Butlers??

[orchestrapal]

I had been considering Viking but after reading this thread - no more. We have taken a Viking River cruise on the Danube and it was great. But for ocean cruises we cruise with Oceania or Regent and always in suites with butlers. I love the additional services they provide and was shocked to learn that Viking Ocean doesn't have them. So - for get it. No Viking for us. Aside from on a river where they are very good and I don't need a butler!!

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I know how you feel but we are trying Viking when no other line works out of NY. The ship and the larger suites look great and we’ll report back on the service of the room crews.

[lackcreativity]

Except for serving food that is exactly what your cabin steward does. Makes your bed, cleans the bathroom (restocks soap, towels, etc as needed or requested), tidies up the cabin, and takes care of pretty much anything else you ask for. For me, that's plenty. Is that your point?

 

 

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Yes it was, sorry if I was not clear. Having a butler unpack my suitcase or serve me food in my cabin would be a level of service above what I care to have. The other services you mentioned, which I appreciate very much, are all I need to feel pampered.

[kentchris]

I had been considering Viking but after reading this thread - no more. We have taken a Viking River cruise on the Danube and it was great. But for ocean cruises we cruise with Oceania or Regent and always in suites with butlers. I love the additional services they provide and was shocked to learn that Viking Ocean doesn't have them. So - for get it. No Viking for us. Aside from on a river where they are very good and I don't need a butler!!

'Shocked' is surely a bit strong: Viking don't advertise butlers as an amenity so you presumably haven't really 'considered' Viking Ocean otherwise you'd have done some basic research. In any case the scope of butlers' duties varies from line to line so the provision or not of a butler is a minor consideration: good stateroom service isn't a function of a job title.

[jiminyC_fan]

I had been considering Viking but after reading this thread - no more. We have taken a Viking River cruise on the Danube and it was great. But for ocean cruises we cruise with Oceania or Regent and always in suites with butlers. I love the additional services they provide and was shocked to learn that Viking Ocean doesn't have them. So - for get it. No Viking for us. Aside from on a river where they are very good and I don't need a butler!!

 

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I guess I don't understand why on an ocean cruise a butler is needed but not on a river cruise. Viking provides excellent service on both.

[Hambagahle]

I guess I don't understand why on an ocean cruise a butler is needed but not on a river cruise. Viking provides excellent service on both.

 

 

 

River cruises are short - at least the longest we have done is a week - and we are not on the ship much during the day. Plus on the boats we were on there was only one restaurant so no further reservations needed. Also river boats' cabins are too small to entertain in. We take suites on ocean cruises and love having people come for cocktails or dinner - which the butler serves. Just a "different" scene.

 

Yes I have looked at Viking. In fact reading these posts is part of the research I was doing. I assumed - wrongly as it turns out - that all decent sized suites would come with a butler. OK. Now I know and will stick to Regent and Oceania!

 

 

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[Cyber Kat]

I honestly don’t understand the whole butler thing. I’ve read that they will make spa and restaurant reservations. If you have to tell the butler what restaurant and time, what spa service and time where is the advantage? Cut out the middle man (or woman) and make a simple phone call.

 

I don’t want someone unpacking and packing my things. I know where I want them, and even though I put them away myself, I must spend half a cruise looking for stuff, because I forgot where I put it [emoji16] And I put it there!

 

I suppose if you want to entertain, but we’re not interested in that. If we want to socialize, we have a whole ship to do so. We look at our cabin as a private oasis to just be by ourselves with the sea and sky.

 

Since the Viking Ocean experience is port intensive just like the river cruises, they don’t expect their cruisers to be spending much time on the ship either. There are only 2 specialty restaurants that require reservations and if you are booking a suite you make them online before the cruise.

 

Once onboard, everyone in all the venues is so helpful, a butler would be redundant.

 

Not all river cruises are short. Viking has one that’s 23 days - the European Sojourn. We are doing the Grand European in the fall and it’s 15 days.

 

I wouldn’t know what to do with a butler if I had one. Now maybe if I was very wealthy and lived at Downton Abbey with Carson around all the time, it would be different [emoji41], but I don’t need to pretend I’m Lady Grantham for a week.

 

A butler is not on my list of requirements at all when choosing a cruise line. But whatever floats your boat [emoji12]

 

 

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[Parsley Cruises]

Looking back at our previous cruises, having a butler is a bore when you are on holiday. We just like a nice large suite and privacy. We find that making our own reservations (if not doing so online) can be a positive thing to do.

[jiminyC_fan]

Cyber Kat, we took the Grand European Cruise. We enjoyed it immensely. I would love to do it all over again. You will love it! You have some great points about butlers.

[Cyber Kat]

Cyber Kat, we took the Grand European Cruise. We enjoyed it immensely. I would love to do it all over again. You will love it! You have some great points about butlers.

 

 

 

Thanks! We are really looking forward to this one! We loved our Rhine Getaway but it was too short! We wanted to do this one because it was longer, includes both the Danube and the Rhine and we get to go back to Amsterdam, one of our favorites!

 

 

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[CharTrav]

Cyber Kat, we took the Grand European Cruise. We enjoyed it immensely. I would love to do it all over again. You will love it! You have some great points about butlers.

 

The other thing about the 15 day river cruises with less than 200 passengers is that people have the time to begin to gel into nice groups. That was a comment our cruise director on the Grand European Tour made. That he especially liked the 15 day ones because he could see that by the 2nd week people were forming friendships. I would also add that for folks like me who are still working it takes a week to finally completely unwind.

 

 

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[jiminyC_fan]

The other thing about the 15 day river cruises with less than 200 passengers is that people have the time to begin to gel into nice groups. That was a comment our cruise director on the Grand European Tour made. That he especially liked the 15 day ones because he could see that by the 2nd week people were forming friendships. I would also add that for folks like me who are still working it takes a week to finally completely unwind.

 

 

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It's funny that you mention friendship. That's exactly what happened to us. Our friendship actually started at the airport. Increased at the hotel in Amsterdam and solidified on the boat. It was like we had known each other for years. We found that everyone found the perfect tablemates and that is where a lot of the friendships begin. If you need an awesome tour guide to take you outside of Amsterdam I have a name for you.

[Host Jazzbeau]

We have a very active forum on River Cruising:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=191

where this conversation would be more appropriate. Please join us!