the Pinnacle Grill. It was the best on any ship! Celebrity doesn’t seem like it would be a very good fit for me.
Yikes, the cabin service fiasco is a major turn-off. I do feel bad for the attendant you primarily dealt with as he was probably quite overwhelmed, both with the number of rooms he was responsible for as well as the normal pressure cruise crews deal with anyway. It sounds like being treated as "second-class" Retreat on embarkation (what with the lack of an escort) was just foreshadowing of what was to come. I've never sailed in the Retreat so I'll withhold comments about Luminae until your full video on that comes out, but it would be sad to hear that the excellent food in Blu is better. Great video as always, Zach! Thanks for your very frank review; so many travel vloggers tend to show bias toward their preferred/favorite brands so it's nice that you're just as ready to criticize Celebrity as you are to praise them when it's warranted. Though I guess it means you won't be "#hosted" anytime soon. 😜
I’m sailing on a Celebrity Cruise in a Sky Suite in just a couple of weeks. I am definitely going to keep an eye on the service and speak up if needed.
When I stayed on the NCL Breakaway on a B2B in the same Studio cabin I heard that NCL changed to once a day room visits and one day my room attendant said he is in charge of 16 cabins. That's one thing that limits how much effort they can put into each room. Your $8k room should not be getting an attendant who cares for 17 cabins. They are spread way too thin! Now I'm wondering about the butler situation on NCL!
Not sure if it is just differences in ship and/or crew but we just got off of the Eclipse in essentially the identical cabin. We had no issues with the Retreat Team, although like you, we tend not to ask very much. On our pre-cruise survey, we asked for and got champagne which was great for sail-away on our balcony. However, we never got (nor were offered or asked for) any kind of food in the cabin (afternoon canapés). Honestly, we were on the Equinox in 2022 in a Celebrity Suite (thank you, move up) and other than daily snacks (which we also had in a Sky Suite on the Summit in 2020) didn't really see much difference between having a "dedicated butler" and not. In fact, the one thing we did ask for from our butler never materialized and I went down to the Retreat Lounge and got it myself. It will be interesting on our next cruise. We're on the Ascent in an Aqua Sky Suite, kind of the best of both worlds, or maybe the worst...we'll see.
What a shame, we have sailed in the Retreat twice in 2022 on Millennium and Beyond and thoroughly enjoyed both. The butlers were great, stocking the fridge with what ever you requested, bringing room service if ordered. We didn't request a lot but what we did was always done quickly. I also watched the Q&A with the new president who said the changes would enhance service in the Sky Suites. We are booked into the Retreat (Sky Suite) on the Summit next fall. It also my be our last Retreat booking or even Celebrity cruise. Zach is our go to authority on Celebrity which has been our preferred cruise line. But if the service has changed that much maybe it is time to look at land based vacations. We have 2 Celebrity cruises booked for next year, time will tell.
Thanks for posting a candid review. It's disappointing to hear, but not a surprise. The Retreat changes were not thought through and have been implemented by bunglers. No wonder they needed to have a phoney "interview" with the Laura last week to try to do some damage control. Cruise Critic is full of stories like yours with people moving on to other lines. Scheduled for the Retreat in Jan. I expect it will be our last unless Celebrity gets their act together.
We are sailing on Celebrity Edge in a Magic Carpet Sky Suite for our Alaska cruise May 2024. We were really looking forward to the Retreat areas to get away from the crowds and relax. However, we are now wondering how crowded the Retreat lounge, sundeck and Luminae will become since it was announced that Zenith loyalty members will have access to these areas again?
Generally speaking, when I was on Beyond in April, I found the Retreat lounge, sundeck and Luminae were not overly crowded (though getting the best spots on the Retreat deck could be tough - but you could always find a place). I will definitely book Retreat again on Edge class ships, but not on any other ship class.
Technically there is NO Retreat on a Non Revolutionized Celebrity Millennium or Solstice class ship. It’s the same old Michael’s club and Lumenae .Sky suite passengers always get treated like second class suite guests. You’re right that Aqua Class is a better deal for the money.
Hi Zac, would be interesting to see the difference between Edge class Retreat and your experience. Sounds like a poor experience for dollars paid but I doubt it reflects an Edge class ship experience in the retreat.
Nice summary. I was wondering how this would compare to the NCL Haven and you've answered all my questions. I'll admit that we're NCL fans but in Celebrity's defense, I've heard similar stories of service deficiencies on older ships, and this applies to NCL ships, too. Hopefully the newer Celebrity ships are better as it is so much of an experience to be at this service level.
I'm sorry, the age of the ship should not matter one bit. And the Solstice class is just one generation "older" than the Edge class. It's not an old class of ships. Overall, I don't like the Edge ships much as ships and prefer the Solstice class and I would expect them to deliver the same soft service, cleanliness and attention to detail as any Celebrity ship and that should be true of any cruise line.
I have only been on two cruises so far. On NCL. The second cruise was to Alaska, and after meeting a few of the staff, I found the service incredible. I was only in a balcony cabin, but my cabin attendant was always around and asking if there was anything I needed (I did bring lots of candy, snack gifts, and some extra cash for them). The cruise Director was so nice, and recommended some of the best shows/entertainment ever. I bumped into her all over the ship, and she always came over to say hello!! I wrote really hearfelt thank you notes to corporate to thank them for their great staff. Being a regular wage earner, I am not sure I would be willing to pay $7,000 or $8,000.
I have been a celebrity fan boy for years but they have lost my business. My last cruise i noticed a downgrade of the product in general. Plus every steak i had was a cheap tough cut of meat. With all the recently announced changes and cutbacks it just isn't worth the money. I'm especially annoyed they are charging for extra lobster tails. My plan is to try msc yacht club. I also recently discovered sleeper car accommodation on amtrak on their more scenic routes is another relaxing enjoyable vacation option. There are beautiful places in this country that you cannot see any other way...
Sailed on the Silhouette September 2023 in a Sunset Sky Suite. I agree exactly with all the detailed points you made about the revised 'Butler' service. The stateroom attendants have little idea of the role of butler they have added to their responsibilities. We have travelled in suite class including both royal suites and aqua class sky suites with full butler service and there is no comparison with the current offering for Sky suites. Lets hope Celebrity listen to what is being said and review this new arrangement.
