Butler Service

[burnsva]

So….what all does the Butler do in Queens Grill.  I know about the unpacking, serving pre dinner canapes…but anything else beyond what the steward would do?

[Lakesregion]

10 minutes ago, burnsva said:

So….what all does the Butler do in Queens Grill.  I know about the unpacking, serving pre dinner canapes…but anything else beyond what the steward would do?

If you are having a small party in the suite, he might announce each guest as they come through the door. He also should be well versed in the making and serving of all manner of beverages. Should know the weather forecast for the next day and layout the slickers and brellas if required. 

 

Also pretty much what your butler does at your home.

Edited November 6, 2022 by Lakesregion
additional thought.

[Victoria2]

6 hours ago, burnsva said:

So….what all does the Butler do in Queens Grill.  I know about the unpacking, serving pre dinner canapes…but anything else beyond what the steward would do?

Your Butler is a more proactive, higher level version of a room attendant. He/she is, as ours informed us in August when I said he didn't need/have to do a certain function for us, is there to make us feel at home in our temporary home at sea and if was in his power to 'do it', then he would.

He did despite my ineffectual protestations. 🙂 He was a wonderful Butler!

 

He/she is there to smooth your way through the holiday. Any questions, ask. Nothing is too simple or basic a question. He/she will be at the end of a pager during working hours and will answer you pretty darned quickly.

 

They will arrange a bit of a do in the cabin for you if you wish to entertain fellow passenger; discuss the [wonderful] platters of nibbles [included in your fare], order the drinks [not included in your fare]  and  serve the drinks if required. 

 

We wouldn't dream of using the  un/packing service and I don't know anyone who has  but it's there for you I guess if you want. We don't require much from a Butler and we're just happy to be lucky enough to have someone to give us a bit extra help now and then.

 

 

[MWINT]

We had a butler on our recent QM2 TA. The extra looking after you was nice, but we particularly liked that ours (a women) laid the table for breakfast when we requested it in our suite. Much nicer than having food on your knee. 

[exlondoner]

31 minutes ago, MWINT said:

We had a butler on our recent QM2 TA. The extra looking after you was nice, but we particularly liked that ours (a women) laid the table for breakfast when we requested it in our suite. Much nicer than having food on your knee. 

Yes, isn’t that nice, and the little flower?

[MWINT]

No flower for us. Although there were beautiful orchards there already for us when we arrived. 

Edited November 6, 2022 by MWINT

[majortom10]

If you are lucky might do many things. If you are unlucky like we were in a Q6 on QE we hardly saw him. If we weren't in the suite when delivering canapes he would leave the on the side and if we were in suite he would bring them in and just put them on table and leave. We didn't see him for 2-3hrs when we boarded so no chance of unpacking suitcase even if we wanted. Other than that we never saw him for whole cruise.

 

 

[bbtablet]

On 11/6/2022 at 7:04 PM, MWINT said:

No flower for us. Although there were beautiful orchards there already for us when we arrived. 

Wow! - just WOW!

[buchanan101]

Two weeks ago the orchids were in the QG room (and same coloured orchids appeared on the dinner table in QG restaurant). Seem a lot more sensible than flowers (last a lot longer). I guess we could have had daily fruit if we asked but it wasn’t offered.  The pre dinner canapés were nothing special. I also thought chocolate covered strawberries were with Champagne on boarding but it was just fairly normal chocolates. The turn down chocs didn’t seem to be the Godiva ones supposedly offered. There does seem to be little bits of cost saving here and there. 
 

Wouldn’t really have wanted him to unpack.
 

The butler wasn’t much more than an excellent room attendant though we didn’t ask for anything specific - very happy with him and his sidekick, both quietly efficient and friendly. 

[carolina_yankee]

Is packing and unpacking included or an add-on? That alone might be worth the cost of an upgrade for someone who never really expects to sail in the Grills otherwise!  I hate packing. 

[buchanan101]

42 minutes ago, carolina_yankee said:

Is packing and unpacking included or an add-on? That alone might be worth the cost of an upgrade for someone who never really expects to sail in the Grills otherwise!  I hate packing. 

It’s supposedly included - I guess you have to ask. Packing after a crossing isn’t that hard… just chuck it in.   It fitted before…Not sure OH would have appreciated someone else unpacking her finery etc…

 

Personally I appreciated the upgrade for the extra room and the dining and priority on and off. Not sure I would have paid £2k to £4k for packing and unpacking! 

Edited November 7, 2022 by buchanan101

[exlondoner]

9 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

Two weeks ago the orchids were in the QG room (and same coloured orchids appeared on the dinner table in QG restaurant). Seem a lot more sensible than flowers (last a lot longer). I guess we could have had daily fruit if we asked but it wasn’t offered.  The pre dinner canapés were nothing special. I also thought chocolate covered strawberries were with Champagne on boarding but it was just fairly normal chocolates. The turn down chocs didn’t seem to be the Godiva ones supposedly offered. There does seem to be little bits of cost saving here and there. 
 

