Requesting a different bulter for a future cruise on the same ship

[mn1111]

Hi Everyone,

 

Hoping someone knows the inner workings well enough to know if it would reflect badly on the original butler if I asked not to be assigned to him on my upcoming trip? I don't want to cause problems for anyone, but I would like better service this time around. Any insights?

 

Thanks!

 

Neda

[NantahalaCruiser]

Hi Everyone,

 

Hoping someone knows the inner workings well enough to know if it would reflect badly on the original butler if I asked not to be assigned to him on my upcoming trip? I don't want to cause problems for anyone, but I would like better service this time around. Any insights?

 

Thanks!

 

Neda

Probably so, but if he did not provide appropriate service so be it - what did you say in your survey comments?

[tteettimes]

Tell your butler what you are thinking and why.......you can do it tactfully and he might understand

[Megan01]

Hi Everyone,

 

 

 

Hoping someone knows the inner workings well enough to know if it would reflect badly on the original butler if I asked not to be assigned to him on my upcoming trip? I don't want to cause problems for anyone, but I would like better service this time around. Any insights?

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

Neda

 

 

 

It will definitely reflect badly. They aren’t allowed very many negative comments and they will either lose their job or be demoted. Please think carefully about it as, although good service is important, there are times people are not always on their game for reasons we can’t know about. Crew are far from home for long periods and it takes its toll. Other times, they are relatively new and learning. I’ve seen good crew do their utmost and still get shafted due to unreasonable demands. It’s a difficult balance but I always hesitate as I don’t want to destroy someone’s livelihood.

 

 

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[mn1111]

Probably so, but if he did not provide appropriate service so be it - what did you say in your survey comments?

 

I gave him a 10 with no comments as he was a nice guy and definitely didn't want to hurt his livelihood. Service was just OK, but not good. I just really don't want to be assigned to him again on this upcoming trip as I have the same cabin. I'm thinking I'll read through some reviews and see if a butler is named for Equinox that someone was happy with and just request a different one that way. This way I'm not saying I don't want him, but will be requesting someone else by name.

 

I think the problem is that they have too many cabins (he had 11) and all it takes is one or two demanding ones to mess up the service to everyone else. Some probably handle it better than others is my guess.

[mn1111]

It will definitely reflect badly. They aren’t allowed very many negative comments and they will either lose their job or be demoted. Please think carefully about it as, although good service is important, there are times people are not always on their game for reasons we can’t know about. Crew are far from home for long periods and it takes its toll. Other times, they are relatively new and learning. I’ve seen good crew do their utmost and still get shafted due to unreasonable demands. It’s a difficult balance but I always hesitate as I don’t want to destroy someone’s livelihood.

 

Hi Debbie,

 

I did leave him a 10 on the survey, as I liked him and definitely didn't want to cause him problems. That being said, I remember reading a review on here about a month after I got home from someone who had the same butler and he gave them the same excuses that he gave us, so I think it may be an ongoing issue with this guy. We were in a Royal Suite but with a big casino discount so it didn't bother me too much, however if I paid full price I probably would of spoken up.

 

 

It really is a catch 22 where you don't want to hurt someone, but as long as we feel bad and leave those 10's, corporate is going to think it is fine to keep assigning them more cabins. I just don't have the heart to leave a bad score so I guess I'm part of the problem. I did draw the line on my last Royal Carib cruise where they told me I had to rate that awful food a 10 or they would get in trouble as there was no way I was doing that (my nose is big enough!)

 

 

Neda

[jelayne]

What was the problem? Was he not doing what you asked of him, or was he slow to respond to requests.

 

If his service was lacking to the point you don’t want him again did you speak to him during the cruise so he would have the opportunity to improve his service? If not did you speak to the MC Concierge about your dissatisfaction?

[jelayne]

I gave him a 10 with no comments as he was a nice guy and definitely didn't want to hurt his livelihood. Service was just OK, but not good. I just really don't want to be assigned to him again on this upcoming trip as I have the same cabin. I'm thinking I'll read through some reviews and see if a butler is named for Equinox that someone was happy with and just request a different one that way. This way I'm not saying I don't want him, but will be requesting someone else by name.

 

I think the problem is that they have too many cabins (he had 11) and all it takes is one or two demanding ones to mess up the service to everyone else. Some probably handle it better than others is my guess.