My husband and I have cruised on Celebrity Cruise line for years. We have experienced all levels of rooms, from inside cabins, to Port holes, to balcony, Agua class and the last 4 cruises the Celebrity Suite. We would never go back to anything less then the Celebrity Suite. It is one up from your Sky Suite, but the service is 10 times better. Yes, it is more expensive, but at our age (76, 75) we feel it is worth it. We will be sailing on the Ascent in 2024. I will let you know if there is a marked difference in service and perks because we have had the whole experienced in The Retreat. Now it seems I have been reading that all the cruise line guest have been experienceing the lack of service because there isn't enough help and since everything is more expensive, food, fuel, etc the service is not up to snuff. We shall see.
Would you suggest Aqua Class or Sky Suite? We love the Blu Cafe and can't imagine the food is worth the higher price? We appreciate your comments and are older than you two are.
Thanks for you perspective Zach. We have sailed Retreat 4 or 5 times before the cutbacks that you experienced. It was worth every penny. BUT we won’t get to see the cutbacks until December when we sail in Retreat on Apex. If I experience what you did on Reflection then it will be our last on Celebrity. I hope they get their stuff together.
With technology these days I’d hope having multiple butlers there’s good communication as they learn a guests habits/frequent needs
What are cutbacks ? Can you give some examples ? Thanks
We just got off Celebrity Beyond in an aft Sky Suite. The team butler sales pitch on Celebrity is a total downgrade. So we basically had no butler service. They are cutting back now…..this was 9/18 sailing.
Sorry to hear that - thank you for letting me know.
We were in a sky suite on the Beyond that sailed 9/18. The experience was very different from our previous times sailing in a sky suite. We don’t ask a lot of the butler or state room host either. We asked for the mini bar to be emptied as well and they emptied it but put the items on the dresser. Had to ask them to remove them so we could use the space. We noticed the room service menu for breakfast didn’t offer as much variety. Use to be able to get lox for breakfast. Luminae was not as good as what we have previously experienced. We are looking at Regeant or Silver Seas for our next cruise. We were very disappointed.
One of my complaints was I couldn’t get more water left in my stateroom until I complained. It’s the one thing I asked for from the room attendant on embarkation day. I would always bring water bottles back from the retreat lounge but I should have to go in search of water at 10pm at night.
Thank you - that helped us to decide to stay in an Aqua Class suite.
I sailed in a Sunset Veranda next to a sky suite on Beyond 12/2022 and I remember the butler would be knocking on their door all the time that it became almost annoying to me when I was reading a book or just relaxing in my cabin. I am sorry to hear about your experience and I hope you did get some compensation especially for the guy telling you that you would never see him again, he works in an office. WTF. If I paid $8K and someone told me that on embarkation day, I probably would have downgraded to a Sunset Veranda or just have gotten off the ship. I don't feel that dining at luminae is worth 8K. I would have been happy dining at Raw on 5 the entire trip. lol. Sounds like you got a Veranda experience at a Retreat price. Super disappointed in Celebrity.
I greatly appreciate this review. I love your vids. Just goes to show how companies are cutting back, overworking the "lower man on the totem pole" just to save a buck. Management that barely lifts a finger to help their over worked staff until passengers complain. I would not have paid $8k for this. It just didn't seem worth it. I would highly, highly recommend MSC Yacht Club for less and with way more amenities. We paid about $5800 for 2 of us...a 7 night in June 2023 out of Port Canaveral on Seaside in a balcony suite. Our butler was outstanding, we had our own dining area, lounging deck, open bar nearly 24 hours, almost everything included in the mini fridge including snacks, daily snack service, free room service, free bottle of wine or hard liquor, turn down twice a day with amazing chocolates, afternoon tea, a whole separate area on the private island, free wifi, free drinks, separate pool with separate breakfast and lunch buffet and so much more! I would check it out.
Thank you!
I hope Celebrity is paying attention to this video.
I knew the change in Butler responsibilities to a team approach was nothing but a shell game to obscure the fact that there are no butlers for sky suites guests anymore.
There are a substantial number of Celebrity Retreat customers who watch this video and follow Zach’s recommendations…. I chose Celebrity and the Apex in particular based on his recommendations. I am scheduled for the Retreat on Apex in 2024 and this will be my first cruise. If the issues Zach mentioned happen on my cruise then this will be my last cruise on the Celebrity line.
We are scheduled for the Retreat in March 2024. Maybe things will change by then.
Oh yeah, they watch the influencer videos. I just removed my name from the Move Up list on our upcoming cruise due to this video and we’ve withdrawn any interest in booking a suite unless Celebrity changes this model. Celebrity has been making so many cuts to service and food quality in the last year. We’re now pursuing other options - going with Azamara and Oceania now. We’re between Elite and Elite Plus status with Celebrity but i think we’re parting ways for the near future at least.
@@christiandiablo9499us too
@@christiandiablo9499Oceania has been sending us ads. We may try them in the future.
Sounds like a big fail for celebrity
Just posted link to your video on cruise critic - This needs more exposure
Great video highlighting the poor service with all the cutbacks
Hopefully X execs will get to see this and take action
Thanks for sharing!
It’s being shared by many on CC hopefully the Execs at X and RCG get to see your honest and factual review
Our family of cruisers all Enjoy your honest content 👍🏻
Thanks because we won't be bidding on a suite upgrade. I'm already disgusted with our cost now. The increase of costs, decreasing service is why this is our last cruise.
Nailed it 100%. Cruised in a Sunset Sky Suite on the Eclipse last month and had a very similar experience (except that we loved Luminae). Came home and booked our next cruise on Regent Seven Seas. Celebrity has lost our business.
I am interested in your take on Regents Seven Seas! We are looking too for a celebrity replacement and aren’t sure where to go? Norwegian and Princess seem to be trying to step up, but I don’t see the same level of service or offerings as celebrity.
We’ll be on Regent’s newest ship (the Grandeur) in February. I love that EVERYTHING is included in the cruise fare - WiFi, premium drinks, gratuities, first class air and ground transportation to/from the ship. Also included are excursions, a selection of about 6-8 at each port are included in the fare. As a comparison, my husband’s Celebrity fishing excursion in Ketchikan cost us about $250. His Regent fishing excursion in Belize next year is included at no extra cost. We’re also big fans of Viking, both their river and ocean cruises. We like the smaller ships with fewer passengers (less than 1,000). Both Regent and Viking ARE pricey, but I believe that we get what we pay for (as opposed to Celebrity’s bait and switch tactics).
