How much discretion do butlers have?

[asand5554]

Thank you all for the input. I do see a trend that the higher category of suites tend to have better experiences. I'd love to hear from someone who stayed in an SJ suite who had a great butler story.

[AF-1]

Me too; lets hear about good stories from those people who have stayed in suites not associated with the Haven; like normal SE or SF suites.

[DMH15]

There are countless butler threads. Since butlers work on tips and some cruise with big bucks I am always surprised to hear bad butler stories. I think people have misconceptions what a butler's role is. If a platter of cheese and crackers is to have a charge, please don't take it out on the butler. He is only following policy. Take it up with the restaurant manager or hotel manager. That does not indicate in any way the butler is lazy or provides bad service.

 

One time on Epic a guy in an owners suite was trying to get his bottle of sparking wine traded in for something else. The butler said he could not do it. The guy worked his way up to the concierge and they still said no. I was in the Epic lounge listening to this guy tell the bartender he had to work his way to hotel director before they decided to trade bottles. Some would blame the butler for not switching but it was apparent the butler was not allowed to do this.

 

An example of bad service would be ordering dinner inside your cabin and it was never delivered. A butler will honor your request in delivering just about anything you want but if it requires a charge, you must pay the charge.

 

This is not overly complicated. On the first day meet with your butler and ask or request what you want delivered and at what times, etc. This should work. This is not aimed at the OP but I sometimes think some passengers think butlers are personal servants assigned to them only. I have heard some ridiculous requests to butlers. Some butlers will be proactive and can be intrusive. Some don't like to constantly be bombarded with door bells ringing so some butlers keep their distance as to not intrude so much.

 

 

I am not demanding and in fact I think I sort of adapt to the butler's personality. Our last butler on the Sun in a SE was Teresa and she was incredible. Loved her. Would love to have her as our butler again anytime.

 

My first butler was sub par. One night we arrived back to the cabins and the snacks were there, as usual... But this time they were all over the floor. I recall chips and salsa because when we called him he told me he would pick up after it in the morning? Really, my mom slept on the sofa bed in the living room and here was salsa on the wall and on the carpet near where she laid to sleep. When I tried he explain he seemed put off. Also, we had met two other couple of which one was in the Owner's Suite, the top cabin on the Sun. Apologetically they told us they had spoken to our wonderful concierge about how poor his service had been. She told us she had spoken with the HD and they were working on it. I think he was trying but was very slow and very confused all the time. The other couple on about day 5 said, "what do you mean, snacks"? The kicker is the butler got off in one of the ports and did not return. So the other butler, the wonderful Armando, was doing double-duty. A butler-in-training assisted. So, see. Yes, bad service exists. But we had a great steward, and incredible concierge and there were many others who helped make our trip awesome.

[Johnny Bananas]

We've only stayed in SF and SE. We dont drink coffee or eat in the suite.

 

The only thing we really ask for is Boursin cheese, French bread and grapes. My kids have asked for dvd's once or twice. We've never been charged or told no.

 

We've never had a complaint. Some butlers are much more outgoing and chatty than others but since we don't really look for much either personality suits us fine.

[Da-Painter]

Me too; lets hear about good stories from those people who have stayed in suites not associated with the Haven; like normal SE or SF suites.

 

We were in the SF/Aft suite on our last cruise, our butler was always available. John D S was the Con, and he did make himself quite available to us. I knew he was also tending to the folks in the Haven, likely spent more time there. But we did not feel neglected at all.

We have been pleased, and have the SF aft suite booked for the next two years in January. ;)

[asand5554]

Glad to hear that others have had similar experiences to ours. On a positive note, we have never had an issue trading out the complimentary sparkling wine for a bottle of the regular house wine. The thing that seems odd to me is that I always assumed the butler positions were coveted, that it was a job that crew members aspired to, so it surprises me that the performance of any butler would be subpar or lackadaisical (sp?).

[NLH Arizona]

We were in the SF/Aft suite on our last cruise, our butler was always available. John D S was the Con, and he did make himself quite available to us. I knew he was also tending to the folks in the Haven, likely spent more time there. But we did not feel neglected at all.

We have been pleased, and have the SF aft suite booked for the next two years in January. ;)

I too was in a SF/Aft penthouse on my last two cruises. On the Jewell both was great; concierge was always available every morning in Cagney's and the butler was fantastic. On the Pearl, the butler was fantastic, but never saw the concierge in Cagney's and on disembarkation, she spent all her time with the Haven folks and even at the end when we were walking off the ship, she only spoke to the two gentlemen who were next to me, maybe I made the mistake of tipping her through my shipboard account a few days earlier (meaning, she didn't have to acknowledge me to get a tip, as she already had it). I'll be on the Pearl again in November and trust me, if I'm still invisible, there will be no tip for her. Edited July 21, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[amarvel]

Me too; lets hear about good stories from those people who have stayed in suites not associated with the Haven; like normal SE or SF suites.

