Additional individual tips when on cabin with a butler.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

Only happened once in all my Haven cruises, but on one cruise I never saw my Butler...not even the first day.  I knew he had been there as little canapés would show up in the room and the coffee had been refilled when needed.  Aside from that, I could have tripped over him and not known who he was.  It would be generous to say he spen less than a total of 5 minutes in my cabin the entire week.

 

Until.......the last day of the cruise, where he milled around my cabin, making sure he approached me when I went in and out of the cabin asking if I needed anything.

 

Don't know why that irked me, but it did. 

 

If you're going to only "hit me up" for a tip on the last day, tell me you're going to attend other cabins more than me.  I would respect that more.  At least I would know what to expect.

Your experience is basically what happened to us. Met him on the first day, seemed fine, however he sure did a thorough job of explaining his tipping structure . We would have actually left him a tip at the end “just because” but that last day was enough. He wasn’t nasty or anything but nearly confrontational about it. That caused no tip.  Not the literally no service that I requested (though in hindsight that seems fair to not tip either for) but the last uncomfortable conversation. $0.

[complawyer]

maybe its just me, or the luck of the draw, but almost 100% of the negative experiences listed are the complete opposite of mine. only once have i had a butler that was a jerk, and the 1st day after sailing, i went to the concierge, explained why i was dissatisfied, and just like that i had a new butler. most of the ones we've had went above and beyond the call of duty to insure we had a great cruise.  the cabin stewards were more than attentive, the food (except on our last cruise on the star) while not gourmet, was at the very least adequate up to great, canceling ports, while disappointing, doesnt detract from the fact  you are on a  cruise ship, sailing the  open seas etc.

 

i have been disappointed with missing hanoi, and taipei on one cruise, and berlin on another, but the other ports slightly made up for that. 

 

so, after 30 cruises with NCL, my wife and i have very little (if anything) to complain about.

 

if the butler isnt doing his job, get rid of him. if youre in that category of cabin that includes the butler, his services are part of what you paid for. if youre  in that category, especially the haven, you shelled out major bucks, there is no reason you should be unhappy or dissatisfied!

 

nuff said

[cruiseny4life]

14 minutes ago, complawyer said:

maybe its just me, or the luck of the draw, but almost 100% of the negative experiences listed are the complete opposite of mine. only once have i had a butler that was a jerk, and the 1st day after sailing, i went to the concierge, explained why i was dissatisfied, and just like that i had a new butler. most of the ones we've had went above and beyond the call of duty to insure we had a great cruise.  the cabin stewards were more than attentive, the food (except on our last cruise on the star) while not gourmet, was at the very least adequate up to great, canceling ports, while disappointing, doesnt detract from the fact  you are on a  cruise ship, sailing the  open seas etc.

 

i have been disappointed with missing hanoi, and taipei on one cruise, and berlin on another, but the other ports slightly made up for that. 

 

so, after 30 cruises with NCL, my wife and i have very little (if anything) to complain about.

 

if the butler isnt doing his job, get rid of him. if youre in that category of cabin that includes the butler, his services are part of what you paid for. if youre  in that category, especially the haven, you shelled out major bucks, there is no reason you should be unhappy or dissatisfied!

 

nuff said

I so agree! Maybe it's luck of the draw, but I've never had a poor experience with our butler. They've always been clear about what they can provide, they greet us at least once a day, provide all the items in the stateroom, and ensure our special requests are catered to. If a special request is unable to be made, the butler is clear with us and provides alternatives. We've always had wonderful butlers! 

[Distinctive-Destinations]

19 minutes ago, complawyer said:

if the  butler isnt doing his job, get rid of him. if youre in that category of cabin that includes the butler, his services are part of what you paid for. if youre  in that category, especially the haven, you shelled out major bucks, there is no reason you should be unhappy or dissatisfied!

 

nuff said

That doesn’t apply in my case, and it doesn’t sound like graphicguy’s issue either.

 

Mine was doing everything I asked of him, which was nothing. I didn’t need anything from him, so I was in essence satisfied as I had no complaints.

 

But I wasn’t about to waste even more of our time replacing a butler on the last day, with a different butler that I would have no use for either. I just didn’t tip and moved on.

Edited August 28 by Distinctive-Destinations

[complawyer]

distinctive.. are you saying you didnt want to utilize the butler or his services, if you didnt, then of course you should have no complaints. it seems like graphic guy had a butler that wasnt doing his job properly.

the burning question (inquiring minds want to know) is why you chose not to use the butler?

the idea is to have a non-functioning butler replaced immediately.

we have our butler bring a pot  of coffee, decafe, and hot water for tea with assorted sweet rols and croissants every morning, have him bring cookies, cheeses, deli meats, etc throughout the day, make sure i have a bowl of peanut m&m's and gummie bears.  the really attentive ones, will bring cans of coke, or bottles of beer for our fridge.

