QM2 Butler Service questions...

[JGR01]

Am in a Q5 suite transatlantic this summer. The main reasons for the decision was the Butler service (in general but now I find they can bring QGrill food to the suite during meal hours), the Queens private deck/lounge and the Queen's Grill one waiter per table rather than Princess Grill where a waiter served four tables. (all this per Cunard reservations tho somewhat 'tarted up' me thinks)

 

On past cruises (Princess mainly) my formal clothes tend to arrive SO very wrinkled that I immediately send them to the Laundry for pressing (tux) or laundering (shirts).

 

I'm assuming I will do the same on QM2. In fact with three (per my understanding) formal nights onboard and formal dinner on the VSOE transfer Southampton to Victoria, I have purchased two new tux shirts that I do not even plan to remove from their wrapping prior to the cruise.

 

I know the Butler will manage or coordonate this. But my question is will the pressing go to the main ships laundry .. or does the Butler have support people to do these small tasks? Press a Tux/gown? Sew on a button? Shine shoes (not formal as they are shiny pattent)?

 

What other services does the Butler perform??

 

I noticed that gratuities in Grill categories are different per the web page, and I do not have my paper-work yet. What other tipping? Is the Butler tipped like the Cabin Steward? Also, since the suite is larger than other cabins should the Steward tip be more? How much more? In past, with suites on Princess, I have told the Steward that I expect great service. I would normally tip the FULL amount at the start of the cruise (enticement to do great service) and then again tip that amount at the end of the cruise (if great service rendered). My logic says a Suite is two (or more) cabins in size .. so the tip should be based on that not just a cabin is a cabin.

 

Any advices from the forum?

 

Also, does QM2 offer pre-paid tipping? If not, what currency (USD or GBP) should the tips be in??

[pisces1]

Regarding tipping....it is automatically charged daily to your shipboard account for services that relate to your room. I traveled round-trip, Eastbound in a suite, Westbound in a balcony stateroom. The charge for the latter was $11/day. I believe the suite daily charge was several dollars higher. Soft drinks, cocktails, wine and other spirits at dinner and at lounges also come with an automatic 15% charge. You have the option of tipping extra, but no envelopes are provided. We utilized the self service laundry where there was several ironing boards for pressing. Our butler, unfortunately, was like a ghost...seen very seldomly and when he did appear it was but for a fleeting moment. We often had to ask for items to be replenished in our refrigerator, and when we rang him for this or another request, we always were connected to a paging system, often requiring two phone calls to get results. We were not a demanding couple. All calls but one were for services that should have been completed normally but were not. Needless to say, no extra tips were given to him.

[wripro]

i did two crossings in princess grill and can tell you the service is exactly the same in PG as in QG. i dont think you will get one set of waiters just for your table in QG. in fact, one of the waiters we had on the first crossing in PG was transferred to QG during our second crossing and he told us he thought service was better in PG because there are fewer passengers in PG (180 versus 230) what i can tell you is the service in PG was excellent, as good or better than i experienced in QG on the QE2. having said that, im sure you will be very happy no matter how many tables your waiters are serving. (in fact, each table has three waiters, in both grills.)

[mncyclist]

Here is our impression from our April 16 westbound crossing in a Q5 stateroom. We had a butler and assistant butler who kept our room in perfect condition all the time. It did not appear that there were any staff other than the butlers taking care of the room, so in reality the butler/assistant butler are the usual room steward/assistant, but dressed in butler clothing and perhaps serving fewer cabins than in regular cabins. They may also have some additional training.

 

We are not demanding people and never had room service, but I did ask Oscar (butler) to polish my shoes and Rowena (assistant butler) to sew a button. They were both present when we first arrived in the cabin and showed us how to work everything. Oscar pointed out the fully stocked fridge and asked us to select two alcoholic items of our choosing from a long list. We don't drink, so asked for soy milk instead, which was regularly replenished during the crossing. Oscar also served us canapes in the suite, but we found this redundant so asked that it not be served again, which it wasn't. Our fruit selection was also regularly refreshed with a nice assortment.

 

In my mind, the benefits of a Q5 suite are the spacious suite and the restaurant. In addition, the concierge lounge and Queens Grill lounge (both accessible for Princess Grill) were nice features.