 

Giving him a 10 and then requesting another butler is like telling an employee on their performance review that they have been doing an excellent job then turning around and firing them.

[ECCruise]

I would be interested in knowing exactly what service was bad enough that you want to request someone different but not bad enough to not check "10" for service.

[omeinv]

You may find the problem becomes its own solution. If you didn't have a particular bad experience, but instead just found the butler to be lackluster; should you be assigned the same butler, you could capitalize on the prior experience.

 

Rather than ask for a different butler, I'd capitalize on the memory of the prior trip. Let the butler think you could not be happier to see them again. Talk about how great they were last time, and mention things you would like to have seen last time as if they had been done perfectly. For example, lets say you wanted ice and never got it; say "Remember how you always kept us so perfectly stocked with ice? Well, on our other cruise they didn't and it made us miss you so much."

 

Why take a chance on a newly assigned butler being no better, when you can easily convert this one to your best friend with some kind words?

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[mn1111]

I would be interested in knowing exactly what service was bad enough that you want to request someone different but not bad enough to not check "10" for service.

 

The service wasn't so bad, but it wasn't good either. Some examples were requesting cheese and crackers in the afternoon around 4-4:30 on port days because we like to sail away with some wine on the balcony. He did it once at 5:30, and then the rest of the time would leave little sandwiches always after 5:30 and sometimes only if I would call and ask. I ended up going to the buffet and grabbing the items myself as I felt I was bothering him if I asked for something. There were at least three days we didn't see him at all, at the end of the cruise he apologized for the lack of service and said he was really busy with some other families that were pretty demanding. There were several other things along the same line, nothing terrible, but service was definitely not right.

 

Like I said before, he was OK and he asked for a 10 and said anything else would hurt him so I gave him one as I liked him personally and I truly believe he wasn't lazy, just over his head, but would prefer a different butler this time around (he may not even be on the ship anymore for all I know).

 

I guess what really made it stand out was that the cruise we took before that one, the butler was truly outstanding and really made our trip that much more enjoyable. To sum it up, I ended up giving him a $60 tip and felt that I over tipped him whereas the other butler got $300 and felt I didn't give him enough.

 

I'm not looking to cause trouble for anyone and if the worst thing that happens is that I get the same guy, I'll still have a great trip, and only asked on here if it would cause him a problem if I requested someone else, if it will then I won't do it.

 

Neda

[mn1111]

You may find the problem becomes its own solution. If you didn't have a particular bad experience, but instead just found the butler to be lackluster; should you be assigned the same butler, you could capitalize on the prior experience.

 

Rather than ask for a different butler, I'd capitalize on the memory of the prior trip. Let the butler think you could not be happier to see them again. Talk about how great they were last time, and mention things you would like to have seen last time as if they had been done perfectly. For example, lets say you wanted ice and never got it; say "Remember how you always kept us so perfectly stocked with ice? Well, on our other cruise they didn't and it made us miss you so much."

 

Why take a chance on a newly assigned butler being no better, when you can easily convert this one to your best friend with some kind words?

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

Harris,

 

I LOVE the way you think!! What a great and kind way to handle things.

 

Neda

[CEOofVacation]

We had a lazy butler who did nothing, even when asked. It was not just for our room, at least 2 other rooms that have him as a butler reported the same. If we get a suite on that ship again, we would request to have a different butler. We are very low maintenance and really do not like to bother anyone. Examples below:

- My husband was sick on our 5th day on the cruise and we wanted to have dinner in so that he did not pass his cold on to the rest of the ship. I called the butler at around 5pm indicating that my husband had a cold and we would like to have room service that evening and if we put the order in to him. He was quick to say "no, please call room service on your phone line." click. We did, and we asked the person on the end of the line if we could have food that is not just what we saw on the tv (we were newbies to room service on the ship), we were told that what we saw on the tv was all that we could have. No one told us that we could order off MDR menu for dinner. Someone showed up with the food half an hour later. We ordered 2 burgers and a plate of fruits and really did not enjoy it. With that experience, we hauled ourselves back to Luminae the following day since we did not care for the lack of choices.

- Folks in adjacent rooms said they asked him for many things, like one of them asked to have coffee every morning delivered. He did it the following day and that was it. He asked the butler again mid-way through the cruise about wanting coffee each morning, and he got coffee the next morning and that was that.

