Royal Suite on Century

[joenanna]

We just booked the RS on Century and were wondering if anyone has stayed in that suite and what they thought.

 

We would like to know more about the Butler service and what we should expect or not expect from a Butler. We have never stayed in a suite before and would like to know some things such as how much to tip the Butler at the end of the cruise and other info anyone can provide.

[Fang]

We have stayed in a RS on Century class ships and on M class ships.

 

I would say that while the room is great, I feel that it is not worth the money on the Century. Now, this was before it was redone, so things may have changed. The Royal Suite on the Millie and Infinity are fantastic.

 

That being said, there are some very nice things about it. It is nice to have a bedroom with doors on it and then a living room. I tend to be an early riser and up by 5:30 AM or so, DW is a late riser and could sleep until noon.

 

The butler will do just about anything you ask them to do. I have heard that they will unpack for you, but never have heard of a person who has done that.

 

He will take your clothes to be cleaned etc. Just about everything a regular cabin attendent will do and more. The butler does not do day to day cleaning of the cabin.

 

When you order room service, the butler will bring it. In the evenings my DW and I have called the butler and he will bring glasses of wine. The butler will give you his "cell" phone number and you contact him directly and order what you want. It is best though, I have found, to still fill out your breakfast room service card the night before.

 

We have eaten dinner in the suite. Most of the times we were served course by course by the butler, but then again we have had it all delieved at the same time, so YMMV.

 

As far as tipping, there is a suggested amount. We normally tip over that. One time we did have a very poor butler and tipped under the suggested amount.

 

Its hard to go back to a regular cabin when you have had a suite and butler!!

 

I have found that when you treat the butler as a regular person and not a servant they tend to do more for you. We had dinner tablemates who were very upset at their butler because he would not do this or that etc., and were very vocal about it to him. Found out he was our butler also and was doing for us all the same things they were upset about. I guess its human nature that when people treat other people with respect they give it back in return.

[joenanna]

Thanks for the information it helps give us some perspective on what to expect. We were hoping to host a couple of get togethers in the evening before dinner and thought the Butler could set us up with snacks and drinks. Do you think that would be appropriate to ask?

[Fang]

Joenanna,

 

Several years ago my family all went on a cruise. I believe there was 20 of us, for my parents 50th wedding aniversery. They did have a RS on the Century.

 

One night everyone went to their Royal Suite for cocktails. The Butler set everything up. He did not serve everyone. Just put the wine, liquor, ice and glasses on the dinning table. There was also cheese and crackers etc. that he brought. Later, we had a party, through Celebrity, in one of the bar areas and they brought out appitizers. This was of course at an additional cost. However, the cheese and crackers where free, in the suite.

 

I would think that if you have some type of party an additional tip would be warrented.

 

This normally will bring a lot of converstation and some of it very heated, but my wife and I pretip our butler, cabin attendent and waiter (if we are eating with our kids at our own table). We just tell the person, we are hoping for a great cruise and know that this is a "down payment" for what you will be doing for us this week. A lot of people are very against this, but it seems that it has worked for us for fantastic service. Does it give us better service, I don't know, but I can tell you other than one Celebrity Cruise we have always had fantastic service and have been very happy.

 

There was a crusie link, for Tom and Mary Malino (?). He wrote very good cruise reviews and was a huge fan of pre-tipping. Sadly enough the link to his cruise reviews is no longer available, or I have not been able to find it.

 

In summary, if you are going to have cocktails and snacks, I think the butler will do all the basic work, but it is more than he would have to do. Although, this is his/her job. I think it would be very nice to give them something for it.

 

One last thing, the last time we sailed Century, my wife and I had a Royal Suite and our two daughters had connecting cabin. We took very good care of our butler and on the morning of disembarkation, he brought our daughters a hot breakfast (eggs, french toast etc), instead of the normal breakfast on the morning of disembarkation. Treat the butler good and they will, normally, take very good care of you.

 

So many times, at least in my opinion, many people treat the cruise help as "help". In my 19 cruises, I have found that if you treat them with respect and talk to them about family etc., they love it.

 

We had a Asst. Waiter, from Austria. She told my daughters that her parents had a house on the same lake as the Von Traps, from the Sound of Music. Needless to say, my daughters were in awe "you know the Von Traps!" No she did not, but that was five years ago and we still recieve and give Birthday Cards and Christmas Cards to her. Most staff are wonderful people who work very hard, have families that they do not see for months and work for very little money.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

John

[getfuzzyfan]

We had a royal suite after the refurbishment. It was great. The balcony was absolutely immense. The bathroom was lovely. I'd get that cabin again in a heartbeat. And don't worry about noise from above. We never heard anything of any consequence. Enjoy.

[joenanna]

Thanks so much for all the information. I agree that if you treat everyone with respect they in turn will take good care of you. We think some of the best memories that we have from cruising is when we give extra tips to some of the staff that have made your cruise memorable. We love to "bless" them with a bit above and beyond, it seems to mean so much to them and their families and makes us feel good too. We are looking forward to having the suite and all the extra room, hopefully we will be okay with going back to the normal balcony room for future cruises. Any room on a cruise ship would be fine with me although I don't think I could do an inside room due to being a little clauterphobic.

[gillianrose]

We had a royal suite after the refurbishment. It was great. The balcony was absolutely immense. The bathroom was lovely. I'd get that cabin again in a heartbeat. And don't worry about noise from above. We never heard anything of any consequence. Enjoy.

 

Would you mind sharing which royal suite you had? Do you have pictures of the balcony at any website?

[GUEST234]

My wife and I were in cabin 1035 in February and had no problem at all with noise. The balcony is indeed huge (2 loungers, a table with 2 chairs and still plenty of room to roam). We are pretty low maintenance people so we didn't really use the butler that much except for afternoon tea and keeping the mini-bar stocked with Captain Morgan and Coke.

[gillianrose]

My wife and I were in cabin 1035 in February and had no problem at all with noise. The balcony is indeed huge (2 loungers, a table with 2 chairs and still plenty of room to roam).

 

Sounds nice. Any photos of the balcony?

[excitedofharpenden]

Sounds nice. Any photos of the balcony?

Click on the picture link in my signature. There's one of 1045. It's not great, but gives you an idea. The balcony is about 250 sq ft.

 

Phil

 

edit - slightly better shots here

[AZjohn]

Click on the picture link in my signature. There's one of 1045. It's not great, but gives you an idea. The balcony is about 250 sq ft.

 

Phil

 

edit - slightly better shots here

Thanks for the photos Phil. We can't wait until our first Century RS cabin also. Just a little over 2 more weeks.

Life is good!:D

John

[excitedofharpenden]

Thanks for the photos Phil. We can't wait until our first Century RS cabin also. Just a little over 2 more weeks.

Life is good!:D

John

John, enjoy your cruise on Century. I hope we can turn some nice weather on for you whilst you are here. I fly to AZ the day your cruise leaves. I'm more confident of hot and sunny for me;)

 

Phil

[AZjohn]

John, enjoy your cruise on Century. I hope we can turn some nice weather on for you whilst you are here. I fly to AZ the day your cruise leaves. I'm more confident of hot and sunny for me;)

Phil

We will have to wave at each other when we pass at 38,000 feet (lol).

I promise you that it will be warm and sunny when you arrive;) I hope you have as much fun here as we plan to have over there!

Take care,

John

[joenanna]

John,

 

The photo's were great, thanks.