Butler: what can they do?

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We've used the Butler for all the standards except unpacking, but they've always offered. Our latest cruise on Eclipse the decoration on a pair of my shoes came off on the way to the suite. I asked the Butler if he had access to any glue. Between him and our cabin attendant they were able to fix my shoe.

[buchananglasgow]

What are "all the standards" ? That you require someone else do for you. Just curious .

[CHEZMARYLOU]

What are "all the standards" ? That you require someone else do for you. Just curious .

 

Serving meals on the balcony including providing half & half at breakfast instead of the horrible non dairy creamer that is standard, making a reservation or changing a reservation for specialty dining or the spa (they seem to have more pull than an individual does just calling), shoe shines, cappuccino in the suite at tea time, chilling champagne as needed, laundry (our last Butler had shirts, shorts & even t-shirts pressed and returned on hangers), one cruise she managed to get an excursion cancelled for us when we were just under the wire for returning tickets and could not get to shore excursions in time (SE was adamant we had to return the tickets in the next 3 minutes and there was no way we could do that).

 

Some of these things may not be standards for everyone but they are pointed out as things the Butler can do. We gave an extra gratuity commensurate with the service.

[buchananglasgow]

Thanks. That's Very interesting to know.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

[emoji15] personally I would give him a large tip the minute he introduces himself and tell him I don't want to see him again till we get off the ship. I don't want anyone running after me and we don't like anyone coming into our room if at all possible. It's a total chill out time and I don't want anyone walking into our room at the drop of a hat.

 

No need to give a large tip upon introduction, just tell him/her you are self sufficient and do not need any additional service or afternoon tea. They will not just walk into you room, especially with the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. Curious, why would you then want to see him when you walk off the ship?

[buchananglasgow]

It was a figure of speech, I did not mean I wanted to meet them after the cruise, only that I did not want to see them in my cabin again till the end of my cruise. When they can then look the next person who resides in it.

[Champagne Cruiser]

Not all butlers are created equal.

We have only had a butler once and I wish I would have thought about contacting guest relations to change. He introduced himself and then told us he was new to our ship and didn't know where anything was located. I asked if he could make a specialty dining reservation and he said yes. He came back 2 day later and told us all the reservations were already booked so we couldn't get one. He did come by every afternoon with the tea service but the only other time we saw him was when he was lurking around on disembarkation clearly waiting for a tip. We decided to go back to AQ since we really enjoy Blu anyway. I am tempted to try again just to try Luminae but for our Sydney to Honolulu in 2017 we decided to go with AQ.

[Jane2357]

We have only had the pleasure of a Butler once, but will be looking forward to excellent service once again in 4/17 for the Panama Canal.:D

 

Jose on Eclipse was amazing - you could not have found a more attentive Butler if you were in the Penthouse and we were not. We rise very early and yet he brought our coffee in every morning - often adding goodies that we did not ask for.

 

We did not have him make specialty dining reservations but we did ask him to re-confim the reservations that we already had. Couldn't get DH bow tie straight on formal night - Jose to the rescue.

 

Had a cabin crawl that ended in our suite - had only asked Jose and our cabin stewards to have everything spiffed up. Jose decided to get us champagne and o.j. comped for a large group - a beautiful setup and he stayed and poured. We tipped very well for his service - and continued through the cruise for service above and beyond.

 

As far as the escort to the Theatre - we were very unsure about utilizing that service but Jose explained to us that to the Butlers - they considered this a treat for THEM. A time to see and be seen by their contemporaries as they are dressed to the nines also. We did let him escort us 2 out of 3 formal nights and it didn't feel ostentatious at all - no one was looking and I didn't do the queen wave - lol.;)

 

Our only bit of trouble was the day that Jose decided to get all of our dirty laundry comped without asking us. :eek: Nice thought but dear goodness I came back on ship after a day in port to find he had taken an entire storage cube of my bras! :eek: Hot water and a hot dryer - well - many were ruined but I knew he meant well and I never said a word as it would have hurt him terribly.

 

Enjoy your Butler - they truly want to take care of you and make your vacation the best.

 

[johhnnyt]

I've really enjoyed having a butler, I think I've had one about 5 times so far. Sometimes very good, sometime excellent. They literally will go out of the way to help anyway you can imagine.

We did a cabin crawl one cruise and the butler arranged a shrimp platter, fresh fruit, and crudite platters. Also set up wine glasses in a pyramid, and served as the guests came through

 

Important thing though is if you have a butler, tip him EXTRA accordingly. If you need him little maybe $5/day, but if you want him on a regular basis tip him at least $20/day. I know some people use the EXCUSE that he already gets tipped by onboard gartuity, but show some thanks. If you can afford the suite, you can afford an extra $100 for the butler:D

[loosygoosy]

We're in a Sky Suite in a couple of months, which doesn't receive the complimentary full bar, although we have the premium drink package as a promo. Can we ask the butler to stock our fridge with soft drinks, water, and beer? Would anyone know how much it would cost? Wouldn't include liquor.

 

Somewhat off topic, but have Constellation suite question. We'll be staying in one of the renovated Sky Suites next to the Penthouse on the Constellation, which has the benefit of a larger bathroom, and we have most of the benefits of the higher level suites through promotions. Had the choice of upgrading to a Royal Suite for more money, but looking at the Connie's RS, doesn't look as impressive as S ships, and our SS renovated bathroom looks larger. Is it worthwhile to upgrade?

