Has anyone had Nelson the butler?

[Seespot]

We are sailing in a Royal Suite on the Solstice in late July and are very excited for this cruise. We have only cruised once before and this will be our wedding (onboard on embarkation day) and subsequently our honeymoon. We've done our list for Shoreside Concierge and have been informed that our Bitler will be Nelson. Has anyone here had him? Any tips for utilizing our Butler or to enjoy our suite more?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Adidas4fun]

We have had Nelson twice now. Once in a royal suite on the century and then in a sky suite on solstice. He is excellent - but perhaps we arent too demanding. On our eight day cruise in the sky suite he kept giving us bottles of bubbles with our afternoon canapes.

[nps001]

We also have had Nelson and he is certainly one of the best we've had.

[Iamthesea]

My daughters and I had a Nelson on the Reflection in the Spring of 2015. We were in a Sky Suite. Best Butler we have ever had! He was so conscientious and hardworking. Funny, too!

[Kinofdc]

Nelson was fantastic. He was the backup butler for Santoso when I stayed in the Century port side Penthouse Suite for 35 days in Sep-Oct 2014. During that 2 cruises, he took care of the PS and RSs on the starboard side. All of my friends staying in the RSs on that side all enjoyed him. You will be in very good hands.

[chemmo]

We are sailing in a Royal Suite on the Solstice in late July and are very excited for this cruise. We have only cruised once before and this will be our wedding (onboard on embarkation day) and subsequently our honeymoon. We've done our list for Shoreside Concierge and have been informed that our Bitler will be Nelson. Has anyone here had him? Any tips for utilizing our Butler or to enjoy our suite more?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Sincere congratulations! We have cruised Solstice RS twice and loved every minute!

 

We did not have Nelson but both butlers we had were also excellent. Good butlers provide what you ask for, great butlers seem to know what you want before you have even thought of it! You will understand what I mean when you are there!

 

The art to enjoying your suite is to simply relax....Enjoy a couple of in suite breakfasts, remember your unlimited speciality dining and if you have any requests just ask your butler or the conceirge. If you are interested in any aspect of the ship (shows, bridge, kitchens...) mention it and they will sort you out with a tour.

 

Just a final point, Tuscan Grill gives you great views from the back of the ship just after leaving ports so book a couple of meals there....

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

I can't be the only one wondering this.... Can you assume that this "Nelson" was the same guy on all these ships & cruises? Or is it that Celebrity assigns the name Nelson to just one guy?

[Iamthesea]

We have had other Butler's that did not have the name "Nelson". They were also not as friendly or wanting to help. Our Nelson was stepping all over the place to offer help. I believe he was from the Philippines. He looked young, but he told us that he had a grandson that was my daughters sons age (3). We were surprised!

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

We have had other Butler's that did not have the name "Nelson". They were also not as friendly or wanting to help. Our Nelson was stepping all over the place to offer help. I believe he was from the Philippines. He looked young, but he told us that he had a grandson that was my daughters sons age (3). We were surprised!

I wasn't asking if ALL of Celebrity's butlers were called Nelson. I was just wondering about the odds of the same guy named Nelson being all of these posters butler named Nelson being the very same guy. Many different ships, many different cruises. Could it be more than just one guy?

[Iamthesea]

I guess it could be, but our Nelson said that he had been with celebrity for several years.

 

Or is it that Celebrity assigns the name Nelson to just one guy?

I was not aware that Celebrity names their crew. :confused:

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

I guess it could be, but our Nelson said that he had been with celebrity for several years.

 

 

I was not aware that Celebrity names their crew. :confused:

 

I wasn't either. But with the way so many people on different ships & cruises seem to think that this Nelson was the very same guy I had to wonder if X did assign "names" to their butler staff. (sort of like stripper names at a strip club).

[Adidas4fun]

I wasn't either. But with the way so many people on different ships & cruises seem to think that this Nelson was the very same guy I had to wonder if X did assign "names" to their butler staff. (sort of like stripper names at a strip club).

 

Well my two Nelsons on two different boats were the same person. He had recognised my name but wasnt sure until I opened my cabin door to his knock soon after boarding. We both recognised each other immediately.

 

My two P&O cruises on two different boats we had the same cabin attendant.

 

Then theres all my flights where I have had the same flight crew on a flight to a different location.