Wouldn’t really have wanted him to unpack.
 

The butler wasn’t much more than an excellent room attendant though we didn’t ask for anything specific - very happy with him and his sidekick, both quietly efficient and friendly. 

As I remembered on the third day of our last trip, fruit, like bar soap, is one of the things you have to ask for, and they would happily provide. It would be ago idea if they had a list, to go with the drinks list, so you can tick what you need.

[Solent Richard]

On 11/6/2022 at 12:43 AM, burnsva said:

So….what all does the Butler do in Queens Grill.  I know about the unpacking, serving pre dinner canapes…but anything else beyond what the steward would do?

 

Good morning @burnsva .

 

I'm somewhat surprised that no one has so far mentioned the in-suite dining option for those occasions that matter....

 

[Solent Richard]

....and another errand we have found that butler's were good at was securing one's priority tender tickets...

 

[BigMac1953]

Last night, on board QV, our butler prepared our room for the five guests that were coming for pre-dinner drinks.

 

He brought extra ice buckets and ice, provided canapes and nibbles, brought orange juice for Bucks Fizz and set out extra chairs in our Q3.

 

Whilst we were at dinner, the fairies came and on return our room was sparking.

 

He was duly thanked.

[Jacqueline]

So it is the butler who brings and serves the meals? 

[Victoria2]

11 minutes ago, Jacqueline said:

So it is the butler who brings and serves the meals? 

Yes.

 

Depending on your cabin furniture, he/she will set either the coffee table, or dining table if you have one, with a cloth, cutlery, glasses and table ware. For breakfast, ours left the whole meal on the table for us. 

For lunch, the same procedure.  We have had dinner for six in our cabin and the dining table was beautifully set and the wine 'breathing'/chilling  and each course was served by the butler as and when needed. The butler wanted to serve the pre dinner drinks but we said no to that. Not necessary. 

 

We didn't give any tips for that evening, but we certainly showed our gratitude in fulsome style at the end of the cruise.

[buchanan101]

19 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Yes.

 

Depending on your cabin furniture, he/she will set either the coffee table, or dining table if you have one, with a cloth, cutlery, glasses and table ware. For breakfast, ours left the whole meal on the table for us. 

For lunch, the same procedure.  We have had dinner for six in our cabin and the dining table was beautifully set and the wine 'breathing'/chilling  and each course was served by the butler as and when needed. The butler wanted to serve the pre dinner drinks but we said no to that. Not necessary. 

 

We didn't give any tips for that evening, but we certainly showed our gratitude in fulsome style at the end of the cruise.

Was tempted by this, but we were very happy to eat every meal in the QG restaurant. Got us up and out...

 

You must have had Q4 or better to have 6 people at dinner though; we were "lowly" (standard) Q5

[Victoria2]

24 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

Was tempted by this, but we were very happy to eat every meal in the QG restaurant. Got us up and out...

 

You must have had Q4 or better to have 6 people at dinner though; we were "lowly" (standard) Q5

If Q4 has a dining table, then I'm guessing you mean QM2. We haven't tried QG on that ship. Our QG experiences are all on QV/QV.

It was a novelty and our guests were fellow Q.G'rillers whom we knew but who weren't fellow table companions in the restaurant.

[Jacqueline]

Good to know. Thanks @Victoria2.

Is it possible to  order lunch in advanced and have it brought to our cabin if we aren’t there at the moment? 
I guess my other question is how far in advance must one order?

[BigMac1953]

There is no room service on first or last day.

 

As a last resort, there's the Kings Court.

[Victoria2]

52 minutes ago, Jacqueline said:

Good to know. Thanks @Victoria2.

Is it possible to  order lunch in advanced and have it brought to our cabin if we aren’t there at the moment? 
I guess my other question is how far in advance must one order?

Might be a good idea to check up on this once onboard but  as long as the Butler has the order and timescale, I don't see why there should be a delivery issue unless it's days in advance etc.

[Gretchendz]

As to fresh fruit daily--and this in Princess as well as Queens--there is a little card that you might miss on which you can order fresh fruit daily. We didn't use it, but it was certainly there.

[exlondoner]

3 hours ago, Gretchendz said:

As to fresh fruit daily--and this in Princess as well as Queens--there is a little card that you might miss on which you can order fresh fruit daily. We didn't use it, but it was certainly there.

 

That’s good. It certainly wasn’t there on our cruise, so they have sensibly introduced it.

[ClipperinSFO]

On my last QM2 TA, I caught the heel of my shoe in the hem of my formal trousers.  The next morning I rang and gave it to the butler and asked if they could be mended in time for the next gala night. The following day there was a ring at the door and a very nice stewardess returned the trousers pressed, repaired and ready to wear.  It was so nice to have it all seamlessly sorted - pun intended.