I hope you have a fantastic time on Regent! I would like to try something like that in the future.
Regent can be pricey but we booked a 7 night Caribbean cruise on the Regent Splendor for $1400 LESS than Zach paid to be in the Retreat. I like Celebrity and find no need to be in an overpriced suite when I can get a very similar experience in a balcony room on the same ship for a fraction of the cost. Our money goes to the luxury lines for a luxury vacation experience.
We have experienced MSC Yacht Club with true butler service for way less money. However the food is not the level of Celebrity.
Considering you paid $8000 for it, they need to read the definition of 'Butler'. If that is what you were led to understand when you booked, then that is what you should have got.
Oceania Cruises butlers are some of the most amazing men and women I've ever worked with. We had a suite on Oceania Sirena - and that was exactly the kind of butler service you were expecting. He arranged everything - food reservations, laundry, coffee service each morning - - and even a sail away party in one of our ports with cakes and Bellinis. It was absolutely the most luxurious cruise vacation we've ever booked.
Thank you for the input and great information. I’m absolutely going to check out Oceania for a Mediterranean trip. Why would anyone choose Celebrity with their new bait and switch offerings? It’s not as though we’re asking for something that we weren’t paying for and expecting to receive 🤬
100% accurate. We have stayed in the retreat 3 times, once since the change in service and probably won't spend the money again. i don't see how the service now is any different than a regular room on royal caribbean.
Zach - thank YOU for providing fair / honest / balanced reviews. You’re a good guy and we all appreciate you just being YOU and being real.
Thank you, Angie. I really appreciate that. :)
Just back from a cruise on silhouette in a similar corner sky suite and whilst we did not have any of the cleanliness problems that you had everything else matches up completely. There is definitely a feeling that the only way to get anything sorted is to deal with the concierges in the retreat lounge. Silhouette also has the retreat terrace at the top of the ship which is a great facility particularly if it is a busy cruise. The lounge, Luminae, the retreat terrace, the drinks package and the wifi package and free room service are the worthwhile benefits. Otherwise the service to your cabin in a sky suite seems to be more or less the same as every other cabin now
This is definitely a downgrade with ridiculously higher prices. Our upcoming cruise to Spain/Italy and France was just canceled on the Ascent in the Retreat due to the ship being chartered out. When I first found out, I was devastated but hearing what you have said, I do believe it was a blessing in disguise. When we were in a sky suite on the Apex, we were unbelievably pampered so it would have been a huge disappointment to not have that same service. We are still planning on going to Europe since I have already bought our airline tickets but we will be just traveling on our own. Unless things go back to the way they were, we will not be sailing in the Retreat again because we certainly can not afford the higher end suites. I'm in the process of seeing what other lines offer a butler because it was such a joy to be pampered while on the Apex.
Very disappointing
I’m sorry you didn’t have a great experience, we are scheduled for March of next year on the Apex, we chose a sunset Sky suite because we love being on the back of the ship. We paid in full in July and one month later they announce that all the things we paid $10,000 for were no longer included! I called to cancel but they assured us that since we were already paid we would still get all those perks but I’m very skeptical, especially now. It feels like Celebrity looks down on sky suites because we didn’t pay 20 or 30 grand for suite and they’d rather just pretend those cabins just don’t exists. Our friends went on Celebrity Edge a few weeks ago and said basically the same thing you did. I don’t need a lot of attention but I did pay twice as much for this cruise as any other suite class room so I expect good service. On MSC we were treated like royalty in a comparable room in Yacht Club and for half the price. I’ll be expecting at least a similar experience.
I stayed in Sky Suite on Apex in Feb 2023. You think your room wasn't clean. I had to complain that the sofa had a huge stain where someone wet the bed. and the Blue velvet accent pillows hand body fluids on it and someone wasn't drooling. I asked for the sofa to be cleaned or removed and all accent pillows to be removed, I wanted all fresh linens and duvet not just the cover. We did have butler service and I asked fridge to be emptied and the butler said have what every you want and he would take care of it...we were told that upon arriving so that wasn't a way to appease me due to the other issues.............we paid a lot for this room and cruise. Luminae on the Apex was not that great and we did not like going to 12th floor to have dinner either
Yikes! Sorry to hear that.
This is so disappointing. We paid $7,500 a week for 2 weeks in an aft Sky Suite on the Beyond this year and loved it. The Retreat sun deck was amazing and while the food in Luminae is just okay for me (I prefer the NCL Haven menu), the service in Luminae was great. The price difference over a non-suite was worth it to us for the uncrowded sun deck, indoor Retreat lounge with great views on both sides and the excellent service. I don’t “need” a butler but ours was fantastic, always popping up and offering to do things for us. With the increase in prices, we won’t be sailing Celebrity anymore. For the current nightly sky suite rate we can stay in a penthouse verandah on Viking with better food, more space and crew per passenger and just an overall classier experience. Our next two cruises are with Viking and we’re looking at Oceania as well.
Oh my....thank you so much for your honesty and not selling out and getting something for free just to give thrm a good review..i appreciate and respect you so much for being a good human!!❤❤
Thank you!
Just finished a week in the retreat on the Apex. Met my butler on day one and never saw him again. The retreat lounge and retreat pool deck was great except it took 20 minutes to get a drink at the pool. Food in luminae was disappointment.
I wish I had known this before we went the last 10 days of September out of Barcelona. We also were in a Sky Suite in the Retreat. Very disappointing. Found out from other “cruisers” where Michael’s was where we could talk to our concierge “team.” The Butler, Peter came to our room and chastised us for not knowing Celebrity had changed their services. We also received an email from our “butler” a few weeks prior to sailing. We also were disappointed with the food in Luminae. Our host was over worked. Our cruise was fool and we got no extra amenities such as nibbles we were told we would get. A lot of money for ok service.
This is how you destroy loyalty, trust and eventually your business: lying to your customers (who pays a huge amount of money) and give substandard service.