[BonnieVA]

I had to wonder if X did assign "names" to their butler staff. (sort of like stripper names at a strip club).

 

Lol! No, they don't name their butlers!

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

Lol! No, they don't name their butlers!

 

I wouldn't think they would.... but I thought it strange that the question would be if you ever had Nelson as your butler without adding a last name or even a ship with a stated time frame to narrow down the possibilities as to which Nelson they were talking about.

[Blazerboy]

To the OP:

 

Our best friends just were on Solstice in a RS, and must have liked Nelson a lot, because even I know about him! T hey liked that he learned their preferences, and would have anything they wanted food-wise waiting for them when they came back to the room. They also did some in-suite dining, and said he handled that really well.

 

About the Nelson naming question:

 

Staff have contracts of varying lengths, but have shown up on many different ships that we've sailed. We had a waiter on Infinity promoted mid-cruise to Ass't Maître d' so we naturally bonded with him over his good news. We continued to run into him on several different ships and enjoyed his great service until he went to a land job. My point is, especially among loyal Celebrity cruisers, it's not unusual to have staff members that are known to many, even across different ships.

 

Andrew

Edited June 18, 2016 by Blazerboy

[Midnight Blue]

We just got off Solstice last week. We were in a Royal Suite and Nelson was our butler. I thought he was fine, but not stellar. He wasn't very proactive about checking in with us. Again, he wasn't bad--not at all-- but we had a rock star butler on NCL two years ago who came up with ways to delight us every day (always asked if we needed any dinner reservations, sent my favorite dessert to the cabin as a surprise treat, made sure everything was in order for debarkation, etc.). Unfortunately, for me, every butler after that NCL butler will probably suffer by comparison.

[Iamthesea]

I wasn't either. But with the way so many people on different ships & cruises seem to think that this Nelson was the very same guy I had to wonder if X did assign "names" to their butler staff. (sort of like stripper names at a strip club).

 

No, I am not familiar with strip clubs. :D

 

Well my two Nelsons on two different boats were the same person. He had recognised my name but wasnt sure until I opened my cabin door to his knock soon after boarding. We both recognised each other immediately.

 

My two P&O cruises on two different boats we had the same cabin attendant.

 

Then theres all my flights where I have had the same flight crew on a flight to a different location.

 

I sure wish someone had a photo of Nelson. I looked and we didn't take one.

 

We once had the same waiter on two different ships. Also saw a previous waiter, that we loved on our first Celebrity cruise, on our 3rd cruise on another ship.

[Seespot]

This is all great info. I'm resting well knowing that Nelson 1, 2, 3 or 4 is on the job. "IF" Celebrity were to assign the name Nelson tobsomeone, it appears they would reserve it for a butler who knows his job! Thanks for the replies!

[Zoey1]

We are sailing in a Royal Suite on the Solstice in late July and are very excited for this cruise. We have only cruised once before and this will be our wedding (onboard on embarkation day) and subsequently our honeymoon. We've done our list for Shoreside Concierge and have been informed that our Bitler will be Nelson. Has anyone here had him? Any tips for utilizing our Butler or to enjoy our suite more?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Just had Nelson this past May, he was wonderful!

[Project_gal]

I guess it could be, but our Nelson said that he had been with celebrity for several years.

 

 

I was not aware that Celebrity names their crew. :confused:

 

Celebrity does not allocate a name to their butlers. If there is already someone else on board with a butler's name when they join a ship, he may choose to use his middle name, for example, whilst on that ship. We have been surprised once to discover that our butler was someone we had known by another name on another ship. We found it difficult to remember which name to call him but he understood!

 

The butlers do move from ship to ship frequently. They do not often know when and where they will be moved. As an example, one of our butlers was being moved to another ship following our cruise because his first language was Spanish and his new ship would have a number of Spanish-speaking suite guests.

 

I was surprised, therefore, that the OP had been told the name of their butler for a July cruise this early. Things may easily change before then. Having said that, I have read many good things about Nelson on Cruise Critic but have never had him as our butler on a cruise. It is always nice to find you have been allocated a Cruise Critic favourite butler but we have yet to come across a "bad" butler on Celebrity. They all d o the basics but excel in different ways. The trick is to benefit from their individual expertise. As an example, one of the butlers we have had more than once is very artistic and arranges flowers and/or decorates the suite for a party beautifully.