Priority packages Suite guests

[Goosebear Mum]

I found this https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/fleet/butler_duties if they're having to serve 10 suites, no wonder they try and avoid some duties at times... if a butler was asked to serve meals to all his/her 10 cabins, they'd need to be miracle men...

 

We've not had a suite yet, but we have booked one for a long cruise over 2018/2019 :)

[Florry]

I don't agree. They are in the service and hospitality industry. To be appointed as Butlers they should be the best P&O has. They aren't. On our recent cruise (Aurora, last few weeks) our cabin steward noticed that I had acquired a few decaf tea bags for my wife and that we were using both types. Unprompted, she proceeded to replenish both types. That's good service. Having to ask for things that should be provided unprompted is poor service. A butler should proactively discuss with each passenger what services they can offer and agree a bespoke approach. I don't expect to have to research these forums, find out what I am entitled to and then issue my butler with a list of requirements, yet that is what many people end up having to do. That's just plain wrong.

 

 

I completely agree, but sadly I think that P&O have cut the number of Butlers without changing the promise they made to passengers regarding the service. From what I can see the only thing they did to reduce the workload was introduce speciality breakfast. When we had our first suite the Butler did as you suggest Selbourne and the MDR menu was in the cabin. Now you have to be savvy enough to research everything and not just ask for things but sometimes be quite insistent as they really don't want do do much beyond bringing canapés.

 

I'm not saying there aren't good Butlers and others don't have great experiences but it's not really what we have found.

 

I've wondered if having corner suites exacerbates the situation as they aren't close to the main midship run. I noticed on our US cruise they all got the ships newspaper everyday but I had to ask.

 

 

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[Selbourne]

I found this https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/fleet/butler_duties if they're having to serve 10 suites, no wonder they try and avoid some duties at times... if a butler was asked to serve meals to all his/her 10 cabins, they'd need to be miracle men...

 

We've not had a suite yet, but we have booked one for a long cruise over 2018/2019 :)

 

Yes they do now have around 10 suites each, but in reality I suspect that the totality of their workload is still minuscule compared to the vast majority of the other staff on the ship. Our cabin steward last week (who was absolutely brilliant and worked flat out constantly cleaning inc bathrooms, hoovering, making beds etc) looked after 19 cabins. The restaurant staff were working flat out over 3 shifts totalling 10 hours a day. All these guys and girls were non-stop doing hard physical work. Yes some people ask their butler to do loads. I doubt that any butler we have had has worked more than 10 minutes a day for us. Usually far less. Take an average and multiply by 10 and it's still nothing compared to what most of the other staff do. And what the Butlers do isn't as physically demanding as what the other staff do either. That's why I get irritated when they palm you off on the rare occasion that I do ask them to do anything! To have to demand my rights would be a major downer for me on a holiday, so I just reflect it in the gratuity. Once I gave the steward £100 and the butler £5. I felt that I had given the butler more than he deserved!

[Goosebear Mum]

Well, it may be 18 months off, (unless I book one earlier too) but I'm making notes (in OneNote) already from this and various previous threads, and will ask ours for various duties :) it sounds like we'll need to pretend to not be new to suites :') umm, that may be difficult!!!

[Ehg]

I don't agree. They are in the service and hospitality industry. To be appointed as Butlers they should be the best P&O has. They aren't. On our recent cruise (Aurora, last few weeks) our cabin steward noticed that I had acquired a few decaf tea bags for my wife and that we were using both types. Unprompted, she proceeded to replenish both types. That's good service. Having to ask for things that should be provided unprompted is poor service. A butler should proactively discuss with each passenger what services they can offer and agree a bespoke approach. I don't expect to have to research these forums, find out what I am entitled to and then issue my butler with a list of requirements, yet that is what many people end up having to do. That's just plain wrong.

 

 

Quite right. The butlers we have had on P&O have all been great and have told us that we must contact them for anything we need, have offered to bring us any meal we like, brought the next day's menus automatically, they've all been good. You have been unlucky, I would say, Selbourne, but you are right, you shouldn't have to make a list or ask for the benefits. They should be offering.

Cunard advertise their butlers as "knowing what you want before you do" or words to that effect, and the one time we sailed with them the butler was indeed great. I mentioned that I loved the hot canapés served in the Grills lounge and he brought us those rather than the almost equally "vile" P&O offerings every evening thereafter.

They are supposed to anticipate your needs.

 

 

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[daiB]

Not sure where you get the figure of 10 cabins from but it is wrong. Certainly for Oceana, Oriana and Aurora. The figure I have been told for the rest is 8 cabins. The list of what they can do is very long and they would never go through it all. I took this from The P&O web site a few minutes ago. It must have taken at least 10 seconds to find.

 

Booking salon or spa treatments on your behalf, providing an appointment is available.

Arranging pre-dinner cocktail parties. A list of canapés is placed in your cabin for such events.

Ordering a cake or flowers for a special occasion. Sufficient notice will need to be given for this.

Supplying a range of in-cabin meals, from a light snack to a full meal with fine wines.

Laundry services.