We all can vote with our money: go to take other cruise lines like Oceania, etc I sailed on Oceania across the Atlantic last Dec. It has its issues (horrific WiFi due to incompetent Wifi design; I do that for a living, I know) but the service and food was never one.
I have a cruise coming up in January and booked a Magic carpet suite. I would have gone to a different cruise line had I known how cheap celebrity was going to get. Absolutely awful
The service you're describing in the first 8 minutes is the same basic service you'll get with any stateroom. Sky suite is like any other stateroom now.
All my sailings on Celebrity have been in Celebrity Suites until two weeks ago when we sailed in a Skysuite on the Apex.
It was different.
Never met a "Head Butler" or any butler.
Stateroom attendant did a nice job cleaning but no additional interaction.
Any other requests had to be directed to the concierge in the Retreat lounge.
Sometimes they were available and sometimes not.
Dramatically different level of service from the butler days .
I have two more cruises booked on Celebrity but will be shopping around after that .
I don’t believe it. The new Celebrity CEO said she hasn’t made any cuts only rolled out things customers wanted like paying more for less. 😂 We do our next and probably last Retreat sailing in 2 weeks. This was a great review!
Same here. Transatlantic on 10.19. Probably our last retreat on Celebrity
@@eddiealbert4074Same here! We do a transatlantic on Oct. 30th. We don’t wait until the last day to complain.
A CEO not telling the truth? Say it isn't so! Lollllll. I hope you guys have a great time on your cruise!
@@ZachtheTravelingMan Thanks for the heads up. We are ready for them.
Between this and the Haven I think a lot of people are being taken for a ride. For those prices even as a solo guest you could get a very good room on Regent or Silversea, where the overall experience is elevated for all guests no matter what stateroom they have.
Right. Exactly. I was surprised to see that the Haven restaurant has the EXACT same lunch and dinner menus. Every day! EEK! And the level of service recent influencers have shared about Haven is worse than the Retreat is now. We booked Azamara (where suite guests and inside cabin guests are treated the same) for our upcoming cruise in June. We will also now try Oceania and Silverseas.
We are looking at Mediterranean cruise next year on Celebrity. I have yet to cruise in the Retreat (Elite level) and was hoping that would be the trip to do it! Your honest review has changed my mind having confirmed my concerns with the new retreat model. I believe they are going in a bad direction in an attempt to save $$. Thank you for your honest and in-depth review.
Great honest review Zach! I have stayed in the sunset sky suite on Reflection for the Greek Isles, Italy and Turkey, but we had a butler that was excellent. He was the best we had on any ship. We also stayed in the corner sunset sky suite on the Eclipse in January 2023 in New Zealand and Australia. That cruise we had a butler but only saw her at the beginning of the cruise. Turns out she got hurt so we saw our stateroom attendant who did an outstanding job for us. I hope you just had an underperforming stateroom attendant as we are staying on the Beyond in December 2024 and Eclipse in June 2025. If we get bad service on the Beyond, we will cancel our Eclipse cruise and sail with SilverSea. We have been on many Celebrity Cruises, so if this change affects our trip, they will lose our business as well.
That room is not 3-4 times nicer than a normal veranda room. That’s crazy pricing for that product. I get that booking a suite is a splurge and it’s not supposed to be a value. But man, that price is insane for that room.
Very interesting video, thanks for posting this. I have an upcoming B2B on Summit in Dec and staying in a Celebrity Suite. I got an email this weekend from Celebrity asking for my preferences re boarding time, pillows etc. In my response back to them I did ask about the change in butler service. I had heard you mention about this several weeks ago. I specifically asked if there was a dedicated butler and why I was asking, telling them on sea days (we have 3) I like breakfast and lunch in my suite. I've not gotten a response yet...
I hope all goes well and you have a great time!
@@ZachtheTravelingMan Thank you! Still no response to the email (that's not a complaint, just pointing it out as nothing to report yet). I will let you know the response as well as send you a follow-up AFTER the cruise to let you know the actual experience.
Thanks for this review. Last November I booked our first cruise on Reflection Retreat Sunset Sky Suite for cruise Nov 23 so in a few weeks to Caribbean. Bought into then Retreat marketing, Butler etc. Glad to find your candid review but disappointed that have to reset my expectations. May be our first and last cruise with Celebrity.
Good honest review......they have been slipping since travel re-started after the virus. Last cruise we walked into our room on embarkation day with poop splatters everywhere and it went down hill from there. Blue rocks IMO so it's only AQUA Class going forward.
I’d say, if you want a luxurious experience you should book with Silverseas , Seabourn or Regent. Luxury and Exclusivity is in their DNA. Unfortunately COVID caused the cruise lines to lose many employees and finding outstanding talent is not a given. Thanks for pointing this out. I’ve heard similar complaints about other cruise line ship within a ship products. Not worth the money is the general consensus!
Thanks for your honesty Zac, I have been thinking of doing this for our last cruise, but will rethink my choice.
I just booked a suite in the retreat and I actually don't love the idea of a personal butler. I like my privacy and it sounds like they used to kinda hover. 😳 I might like this new version more... although as a former hotel housekeeper myself, I'm very picky and cannot tolerate shortcuts with cleanliness of the room. I agree with you about not feeling comfortable asking for things when you know the room attendant is busy. I think it was a bit inappropriate of them to tell you about their workload. It takes away from the guest experience.
Appreciate your comment 100%. Butlers can be annoying! And, I do hate to bother busy attendants. I know what you mean.
I had a reservation on a Sky Suite on the Reflection but after this review I am cancelling it. Not worth the aggravation. Plenty of other cruise lines to choose from!!
Just seeing this. I had a mgm offer and I was upgrading … nope. Glad I seen this video
Cleanliness of staterooms has been an issue on our last two cruises (Equinox). Granted we were in a Veranda Stateroom, not Retreat, the room was poorly cleaned. There was sticky on the counters/surfaces in both staterooms. I was glad I brought wipes to clean. I realize the crew is stretched thin, so I didn't contact them. We have traveled Retreat and Aqua as well and agree that if the opportunity arises we will most likely choose Aqua for Blue, especially for the cost difference after listening to your experience.