 

He was pretty much invisible throughout the cruise, and it was for a 16-night cruise. On the first "chic night", we were going down to the theatre, and happened to see him down the hallway. We said to him that we were going to the show and he sort of fumbled... "Oh, I meant to ask you if you wanted to see the show tonight, since you want to go, I will be by the door at the theatre."

 

We asked for nothing else from our butler other than that one time for room service.

 

Our stateroom attendant was fabulous. He got a nice additional tip.

 

We were honest in our post cruise feedback to Celebrity. We hope he is going to be gone if we get back on the ship in suite class again.

[wwcruisers]

He ASKED you for a 10? Personally, I think that's out of line -- especially in light of his admitting that your service had suffered, due to the demands of his other guests. I can tell you, he would not have gotten a 10 (or any additional tip) from me. I do like the suggestion that another poster made, about quietly raising the issue (should you encounter it on your next cruise) with the MC Concierge. That might be an effective and discreet way of getting results .

[Tiggertastic]

Sit down with the butler and lay out your expectations at the beginning of the cruise. Every set of guests is different, some want them to do less than others do and it takes a while for them to work it out.

 

 

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[Gordoncruickshank]

The problem is that the butlers are assigned zones with some doing deck 12, some doing the back cabins at one side someone else doing the other side and others dealing with the central suites and it would make it harder to assign a different butler to a single suite without it sticking out like a sore thumb.

 

I would not worry about it, the chances of you having the same butler is unlikely. We have been in a number of suites over the years and have only had the same butler on two occasions and that was on different ships. We have only had one who we felt was a waste of space. That may have been due to problems we has with the suite for most of the holiday.

[bigbeergut]

....

I think the problem is that they have too many cabins (he had 11) and all it takes is one or two demanding ones to mess up the service to everyone else. Some probably handle it better than others is my guess.

 

 

If this is the problem, then a new butler probably won't solve the problem. Perhaps you should request different passengers. ;)

[Bo1953]

It will definitely reflect badly. They aren’t allowed very many negative comments and they will either lose their job or be demoted. Please think carefully about it as, although good service is important, there are times people are not always on their game for reasons we can’t know about. Crew are far from home for long periods and it takes its toll. Other times, they are relatively new and learning. I’ve seen good crew do their utmost and still get shafted due to unreasonable demands. It’s a difficult balance but I always hesitate as I don’t want to destroy someone’s livelihood.

 

Hi Debbie,

 

I did leave him a 10 on the survey, as I liked him and definitely didn't want to cause him problems. That being said, I remember reading a review on here about a month after I got home from someone who had the same butler and he gave them the same excuses that he gave us, so I think it may be an ongoing issue with this guy. We were in a Royal Suite but with a big casino discount so it didn't bother me too much, however if I paid full price I probably would of spoken up.

 

 

It really is a catch 22 where you don't want to hurt someone, but as long as we feel bad and leave those 10's, corporate is going to think it is fine to keep assigning them more cabins. I just don't have the heart to leave a bad score so I guess I'm part of the problem. I did draw the line on my last Royal Carib cruise where they told me I had to rate that awful food a 10 or they would get in trouble as there was no way I was doing that (my nose is big enough!)

 

 

Neda

 

n - based on what I have read so far, it will not be an issue because it is not a B2B, correct?

 

I would call in as far in advance as possible to say that you wish to have a different Butler, if pressed for a response just indicate you want a different experience in this area of your sailing. Once aboard you find it was not changed, I would contact the Suite Manager and say the same thing, different experience is desired.

 

That should work with no problem, as they will want to accommodate you, for sure.

 

No muss, no fuss, no stress.

 

 

bon voyage

[Bo1953]

Sit down with the butler and lay out your expectations at the beginning of the cruise. Every set of guests is different, some want them to do less than others do and it takes a while for them to work it out.

 

 

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A very good approach as well. Then a passenger can periodically chat with the Butler during the sailing to let them know how they were doing or not...

 

 

I accept that this may not be what many passengers will want to do while on vacation, manage the staff, yet if one had staff at home it would be the same thing, generally.

 

Then, a honest rating at the end of your sailing will be fully justified.

 

bon voyage

[excitedofharpenden]

Hi Everyone,

 

Hoping someone knows the inner workings well enough to know if it would reflect badly on the original butler if I asked not to be assigned to him on my upcoming trip? I don't want to cause problems for anyone, but I would like better service this time around. Any insights?

 

Thanks!

