Question about Butler service

[tfattz1]

Good Day All.  We were just informed that our bid for the upgrade was accepted and with the new room comes a butler service.  I have never had a butler service before.  Just curious as to what others have experienced.  Also do you tip them daily?  Do you tip them before you leave?  Appreciate any input :) :)

[david_sobe]

There is no rule of thumb about tipping daily or at the end of the cruise.  I sometimes do a mixture of both.  Its up to you and how much you tip depends on how much you use them.  IMHO the service is not a big deal because we don't use them that much.  Sometimes I have not even met them until the third day of the cruise because they stay so busy.  Each butler is assigned many cabins which can be challenging.  You can research threads here of very involved butlers and butlers who keep their distance unless you ask for something.

One thing they will do is deliver the daily treats of chocolate covered strawberries or other tiny tray treats.  If you are not in your cabin, they will leave them on the bar.  If you want dinner delivered to your cabin, you can arrange it with him/her.

[pinkie60]

49 minutes ago, tfattz1 said:

Good Day All.  We were just informed that our bid for the upgrade was accepted and with the new room comes a butler service.  I have never had a butler service before.  Just curious as to what others have experienced.  Also do you tip them daily?  Do you tip them before you leave?  Appreciate any input 🙂 🙂

Following. Same here, new to Norwegian. 

[tfattz1]

33 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

There is no rule of thumb about tipping daily or at the end of the cruise.  I sometimes do a mixture of both.  Its up to you and how much you tip depends on how much you use them.  IMHO the service is not a big deal because we don't use them that much.  Sometimes I have not even met them until the third day of the cruise because they stay so busy.  Each butler is assigned many cabins which can be challenging.  You can research threads here of very involved butlers and butlers who keep their distance unless you ask for something.

One thing they will do is deliver the daily treats of chocolate covered strawberries or other tiny tray treats.  If you are not in your cabin, they will leave them on the bar.  If you want dinner delivered to your cabin, you can arrange it with him/her.

 

[BirdTravels]

54 minutes ago, tfattz1 said:

Good Day All.  We were just informed that our bid for the upgrade was accepted and with the new room comes a butler service.  I have never had a butler service before.  Just curious as to what others have experienced.  Also do you tip them daily?  Do you tip them before you leave?  Appreciate any input 🙂 🙂

Butler takes care of your coffee makers, in-room dining, daily treats. 

 

We ask our butler to keep bowls of M&Ms (plain or peanut), gummy bears, and bar mix filled. There will be a default afternoon snack delivered. We also make special requests (even stuff like P&BJ sandwiches). 

 

We ask that the mini-bar be emptied and that the butler keep pitchers of ice tea and ice water filled in there. And cartons of milk for our coffee. 

 

On busy port days, we order breakfast served in the room. There are "hang tag" breakfast cards in the suite with check-boxes for items. Ignore the check boxes and just write what you want. Eggs over easy, egg white omelet with spinach and tomatoes, ham, bacon, sausage, filet steak, breakfast potatoes, hash browns, fresh fruit, breads, juices, and a Diet Pepsi. Your butler will bring it at the requested time and serve it on a white tablecloth. We also have the night butler bring us desserts. All complimentary. (If you order something from a specialty restaurant, you will be charge the menu prices from that restaurant). 

 

The concierge will help you with reservations. If a specialty restaurant shows that it is sold out, the concierge can usually get you a seat. They will help you with show reservation (large ships). And help you get priority disembarkation/embarkation when requested at ports. On big ships with dinner shows, the concierge will escort you into the show room before the doors open and get you the best seats in the hours. And on big ships, there will be reserved seating for you in the theater. 

 

Tip at the end of the cruise. Both the butler and the concierge are NOT in the daily service charge pool and it is customary to tip both. 

 

When people ask, my response is always the same

     Butler: $10-$15 per person in room per day of cruise ($10 * 2 people * 7 days = $140)

     Concierge $5-$10 pp pd

     Additional Tip to Room Steward for taking care of your suite: $5-$10 pp pd

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2019 by BirdTravels

[tfattz1]

 

Thank you for your reply David_Sobe :) 

[tfattz1]

Thank you BirdTravels.  Appreciate the breakdown!  I am also glad you noted the additional tip for room stewart.  I was not even thinking about them!!  I was thinking the butler did it all :)  Very new for us and looking forward to this.
 

