grtwithntr

Back in 2013 we cruised on NCL Star and had the 3 BR Garden Villa Suite. Back then I believe the only other ship to have that set-up was the Dawn? Can anyone tell me if any other ships have added this particular Suite set up? Or anything similiar? 

What's up with those 2 Garden Villa suites that overlook the pool....2 rooms that take up an entire deck? Do people really spend that kind of money to go on a NCL cruise? Sorry, but this is just one more thing I don't get. Good for them, I guess, but for that kind of money, I would want the entire ship to be top notch, not just my suite. To me, it just seems like it would have made a lot more sense to leave Spinnaker where it was and chop up that Garden Villa space a little more with many smaller suites instead of 2 gigantic suites. Again, Aquahound's thoughts only.

I promise that when you stay in one of those suites the cruise is top-notch. Love your honest review and all the pics. One of these days I'm gonna get off my butt and write up my review (and post pics) of our 7 days in room 14500.

On the tipping question....

The Butler (Made) had both 3 Bedroom Villas and also 2 other Suites on Deck 10 to take care of. I found this out by asking him. By doing the math I figured he was responsible for about 16 people. He was outstanding and helped make our week in the Villa very enjoyable. From what I could tell he worked about 16 hours a day for all 7 days we were on the ship. My wife and I tipped him $100 ea. I have no idea what our suite mates tipped him but my wife and I felt good with that. If all 16 people he was taking care of tipped in that amount he'd have made $1600 for the week + whatever his salary is, which I'd guess is not much. If I was a wealthier man, I'd have left more.

The Concierge was responsible for all of the 40+ Suites on the ship. While he was also great he wasn't nearly as much involved on our own day to day enjoyment of our cruise. We tipped him $30 ea.

The Room Stewerd (Benjamin) was included in the daily tip pool and from what I understand got 50% of the $17 ea. of the daily charge added directly to your shipboard account. We tipped him an additional $20 ea because he was fantastic and went above and beyond anything we could have ever asked.

Also left a $20 tip to a waitress at the Blue Lagoon/Moderno (Toluca Adams) that was another above and beyond server that we encountered on our cruise.

 

To tag on with this I'd say that anytime there's something that you'd normally stand in line for (like excursion, show, restaurant reservations, casino cards, or billing inquiries etc.) your butler or concierge will gladly do for you. Remember they don't actually have to stand in that line. What would take you 30 minutes will probably take them a 30 second phone call.

 

We had Made (Mahday) as our butler on the Star in Apr 2013 and he was absolutely outstanding! The guy went above and beyond anything we ever asked. As did David the concierge and Benjamin the room steward. Although my wife never asked him to draw a bath for her I'm sure that if she had asked he would have posted a watch to inform him of when we returned the ship and headed to to our room and also made sure that she had her favorite drink waiting on the vanity as well. In our experience, these guys/ladies will do everything they can do to make you feel like you are royalty for the time you are on the ship and under their care.

 

Remember that your Butler and Concierge are not included in the daily tips pool and rely on individual gratuities from the suite guests so the more you use of their time you may think about at the end of the cruise when it's time to leave the envelope of "thank you".

 

To any NCL Brass reading this I want to express our sincere thanks to Made on the Star for a great week. He was absolutely fantastic.

I think this is where there will be confusion. I've heard many a times, that just because you don't use them directly, that tipping would not be required. I still have trouble with what is a reasonable amount myself, but do understand that it's still kind of necessary to.

Tips for Butler and/or Concierge are NOT included in the $12 pp per day service charge. We recommend guests consider offering a gratuity commensurate with services rendered.

We are sailing in a couple of weeks on the Star. After posting a question on CC on how much to tip butler and concierge I received quite a few suggestions. In reading this thread I'm glad to find out that a butler services about 10 different cabins.

I'm figuring the daytime butler probably works about 14-16 hours a day for all 7 days I will be using/enjoying his or her services. That works out to a 98 - 112 hour work week. To make the math easy I'll go with an average of a 100 hour work week. If all 10 of the suites he was servicing tipped him $150 total he would make $1500. That's $15 an hour if you don't take into account standard U.S. rules about time and half wages after 40 hours and double time after 60 hours (probably closer to $8 an hour if you did). If the butler spent 9 months (39 weeks) a year working on a ship making $1500 a week they'd make $58,500 a year. That's probably a pretty good wage for where they live, and deservedly so. I'm sure some people tip more and some tip less but I'll be using that as a baseline for my wife and I. If services are "above and beyond" I'll probably throw in an extra $50-$100.

As a Suite guest how much I use their services is up to me. How well they perform them is up to them and the cruise line. If I golf at a club that requires a caddy and yet I insist on carrying my own bag and don't ask for any advice on yardages or local advice I'm still gonna tip the caddy. It's not their fault that I don't need/desire their service. It is an expected cost when I booked the reservation and I will have planned it into my budget. To not do so wouldn't be fair to the service individual that got stuck with me instead of the guy that would have used all of their services available and tipped them accordingly.

IMO, If you book a suite you can, or should be able to afford to tip the butler and concierge whether or not you use them. Of course there are always good and bad service providers and if my butler or concierge is rude or doesn't perform their duties as very basically expected I have no problem lowering or eliminating their tip entirely. But if I just choose not to use them, I'm still gonna give em a basic tip. It is expected as part of the deal. Just my two cents....

I still wonder about the concierge though. Is there only 1 concierge that would be able to take care of all the suites on board which I would think is about 60 on the Star. Does anyone know?

Thank you all for your replies, much appreciated.

We're in an NCL suite next month on a 7 day cruise and seeing as how we've never done the Cruise Ship Suite thing I was wondering about appropriate tips for for the Butler and Concierge? I'll list out my questions...

1: Are "suggested" tips for these two included in your final bill?

2: If not, I'd guess they are part of a pool or otherwise highly compensated from the cruise line?

3: If tips are expected, how much are they per day or week for each?

4: Do you also have a room steward that needs to be taken care of like you would in standard balcony or other room?

5: What are we looking at as far as a total $ amount in tipping the people that are making sure we have the time of our lives?

I'm just a simple man with simple means who happened to come across a pretty good deal on a Suite so I'm not looking to go overboard with tips but I have no problem taking care of all the staff, I'd just like to know what I'm looking at as far as budgeting for the final bill. Thanks for any replies..

Sure!! I am trying to plan for a trip next May in garden villa and my older daughter said "I'm not gonna go". So...her spot is open;)

If you need a 40 something year old son just let me know....

You will LOVE it!!!! Are you in 14000 or 14500? The only difference I think is 14000 has the kitchen while 14500 has a bar area. It was absolutely amazing!! I have some pictures of the Star garden villa while it was docked next to us

We will be in 14500. It's the outside Villa part of these rooms that I think I'm going to most enjoy. Can't believe the size of these.

BTW - SSSSShhhhhhh on the affordability of these when you get 5-6 people involved. The more popular they get, the more they'll cost, and I'm stretching this one as it is!! :cool: Again thanks for posting the review and all the pictures.

Thanks for the trip report and all the great pictures. We're booked in Apr for the GV Suites on the Star. Really looking forward to it now! Looks and sounds like we're gonna have the time of our lives. Thanks for taking your time posting all that info.