 

Neda

Personally I wouldn’t worry about it. You are unlikely to get the same butler as previously because as already mentioned of rotations and if you do then you have something to work from. If it’s the same one then you can use that as a nice in with him and make subtle comments about timing ie “we like things timely as we work to a schedule”. Don’t be afraid to ask for something. The suite manager is now in place to deal with issues and if there really is a problem on your forthcoming cruise then speak to them. Don’t stress.

 

Phil

[Schmoe38]

Hi Everyone,

 

 

 

Hoping someone knows the inner workings well enough to know if it would reflect badly on the original butler if I asked not to be assigned to him on my upcoming trip? I don't want to cause problems for anyone, but I would like better service this time around. Any insights?

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

Neda

 

 

 

We had this happen to us, where a very obnoxious person staying in the penthouse demanded the services of the butler who was on our side of the ship. He even went so far as to say directly to his assigned butler that he did not want him and he would go to Guest Services to get what he wanted.

 

I have to give the butler on our side full credit, as he came to us to ask if we would consider switching butlers in order to appease this other Penthouse guest. There was no pressure for us to change.

 

When this Penthouse guest received his butler of choice, his previously assigned butler would in turn, receive less gratuity income for the cruise, as he would have 1 less stateroom to service. In our opinion...that was just not right...all because of what we considered to be poor behaviour from a guest.

 

We asked to meet the other butler, and he was an energetic young man who was very professional. We were more than happy to make the switch.

 

We definitely made 2 new friends during that cruise. I give full marks to the 2 butlers who were put in this position. Too bad they were put there in the first place.

 

All in all, performance ratings are critical to the staff and they should reflect your true experiences. As well, if there were shortcomings last time, your previous 10 probably didn’t help, but you have a couple of options.

 

If you are certain that this person will be your assigned butler, asking Celebrity for a change in personnel prior to boarding is, in my opinion, making a pre-determined decision that behaviour has not changed or will not change. I’m not sure that’s fair.

 

I would suggest holding off making that decision until you meet your butler on board. If it is the same person, I would have a civilized conversation with him to outline exactly what your personal preferences are. I would then see how his behaviour is relative to these preferences for no more than 2 days. If there is a positive change, then you will know by then. If not, then a discussion with the Suites Manager or MCC is in order. A switch or replacement may be the only option.

 

You can also express your preferences before you board with Celebrity and request a switch. Either way, “you get more bees with honey than you do with vinegar,” so try your best to not be the Penthouse guest that we talked about earlier.

 

Randy

 

 

 

 

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[chemmo]

There are some very demanding suite guests occasionally that can make a butler’s life difficult to the point of impacting on other guests...Inexperienced butlers can also struggle to identify the level of service different guests want. There can also be a language issue...they may not always digest all instructions. I am not making excuses for your butler last time but there may be a little of all three of the above that impacted on your service....

 

As others have said it is unlikely you would have the same one again.....

 

Again as others have suggested make you expectations clear from day one....We have never had a bad butler all have done as we have asked but we have had some that have had that extra ‘flair’ for knowing what we would like before we have even thought of it! The snag is once you have one of those butlers the ‘average’ one seems lacking!

[Bo1953]

You may find the problem becomes its own solution. If you didn't have a particular bad experience, but instead just found the butler to be lackluster; should you be assigned the same butler, you could capitalize on the prior experience.

 

Rather than ask for a different butler, I'd capitalize on the memory of the prior trip. Let the butler think you could not be happier to see them again. Talk about how great they were last time, and mention things you would like to have seen last time as if they had been done perfectly. For example, lets say you wanted ice and never got it; say "Remember how you always kept us so perfectly stocked with ice? Well, on our other cruise they didn't and it made us miss you so much."

 

Why take a chance on a newly assigned butler being no better, when you can easily convert this one to your best friend with some kind words?

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

h - Great approach, thank you!

 

bon voyage

[johhnnyt]

Hi Everyone,

 

Hoping someone knows the inner workings well enough to know if it would reflect badly on the original butler if I asked not to be assigned to him on my upcoming trip? I don't want to cause problems for anyone, but I would like better service this time around. Any insights?

 

Thanks!

 

Neda

 

Just a guess but the odds are fairly strong you wouldn't get the same one twice

[Zoedokey]

I think it is perfectly fine to request a different person. You should enjoy your cruise. And you gave him a 10 so you are good there.