We were on Millennium in Alaska in an Aqua Sky Suite and had a very similar experience - the butler service was non existent and the room steward handled most requests, along with a bunch of other cabins. We saw the head butler on embarkation day and only again on the last day when he was looking for a tip - sorry, not happening. We have two future Celebrity cruises booked in suites, we are seriously pondering other options at this point. We took a cruise in 22 on Equinox and the suite experience was excellent - the new model doesn't work, but I'm not sure that upper mgmt is getting that feedback. Do better Celebrity, or risk your loyal customers looking elsewhere.
As a lifelong celebrity customer, sounds like my days sailing them are over. Bean counters rule them now. How sad for what was a great cruise line.
What is a better option? I'm loyal Celebrity as well, and am curious what other lines you like. I'm always open to ideas.
Oh, wow - this video was SO interesting to see. Being totally honest, I reckon this class of cruising will be very more out of my price range, but it’s fascinating to hear your experience.
This just isn’t what I’d have expected goes on with this type of cabin with Celebrity - you’ve surprised me!
Excellent video as always, Zach!
Thank you, my friend.
It’s not going to change as long as all suites are booked. By the time this happens we will already be regulars on real luxury cruise lines. Booking now.
Some things are not worth the extra penny. Sounds like an arm and a leg compared to a basic stateroom and classic beverage. Most people cruising are looking for an inexpensive stress free getaway. I make sure to tip my room attendant, so they take good care of me, but they already do a phenomenal job. I also recommend getting the thermal spa thermal suite access; if it is a full ship, it can be difficult to find some peace and quite - for a couple hundred dollars the thermal suite is a great escape. I haven't compared the prices of this to the aquaclass or the retreat, but sounds like a few silly bells and whistles that aren't worth the price. Then you end up ruining your trip over thinking, I paid all this money! If you are going to spend that kind of money and looking for luxury, go to a high end resort. One other tip for new celebrity cruisers, make reservations to restaurants prior to the cruise.
I'm so, so sorry to hear this. I did my first Celebrity cruise earlier this year on the Summit, and stayed in an Aqua Sky suite. The biggest and best perk was having access to both Luminae and Blu. I can't say that I saw a lot of my butler, but he did check in with me several times. (I told him from Day 1, "I'm a really low-maintenance person, so I doubt I'll need much.") I did interact quite a bit with the two concierges, who were amazing. I loved that they were based in the Retreat Lounge, which made them easy to find and which meant you interacted with them daily, whenever you swung by the lounge. I understand the concept of a "butler team," and don't mind it at all. But it doesn't sound like that's what you experienced AT ALL.
Thanks for this honest review. Now is not the time for Celebrity to diminish the quality of service as you have laid out. I have seen many similar reviews of other Celebrity ships. It seems to be a trend and not one that any of us who are loyal to Celebrity are keen to experience. I hope someone is monitoring and reporting back and that they respond appropriately. I'll be in the Retreat on the Apex in a few weeks and will that experience inform our future cruise planning. Thanks again!
Thanks for your honest review Zach. My wife and I did the Mediterranean cruise aboard Celebrity Edge last month. We had a similar experience with our Butler but since this was our 1st time sailing in a Suite we just thought that we got unlucky and got a novice butler. (couldn't answer any questions regarding setting up excursions, dining reservations, etc) So thank you for letting us know that we were not alone in our experience.
I will say though that the 2 Concierge hosts in the Retreat Lounge were excellent. Always available, very professional, answered the phone quickly, so that by the 2nd day I just bypassed the Butler completely and went directly to them for any help I needed. One day I was having issues with the Celebrity app on my phone and the Concierge had the ship tech support guy meet me in the Lounge within 10 minutes to fix the problem.
The only time we really saw our "Butler" was when we ran into him in the hallway waiting to clean the room.
Zach, thank you for your honest opinion of a Celebrity Sky Suite. My husband and I are sailing on our first Celebrity Cruise, next month. We booked a Sky Suite on the Celebrity Constellation. I pray that we will have great vacation.
Have a great time!
WOW Zach. Thank you for your honest review. So glad you’re covering this. Booked a Sky Suite next summer on Beyond before they made the changes and was apprehensive about this apparent bait and switch but wanted to hope for the best. Thank you for letting us know the truth. Celebrity needs to step up and fix this before they alienate their best customers.
Hope you enjoy it!
I was on Summit this summer in a sky suite and we had a butler and a room attendant. So yes they changed their service.
Interesting take on the Retreat. My husband and I splurged in The Retreat on the Edge last spring and loved it. However, that was before the butler change. We felt really spoiled. We don’t have another celebrity cruise until the spring of 2025 so it will be interesting to see how these changes go. That may be our last if service remains as it was for you. Not worth the extra cost.
All of the Celebrity ships are understaffed. You have decent staffing on the Edge class ships, but the other class of ships are woefully understaffed. We just returned from an 8 day Caribbean cruise on the Equinox. There was one server per outdoor deck for the two sea days. The poor crew members are moving as fast as they can, but customer service/satisfaction suffers.
Thanks for sharing your experience, even though it was a bit painful to watch. We've stayed in the Retreat Sky Suites twice before (Apex and Beyond) and have loved our experience, so much so that we have two more booked. One this November (Beyond) and another one in August 2024, on the Silhouette. All were booked before any of the changes. Hopeful we still have an amazing trip in November, but your review does cause concern. If our experience is similar to what you experienced, we'll "reevaluate" our plans for August 2024.
We just completed 10 days cruise from Aruba with Celebrity Summit. The Main dining room is total disappointment, and they use low quality ingredients and cheap quality foods for their customers. It is just a Fancy restaurant with Cafeteria style dishes.
It is a medium/small size cruise ship with great service and with mature well manner passengers. Oceanview Cafe are great, it has lot of great selections, fruit selections, Indian dishes and the Bakery, all are excellent. The Indian dishes actually are much better than American Dishes. Most of the American dishes are subpar. They look dark and taste very salty,
As a minimum, MDR should use fresh ingredients for their soup base, not just Powder for the soup base for their connivence, in It is quite easy using real bean, green pea and diced potato for their soup base, they use grain powder for their watery soup base, such as for clam chowder, green pea and pasta fagioli, they are unacceptable. they may need to hire a new Chef.
Main dining room is total disappointment, They also use baby meatless mussels, baby shrimps and baby scallops for Shrimp scampi, they try save money using low budget ingredients, they turn the Main Dining Room into a fancy cafeteria with great service, It is quite easy using real bean, green pea and potato for their soup base, they are not saving money at all.
