Penthouse questions

[Stargirl4]

We are staying in the penthouse suite on our upcoming cruise and have a few questions. Does anyone have any suggestions of what we should ask our butler for. We were also considering having lunch each day in our room, should we ask for a menu for the main dining room or luminaire? How are the specialty restaurants on Summit? Does the Butler deliver alcoholic beverages such as a margarita to your room? Should we tip our butler after each time he does something for us or at the end of our stay? And how much should we typically tip? Any other tips a suggestions will be greatly appreciated we want to make the most of our vacation.

[Jim_Iain]

You really don't need to make a list of what to ask of the Butler. He will make sure your needs are met and will try to anticipate and deliver more than you could ever wish for. He will work with Michael's Club Concierge to arrange specialty dining reservations or other reservations you will require.

 

Dining in room is an option and if you wish to have lunch in your room daily just let him know and he will arrange menus for you.

 

I am sure many have other opinions, but I always five all extra tips at the end of the cruise.

[Stargirl4]

Thanks Jim! I'm never sure what to do about tipping. We have the prepaid gratuities but I always try to do a little extra for those who helped us

[rockdoctor]

At risk of sounding snide, the butler is your personal assistant. If you have to ask what the the butler is for, you are missing the point of a butler. Our list for day day one was for our immediate expectations. For instance, make sure there were bottles of scotch and gin on the bar and make sure we were on the list for the Captain's Dinner. Tips depend on requests. Ours insisted on escorting us everywhere, whether visiting the child care center for our grandchildren or for a drink with the Hotel Manager.

[Project_gal]

As the other replies have suggested, you need to think what you want from your cruise. Where it will save the crew work by knowing your requirements in advance (eg bar and bed set up), let the shoreside concierge know about these things pre-cruise. Discuss other requests with your butler and/or the Michael's Club concierge once on board.

 

As for lunch in your suite, you may order from the room service or main dining room menu. If you have different requests, speak to your butler and he may be able to make it happen for you. However, we find the choice in the buffet more varied and prefer to see what is available each day and collect it ourselves. This approach requires no forward planning and works for us.

 

We have never requested a cocktail from room service (which would be delivered by your butler). Although you will have a premium package and bar set up included, room service beverages are not complimentary. In view of that, you may wish to collect your own or order the necessary as your bar set up and make it yourself.

 

Additional tipping would depend on how much your butler does for you but, IMHO, should e done at the end of the cruise. We find what works for us is to look at the basic, pre-paid gratuities as the baseline and then ask ourselves how many times this should be tip in addition.

[cb at sea]

On a cruise, tipping is traditionally done on the LAST evening.

[Heartfelttraveler]

We were just on the Summit in 6147 and Ram was the butler. He was fantastic. Between Ram and the Michael's Club concierge they made everything happen. We had early tea when we came back from excursions. When he found what we liked he made sure we always had a supply. The suite was in excellent shape. No obvious wear. The few maintenance problems were fixed in minutes. We only ate in Luminae for dinner twice and Tuscan Grill once because we were traveling with our children and grands who were in Family Verandas. The other nights we had a long fantastic table in the main dining room. We loved the Summit and the PH. I have lots of current photos if you would like me to email them to you.

A heads up-if you want to skip a port excursion, we wished we had stayed on the ship in Dominica. The excursions are a long. Us ride.

 

 

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[chemmo]

Agree with project gal re all points. Not only can you ask your butler to sort certain things for you good ones also have suggestions themselves....

 

We rarely dine in suite but do enjoy snacks to be left in the fridge for the evening...shrimp platters and cheese plates being our usual.

 

We do occasionally host small sail way parties, the butler will provide cold nibbles and non alcoholic drinks free of charge. We have also occasionally invited fellow guests back to our suit for afternoon drinks on the balcony (M class) and the butler has appeared from nowhere to serve drinks and provide nuts, chips....

 

Hope you have a great penthouse experience.

[Stargirl4]

Agree with project gal re all points. Not only can you ask your butler to sort certain things for you good ones also have suggestions themselves....

 

We rarely dine in suite but do enjoy snacks to be left in the fridge for the evening...shrimp platters and cheese plates being our usual.

 

We do occasionally host small sail way parties, the butler will provide cold nibbles and non alcoholic drinks free of charge. We have also occasionally invited fellow guests back to our suit for afternoon drinks on the balcony (M class) and the butler has appeared from nowhere to serve drinks and provide nuts, chips....

 

Hope you have a great penthouse experience.

 

Thanks! That is a great idea to have evening snacks left in the fridge! I would have never thought to ask for that.