[BirdTravels]

11 minutes ago, tfattz1 said:

Thank you BirdTravels.  Appreciate the breakdown!  I am also glad you noted the additional tip for room stewart.  I was not even thinking about them!!  I was thinking the butler did it all 🙂 Very new for us and looking forward to this.
 

And,,, tip what you feel comfortable with. Not because someone posted some number on a travel forum. If you feel comfortable with a few bucks a day (at the end of the cruise), then the butler will certainly appreciate it. Not that we're rich, but a lot of times we are paying retail for our suites and a $150 tip is down in the noise when looking at what we are spending on a vacation. 

[ColinIllinois]

19 minutes ago, tfattz1 said:

Thank you BirdTravels.  Appreciate the breakdown!  I am also glad you noted the additional tip for room stewart.  I was not even thinking about them!!  I was thinking the butler did it all 🙂 Very new for us and looking forward to this.
 

 

Just to be clear you are not obligated to tip the steward.  While the butler is not included in the DSC, the steward is.

[Laszlo]

1 hour ago, tfattz1 said:

Good Day All.  We were just informed that our bid for the upgrade was accepted and with the new room comes a butler service.  I have never had a butler service before.  Just curious as to what others have experienced.  Also do you tip them daily?  Do you tip them before you leave?  Appreciate any input 🙂 🙂

 

If you want anything special contact the Pre Concierge before your cruise. If you have not received it yet you should be getting an email from them very soon, below is a copy of mine.......  NorwegianConciergeDesk@ncl.com.

 

If you have not received it I would send them an email, you will need to give them your reservation number

 

Edited May 22, 2019 by Laszlo

[tfattz1]

Thank you everyone for your responses!!! 

 

[graphicguy]

41 minutes ago, tfattz1 said:

Thank you everyone for your responses!!! 

 

Congrats on getting the upgrade.  If you don’t mind me asking, what ship are you on and what cabin did you upgrade to?

 

You’re going to love it!

[Newfun4me]

I loved having the butler and the concierge, but it definitely made the trip more expensive.  I felt it when we were tipping for two cabins with 2 people each (DH and I in one and our son and one of his friends in the other) at the end of our vacation.  We tipped the butler $15 pp pd and the concierge $10 pp pd.  I honestly don't remember how much we tipped the room steward, but I think it was in the $10 per cabin per day range as we knew he was part of the other tip share.  🙂  We won't go on a cruise without that service again, though.  It might sound a little bouge, but the pampered feeling you get is pretty awesome and it takes the vacation to a whole different level.  I didn't want to leave the ship!  I'm sure you are going to love it.  

[gizfish]

It is customary to tip the butler at the end of the cruise.  Any good butler will view a tip at the beginning or at another time before the end as a bribe.  

[BirdTravels]

16 hours ago, ColinIllinois said:

Just to be clear you are not obligated to tip the steward.  While the butler is not included in the DSC, the steward is.

True. But we tip our room steward on every cruise. Suite or non-suite. "Super Great" or "working on it". They work 80 hour work weeks (I think it is a couple of hours less than that to be within laws) to make our trip memorable and enjoyable. 

[bonvoyagie]

We have been in suites on our last two cruises - there were three adults traveling so the suite was actually less expensive than paying the solo upcharge on an inside. The butler will bring you afternoon snacks - and keep your coffee maker stocked, serve you any meal in the suite etc. We actually found that on port days it was easier to use the restaurant for breakfast and we saved the in suite breakfast for sea days where we wanted to just lay low in the cabin. Between the room steward and the butler any needs you have in your suite will be handled - You can ask for just about anything and the butler will get it for you - say you like M&Ms just let him know and you will have a bowl full - like milk and cookies at night - no problem. Although you can get them yourself in the buffet - your butler will be happy to get them for you. As far as tipping, everybody does things differently - on my last cruise we had an excellent butler/steward combo who really put out an effort to make sure we were happy - we tipped both of them  - the butler about 175 and the steward about 75, we did not use the concierge much outside of  his normal duties. He was around every morning at breakfast and was always making sure we were taken care of. We did tip him about 100.00 for the cruise. I believe that tips should not be automatic and are for service above and beyond. We are fairly self sufficient so we really don't ask that much of either of them.

