Tipping Butler in the Suites

[kcwingwalker]

Am starting to travel more with my DD and a suite seems like the best answer for us. She's already planning another cruise for 2015:)

[garycarla]

Yea, suites may not make sense for some.

 

But then, living in a 1br apartment is not for everyone. Or driving a 15 year old Nissan Sentra.

 

Different strokes for different folks (and budgets).

[Willowmina]

April will be our first time on NCL - and in a 2 bedroom Epic Haven Suite.

 

I'm looking forward to receiving service that would make me want to tip $250 to our butler!!!

[Cruising4]

Contrary to what some posters think, not all suites are booked because of the need for VIP treatment. A suite can be surprisingly not more expensive than two cabins.

 

Tipping is so subjective. We have often left a ship with money earmarked for service not received. I am very sensitive to asking people to do things for me and I FEEL BAD about asking someone to clean up for me.

 

For me, if a cabin sleeps 6 people than the typical duties should be that of 6 people.

 

For 7 nights - I plan on $50 for concierge, $100 for butler and $100 for steward. Planning on asking the concierge for 5 or so reservations/escorts. The butler to bring breakfast 3 times and a couple of room service snacks. The steward for keeping the cabin spiffy, especially the kids room. With adjustments UP for those that don't make me feel bad for asking!

[BrPanthers99]

I will never understand the idea of taking one cruise for the price that 2 or 3 would be (on the same ship, even!) simply so that someone can bring me food and stuff. I'm at a loss. I do understand when it's larger families wanting or needing the space.

 

Totally agree, 2 vacations are better than one!!!

[Dakota10]

We've never done a Suite, but just upgraded to a Haven Spa Suite for our upcoming 10th anniversary cruise. I don't need a butler or concierge and we've already booked all of our own dining ressies and the only Spa I plan on utilizing is the Thermal Suites, so I doubt we will use them very much, if at all.. But, after a bad experience on the Pearl on our 5th anniversary cruise (AWESOME cruise, but a really bad day) the idea of a quieter, more private, less crowded option really appeals to me! We will go out and do what we want and probably spend not a ton of time in our cabin, but if we needed, I can retreat and avoid the buffet, which I hate.. :)

[cabincop]

If you book a suite then you should be able to tip the butler and concierge, and kids are a lot more work for them than adults. I always tell me friends to factor in tips before getting excited about an upgrade. And yes 10pp per day is reasonable. Butlers take care of all things in your suite and also let the room stewards know what needs to be done. Not only do they bring your snacks and room service but if you want something for you kids they arrange that also. My butler told me about a family that had him bring cookies and milk everynite and dvd's plus other snacks throughout the day and received no tip. I have had the same butler for 4 cruises and I always request them when I cruise. I sail solo and find my butler adds so much to my cruise I find it amazing that some people will not tip. I also tip my steward extra. With kids the steward and butler go out of their way to make it a great cruise

[cabincop]

I have never ever felt like a butler made me feel bad for asking them for something. They bend over backwards for you and are on duty 12hrs or more.

[Rollingstone43]

So - to summarise

 

Some people like suites, others don't

 

Some people tip a lot, some don't.

 

That's clear for the OP then ! I just think you should be prepared to leave something for concierge, butler and steward - but the amount depends on what you feel their service is worth to you. You've seen some range of levels of tip here - make your own decision (but you don't need to allocate half your weekly allowance to this is you don't want to!)

 

Oh and by the way - you will have an AMAZING time. Good luck !

[joeski27]

And here I was thinking maybe I could splurge and squeak out $1300 from my savings account to upgrade to a haven spa suite...but the reality of it is I'd sure as hell have to budget a lot more than that to cover all the extra tips! I mean I of course agree fully with tipping, but yikes, guess Haven really is a little too rich for my blood. Definitely not something I'll ever be able to afford in my lifetime :(

 

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[gelo7]

Some good answers. This whole tipping the butler and concierge is always a difficult one.

 

And thank you so much for not responding with "you should tip commensurate with the service". I find that response about as helpful as "tip the appropriate amount".

 

Along with the search hint above, the following also seems to work for those that can remember the proper syntax:

 

cruisecritic.com butler

 

It appears to give the same or similar response.

My sentiments exactly...

[joeski27]

By the way, and this might be a dumb question, but does the automatic daily gratuity (the one that is automatically added to your account each day) not apply to those who are staying in The Haven?

 

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[peg013]

By the way, and this might be a dumb question, but does the automatic daily gratuity (the one that is automatically added to your account each day) not apply to those who are staying in The Haven?

 

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Everyone 3 years old and older pays the $12.00 DSC no matter which cabin/suite they are in. It's just that butlers, concierge's, and the Kid's Club are not included in the DSC and therefore need to be tipped in addition to the DSC.

[TifffanyD]

Can you add the tip onto your account at GS or does it have to be cash? Just worried I will bring cash and decide they deserve more.

[GSLMOM]

roughly yes, for the butler, but for the concierge, we budget $10 per cabin per day. I say roughly because there are always variations. Two weeks with my kids (total 4) in one cabin, tipped the butler roughly $750 (in the garden villa, he was amazing), last time with kids, 6 people in two cabins nine days - $250 to one butler and $175 to the other. Three people one week - roughly $200 each time. Bringing and setting up made to order breakfast for five or six is much more difficult than bringing it for two, plus they have been amazing at keeping track of everyone's individual preferences.. I've been very lucky with butlers.

 

Concierge ranges have been all over the place though - from $5 total per day to $25 total per day per cabin. Making a reservation for six requires the same single phone call that two people would be. Some concierge's make the cruise amazing, others are just "eh"...

 

Robin

 

wow!