 

The sheer spaciousness of the "standard" Q5 suites is not often mentioned or is even dismissed, but I think it's significant, being twice as large as a regular balcony cabin and 50% larger than a Princess Grill suite. This was a "splurge" vacation for us, so we thoroughly enjoyed the idea of crossing the Atlantic in our own huge room. Although some people feel that they don't spend much time in their rooms, having a large space enables you to do so. The room was larger than most hotel rooms I've been in and much better equipped. There was storage everywhere, so we just completely moved in. There was a front hall closet (good for coats, also contained safe), large walk-in closet with shelves/chest of drawers/robes/many hangars/Cunard umbrella, dressing area, sofa, desk with many drawers, large balcony with full-sized teak furniture (never used on this crossing, though), flat screen TV, fully equipped bar with lots of black granite counter space. The very large bathroom had a divider for the WC, jacuzzi tub, equal-size his/hers toiletry shelves, cabinets below, clever pull-out waste bin. The bed was very comfortable and had two large bedside tables, with nice lamps. I should also mention that there was a wide variety of lighting in the suite, seemingly enabling the perfect ambience for any given occasion.

 

Our Queens Grill restaurant experience was superb. We were served by a team of three waiters, who also had other tables. However, since QG is single seating and guests arrive whenever they want, we never noticed all of the tables occupied, so the staff had plenty of time to attend to their guests. Even though there may be slightly more quests in QG, I believe the staff ratio is the same or greater in QG than PG and the most experience staff "graduate" to QG after many years of experience elsewhere. The service is likely about the same in PG and QG, but I believe that the staff in QG try just a bit harder and will make the extra effort more willingly. I would say that they likely have to deal with more demanding and sometimes unpleasant customers, though most of our table neighbors were very nice.

 

The Wedgewood and heavy Sheffield silver is identical in Queens and Princess Grills. One key feature of QG is the daily a la carte menu, which is available mostly at dinner, but can be prepared for lunch as well. We never ran out of choices and everything was prepared beautifully. Being vegetarian, I was also presented with a separate vegetarian menu, which required ordering a meal or two in advance. In addition to the veg items on the regular menu, I found all of the vegetarian items to be very inventive, tasty and healthy. We were even given specially-made vegetarian versions of the "amuse bouche" pre-appetizer items, which were always artistic and tasty. It was also possible to order completely off the menu, but we never really tested the chef.

 

In sum, we enjoyed our QG dining so much that we ate in Brittania only once for breakfast and Kings Court only once for lunch. As a test, I ordered the same item for breakfast in Britannia and Queens Grill on successive mornings, with interesting results. It was the Canyon Ranch fruit crisp and egg-white vegetable omelette with wheat toast. The fruit crisp in Brittania was basically fresh cut fruit in a bowl with some granola on top, while in QG it was apples/pears/cinnamon with a brown sugar crust, baked hot in a ramekin. The omelette in Brittania was perfectly OK, but the one in QG was hotter, more carefully prepared, and beautifully presented. We also noticed that breakfast toast in Brittania was served from a basket, while it was in a proper heavy silver toast rack in QG.

 

One small additional thing about Q5 suites on deck 10 is that there are so many fewer cabins on that deck that the corridors always seemed quieter. There were also unique lighting sconces in the corridors, in addition to the regular lights, which added to the elegance and reminded you that you were in the right place.

 

Having said all this (sorry it got long), I would also have been perfectly satisfied with a regular room and Brittania dining. The basic menus are the same and Kings Court food quality is very high at all meals (just a confusing layout). And after all, everyone gets to enjoy the huge public spaces and wonderful nooks and crannies of this fabulous ship.

 

Charles

[kevinsac]

As a kid, I travelled on numerous QE2 World Cruises and took many more Trans-Atlantic cruises as well. We were in both QG and PG cabins, and Mother always thought that the service in the PG was much better (more attentive, a bit less stuffy) than the QG. I can think of several cruises on which we were booked in a QG suite, but asked to be seated in the PG.

 

Maybe it's just my fond childhood memories (I'm now mid-40s), but I have a similar sentiment to the QM2. I've been on board three times; once in the QG and twice in the PG. I like the feeling of the PG best.

 

Just MHO.

[Spuff]

Thank you mncyclist for a lovely review of a Q5 cabin. My husband & I are booked in a Q5 cabin from Southampton to New York in August and we can't wait. Our first cruise was on the QE2 last year in April (tandem crossing) and we loved it.