[AtlantaAlly]

22 hours ago, Laszlo said:

 

If you want anything special contact the Pre Concierge before your cruise. If you have not received it yet you should be getting an email from them very soon, below is a copy of mine.......  NorwegianConciergeDesk@ncl.com.

 

If you have not received it I would send them an email, you will need to give them your reservation number

 

 

Do you still get a letter if you have a travel agent, or do they get it? I ask because you are sailing on the same date and no letter for us yet. Maybe I just need to be more patient!

[Laszlo]

3 minutes ago, AtlantaAlly said:

 

Do you still get a letter if you have a travel agent, or do they get it? I ask because you are sailing on the same date and no letter for us yet. Maybe I just need to be more patient!

Yes! We booked thru a TA. I received the letter about 24 hours after changing our cabin from a Mini Spa Suite to a Haven H5. That was about a month ago. I would send an email to the address above. Are you in the roll call or FB page?

[dexddd]

5 minutes ago, AtlantaAlly said:

 

Do you still get a letter if you have a travel agent, or do they get it? I ask because you are sailing on the same date and no letter for us yet. Maybe I just need to be more patient!

We always use TA and get letter around 50 days out.  Not really a big deal, see contact and letters above.  On'y difference is if you have an OS, DOS, GV as those include booze options so letter a bit different.

Edited May 23, 2019 by dexddd

[DaisyGoldberg]

One note:  Don't get your hopes up about pre-cruise requests being honored.  I've never had them make a bit of difference.  Just speak with the butler on the first day.  He/she will explain how to reach him/her, and generally let you know what to expect.  

 

If you want room service, call your butler, not the room service number on the phone.  We got yelled at for that once (not really, but room service kicked the call to him and he was embarrassed that we hadn't gone through him).

 

Eat the chocolate covered strawberries right away while they're cold.  They're not nearly as good once they've reached room temperature.

[mushroom]

Good to know Daisy. I would have called room service had you not warned me. We're in an owners suite on the Sky later on this year and are looking forward to the suite as much as the cruise itself. Might not ever leave the room!

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, mushroom said:

Good to know Daisy. I would have called room service had you not warned me. We're in an owners suite on the Sky later on this year and are looking forward to the suite as much as the cruise itself. Might not ever leave the room!

Give your orders to your butler in advance. Let them know what time you want the food. Let them know how you would like it served. Some people like it served one course at a time. But, the butler brings up all the food at once, and it is just sitting outside in the hall in the butler's pantry,,, and you have to wait for them to run and serve other rooms between your courses. We just have the butler bring everything and pile it up on the counter,,, then server ourselves as fast/slow as we want. 

 

We were in an aft-facing suite (with a huge balcony) on the Sky. The room was a bit smaller than anticipated, but the balcony was wonderful. 

[Shoppie124]

How soon before sailing do you receive the letter?

[BNBR]

On 5/22/2019 at 6:16 AM, tfattz1 said:

Good Day All.  We were just informed that our bid for the upgrade was accepted and with the new room comes a butler service.  I have never had a butler service before.  Just curious as to what others have experienced.  Also do you tip them daily?  Do you tip them before you leave?  Appreciate any input 🙂 🙂

 

Be realistic. They aren't butlers (there are international standards for butlers and NCL isn't even close).  They are glorified food runners that you may or may not find any use for. Most people tip them at the end of the cruise, if at all. 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Shoppie124 said:

How soon before sailing do you receive the letter?

Exactly 50 days prior to cruise via snail mail. 

 

Pre-concierge is pretty useless. They can not do anything you can't do yourself. WRT onboard items, we very much prefer building the relationship with our butler and concierge vs. some off shore call center taking requests.