Mercury: Anyone know which Butlers onboard?

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Have a Mercury cruise coming up in January.

 

Curious, does anyone know who the Royal and Penthouse butlers are these days?

 

Thank you.

[BonnieVA]

Well, Edwin was on deck 12 in Oct/Nov ... not sure when he's leaving but that's not the location you were wondering about. Ram was on 10 but went home late Nov/early Dec. Not sure when in Jan you're sailing & don't know if he's returning to Mercury or not. Ashwin is on 10 & is leaving Jan 15. Other than that I don't know.

[cruisinabout]

Igor was also on Mercury deck 10 this past 29Nov-11Dec.

[BonnieVA]

Jedi,

 

I might be able to find out for you if you give me more info on your cabin ... port or starboard, aft/mid/forward?

 

Bonnie

[JEDIKNIGHT]

1044 PH, Jan 3rd.

 

thank you very much

[BonnieVA]

I'll get back to you tomorrow PM.

[jcpc]

Jedi,

 

We were in 1044 at the end of October. Butler was Rebello and cabin stewardess was Anabelle. Cannot remember the name of the assistant -- all three provided excellent service. I cannot for the life of me remember when any of them were going home.

 

Janice

[BonnieVA]

Jedi,

 

Unfortunately, my source didn't know who will be the butler for your cabin Jan 3. Sorry. Who was your butler last year? Wasn't it Ram?

[JEDIKNIGHT]

jcpc...

 

Thanks for the info, glad it was a good experience for you.

 

Bonnie, really appreciate you checking. Yes, last year it was Ram, and he was phenomenal.

[buffi001]

Don't know who you will get, but I hope it's not George. We had him as a

butler on the sky deck, and he was pretty hard to locate most of the time.

We were told he was a last minute replacement for the previous butler, who was "let go". George was hit or miss......well, mostly miss!

[BonnieVA]

Don't know who you will get, but I hope it's not George. We had him as a

butler on the sky deck, and he was pretty hard to locate most of the time.

We were told he was a last minute replacement for the previous butler, who was "let go". George was hit or miss......well, mostly miss!

 

Interesting. When did you sail?

 

Oh, never mind ... I just saw your post about St Kitts ... Nov 29 cruise

[buffi001]

Interesting. When did you sail?

 

Oh, never mind ... I just saw your post about St Kitts ... Nov 29 cruise

 

 

It was a big letdown. I had a list of possible things he could do

for us (ie get pastries from the Cova in the morning, get an

occasional smoothie etc), and his response was always "I don't

think that's possible, but I'll check. Needless to say, he never got

back to us, and we pretty much gave up on asking. He didn't follow

through on things either. We told him we didn't want the afternoon

sandwiches, and would prefer a cheese plate or shrimp cocktail. He said no

to the shrimp (we'd have to call room service), and substituted the cheese

once before going back to the untouched sandwiches.

 

Thankfully, we had a great cabin steward, and he more than made

up for the butler's apathy.

[BonnieVA]

It was a big letdown. I had a list of possible things he could do

for us (ie get pastries from the Cova in the morning, get an

occasional smoothie etc), and his response was always "I don't

think that's possible, but I'll check. Needless to say, he never got

back to us, and we pretty much gave up on asking. He didn't follow

through on things either. We told him we didn't want the afternoon

sandwiches, and would prefer a cheese plate or shrimp cocktail. He said no

to the shrimp (we'd have to call room service), and substituted the cheese

once before going back to the untouched sandwiches.

 

Thankfully, we had a great cabin steward, and he more than made

up for the butler's apathy.

 

I've never had a butler but I'd be pretty disappointed if I had your experience too. I wonder why they had to let the other butler "go"?? By any chance were your cabin stewards Juoquim (spelling??) & Felix or were you on the other side of the Sky deck? They must have been because Edwin's on the other side & you didn't have Edwin. Hmm ... the story isn't adding up (not YOUR story ... something else).

[buffi001]

I've never had a butler but I'd be pretty disappointed if I had your experience too. I wonder why they had to let the other butler "go"?? By any chance were your cabin stewards Juoquim (spelling??) & Felix or were you on the other side of the Sky deck? They must have been because Edwin's on the other side & you didn't have Edwin. Hmm ... the story isn't adding up (not YOUR story ... something else).

 

Bonnie

 

We did have Joaquim and he was fantastic. He did almost everything I

expected the butler to do....got us a mattress pad for the bed, pitchers of

orange juice, extra toiletries etc......and his attitude was fantastic, always

helpful, pleasant and smiling. We gave him a Washington Nationals tshirt, and I think he thanked us every day. Unfortunately, I can't remember his assistant's name, but he was very good also. We gave the two of them the

extra tip we had set aside for the butler. They earned it.

 

Where in Va do you live? We live in Alexandria and I am really going

to miss leaving from Baltimore. It was great.

 

Gary B

[TourDeCruise]

Gary: We were also on the 11/29 cruise (& 10/29 same as Bonnie). On the 10/29 cruise, we were on the Sky Deck, and on 11/29 cruise the Vista Deck (aft). Joaquim & Felix were our stateroom attendant & assistant during the 10/29 cruise, and both were fantastic. Unfortunately you missed out on Ashwin as your butler, who had been the butler on the Sky Deck (starboard) during the 10/29 cruise and who is now on Deck 10 as Bonnie posted. During the 11/29 cruise, we used the Sky Deck starboard hall to get to the track every day, sometimes several times per day. Felix was still with Joaquim and is the larger guy, also from India. Felix was probably your assistant.

