Butler and concierge service - what have you used them for?

[eimhoof]

We will be sailing in an Oceania suite on the Marina which gives us both butler service and concierge service.

 For anyone who has had this, what type of things did you find helpful for either? What did your butler do for you? Did you find that either could help with getting reservations for things that were already booked like changing a dining time or getting wait listed for a booked excursion?

 

We have very late dinner reservation times (9:30!) Could we just order from the specialty restaurant in our room at an earlier time if we prefer?

[travelingJimmy]

8 minutes ago, eimhoof said:

We will be sailing in an Oceania suite on the Marina which gives us both butler service and concierge service.

 For anyone who has had this, what type of things did you find helpful for either? What did your butler do for you? Did you find that either could help with getting reservations for things that were already booked like changing a dining time or getting wait listed for a booked excursion?

 

We have very late dinner reservation times (9:30!) Could we just order from the specialty restaurant in our room at an earlier time if we prefer?

We use them alot for breakfast in our suite in the morning.  Always delivered hot and on time.   I have also used them for additional dinner reservations.  While they cant always get you a reservation, they have done it numerous times for us.   Also, they have been FANTASTIC when we want to host some people in our suite for cocktails before heading off to dinner.   They are wonderful about bring extra ice, canapes and finger food for us and our guests.   

[schmerl]

Yes, you can ask your butler to serve dinner in your suite from any of the specialty restaurants. 

On our recent 10 day cruise, we had eight specialty restaurant reservations thanks to our butler.

We also ordered canapes brought to our room most days.

He made sure we had the requested soft drinks in our fridge and kept it well stocked. 

He stopped in at least twice a day to see if we needed anything. 

[pinotlover]

All of the above especially getting extra Specialty dinner reservations.

 

Add en suite dining from the Specialties.

 

If you have sailed Oceania before, there are no secrets. It’s all in the computer. The Butler knows beforehand that for entertainment I typically do the onboard wine tastings. He’ll ensure I have all the necessary information on those tastings when I board and quickly get me signed up for what I want. No flagging down a wine steward necessary. 
 

I have organized M&G before. As stated earlier this must go through the Concierge if a designated space or supply is required.

 

 

[AMHuntFerry]

46 minutes ago, eimhoof said:

We will be sailing in an Oceania suite on the Marina which gives us both butler service and concierge service.

 For anyone who has had this, what type of things did you find helpful for either? What did your butler do for you? Did you find that either could help with getting reservations for things that were already booked like changing a dining time or getting wait listed for a booked excursion?

 

We have very late dinner reservation times (9:30!) Could we just order from the specialty restaurant in our room at an earlier time if we prefer?

Since you have a butler for most on-ship things (except M&Gs or similar as mentioned), the concierge can be helpful for off-ship plans (dining/events, contacting air/ground transport, etc.).

Your butler can assist with specialty reservations (changing/adding...not always possible if the ship is packed to the gills). However, as you suspect, you can have any specialty dinner served in your room while they are open. Please give your butler advance notice for the best experience.

[GeezerCouple]

25 minutes ago, eimhoof said:

We will be sailing in an Oceania suite on the Marina which gives us both butler service and concierge service.

 For anyone who has had this, what type of things did you find helpful for either? What did your butler do for you? Did you find that either could help with getting reservations for things that were already booked like changing a dining time or getting wait listed for a booked excursion?

 

We have very late dinner reservation times (9:30!) Could we just order from the specialty restaurant in our room at an earlier time if we prefer?

 

Welcome to CruiseCritic!

 

"Could we just order from the specialty restaurant in our room at an earlier time if we prefer?"

😁

This is one of the two things we most use our Butler for!

We really love a few of the "specialties in the Specialties".  So first, yes, ask them if you can change a reservation or make a new one, etc.  The more notice you give them, the better the chance.  But we don't press the "in restaurant" request, because we also love just relaxing "at home" with the food served.  They will serve per course or all at once, as you request.

 

We use the Butler a lot, as we also often (even more than the above) request breakfast.  We'll give a nice FULL list our our requests the day before (we eat a big breakfast, and often don't do much for lunch, even if we stay on the ship).  Just write down what you want.  It does not need to be on any "room service menu" or such.  We'll ask for it to be brought at a certain time, and there are few things as "vacation like" as waking up to the aroma of coffee and bacon, plus the very gentle clinking of some china!

 

Note:  We tell the Butler that any "privacy" sign is NOT for them, but for anyone *else*.  We ask that they knock/ring and then come in.  IF we do want privacy, we'll simply bolt the door.

This works well when there is a "real suite" with separate bedroom, but also with the... faux suite (?) that is really one larger room, etc.  The Butlers are professionals, and they can handle this very well (or so far, we've found out, and not just on Oceania).  They can be incredibly quiet (not totally silent, obviously, and there's no way to avoid the coffee/bacon "problem" if one wants to sleep in. 😉   But if we are already awake, or if we mumble, "Good morning", we'll get a pleasant reply in kind.

 

Note:  We always tell them that we are almost always flexible with respect to precise times unless we mention otherwise, so IF we've requested a time that is unusually busy, please change *our* time if we haven't mentioned any tight timing... no problem.

 

When we meet them the first day, we also hand them a brief (bullet list type) intro letter, to let them know about food allergies*, about the "just walk in" policy, etc., and also if we want things like always having an extra two bottles of sparkling water ready to go, etc.

And when we give it to them, we say something like how we know the first afternoon/evening is very busy, so please read it *later* and we can answer any questions tomorrow, etc., plus the usual "greetings", etc.

We got that "letter" idea here on CC before our second "recent" cruise, in 2014.  We also learned about travel insurance here on CC, a year earlier, and thank goodness (!); do at least consider that.  There is another section of CC devoted to it.

 

Every time, the Butler has returned either later on the first day, or early the next day, with our note and a pen, with a question or two, and thanked us for it.  Of course... I can't imagine them complaining about it, right?  So whether they laugh at us or not, at least we've done our part to help them to help us, etc.  They can really make a big difference for those who enjoy their services.  (There are others who don't want to be bothered, etc., and that's fine for them, of course.)

 

BTW, we can also have a wonderful cruise on a line/ship that doesn't even have minimal room service.  We adjust; it helps to have the appropriate expectations, obviously.

 

ENJOY!

 

* We also notify special needs at any cruise line in advance about any special assistance or attention requested.  I'm sure it's already kept on file, but we prefer to keep it current, or to update it if necessary, as there are times things have changed.

 

GC

[pinotlover]

I believe buried in all of that was a question. En-suite dining, from a Specialty Restaurant can only be done during the regular hours the restaurant is open. Logically the kitchen must be open to prepare the meal. The same goes for the GDR.

 

Room Service, from the room service menu, is available 24/7. This may be delivered to you by your butler, if on duty at the time, or the on duty butler. It may also come via the room service staff.

[PhD-iva]

Just a quick mention that am currently on Sirena and my wonderful butler Aakash has been fabulous to help me to organize a party for the solo travelers in my penthouse state room. This is really great because going forward I will no longer be in a penthouse, so this was a great opportunity to go out in style!
I gave him a days notice of the events, and he was wonderful to get everything set up for the party. We had two bottles of champagne on ice and plenty of canopies. Best of all he cleaned up afterwards!