Reception services such as cashing cheques, registering your credit card, exchanging currency and buying stamps, etc.

Shoe shine service.

Arranging the personalisation of your cabin stationery.

Booking any chosen Shore Excursions

Providing you with a complimentary newspaper in the ports of call where they are available.

Making reservations for dinner in one of the themed or alternative dining venues on board - space permitting.

 

 

Hope this helps those who will be using the service in the future.

 

 

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[Goosebear Mum]

Not sure where you get the figure of 10 cabins from but it is wrong. Certainly for Oceana, Oriana and Aurora. The figure I have been told for the rest is 8 cabins. The list of what they can do is very long and they would never go through it all. I took this from The P&O web site a few minutes ago. It must have taken at least 10 seconds to find

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See my link posted above, but repeated here to save you those 10 seconds again... https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/fleet/butler_duties It states 10 suites per butler.

[daiB]

The link does not work, it did not work earlier either.

 

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[Goosebear Mum]

The link does not work, it did not work earlier either.

 

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Does for me on all my devices. Do any others get it fail to open? it states "Each butler looks after 10 suites"

[daiB]

Does for me on all my devices. Do any others get it fail to open? it states "Each butler looks after 10 suites"

 

 

Not on Oriana as there are only 8 suites, Aurora where there are 12 and 2 butlers and Oceana where there are only 6 suites.

 

 

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[daiB]

Just counted the suites on Britannia, I got to 56.

 

 

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[Selbourne]

Does for me on all my devices. Do any others get it fail to open? it states "Each butler looks after 10 suites"

 

Opens on my device no problem. It does indeed say 10 suites. But, if Dai is saying that most look after less than that, then they have even less excuse to fail to offer the advertised service unless the customer makes a point that they are experienced suite passengers or issues them with a list of demands!

[Cruise Puss]

We have had a Suite on a regular basis for over 10 years. They used to look after around 4. We have been told, within the last couple of years, by Butlers, that they now have to service around 10.

 

Selborne is correct that a Butler should anticipate your needs, but, unfortunately, a P&O ship is not The Dorchester or The Lanesborough, and they are simply not trained to quite the same standards as Butlers there.

If passengers really are that unhappy with the service, or lack of it, they need to write to Mr. Edgington directly and complain.

 

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[daiB]

Opens on my device no problem. It does indeed say 10 suites. But, if Dai is saying that most look after less than that, then they have even less excuse to fail to offer the advertised service unless the customer makes a point that they are experienced suite passengers or issues them with a list of demands!

 

 

Sorry you do not demand anything. You ask and explain what you would like. There is a difference.

 

 

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[daiB]

We have had a Suite on a regular basis for over 10 years. They used to look after around 4. We have been told, within the last couple of years, by Butlers, that they now have to service around 10.

 

 

 

Sent from my Sony Z1 Compact.

 

 

Well if we are talking Oriana then 4 would be right that would be 2 butlers. When Aurora came in it would go up to 6 cabins.

 

On talking to the butlers they say that many people don't use them at all. There have been many posts on here with people saying that they would not use them.

 

 

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[grapau27]

Sorry you do not demand anything. You ask and explain what you would like. There is a difference.

 

 

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Always ask nicely first and that is usually enough.

[Selbourne]

Sorry you do not demand anything. You ask and explain what you would like. There is a difference.

 

 

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Splitting hair, Dai. Replace the word demands with requests and my point still stands.

[Florry]

Can I ask you your opinion? We have only been on the mid-sized ships never on the larger ships and we generally do long cruises. We have always had good butlers. Even one I considered not so good I'm beginning to wonder if he wasn't so bad after all.;) Reading PamelaElle's post I was really surprised that someone in a suite had such treatment. So do you think the butlers are different on the larger ships? I can see you think they are for the 3/4 day cruises and that's something I had wondered myself. I know one butler we had told us he hated the 'party cruises' as he called them.

 

 

I don't think the Butlers vary with ships, and I know there are some great Butlers, and several we have had have said they went to Butler school. Having said this I also think that there are other Butlers who will do the minimum if they can, not necessarily because they are lazy but possibly because they are too overstretched.

 

 

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[Florry]

I think people shouldn't have to ask and Butlers should explain what they do so people are aware and can choose the level of service they would like. It's ok for people who come here and enjoy chatting about cruising (or arguing as the case may be) but for those who don't read lots of detail it's quite possible to go in a suite and not be aware of things like the option for hot breakfast in the cabin - let's not forget this is not specified in the suite and whilst an MDR menu used to be in the suite, it appears this is no longer standard practice, (there is a letter about access to the speciality breakfast but no mention of the alternative). I think unless you have experienced poor service from a Butler you may not appreciate how frustrating it is when you feel like you have to insist for something you have paid a premium for. People have made a fuss because Selbourne used the word demand, I'm sure that those who come here often can tell that Selbourne isn't the type of person to be impolite or demand in that context, but I have to say that i am often driven to having to be fairly insistent. This nearly always results from requests for breakfast rather than using the speciality restaurant, this is the only thing we really want a Butler to do -so when it is hard work to get it, the experience becomes hard work (not what you want on holiday #thisisthelife)I personally think that in-cabin MDR breakfast has sort of been quietly phased out to the extent that the Butlers don't really like doing it now, but this creates a disparity when this is a highly valued benefit for some passengers.