 

Hi Bonnie!

 

JEDIKNIGHT: Best wishes on a great butler.

 

Kathy

[buffi001]

Kathy,

 

I had anticipated that Ashwin was going to be our butler, and I

had read so many good things about him. I think that added to the

disappointment a little. We still had a fantastic time, and the butler thing

was just a minor bump in the road.....

 

Gary

[BonnieVA]

Yes, I was going to say that Ashwin had been the butler up there until your sailing. He was not "let go"!! He is on 10 port side. Ram had been on 10; he went on his vacation & Ashwin asked to be moved to 10. So Ashwin went to 10 & the new guy - who was going to replace Ram - was put on 12 starboard. Edwin is still Sky deck port side.

 

By the way, I'm from Chesterfield - outside of Richmond - & I will very much miss X sailing out of Baltimore as well. It was so convenient & a great ship to sail on. I have also become friends with several of the crew & I was hoping to cruise on Merc each year & visit. Now everyone will be scattered around the world & it makes me sad :(.

 

PS: Hi, Kathy!!!!

[JEDIKNIGHT]

I think I remember you saying good things about Ashwin before. Hopefully we get him.

 

Even better would be Ram coming back from vacation.

 

LOL they've got a fan club. Maybe they should sell a "The Butlers of Mercury" calendar and make a few bucks on the side.

[TourDeCruise]

Maybe they should sell a "The Butlers of Mercury" calendar and make a few bucks on the side.

 

ROTFL! That's a good one, Jedi.

 

Bonnie: I'm glad you clarified that Ashwin wasn't the one let go. We don't want to start a panic on the Cruise Critic boards. ;) Most of the crew with whom dh & I are friendly are going to the Century or Constellation. We just moved our Equinox cruise in March to December 2011 on the Constellation. Five cruises in five months is a bit much, so we are taking March & April off from cruising.

 

Gary: I agree with you (your post on another Jedi thread) that the food on the Mercury was very good.

 

Jedi: I enjoyed your post in November on the Civility thread.

 

Kathy

[TourDeCruise]

Gary: I agree with you (your post on another Jedi thread) that the food on the Mercury was very good.

 

Correction: Wasn't a Jedi thread, but the November 29, 2010 thread.

[BonnieVA]

I think I remember you saying good things about Ashwin before. Hopefully we get him. Unless there's some weird move, Ashwin will NOT be your butler ... he's on the other side of the ship.

 

Even better would be Ram coming back from vacation. Although I've never had a bulter I can tell that Ram is great! He's a wonderful person.

 

LOL they've got a fan club. Maybe they should sell a "The Butlers of Mercury" calendar and make a few bucks on the side. LOVE this idea!! I'll be the first to put my order in :p :p :p !!

 

I've heard good things about Edwin, too, & he's a sweatheart as well as the other guys!! :)

[BonnieVA]

Jedi ...

 

From what I hear, your Butler is going to be................

 

 

 

George! (Not kidding!)

 

 

He moved to that section today. Just go into it with a positive attitude. He must have been having an "off" 1st-week-back on the cruise mentioned here because he's apparently a very experienced butler & - from what I was told - good at his job.

 

Wishing you the best!!

 

Bonnie

[buffi001]

I tend to think Bonnie may be correct. George didn't even arrive

until later the first night. He mentioned that he had been moved

in from the Eclipse, and it didn't seem like his heart was in his job. I

know that at St Maarten's he said he was going ashore to meet with

his friends from the Eclipse, which was also docked there.

 

It wasn't that he did anything wrong. He was just inconsistent and difficult

to locate. I'm sure he'll come out of his funk and make me look like a typical

"moaner". Have a fantastic time....we did...

[JEDIKNIGHT]

 

 

Jedi: I enjoyed your post in November on the Civility thread.

 

Kathy

 

 

Wow, thanks for reading and for saying that, appreciate it.

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Well, I was sitting here, playing a wonderful (non money) online poker game and on the side, reading this thread.

 

Read Buff's comments re George.

 

Then read Bonnie's CIA information that George will be our butler.

 

Uh oh.

 

I really, really hope he's good. X's butler service is THEE reason this is our 3rd X cruise in 18 months.

 

We utilize the butler quite a bit...especially for ordering supplies and good, and even more for dinner room service. Both Ram and Rikki were spectacular in that regard. With toddler DD, between us and my parents co-ordinating babysitting duties, MDR, shows, etc....we probably do MDR room service 5 out of 12 nights, plus a few breakfasts also.

 

My parents are right next to us so odds are they'll get George too. (Next time, put parents in different area so we don't double-down on butler. That's the new strategery)

 

Too bad we couldn't get Ashwin. For reasons I won't bore people with, he could've helped alot with special needs, vis a vis my parents.

 

I gotta believe X would put one of their better butlers with the PH's and RS's.

 

If I have Buff's experience, I wonder what I should do because I don't plan to deal with that for 12 days.

 

For now all I can do is hope for the best.

 

You all should pray for me because if this turns out bad, I'm buying max internet minutes, and I promise to start a new thread on tipping or jeans every hour on the hour for 12 days ;)