[Fishbait17]

Can you add the tip onto your account at GS or does it have to be cash? Just worried I will bring cash and decide they deserve more.

 

Absolutely. You can go to GS and request the tips be added to your account (make sure you know their names!). GS will give you a receipt. I bring some thank you cards on every trip (keep them in my "cruise bag") and fill them out with a personal note and include the receipt, handing them out at the end of the cruise. It's very handy!

 

Robin

[Fishbait17]

wow!

 

It sounds like a lot, but in the scheme of things it was the right amount for us - Two weeks with four people in a GV that was listed at $40,000 for the cruise (so less than 2% tip). We had two parties in the suite and my daughters called for room service after midnight twice (this was before night butlers, so our butler got out of bed to deliver!!! I didn't know the DD did this until later!). This particular gentleman was amazing and the service was over the top. Every cent was earned!

 

Robin

[psac]

By the way, and this might be a dumb question, but does the automatic daily gratuity (the one that is automatically added to your account each day) not apply to those who are staying in The Haven?

 

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It does still apply, but it specifically does NOT cover the concierge or butler. That applies for all cruise lines that have auto-gratuities and offer butler/concierge perks.

 

On past cruises we didn't use the butler too much -- maybe one lunch the whole trip, mostly for the snacks and refilling the coffee materials, but we still tipped about $10 per day total (not per person, but just two of us), but then we also gave extra tip to the Cagney's (no Haven restaurant) staff since we ate breakfast there every day, and lunch most days, and they learned our personal preferences quickly and provided incredible service.

 

We always find the Concierge hardest to determine how much to tip. One trip we wanted to cancel an expensive non-cancellable excursion, and the concierge took care of it for us. Obviously we tipped really well that time. Other trips we've made all our own reservations, so didn't use them at all, but then there's the behind the scenes things they do for all the Perk passengers, so we still tipped, but never know if it is enough or too much.

[TifffanyD]

Absolutely. You can go to GS and request the tips be added to your account (make sure you know their names!). GS will give you a receipt. I bring some thank you cards on every trip (keep them in my "cruise bag") and fill them out with a personal note and include the receipt, handing them out at the end of the cruise. It's very handy!

 

Robin

 

Thank you! And the thank you notes are a great idea! I am going to add those to my "To Do" list along with the contact cards I've been meaning to create for friends we meet along the way :)

[isdoo]

I am quite sure that for most cruises in Europe that have Europeans in the Haven suites, that no additional tip will be left as the feeling is that the $12 covers it and that the Butler costs are built into the cruise price.

 

Certainly nothing on ncl.co.uk which would indicate to anyone booking that anything extra is expected.

 

There maybe on the US site, which is priced differently.

[KitinIowa]

I read on another thread that since the butler and concierge are outside of the $12 a day charge you can use your OBC for their tips? The thread that mentioned this said that when he talked to the guest services the person at the desk didn't know this but asked another manager who said yes the OBC could be used for this?

 

Anyone have any experience using OBC? This is our first cruise and as luck has it we have a lot of OBC because of using AMEX, etc. for only the two of us. I thought this would be a good use of that OBC since we probably won't need to drink or eat quite that much!!

[time2cruise1]

I am quite sure that for most cruises in Europe that have Europeans in the Haven suites, that no additional tip will be left as the feeling is that the $12 covers it and that the Butler costs are built into the cruise price.

 

Certainly nothing on ncl.co.uk which would indicate to anyone booking that anything extra is expected.

 

There maybe on the US site, which is priced differently.

 

I just took the time to review the UK site and yes unlike the US site no mention of tipping those not included in the Service Charge including butlers, concierge, or kids crew :confused:

[Panama2014]

Like others we needed some guidelines and asked more experienced suite level cruisers. Fair is fair we wanted to leave concierge and butler with something so concierge was 100 and butler 250, we received ice and juice daily, only two meals to the suit as breakfast was much better in Cagney's. Where we really tipped was the teen youth advisor, he made our son's trip and we new with very few teens on board he was likely to be forgotten by most parents using his service not sure why this happens and how they would like it if it was their job, you basically trust this person to oversee your children when at the club. Worth more that wait staff we think! We had a hand written note delivered to us thanking us and never heard or saw the butler once we tipped him. We gave additional tip to the room stewardess as she never stopped working or smiling.

We would book a suite again and next time would be much more comfortable giving more to those that serve above what is expected. Just our way.

[isdoo]

I just took the time to review the UK site and yes unlike the US site no mention of tipping those not included in the Service Charge including butlers, concierge, or kids crew :confused:

 

Indeed - my guess is that the butlers and such like receive additional payments for travellers from the UK, out of their fare.

 

I have just priced up a cruise in a haven suite for a cruise in May and it is £100/ $166 more per day per person if booked in the UK, which I am sure must go towards the butler / concierge.

 

 

 

 

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Edited February 21, 2014 by isdoo

[Cruzin Fool]

Thank you everyone for the advice! It was helpful to see the range that is paid. This way I can walk off of the ship feeling good that I gave an appropriate amount.

 

It was interesting to read the comments on whether to suite or not to suite... We have always opted not to. In this case it was only $500 more to book the DOS over two interior cabins (at the time we booked). All of the extra perks were a great value to us for the extra $500. Not to mention 800 square feet of space compared to around 250 in two interior cabins. For us it was a no-brainer. Our "kids" are all 17 years old and will hardly ever be in the cabin. The most they will request from the butler will probably be sodas and some occasional snacks. We never eat in our cabin so there will not be any meal deliveries - we are very on-the-go types. We're low maintenance but I'm sure we will thoroughly enjoy being spoiled by the butler.

 

Thanks again for all of your input. I'm looking forward to some good old R&R!!!