Coffee (flat taste) and the powder watery coffee Creamer, * one star, just lack of taste and lack of aroma, they taste so bad, need to be upgraded, Spa Cafe has much better cafe than the Oceanview Cafe, get your coffee at Spa Cafe.
Shrimp scampi dish is a joke, 1 star * they put four baby shrimps on top of the yellow sauce, they call them shrimp scampi, need to learn the real scampi receipt,
Prime rib (thin cut) and sirloin steak (thin cut) *** three stars, they just served them as cafeteria style. They are disappointment.
Watery Pasta fagioli soup * one star, it tasted is so bad, they should use fresh diced potatoes, fresh pasta, not potato starch for their soup base, need to get to use real diced fresh potato, need new receipt.
Watery green pea soup, taste so bad, they use green pea powder for soup base, need to use real green peas for soup base. Need new receipt.
Shrimp cocktail ** two stars, they use Baby shrimps as shrimp cocktail
Chicken breast * one star they overcooked
chicken Lemon pepper chicken * one star dry and overcooked
Seafood orzo * one star, they cook with baby meatless mussels, baby shrimps and baby scallops as ingredients, it may be good enough for a cafeteria, but not enough for a premium grade cruise ship. need to be improved and upgrade the ingredients.
Sautéed salmon grill salmon * one start on top of pasta, * one star, need to learn the sautéed receipt, not just grill the salmon and put it on top of pasta, need to learn and understand Sauteed the Salmon, need to be improved.
Mushroom tempura, they breaded the mushrooms with sauce. it is not crispy tempura style fry mushrooms. need new tempura receipt.
Grill sirloin steak (less than 1/2" thick with gravy, are you kidding, they put gravy over a grilled sirloin steak, need to be improved.
Wow that sounds like a less than ideal dining experience. Sorry you didn’t have a better experience.
@@ZachtheTravelingMan I am not a chef, but I know how to cook.
MDR should use fresh ingredients for their soup base, not just Powder for the soup base for their connivence, in It is quite easy using real bean, green pea and diced potato for their soup base, they use grain powder for their watery soup base, they are unacceptable.
Just like a simple dish (grilled Salmon), it looks dull and unattractive, at a minimum they need to apply final butter/syrup dressing for final browning.
Coffee (flat taste) and the powder watery coffee Creamer, just lack of taste and lack of aroma, they taste so bad, need to be upgraded, Spa Cafe offers much better cafe than the Oceanview Cafe, get your coffee at Spa Cafe.
Welcome to Celebrity! We did a B2B Norwegian Fjords/Scandianvia cruise in May/22 and paid $20,000 CDN for 19 days Concierge Class PLUS purchased the Chef's Table, including the wine pairing for $350.00 CDN, among other additional costs for the Premium Beverage package. The food in the MDR was so disappointing. We were huge Celebrity cruisers with many cruises but since COVID, Celebrity has really gone downhill. So, bye bye Celebrity and our next cruise is booked with Holland America. I hope they watched your review because it was so informative. Thank you!
We cruised with family and friends in March 2023 on the Apex from Ft. Lauderdale for a 7 day cruise. We all had Sky Suites and dedicated butlers. Honestly, the butler was the most disappointing part of our cruise and didn’t come close to a true butler service compared to a hotel experience. Our butlers were not very visible and were slow in addressing minor requests. They should remove Butler from their marketing and sales materials. Looking at group cruise for early next year and will try Silverseas.
This is so helpful! I hope they change back to dedicated butler before my cruise in December
I have been a celebrity fan for years, but things are declining there, as you noted. My poor room attendant told me if I didn’t give him a 10 on my review he would be fired. There are too few people doing too much and prices are UP, way over inflation rates. So is this the result of the latest CEO change? Was she brought in to squeeze profits for the cruise line. Well, the stock isn’t going up so on a corporate level that’s a flop. I’m on Princess in Feb so we’ll see if it’s industry wide
Sorry about that experience. I'm glad you have a platform to make your concerns public. Hopefully they are embarrassed and it leads to a positive change.
We have friends in a sky suite sailing on Reflection as I type. Having spoken to them yesterday I suspect they won't be sailing with Celebrity again anytime soon. Their experience is much as your own.
Sorry to hear that for them. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the in-depth review Zach. This is very disappointing to hear, especially since hubby and I will be in a sunset sky suite on Reflection in December. I hope Celebrity sees this and makes some major changes before our cruise.
I hope you have a great time!
still on the celebrity beyond, we disembark on Weds in FL
retreat butler service is non existent, met the butler first day, not seen him since
however that said, the room attendant is first class
It’s disgraceful what they’ve done to the Sky Suites. I hope the line is taking note.
Thank you for this review, for the money people pay for The Retreat videos like this are vital to help make informed decisions. I really hope Celebrity learns and improves from this.
I would be interested in your review of the Retreat on an edge-class ship, since they were designed with the retreat on mind. I agree with you about the ridiculous price, though overpriced unless you can get a cheap upgrade.
Edge class Retreat I would book . The other class ships 🚢 I book Blu.
Our butler, last year on Apex, did not elect to unpack for me- he simply said, “ I’ll come back after you unpack, to see if you need anything” The Sundeck lounge was so full on sea days- umbrella loungers all taken unless you get there very early.
Ps.. a day or 2 to get shirts pressed in the Retreat?? Sad. I wouldn’t expect immediate turnaround but it’s not unreasonable to to get back by evening. I understand about the laundry bag but would I be wrong to expect them to take the ball and run with it??
For $8000 you would be correct
My wife and I have sailed on Celebrity multiple times. We have never been disappointed and find Celebrity the perfect fit for us.
I would continue to call the head butler with requests that we would normally ask the butler for. They'll eventually get the picture that this isn't a good idea. A team of butlers kinda makes sense but this sounds like a team of cabin attendants that are just cabin attendants who have no time or ability to do what your butlers always did.
After taking 10 years off of cruising, I’m headed to Beyond this summer in the Retreat Class. It’s good to point out that CC has removed any discussion of butler from the list of Features Amenities. If they set the expectation appropriately I don’t think there is an issue, but if they say you get X,Y,Z and don’t provide it, these types of videos get made and live on RUclips forever. Thank you for an honest review.