 

 

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[grapau27]

I think people shouldn't have to ask and Butlers should explain what they do so people are aware and can choose the level of service they would like. It's ok for people who come here and enjoy chatting about cruising (or arguing as the case may be) but for those who don't read lots of detail it's quite possible to go in a suite and not be aware of things like the option for hot breakfast in the cabin - let's not forget this is not specified in the suite and whilst an MDR menu used to be in the suite, it appears this is no longer standard practice, (there is a letter about access to the speciality breakfast but no mention of the alternative). I think unless you have experienced poor service from a Butler you may not appreciate how frustrating it is when you feel like you have to insist for something you have paid a premium for. People have made a fuss because Selbourne used the word demand, I'm sure that those who come here often can tell that Selbourne isn't the type of person to be impolite or demand in that context, but I have to say that i am often driven to having to be fairly insistent. This nearly always results from requests for breakfast rather than using the speciality restaurant, this is the only thing we really want a Butler to do -so when it is hard work to get it, the experience becomes hard work (not what you want on holiday #thisisthelife)I personally think that in-cabin MDR breakfast has sort of been quietly phased out to the extent that the Butlers don't really like doing it now, but this creates a disparity when this is a highly valued benefit for some passengers.

 

 

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When we have been in suites the Butlers IMO have seemed a little arrogant and left the cabin steward to do almost everything so i can empathise with what you are saying.

[annieuk]

I realise that I can only speak of our own experience but we have been in suites in Oceana, Ventura, Azura, Adonia, and Arcadia. We have never encountered an arrogant Butler. We have met a shy one, on Arcadia a few years ago but I think that was probably because he was new to the job. We have also met Arun - he has been a Butler with P&O for a long time and told us that part of his job is to teach new Butlers. Our most recent experience was on Ventura in January. The Butler there did exactly what he was supposed to do. He came in not long after we had got to into the suite, introduced himself, showed us where his contact number could be found by the phone and how to contact him. We said that we had been in suites on other P&O ships and knew the ropes but he still told us about the main things he did and about having breakfast in The Epicurean if we wished but said he would be happy to serve us breakfast in the suite if we preferred. Maybe we have just been lucky with the Butlers we have met.

[daiB]

When we have been in suites the Butlers IMO have seemed a little arrogant and left the cabin steward to do almost everything so i can empathise with what you are saying.

 

 

Sorry you are wrong the Butler has a lot to do in each cabin everyday and works with the cabin steward as a team. They both have their specific tasks. You generally se the butler without jacket doing these in the morning.

 

 

Perhaps we are as lucky as Annie with the 10 or so butlers whom we have met.

 

 

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[grapau27]

I realise that I can only speak of our own experience but we have been in suites in Oceana, Ventura, Azura, Adonia, and Arcadia. We have never encountered an arrogant Butler. We have met a shy one, on Arcadia a few years ago but I think that was probably because he was new to the job. We have also met Arun - he has been a Butler with P&O for a long time and told us that part of his job is to teach new Butlers. Our most recent experience was on Ventura in January. The Butler there did exactly what he was supposed to do. He came in not long after we had got to into the suite, introduced himself, showed us where his contact number could be found by the phone and how to contact him. We said that we had been in suites on other P&O ships and knew the ropes but he still told us about the main things he did and about having breakfast in The Epicurean if we wished but said he would be happy to serve us breakfast in the suite if we preferred. Maybe we have just been lucky with the Butlers we have met.

Pleased for you and hopefully next time we go in a suite our service reflects what you have experienced.

[Cruise Puss]

I realise that I can only speak of our own experience but we have been in suites in Oceana, Ventura, Azura, Adonia, and Arcadia. We have never encountered an arrogant Butler. We have met a shy one, on Arcadia a few years ago but I think that was probably because he was new to the job. We have also met Arun - he has been a Butler with P&O for a long time and told us that part of his job is to teach new Butlers. Our most recent experience was on Ventura in January. The Butler there did exactly what he was supposed to do. He came in not long after we had got to into the suite, introduced himself, showed us where his contact number could be found by the phone and how to contact him. We said that we had been in suites on other P&O ships and knew the ropes but he still told us about the main things he did and about having breakfast in The Epicurean if we wished but said he would be happy to serve us breakfast in the suite if we preferred. Maybe we have just been lucky with the Butlers we have met.

 

I have to agree. We have had them on Aurora, Azura, Britannia, Oceana and Adonia and have, in over ten years, only had 2 that were not up to scratch. One we met on Arcadia, Deepak, also said he trained them as he had been with P&O for many years.

 

To be fair, some tell you everything, some don't. Some are quiet, some are very chatty. However, they are all hardworking, and they have to do much more than we ever see.

[Doughty3]

On P&O's website advice section, the question 'Can I dine in my Suite?' mentions Room Service charges in the reply.

Have any Suite passengers been charged since the new Room Service menu has been in place?