 

I've been in a RS on an M class ship! Take it if you can get it - absolutely. You get ALOT more than what they put in print. We were spoiled 200% and never wanted for anything (including liquor and wines). We sometimes even got TOO much, if you can believe that. Best treatment ever.

[loosygoosy]

We cruised in a suite last year and I was really looking forward to the Butler. Well all butlers are not created equal - this one never offered to do anything. On the first day I asked if he could take care of getting my husbands jacket pressed and returned before 5pm the next night for formal night - finally about 530 I had to call and ask for it - it took a while longer and it was obvious that he'd had a rush job done on it. We had to ask about everything.

 

Finally by the third morning I went to speak with guest relations and told them very nicely about my disappointment with the butler. I told them that I would love to see them turn this 1 star service into 5 star service. Oh my - they were all over it - I had a new butler immediately who was very nice and very attentive.

 

So if your butler is not what you expected let guest relations know and give them the opportunity to turn it around.

 

One thing that did disappoint was the unpacking - it has to be done while you are in the cabin - whats the point if it is not a time saver for you? I was hoping to up on deck while my unpacking was being done!

 

Strange, that has not been my experience. I just told our butler where I wanted whose clothes and went to a sail away party.

[loosygoosy]

You could just make a list of things you would like or that you don't like and hand it to your Butler on day one. He will accept or decline depending on his stated duties and his willingness to go beyond. That way everything is laid out and you all know what to expect. This always works for me. I must also agree that further tipping is required if your Butler gives you the service you want and especially if they go above and beyond. I wish I could have the services of a butler on every cruise! Maybe I'll win the lottery and my dream will come true.

[JimAOk1945]

This thread is very helpful since we are exploring the option of taking a Celebrity cruise for the first time next year. Having a butler sounds great. I appreciate all the insight everyone has provided.

 

Thanks and happy cruising!

[Go-Bucks!]

Booked a suite on reflection. Never had a butler and wondering what they can do for us?

Thanks.

 

 

Ours was a glorified Room Service delivery boy. All he did was deliver food we ordered and afternoon snacks. And he was full of misinformation. Total waste of money we had to tip him. :rolleyes:

[Go-Bucks!]

Actually, our SS Suite has a tub as well as a shower and photos show it larger than the Royal suites - it's next to PH so was redesigned to match decor.

 

Think we'll stay with Th SS and manage to stock the fridge. Thanks for the suggestion to empty fridge first.

 

 

I was in the same S1 Sky Suite, next to the Penthouse, on the Infinity. It was FANTASTIC!! You'll love the bathroom, which is as big as some cabins. :p

 

Also had a huge balcony and lovely cherry wood decor. I'm sure you'll love it too. Eating at Blu was great too.

[chemmo]

On our last cruise we had our best ever butler - and we have had some good ones!

 

We were in a RS on Solstice (we usually book RS or PH).

 

Our butler arranged a sailaway party from Sydney for us with friends we had met a few years ago. We had some beautiful little bites, cheese plates, champagne on ice. Our fridge was already full but noticing a few people preferring beer to champers after that initial toast I saw the fridge being quietly replenished out of the corner of my eye...

 

Morning day two our butler suggested we did some provisional booking of specialities as he was aware they would be busy that cruise. We looked at the Luminae menus for the week and then gave him our provisional plan. We did modify this as the cruise went on (via the butler we changed times and a cancellation) but he was right, by mid cruise some suite guests were struggling to get in Murano's and Tuscan at reasonable times...As we arrived at the dining venues we always had a table in a great location.

 

Night of Captains Table (yes it existed on our cruise) he reminded us in the morning in case we had any pressing, shoe cleaning....We had gone down before our son for cocktails in Michael's Club, the butler had helped our son with his tie...

 

We enjoyed our coffee, some in room snacks....we did not dine in our suite this cruise. As others have said we also like doing things for ourselves, lunchtime sea days we like to go to Ocean View and select a few snacks to take back to the cabin (Luminae lunch too heavy for us). First time we did this our butler on moving the plates did tell us he could get us whatever we liked but understood and respected our wish to choose at times.

 

What made him our best butler ever was a mixture of efficiency, knowing what we needed before we asked for it and then just quietly and unobtrusively being there if needed...

[BonnieVA]

Strange, that has not been my experience. I just told our butler where I wanted whose clothes and went to a sail away party.

 

Technically, when providing this service a guest is supposed to be in the cabin with them. My guess is it's to avoid theft accusations.

[scapel]

I was in the same S1 Sky Suite, next to the Penthouse, on the Infinity. It was FANTASTIC!! You'll love the bathroom, which is as big as some cabins. :p

 

Also had a huge balcony and lovely cherry wood decor. I'm sure you'll love it too. Eating at Blu was great too.

 

B utler

Make specialty dining reservations.

Shine shoes,

Fix anything that needs fixing

Find an extension cord for you.

Find a pin keep drapes closed in Alaska

Wake you up with coffee

Bring you a drink to the room if you don ‘t have any.

Bring Cappuccino to the room.

Bring ice cream to the room.

Even though you have room service the butler’s room service is better

Un pack and pack

Pick up dirty clothes and take to laundry.

 

GTS MILLENNIUM