Celebrity sounds like they’re scamming The Retreat people
Wow! You saved me money. I would be complaining from day one if I paid $8000 and got no special service.
So you seem to be a regular guy. 8 thousand dollars! How long? That is a ton of money! You have resources!
They're selling something that doesn't exist.
I would agree for all ships below Edge class. If it is an Edge class ship, it can be worth it. They really should lower the price for Retreat significantly for non-Edge class ships.
This is the first time I’ve watched your channel! You are honest & I loved your video!!!
When a process is “owned” by multiple people in reality it is owned by no one. Sounds like you experienced this operational defect with this new team approach rather than having someone singularly accountable for giving you excellent service.
You said it!
Thanks for your frank insights Zach 🇦🇺👍🙏 I really appreciate you not fence sitting and calling out the experience, warts and all. Suites are pricey enough let alone getting those bespoke services cut back … I know when I’ve saved for my holidays so I can sail in a suite, those perks are some of the things I really looked forward to as a real treat!
I’ve now started pricing some other cruise lines instead 🇦🇺
No thanks. $1000 a night for a larger cabin which doesn't really make a difference when service and extras should be the selling point, not a 20c bottle of water. 2023, cruise lines have lost the plot. Reduce the executive pay and million dollar bonuses and put that back into the passenger and food.
Zach, I just discovered you and have happily subscribed! Your videos and opinions you share are so fair and informative!
I am a long time Princess cruiser (my first cruise was on the Diamond, way before it was remodeled for it’s home port in Japan, and I fell in love with her and sister ship, the Sapphire. It was your Diamond video that introduced you to me!). Things certainly have changed over the years, and not necessarily for the better. I have to say that the canapés you received in your Sky Suite looked much more appealing than what Princess is currently considering a canapé perk these days!
I look forward to seeing and hearing about all your future adventures! Lois
Thank you, Lois. I really appreciate your kind comment. Welcome!! :)
Zach I've been 22 celebrity cruises of those Suites when I'm in a Suite my butler fills out my laundry form for me . That was when there was butlers. Zach I don't care how many cabins your attendant had you paid $8000 for that cruise SPEAK UP. 25:45
What a great video. I wonder how things are today after your video done 1 year ago.. I bet there are more cuts.
We had decided, before this video, not to book in the Retreat as we had planned. I was afraid that the service was going to be lacking and you just confirmed it. Thank you for your review! I love your channel btw, awesome work
Thank you for watching! I really appreciate your comment. :)
You are correct on decor, that is the exact room on our one (and only) suite experience back in 2014, and they looked exactly like your room does in the video. Back then, it was an excellent deal we stumbled into and they did have the full butler service. Back then you had a butler button you could use anytime, even in the dead of the night as there was a backup butler to monitor any possible needs for the suites, which was nice although only used once. I'm sorry you experienced the clothing issues, again back in the day they picked up our clothes personally and had it dealt with. I'm assuming it's another cost cutting move to make up for the lost years, but still sad to hear especially with the price hikes too. Thank you for the video.
That all being said it is a unique and great room to book, you do roast on the back patio as there is rarely any shade during the main part of the day, but hey - we all have to deal with some "suffering!" ;)
I was very disappointed when they changed the butler service for sky suites…we are booked on the Beyond in January in one for a big birthday cruise for my husband…we booked it when it came out probably close to two years ago so at least the price is better than what they are charging today…we have sailed exclusively in sky suites and really have enjoyed them but on either Edge class or revolutionized ships and have really loved it…now between the decrease in services and the huge price increases we have switched to Aquaclass going forward…I still can’t believe they are taking away the tips from the all included in addition to the OBC that they had given..We are sailing on the Equinox in a couple of weeks in Aquaclass for the first time …we got a good rate and hoping we have a great time
Thank you for creating and sharing this video. Sounds like you experience was very distasteful and unacceptable. I really hope you allowed them compensate for some of this experience at the very least. I'm a type of person if my room isn't up to standards it will greatly impact my stay and experience. Definitely for $7,000, Sadly they took advantage. You could had easily booked 2-3 suites on other ship and had a better experience. Its so disappointing that Celebrity promote The Retreat on such a high and sought after perk But Failed to Deliver. Hope you will have some better experiences soon. But I know I would've Been so UPSET. I hope Celebrity Heard you and willing to make some better changes.
We sailed Aqua Class to Alaska in 2022. Amazing experience, I agree Blu was incredible and we had the service experience you had in Luminae. I felt like we had great value for money. I think we will be trying another line for our next cruise though since I keep hearing stuff like this about Celebrity.
I want to hear your opinions on the food! I have a sky suite booked on the beyond and have two specialty restaurants booked but I will book more if needed…. I take my food seriously! I know the MDR has had negative feedback about the changes so I am curious about Luminae.
Interesting, we had the very same experience, 2 weeks ago when we cruised in The Retreat for the first time on the Edge. We usually cruise AquaClass because we love Blu. Our room attendant was our host and I saw no difference in service, we also met the head Butler the first day and never saw him again. The requested type of drink we requested on the survey was not what we received. Although the service was excellent in Luminae, we actually enjoyed the menu in Blu better. The plus side was the Sky Suite, it was beautiful, the Retreat lounge was great and spent a lot of time there as well as the Retreat Pool deck. Bottom line, we will stick with AquaClass, as it’s not worth the double price tag.
Although we have never sailed in the retreat, and probably never will, I am enjoying this series very very much… And your honesty is commendable… Thank you
Thank you!
I have been on a HAL cruise for the last two weeks in the Mediterranean. I’m just in a regular balcony stateroom. I did upgrade to the Have it all program and Club Orange. I can’t say enough about the cleanliness, great service, and friendliness of the crew. We have had cleaning of the room twice a day. Earlier this year I sailed with Oceania which I have always loved. This cruise has been comparable to that. I do think the food is a little better on Oceania. However the food on this trip has been good to fabulously on this HAL ship. I had the filet mignon in the Pinnacle Grill. It was the best on any ship! Celebrity doesn’t seem like it would be a very good fit for me.
