Bad experience with butler!?

[shanefm3]

Nah, you didn't ruffle any feathers, I'm entitled to my opinion as you already are aware of. You can throw anybody you want a bribe., it's not for service rendered when given beforehand. Your money so spend it anyway you wish.

 

Here's websters definition of a gratuity:

gra·tu·ity noun \grə-ˈtü-ə-tē, -ˈtyü-\

: an amount of money given to a person (such as a waiter or waitress) who has performed a service[/quote

 

Wrong again. I prepaid the gratuities . I'm guessing you don't pre pay your service charges or that would be contradictory of your opinion of a tip. Anyone who is willing to go abroad for months on end to support a family gets my appreciation .

Don't be so cheap ]

 

ap·pre·ci·a·tion

\ə-ˌprē-shē-ˈā-shən, -ˌpri- also -ˌprē-sē-\

noun

: a feeling of being grateful for something

: an ability to understand the worth, quality, or importance of something : an ability to appreciate something

: full awareness or understanding of something

 

 

 

 

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[shanefm3]

Sorry for hijacking the thread. Back to butlers :)

 

 

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[NLH Arizona]

I never said I wouldn't tip for services provided by a butler. Never. I said I didn't tip my butler a few weeks ago because he was rude a number of times and was essentially useless. If I had an adequate butler who did his assigned duties without attitude, I think i would have tipped around $50 for the week. If he was exceptional, I may have gone to $75. I don't see how I would have ever tipped as high as $150 for the week as some are suggesting based on the scope of his role, the amount of time spent with us, etc.

Just as you wouldn't tip $10 per day per person, I wouldn't think of tipping only $5 per day per person, as you mentioned. Doesn't mean that you are right or wrong or that I'm right or wrong, it is just that we see the butler position differently. I don't use the butler much, but appreciate that they are always there if I do need anything.

 

For the poster posting what the butler makes, keep in mind that some travel solo (like me) in a suite, some tip less than $10 per person per day and some don't tip at all, so the $1,400 per week is way off. BTW, what difference does it make to anyone what someone else's salary is; do you ask the server in a restaurant what they make before you tip them or do you as the porter what they make before you tip them or do you ask the bell person what they make before you tip them for handling your bags at a hotel. Bottom line is, tip what you feel is appropriate and don't worry about what others do or what someone else's salary is.

[kcwingwalker]

We were on the Pearl last week too and had a great butler. Was it Walter by any chance?

 

We had "Walter" on the Jewel in April and he was fantastic:)

[watchdiva]

😄 Walter ranks right up there with the top butlers that we've been lucky enough to have enjoyed on previous cruises.

 

 

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[dexddd]

I really don't understand the rationale of making butlers run the length of the ship to service their suite guests, instead of just dividing staff to do sets of rooms in the same vicinity. The only reason I can come up with is that they can't/won't configure a storage/supply room for them at the rear of the ship so they're going to have to go back and forth anyway for glassware, etc. But that's just unreasonable. I also don't quite understand why they switch them around, unless it's to rotate who gets the very highest level suites for tip purposes. But that could still be done without constant rotation.

 

I'm really shocked at people throwing out salary numbers as if they're remotely equivalent to drawing the same salary for a day's work on land ... and going home to your family at the end of it. Or at the end of the week. Or at the end of the month. Seriously?

 

Yes, I'm sure it's amazing pay for most of the crew based on their other options at home - that's why they give up their family lives for YEARS to be able to provide handsomely for their families.

 

I think the least we can do as passengers is not snark on what a killing they're making, as if it's not coming at a far greater sacrifice than people making that money on land pay.

 

At least on the BA we were told they rotate rooms every two weeks.

[stanmoto98]

I am just so glad to read that you said something to the Hotel Director!

 

It is so frustrating how many people come here to vent but never say anything while on board!

It is definitely not in my nature to remain silent and complain to the masses.

 

We view taking our issues to the Hotel Director as an opportunity for them to improve. We are not chronic complainers and are really pretty easy going. Something/someone really has to be an issue for us to feel it necessary to bring it to a supervisor's attention.

 

I also sent NCL corporate a note upon our return so that things of this nature can be addressed fleet wide.

[Selluks]

Wait you can request a smoothie every morning? Having recently booked a Haven room on the Getaway I am still trying to figure out what I am allowed to ask for.

[Love my butler]

10-12 try more like 16

 

Not even close. Butlers are required by NCL to work no more than 10 hours per day. Anything past that is overtime and almost always paid as time off.

[Beaver1975]

Still wrong, LMB.

[Bocadude85]

We had a horrible butler on our Jade cruise. The first day he was as nice as could be. By the second day he would not even acknowledge us. We would say good morning or good afternoon and he would just keep on walking or just walk out of the room without saying a word. By the third day he stopped delivering the afternoon snacks to our room and our breakfast orders were going unfilled. I finally mentioned something to the concierge about it and she was horrified. By that evening we had a new butler and more food in our room then we could ever eat. At the end of the cruise we did still give our original butler a small tip.

[hawkeyetlse]

We had a horrible butler on our Jade cruise. The first day he was as nice as could be. By the second day he would not even acknowledge us. We would say good morning or good afternoon and he would just keep on walking or just walk out of the room without saying a word. By the third day he stopped delivering the afternoon snacks to our room and our breakfast orders were going unfilled.

How strange! Do you have any idea why he did that?

At the end of the cruise we did still give our original butler a small tip.

How strange! Do you have any idea why you did that?