[Stargirl4]

We were just on the Summit in 6147 and Ram was the butler. He was fantastic. Between Ram and the Michael's Club concierge they made everything happen. We had early tea when we came back from excursions. When he found what we liked he made sure we always had a supply. The suite was in excellent shape. No obvious wear. The few maintenance problems were fixed in minutes. We only ate in Luminae for dinner twice and Tuscan Grill once because we were traveling with our children and grands who were in Family Verandas. The other nights we had a long fantastic table in the main dining room. We loved the Summit and the PH. I have lots of current photos if you would like me to email them to you.

heads up-if you want to skip a port excursion, we wished we had stayed on the ship in Dominica. The excursions are a long. Us ride.

 

 

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Thanks Heartfelt traveler! I would love to see pictures! sscgapgirl@ aol. com

[Stargirl4]

On a cruise, tipping is traditionally done on the LAST evening.

 

Thanks cb at sea! When to tip always stresses me out on a vacation.

[Stargirl4]

I got an email this week from the shore side concierge, so exciting! Thanks for the suggestions, I will be ready when she emails us again closer to the cruise .

[chemmo]

I got an email this week from the shore side concierge, so exciting! Thanks for the suggestions, I will be ready when she emails us again closer to the cruise ��.

 

It will help your butler if you can give the shoreside concierge details on specific room requests (pillow type, bed set up), what spirits you want for your bar set up, what sodas, beers, water you want in your fridge, if you are planning a sail away party, where you want to dine first night....Everything after that you can sort once on board.

 

Happy Cruising!

[SuiteTraveler]

We tip the butler $10 per day per person and then if he does extra stuff - like set up a party for us, we figure up the cost of the food and drink if it were a nice land based restaurant and tip 20 -25% based on that for the party. However, we tend to be fairly non-demanding and mostly our butler checks on us and leaves us alone. We do tend to request a daily afternoon snack and a bottle of wine each evening, if it is a port day and our tour is early we might get the butler to bring breakfast, but other than that, it is rare that we request much of anything else. BTW, you tip the butler at the end of the cruise.

Edited January 1, 2017 by SuiteTraveler

[Stargirl4]

It will help your butler if you can give the shoreside concierge details on specific room requests (pillow type, bed set up), what spirits you want for your bar set up, what sodas, beers, water you want in your fridge, if you are planning a sail away party, where you want to dine first night....Everything after that you can sort once on board.

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Thanks! Great suggestions!

[obxgirl]

When we were in the penthouse on Equinox, our butler was the head butler who also supervised all of the other butlers. I do not know if that is common practice on Celebrity or not. Trust me, we did not need a list. He knew exactly what to do. He met our every need without being overbearing. He brought cappuccino whenever we wanted it, provided white tablecloth service when eating in the suite or on the balcony, changed out the bottles of liquor for our preference, made sure we always had mixers, made all of our reservations, secured an additional lounge chair for the balcony, saved seats for the shows on formal nights, and more. As far as tipping, when in a suite, we always tip additional to the butler, but have to say we have always had excellent service.

 

 

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[LabGuy64]

It really depends on what you are willing to ask for. And to be honest...i think that most don't ask for much. while I don't believe in running my butler ragged, they do have a fairly broad range of powers...especially in the Penthouse where you should be under the care of the head butler. I believe that they like interesting and creative request that allows them to show off just what they can do....If you don't mind someone handling your clothes....(just think of it the way you do with the dry cleaners)

They will unpack (and pack at the end) your luggage...handle pressing and dry cleaning issues..and if you don't abuse it it will likely be free....make some friends on cruise critic or go on a tour with people from cruise critic...then invite them all over for a party......we did....and the butler Alano set up an amazing assortment of appetizers and several bottles ( i think it was 10) of red and white wine (not bad wine either)....psst...there was no charge you want high tea in your room...no problem.....ordering from luminae, the MDR or the Premium room service menu?....not an issue...( again free ) you like a special scotch or brandy not on the list they give you?....ask and if it is not too outrageous....and available in the area the ship travels they will get it. I asked for a bottle of 18yr old very rare glenmorangie single malt scotch....it runs 120-150 a bottle and they got it....no problem infact the beverage manager came to talk with me personally they too like interesting little challenges... don't go crazy...but indulge a bit.....have fun

 

 

We are staying in the penthouse suite on our upcoming cruise and have a few questions. Does anyone have any suggestions of what we should ask our butler for. We were also considering having lunch each day in our room, should we ask for a menu for the main dining room or luminaire? How are the specialty restaurants on Summit? Does the Butler deliver alcoholic beverages such as a margarita to your room? Should we tip our butler after each time he does something for us or at the end of our stay? And how much should we typically tip? Any other tips a suggestions will be greatly appreciated we want to make the most of our vacation.

[Stargirl4]

Thanks LabGuy64 for all the great suggestions! I am so looking forward to enjoying the penthouse!