Yikes, the cabin service fiasco is a major turn-off. I do feel bad for the attendant you primarily dealt with as he was probably quite overwhelmed, both with the number of rooms he was responsible for as well as the normal pressure cruise crews deal with anyway. It sounds like being treated as "second-class" Retreat on embarkation (what with the lack of an escort) was just foreshadowing of what was to come. I've never sailed in the Retreat so I'll withhold comments about Luminae until your full video on that comes out, but it would be sad to hear that the excellent food in Blu is better.
Great video as always, Zach! Thanks for your very frank review; so many travel vloggers tend to show bias toward their preferred/favorite brands so it's nice that you're just as ready to criticize Celebrity as you are to praise them when it's warranted. Though I guess it means you won't be "#hosted" anytime soon. 😜
I felt really bad for him too. Thank you for watching! We definitely will NOT be hosted, but that's ok with me, I'd rather keep telling the truth.
I’m sailing on a Celebrity Cruise in a Sky Suite in just a couple of weeks. I am definitely going to keep an eye on the service and speak up if needed.
We want our frig emptied out! We will stock it ourselves with cans and bottles from the retreat lounge. I’m bringing a large tote bag!
When I stayed on the NCL Breakaway on a B2B in the same Studio cabin I heard that NCL changed to once a day room visits and one day my room attendant said he is in charge of 16 cabins. That's one thing that limits how much effort they can put into each room. Your $8k room should not be getting an attendant who cares for 17 cabins. They are spread way too thin! Now I'm wondering about the butler situation on NCL!
Zach, be sure to let us know if someone from Celebrity contacts you after viewing this video.
Not yet! Thanks for watching.
Not sure if it is just differences in ship and/or crew but we just got off of the Eclipse in essentially the identical cabin. We had no issues with the Retreat Team, although like you, we tend not to ask very much. On our pre-cruise survey, we asked for and got champagne which was great for sail-away on our balcony. However, we never got (nor were offered or asked for) any kind of food in the cabin (afternoon canapés). Honestly, we were on the Equinox in 2022 in a Celebrity Suite (thank you, move up) and other than daily snacks (which we also had in a Sky Suite on the Summit in 2020) didn't really see much difference between having a "dedicated butler" and not. In fact, the one thing we did ask for from our butler never materialized and I went down to the Retreat Lounge and got it myself.
It will be interesting on our next cruise. We're on the Ascent in an Aqua Sky Suite, kind of the best of both worlds, or maybe the worst...we'll see.
Thank you for sharing. Enjoy Ascent!
Thanks for the honest review.
Always!
What a shame, we have sailed in the Retreat twice in 2022 on Millennium and Beyond and thoroughly enjoyed both. The butlers were great, stocking the fridge with what ever you requested, bringing room service if ordered. We didn't request a lot but what we did was always done quickly. I also watched the Q&A with the new president who said the changes would enhance service in the Sky Suites. We are booked into the Retreat (Sky Suite) on the Summit next fall. It also my be our last Retreat booking or even Celebrity cruise. Zach is our go to authority on Celebrity which has been our preferred cruise line. But if the service has changed that much maybe it is time to look at land based vacations. We have 2 Celebrity cruises booked for next year, time will tell.
Thanks for posting a candid review. It's disappointing to hear, but not a surprise. The Retreat changes were not thought through and have been implemented by bunglers. No wonder they needed to have a phoney "interview" with the Laura last week to try to do some damage control. Cruise Critic is full of stories like yours with people moving on to other lines. Scheduled for the Retreat in Jan. I expect it will be our last unless Celebrity gets their act together.
Fingers crossed!
We are sailing on Celebrity Edge in a Magic Carpet Sky Suite for our Alaska cruise May 2024. We were really looking forward to the Retreat areas to get away from the crowds and relax. However, we are now wondering how crowded the Retreat lounge, sundeck and Luminae will become since it was announced that Zenith loyalty members will have access to these areas again?
Generally speaking, when I was on Beyond in April, I found the Retreat lounge, sundeck and Luminae were not overly crowded (though getting the best spots on the Retreat deck could be tough - but you could always find a place). I will definitely book Retreat again on Edge class ships, but not on any other ship class.
We are sailing on Celebrity Edge May 24th, 2024, in a Magic Carpet Sky suite as well and have been wondering the same thing.
Technically there is NO Retreat on a Non Revolutionized Celebrity Millennium or Solstice class ship. It’s the same old Michael’s club and Lumenae
.Sky suite passengers always get treated like second class suite guests. You’re right that Aqua Class is a better deal for the money.
Hi Zac, would be interesting to see the difference between Edge class Retreat and your experience. Sounds like a poor experience for dollars paid but I doubt it reflects an Edge class ship experience in the retreat.
Nice summary. I was wondering how this would compare to the NCL Haven and you've answered all my questions. I'll admit that we're NCL fans but in Celebrity's defense, I've heard similar stories of service deficiencies on older ships, and this applies to NCL ships, too. Hopefully the newer Celebrity ships are better as it is so much of an experience to be at this service level.
I'm sorry, the age of the ship should not matter one bit. And the Solstice class is just one generation "older" than the Edge class. It's not an old class of ships. Overall, I don't like the Edge ships much as ships and prefer the Solstice class and I would expect them to deliver the same soft service, cleanliness and attention to detail as any Celebrity ship and that should be true of any cruise line.
I have only been on two cruises so far. On NCL. The second cruise was to Alaska, and after meeting a few of the staff, I found the service incredible. I was only in a balcony cabin, but my cabin attendant was always around and asking if there was anything I needed (I did bring lots of candy, snack gifts, and some extra cash for them). The cruise Director was so nice, and recommended some of the best shows/entertainment ever. I bumped into her all over the ship, and she always came over to say hello!! I wrote really hearfelt thank you notes to corporate to thank them for their great staff. Being a regular wage earner, I am not sure I would be willing to pay $7,000 or $8,000.
I have been a celebrity fan boy for years but they have lost my business. My last cruise i noticed a downgrade of the product in general. Plus every steak i had was a cheap tough cut of meat. With all the recently announced changes and cutbacks it just isn't worth the money. I'm especially annoyed they are charging for extra lobster tails.
My plan is to try msc yacht club.
I also recently discovered sleeper car accommodation on amtrak on their more scenic routes is another relaxing enjoyable vacation option. There are beautiful places in this country that you cannot see any other way...