 

We did and our butler was fantastic. He knew what we liked and really listened to us, so by day two the snacks were things we liked.

 

Also he wouldn't take smaller tip money from us at the beginning and told us to tip it all at the end. we had thought we would spread it out.but ended up just tipping at the end.

 

Not being in the haven I felt the concierge treated us different but the butler service seemed it would have been the same.

 

 

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[Johnny Bananas]

I too was in a SF/Aft penthouse on my last two cruises. On the Jewell both was great; concierge was always available every morning in Cagney's and the butler was fantastic. On the Pearl, the butler was fantastic, but never saw the concierge in Cagney's and on disembarkation, she spent all her time with the Haven folks and even at the end when we were walking off the ship, she only spoke to the two gentlemen who were next to me, maybe I made the mistake of tipping her through my shipboard account a few days earlier (meaning, she didn't have to acknowledge me to get a tip, as she already had it). I'll be on the Pearl again in November and trust me, if I'm still invisible, there will be no tip for her.

 

I have to agree- I think it's the concierge service in my opinion that seems to suffer more for lower end suites.

 

First trip we had Belle- she bent over backwards for my wife and son (no Haven on Spirit)

 

Next trip Ruth- she was very business like, no nonsense but called us every day even though we really don't ask for anything or look for anything except priority disembarkation in ports- which she offered to everyone as a group.

 

Most recent trip- Virginia who we rarely saw, she never called us and looked at me like I had 3 heads when I asked about priority disembarkation in the ports....

 

Ah no matter, still 3 fabulous trips in great suites with my family!

[dexddd]

I have to agree- I think it's the concierge service in my opinion that seems to suffer more for lower end suites.

 

First trip we had Belle- she bent over backwards for my wife and son (no Haven on Spirit)

 

Next trip Ruth- she was very business like, no nonsense but called us every day even though we really don't ask for anything or look for anything except priority disembarkation in ports- which she offered to everyone as a group.

 

Most recent trip- Virginia who we rarely saw, she never called us and looked at me like I had 3 heads when I asked about priority disembarkation in the ports....

 

Ah no matter, still 3 fabulous trips in great suites with my family!

 

We were in the Haven with Ruth in March and she never even made contact with us.

[david_sobe]

I am not misinterpreting the butler's role and completely understand, nor would I expect that he or she would provide something that was not allowed. However, I'm sure you have also read numerous posts where people talk about having bowls of gummy bears, "plates" of assorted cheeses, and stacks of sandwiches delivered to their suites. We love iced coffee, and asked our butler on the first day if we could get a pitcher of coffee to put in our refrigerator. After multiple requests, we gave up and ordered extra coffee from room service. On another occasion, my husband requested a brownie sundae (which was available to suite guests for lunch at Cagney's) and he was told that he couldn't get it.

Did these things spoil my vacation? Certainly not. Do I think that we may have been treated differently had we been in the garden villa or other higher level suite? Possibly. I know that there are differences in the ammenities received based upon the level of suite you are in, but the service you receive from your butler isn't one of them.

I have never gotten a bowl of gummy bears or cookies either. People get them when you request them. But there are some butlers that will be proactive and bring them especially if you are sailing with kids. If a butler never brought coffee as ordered, that is bad and should have been reported.

As far as desserts, the restaurant MUST be open to get a dessert. I have 2 examples of this. We loved the dessert in the Epic club once and ordered it to our room. Our butler could not get it since the fridge was locked. She delivered it the next night and put it in the fridge. Another time we had coffee delivered to the room one afternoon. We loved the cake from La Cucina and thought it would go great with the coffee. But the butler again said impossible because it was 4pm and the restaurant was closed and fridge locked.

So some of your past issues could have been lack of communication. You automatically dont get some thing unless you request them.

I am not trying to be a devil's advocate but can you imagine the number of people that would get a bowl of gummy bears and never eat them or get mad at the butler because they never ordered them. It is a double edged sword. If something is important to me, I make sure I personally order it when I see the butler. I dont wait for surprises and hope something good turns up.

I hope your next butler is great. Please report back.

Edited July 21, 2014 by david_sobe

[Hikini]

John was our butler on the Star just before he was promoted. He happened to see us struggling with a wheelchair in Puerto Vallarta, out on the street. I didn't even recognize him in his civvies! He came rushing over to help us.

Great guy! So happy for his success.

 

I agree - John is fantastic. I'm so excited to know that he is scheduled to be our concierge on our Septmeber cruise on the Jewel. I hope it happens! We're in a 2 bedroom penthouse suite.

 

We have pre-tipped as well as tipped at the end of our cruise and I haven't noticed any difference in the service. We've had great service either way. I will tip extra generously when we receive excellent service. DH and I are not demanding people and have made very few extra requests of our butlers or room stewards, but it always seem that they find a way to go over the top on NCL.

[asand5554]

I have never gotten a bowl of gummy bears or cookies either. People get them when you request them. But there are some butlers that will be proactive and bring them especially if you are sailing with kids. If a butler never brought coffee as ordered, that is bad and should have been reported.