[graphicguy]

Only had that one bad experience with a Butler.  He even went so far to tell me how busy he had been.  First thing I thought was "were you that busy with other guests and I came in at the bottom of the list?".  I can appreciate the job they do, but no guest wants to hear how they didn't rank high enough to get good service.  

 

Was never anything I experienced consistently. Mostly, they are personable, friendly, and always willing to help.  And, that was the only one who ever complained about how they were too busy to offer to do their jobs.

 

I think in @Distinctive-Destinations and my personal experience. that one time was with a Butler who was more focused on getting the tip than he was to actually work for it.  Mine didn't even do the minimum, which was at least to introduce himself at the outset of the cruise.  He just showed up at the end of the cruise to collect a tip.

 

My concierges, on the other hand, have ALL been wonderful.  They are always willing to help.  And more than a few will track me down when eating dinner or breakfast to check up on me during the cruise.  

 

Even when I need to make a change to a reservation, or have a billing issue, and they are busy with other guests, I can drop off a note at their desk and "voila", the reservation or issue is taken care of.

 

Granted, I don't ask much from my Butlers....maybe request a different "snack" (M&Ms vs Gummy Bears). or nothing with "pate" associated with it be delivered.  Not a wine drinker, so request they remove the sparkling wine that shows up (or not deliver it at all).  But really, that's about it for the special requests.

Edited August 28 by graphicguy

[erisajd]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Only happened once in all my Haven cruises, but on one cruise I never saw my Butler...not even the first day.  I knew he had been there as little canapés would show up in the room and the coffee had been refilled when needed.  

On our cruise in the Haven [YMMV] those were delivered by the cabin steward.  I honestly have no idea what the butler did all day . . .  

[Distinctive-Destinations]

15 minutes ago, erisajd said:

On our cruise in the Haven [YMMV] those were delivered by the cabin steward.  I honestly have no idea what the butler did all day . . .  

Same here. I saw the cabin steward deliver them at least once.

 

I did tip him, for the record.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

55 minutes ago, complawyer said:

distinctive.. are you saying you didnt want to utilize the butler or his services, if you didnt, then of course you should have no complaints. it seems like graphic guy had a butler that wasnt doing his job properly.

the burning question (inquiring minds want to know) is why you chose not to use the butler?

the idea is to have a non-functioning butler replaced immediately.

we have our butler bring a pot  of coffee, decafe, and hot water for tea with assorted sweet rols and croissants every morning, have him bring cookies, cheeses, deli meats, etc throughout the day, make sure i have a bowl of peanut m&m's and gummie bears.  the really attentive ones, will bring cans of coke, or bottles of beer for our fridge.

I didn’t need the butler. And I already stated that I was planning on tipping the butler until that last day. I was fine with tipping him for doing what appeared to me to be nothing.

 

But to answer your actual question: if we wanted coffee, we’d go get it. Drinks, head to the bar. We’re not into sweets (wife is diabetic) so that didn’t apply. We just didn’t need the butler.
 

Cabin steward (not the butler) asked what sodas etc we wanted in the fridge and that was done according to request correctly.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

27 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

 

I think in @Distinctive-Destinations and my personal experience. that one time was with a Butler who was more focused on getting the tip than he was to actually work for it.  

 

Yes, correct. From my point of view, the butler spent like ten minutes total explaining the tip process for zero minutes of work.

 

The irony is that if he had spent LESS time doing that, I would have tipped him.

[erisajd]

On 8/28/2024 at 9:06 AM, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Same here. I saw the cabin steward deliver them at least once.

 

I did tip him, for the record.

Even though the cabin steward is included in the tip pool we gave him $50 at the beginning. He was always around when we needed him too. 

[vtgumby]

On 8/28/2024 at 12:13 PM, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Yes, correct. From my point of view, the butler spent like ten minutes total explaining the tip process for zero minutes of work.

 

The irony is that if he had spent LESS time doing that, I would have tipped him.

Our experience with two, it’s kind of funny actually but we CHOOSE to not have butler stuff because it’s our style (and not even on the list of why we choose suites) and we just don’t want or need their services but still nominally tip the butler including the beggars, they just get less.

Tip everyone, most come from humble backgrounds and if I can afford to cruise I can lay out extra cash because it’s really appreciated like it was when I waited on tables.

[vtgumby]

We were just chatting about suite vs the other cabin’s gratuities.

Who gets the extra $5/day pp suite gratuity? Haven probably has pool and lounge staff but the non Haven suites have only breakfast and lunch extras. It seems like butler gratuity could be rolled into this.

Thoughts?

 

[Distinctive-Destinations]

1 hour ago, vtgumby said:

Our experience with two, it’s kind of funny actually but we CHOOSE to not have butler stuff because it’s our style (and not even on the list of why we choose suites) and we just don’t want or need their services but still nominally tip the butler including the beggars, they just get less.