[Sara_smile]

These butler threads are the most entertaining things to read. I feel sorry for the OP but some of the other remarks are funny to me. The concierge was "horrified" that the butler did not deliver the free worthless cracker sandwiches. The vision in my mind of the concierge fainting, gasping, and being truly horrified for something you could not give away free on the street not being delivered. Hey where is my free stuff? I think they should have stopped the ship, returned to port, and bounced the butler right off the ship!

Ok its Friday and I got my laugh for the day.

Thank you :)

:)

Edited December 12, 2014 by Sara_smile

[fergusonvt]

In 2012 in our first suite we also had a bad experience with our butler. He wasn't rude or anything but couldn't seem to remember that we also had allergies to shellfish and continued to bring it as part of the snack delivery. We even made it easy by telling him to just bring cookies but he either couldn't remember or didn't care. He got a minimal tip because other than show us how to use the coffee maker was non-existent as was the concierge. Granted we didn't go looking for either of them because we booked the suite for the balcony and cabin and preferred to make our own dinner reservations.

 

I know some people think the $10 per day is what should be tipped but in my opinion they should be tipped based on the service you ask for and receive and for everyone that is going to be different.

[DMH15]

These butler threads are the most entertaining things to read. I feel sorry for the OP but some of the other remarks are funny to me. The concierge was "horrified" that the butler did not deliver the free worthless cracker sandwiches. The vision in my mind of the concierge fainting, gasping, and being truly horrified for something you could not give away free on the street not being delivered. Hey where is my free stuff? I think they should have stopped the ship, returned to port, and bounced the butler right off the ship!

 

Ok its Friday and I got my laugh for the day.

 

Thank you :)

 

:)

 

I'm sorry if you got worthless cracker sandwiches. We received wonderful sweets every night, my mother is diabetic and she received a tray of sugar-free wonderful items and mine were regular sweets. The snacks are not really free, if you pay for a suite you know that of course.

[monkeybone]

I'm sorry if you got worthless cracker sandwiches. We received wonderful sweets every night, my mother is diabetic and she received a tray of sugar-free wonderful items and mine were regular sweets. The snacks are not really free, if you pay for a suite you know that of course.

 

Agreed!

[monkeybone]

We had a horrible butler on our Jade cruise. The first day he was as nice as could be. By the second day he would not even acknowledge us. We would say good morning or good afternoon and he would just keep on walking or just walk out of the room without saying a word. By the third day he stopped delivering the afternoon snacks to our room and our breakfast orders were going unfilled. I finally mentioned something to the concierge about it and she was horrified. By that evening we had a new butler and more food in our room then we could ever eat. At the end of the cruise we did still give our original butler a small tip.

 

Sorry to hear that you had a bad butler.......Why did you feel the need to tip him at all?:confused:

[jame_g]

The first Butler we had (POA) was horrible. The only time we saw him was when he introduced himself at the beginning of the cruise. He never checked to see if we wanted or needed anything, and he didn't take care of any of the routine stateroom duties like making sure the coffee machine had water or coffee beans. (It wasn't designed for the average passenger to fill themselves.) When we needed anything, we had to contact the concierge instead of the butler, and another butler would take care of the issue. We found out afterward, when we ran into our on-board neighbors at the airport, that he was often in their owners suite partying with them, soaking in the hot tub on their balcony and drinking the free bottles of booze. I wonder how he managed to convince the others that he was actually working/

[keeponcruising]

I had a butler on a transatlantic a few years back who was the worst and reminds me of your experience. The first day on board he gave us a lecture that he was not in the regular tip pool. We felt very awkward with his speech. We decided to not ask for anything from him after that because we felt uncomfortable around him. Your butler's name didn't begin with an "F" did it?

[Love my butler]

Still wrong, LMB.

 

Feel free to ask a HD, such as Hugo, Ignacio or Brian. I have and was given that information. I guess they could be wrong though....

[Beaver1975]

I have actually asked butlers such as Ravi, Karan, Rudolpho, Anshuman and too many others to mention. I prefer to go to the "horses mouth" for information. A guideline and actual occurances will usually vary greatly.

[Love my butler]

I have actually asked butlers such as Ravi, Karan, Rudolpho, Anshuman and too many others to mention. I prefer to go to the "horses mouth" for information. A guideline and actual occurances will usually vary greatly.

 

The HD is the 'horses mouth'. NCL fleetwide policy is not a guideline, it is a rule. Since it is a rule, it does not vary employee to employee or ship to ship.

 

But as I said, maybe a butler does know more than his boss, the hotel director.

[stanmoto98]

Wait you can request a smoothie every morning? Having recently booked a Haven room on the Getaway I am still trying to figure out what I am allowed to ask for.

There is a bar charge for the smoothie. I think it was $3.00.

[stanmoto98]

I had a butler on a transatlantic a few years back who was the worst and reminds me of your experience. The first day on board he gave us a lecture that he was not in the regular tip pool. We felt very awkward with his speech. We decided to not ask for anything from him after that because we felt uncomfortable around him. Your butler's name didn't begin with an "F" did it?

No, the name of our butler this trip started with an "R".

 

We actually met another couple in Posh who had him as their butler too. They said they had the exact same experience.

[stanmoto98]

The HD is the 'horses mouth'. NCL fleetwide policy is not a guideline, it is a rule. Since it is a rule, it does not vary employee to employee or ship to ship.

 

But as I said, maybe a butler does know more than his boss, the hotel director.

And can tell from the perspective of the spouse of a flight attendant who works for a non-unionized airline that work rules are not always followed by management!