As far as desserts, the restaurant MUST be open to get a dessert. I have 2 examples of this. We loved the dessert in the Epic club once and ordered it to our room. Our butler could not get it since the fridge was locked. She delivered it the next night and put it in the fridge. Another time we had coffee delivered to the room one afternoon. We loved the cake from La Cucina and thought it would go great with the coffee. But the butler again said impossible because it was 4pm and the restaurant was closed and fridge locked.

So some of your past issues could have been lack of communication. You automatically dont get some thing unless you request them.

I am not trying to be a devil's advocate but can you imagine the number of people that would get a bowl of gummy bears and never eat them or get mad at the butler because they never ordered them. It is a double edged sword. If something is important to me, I make sure I personally order it when I see the butler. I dont wait for surprises and hope something good turns up.

I hope your next butler is great. Please report back.

 

Thanks for the good wishes for our upcoming cruise. I certainly will report back. Hopefully my post will make everyone else envious;)

[david_sobe]

Thanks for the good wishes for our upcoming cruise. I certainly will report back. Hopefully my post will make everyone else envious;)

It seems some posters here created very high expectations of the butler. First day give the butler a BIG hello and introduce yourself. Tell him/her that you LOVE gummy bears or cookies or whatever else you like. If you like a dessert, they can get it when the kitchen opens and put it in your fridge. There is one guy who posts all the time he requests lobster tails delivered to his suite the first night (although I am not sure NCL has lobster anymore)

When it comes to good butler service....communication is key

[PatJim]

Thank you all for the input. I do see a trend that the higher category of suites tend to have better experiences. I'd love to hear from someone who stayed in an SJ suite who had a great butler story.

 

We almost always book the lower-priced suites (Penthouse aft or Penthouse forward, depending on sailing). Last cruise we booked a non-Haven 2-bedroom, and have booked the same 2-bedroom for 2 upcoming cruises. Other future cruises booked (we have 5 coming up) are either Penthouse aft or forward....

 

We've always had great butlers, and never once thought the level of suite dictated their services. We HAVE thought this on one cruise re the concierge, but generally our concierge service has been great, too.

 

We always make arrangements ahead of time through the pre-cruise concierge desk, asking that the 'fridge be cleared (to make room for wine!) and stocked with skim milk. It's always been done. We ask for morning delivery of chocolate croissants (not too early), which we enjoy with that first morning cup of coffee. We meet our butler sometime before sailaway, to go over the pre-concierge requests. (I now print a copy of the requests for the butler, something I learned here on CC they appreciate getting.)

 

If we don't like the afternoon snacks, we tell our butler what we do like, and he/she obliges. We've had crackers & cheese (not the catering menu for 'cheese platter,' though) and sandwiches. Once, our butler found we had gone to the Great Outdoors for cookies to have w/afternoon tea in our cabin, and for days afterward, our butler delivered tons of cookies to us, though we didn't ask. We had to beg him to stop with the cookies!

Once we invited another couple in for a taste of just-purchased rum cake and champagne, and also ordered a shrimp platter from catering (charged, of course). Our butler not only brought shrimp, but also a platter of cheese & crackers, to 'round out' the party, for no extra charge.

 

On our last cruise, we hosted Cabin Crawlers in our suite with 'Nairobi sunrise' drinks I made for everyone. We asked for a pitcher of OJ and an empty pitcher to mix the drinks. I brought passion fruit juice from home to mix with our champagne. Our butler brought several lemon-lime sodas for those who don't drink alcohol, including kids, and brought us cheese & crackers, sandwiches and chips, which we hadn't asked for. Everything was a big hit. There was no charge for any of it, though we were quite prepared to pay. BTW, if you have champagne in your room, you can ask your butler for a pitcher of OJ to mix with it. Again, no charge.

 

The OP's butler probably misunderstood the request, and brought them the catering menu cheese & crackers platter, which has more expensive cheeses. Re ordering an appetizer or dessert from a specialty restaurant for the cabin, sometimes the item is no longer available. I begged our waiter in Cagney's at lunch for the carrot cake, but he couldn't get it, as it was out. But the OP might like to order Le Bistro's 'dessert' option of their cheese & crackers. There should be no charge for this, as it isn't from the catering menu and it isn't a main course. Hm....think I'll try that, as we prefer their cheese selection to the afternoon snack one the butler usually brings.

 

Happy hunting!:)

[antiquehtr]

My DH usually gives the butler and room attendant $20.00 up front and tells them Happy wife, happy life! We have had great service! Of course we tip at the end accordingly.

[sjbdtz]

My DH usually gives the butler and room attendant $20.00 up front and tells them Happy wife, happy life! We have had great service! Of course we tip at the end accordingly.

 

What do you do, if you don't have a wife?

 

Similarly, does that imply that all wives are unhappy?

 

 

Enquiring minds want to know....

 

 

 

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