Tip everyone, most come from humble backgrounds and if I can afford to cruise I can lay out extra cash because it’s really appreciated like it was when I waited on tables.

I agree with everything you said, but if someone annoys me or wastes my time, that tip certainly isn’t going to increase…

[RocketMan275]

2 hours ago, vtgumby said:

We were just chatting about suite vs the other cabin’s gratuities.

Who gets the extra $5/day pp suite gratuity? Haven probably has pool and lounge staff but the non Haven suites have only breakfast and lunch extras. It seems like butler gratuity could be rolled into this.

Thoughts?

 

Butlers provide specialized service which varies based upon the needs/desires of the individual passengers which is why their gratuities are not a part of the pool.   How much would you expect the suite gratuity increast to cover the butlers?

[vtgumby]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

Butlers provide specialized service which varies based upon the needs/desires of the individual passengers which is why their gratuities are not a part of the pool.   How much would you expect the suite gratuity increast to cover the butlers?

I have no thoughts but the suite gratuity is $5 more so wondering to whom the extra five goes.

Simply curious.

[RocketMan275]

Just now, vtgumby said:

I have no thoughts but the suite gratuity is $5 more so wondering to whom the extra five goes.

Simply curious.

It goes to people in the gratuity pool.  

[vtgumby]

7 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

It goes to people in the gratuity pool.  

Obviously.
So apparently being in a suite requires an extra five just because you’re in a suite despite the same amount of people in the same gratuity pool as inside to club balconies, no butlers or concierges added. Doesn’t make sense but so be it, hoped for a better explanation to explain the five!

[RocketMan275]

Just now, vtgumby said:

Obviously.
So apparently being in a suite requires an extra five just because you’re in a suite despite the same amount of people in the same gratuity pool as inside to club balconies, n butlers or concierges added. Doesn’t make sense but so be it, hoped for a better explanation to explain the five!

This comes up frequently, can the cruise lines use the gratuities for other purposes?, ie boost their profits.   As has been explained in numerous threads, accounting standards prohibit diverting the gratuities to other uses.  IOW, the cruise lines have to spend the gratuities as described in their financial reports.

[ggTexasGal]

15 hours ago, vtgumby said:

Obviously.
So apparently being in a suite requires an extra five just because you’re in a suite despite the same amount of people in the same gratuity pool as inside to club balconies, no butlers or concierges added. Doesn’t make sense but so be it, hoped for a better explanation to explain the five!

Being in a suite gives you extra benefits that require more labor.

For example: Second daily cleaning of the suite (which is not given to CBS and lower room categories).  Additionally, suites receive the "special" breakfasts and lunches.

[vtgumby]

8 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

Being in a suite gives you extra benefits that require more labor.

For example: Second daily cleaning of the suite (which is not given to CBS and lower room categories).  Additionally, suites receive the "special" breakfasts and lunches.

We could only come up with the special breakfast and lunch dining and never noticed the evening service schedule because we don’t do it so thanks for sharing your thoughts TX gal.

We’ll continue butler and concierge tips BUT it would be nice to see the ask part stop. Once I tried to get ahead of it by telling the butler not to worry, we’re tippers and he still launched into his spiel. 🙃
Sigh…but remembering that made me laugh again!

[ggTexasGal]

15 hours ago, vtgumby said:

Once I tried to get ahead of it by telling the butler not to worry, we’re tippers and he still launched into his spiel. 🙃
Sigh…but remembering that made me laugh again!

🙂

It seems as if each experience we have had in suites can vary from each previous experience.

I imagine it has more to do with the individual butler's "way of doing things".

[PatJim]

On 8/27/2024 at 5:56 PM, Shellbelle28 said:

And I might add, most of them genuinely CARE! On one longer cruise on the Jewel, my husband and I had been consistently dining for lunch in Moderno. One day, we were tired and went to our suite, put the DND notice up, and spent a couple of hours snoozing. When we left the cabin later, we discovered a note on the door from the concierge asking if we were ok and if we needed anything. When we saw him later he again expressed that he'd been worried something was wrong. So he didn't "do" anything for us in that instance, but it was definitely elevated service! And I tipped accordingly at the end of the cruise. (The concierge was Carlos Ragasa, not sure where he is now or even still with NCL.)

 

According to CC’s ‘Where are they now…’ thread, Carlos Ragasa is concierge on NCL Star as of August 8 sailing.  
BTW, we had the pleasure of sailing with him once.  He was called “Little Carlos.”  Carlos Zarate, who became NCL’s longest serving concierge, was “Big Carlos.”  We cruised many times w/Carlos Zarate, especially on the Gem, when Jenny Lim was hotel director.  We became great friends and would book cruises just to see him.  Sadly, he’s no longer with NCL.