So what does a butler do?

How is he different from our cabin steward? We're paying him daily; he might as well do something.:D

Unless you are in a suite the butler is the room steward and nothing more. During our Quest cruise in January (which we thought was fabulous) our butler was horrible. Most of our room stewards (over 21 cruises) have been more attendant, friendlier and much better than our butler on the Quest. He did nothing special. He wouldn't open the door even when we were struggling with our arms loaded. He left the dying flowers drop leaves for days without cleaning them up or removing them from the cabin. As presently constituted the butlers are a joke!

I am curious to know if those in the luxury suites had the same experience as blackrobe?

We just got off Quest last Saturday -- our experience with our Butler was quite different from Blackrobe. Since I never had a Butler before I wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, so I was a little skeptical.

Bottom line he was excellent and I really do feel he did more than our standard cabin steward on other cruises. He was more attentive, always asking us what he could do for us, etc. He made reservations for us at the specialty restaurants, replaced drooping flowers (in fact our flowers were fresh the whole 14 days). He brought canapes and filled our ice bucket every day at 4:00 pm. as requested:)

His attendant kept the cabin, bathroom and balcony spotless. They both figured out we were early risers, so when we went to breakfast early, our cabin was always made up before we returned. That was very nice.

Lucy

I am curious to know if those in the luxury suites had the same experience as blackrobe?

Hi Orchestrapal !

We were in a Sky Suite on Quest's first 2 sailings. We had a Butler that (while not horrible by any means) left a great deal to be desired. Funny thing was, we had the SAME person on Millennium a while back, and he was a huge disappointment then too. Clearly, he never learned how to do a good job !

I spoke with the Chief Housekeeper onboard, and asked him how someone who barely did his job could be working the Suite area. He said they had a great deal of trouble getting crew to work the Suite area, as there are less Cabins, and the Cabin Attendant/Butler do not make as much in those areas. IF any of this is true (and I stress the word IF), then it makes no sense, as Azamara should want to make their best appearance, and give the best service to those who paid more for their cabins, and deserve an upgraded experience. One would think Azamara would want to make the Suite area the most desirable place to work, not the least.

At any rate, as this was back in October, and the Inaugural sailings, I will give Azamara the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, Azamara has resolved the issue, and have more appropriate crew working the Suite area.

Hello...

I've never had a butler before, on a cruise or at home, so I'm not used to someone making dinner reservations for me, taking out my cleaning, etc.

However, on our early Feb. Quest cruise, we were very pleased with our "butler", cabin attendant and assistant. They did the usual things I've experienced with a very good cabin attendant and did it well. Our room was cleaned twice a day. Our (heavenly) towels were replaced at the same time.

Flowers were kept fresh, water replenished and my one request, for ice four times a day while at sea, was honored. Our door was always held for us or opened when one of them saw us coming and, most importantly, they were both very gracious and friendly.

We were in an aft balcony cabin on deck 8 surrounded by suites and two penthouses and we seemed to be getting the same treatment. Oh, when we were in our rooms at 4, tea was served every day as promised.

So, I don't really care what the "butlers" were called or what they wore, I simply felt that the service was flawless.

Will definitely cruise Azamara again!

Enjoy!

murphysmum;)

When you have poor service do you adjust your gratuity downward. I've never found a bad room steward on RCL so never had to think about it. Azamara suggests more then the $3.50 PP and what I'm hearing is that the service doesn't live up to expectations. I'll be sailing on Azamara and want to know what your solutions have been if you're finding a substandard experience.

Thanks for your replies! We look forward to making a reservation on Azamara as soon as the new schedules come out.:)

Hello...

I've never asked to have a gratuity adjusted downward; I do usually tip over the amount automatically added by the ship if service is good.

However, if after a couple of days on board the ship I found that my cabin or suite was not being serviced properly, I'd talk to the person in charge (On the Quest, she introduced herself as the Hotel Manager.) and request that they speak with the current attendant about what to correct, having another attendant train him for a couple of days if necessary.

Only then, if I saw no improvement, would I ever adjust a gratuity downward; the cabin steward would, however, then know why it had been done.

My two cents!

murphysmum;)

The Butler Always Does It.

Ask Columbo-kojak-quincey.:d:):d

murphysmum -

We too travel in one of the two cabins aft, tucked in between the suites. Usually we live on deck 6, with the deeper balcony. It does indeed seem that the excellent suite-service spills over to our humble BA cabin, on Oceania at least. In three weeks' time we'll experience the Quest. Can't wait!

BTW: When in Europe, we always stock up on Euro coins for the next cruise. They are great for extra individual tips in the restaurants, especially in the outdoor place, because they don't get blown off the table.

We were on the Journey in October. The butler seemed to do much of the stewards duties and we rarely saw the steward. (I only ever saw him clean the bathroom.)

We were on the Quest last month and there was a marked difference. Both the butler (Antonio) and the steward (Maria) were highly visible and the service was noticeably better. I think the crew is better understanding what are their roles.

One afternoon about 4PM I decided to go looking for chocolate chip cookies (they are excellent!). I mentioned this in passing while conversing with our butler and he said he would take care of it. In less than five minutes he was back with a plate full, and made sure we were stocked up from then on. He also brought my wife her afternoon tea on numerous occasions.

Anything they could do to please they would do.

Bodger

I was in a Penthouse Suite on Quest (7119). I've been in suites before on Celebrity. Typically on Celebrity, the suites have 3 persons (Butler, Cabin Steward, and Assistant). On Azamara, even the suites only have 2 people - whatever their names are.

However, I would pleasantly compare our butler (Antonio) on Quest with any butler we've had. Antonio was excellent. As far as I know, he had only one suite, the rest were 1A and 2A.

Bodger, I am happy to see Antonio is still doing a great job. His attention to detail was outstanding.

Kathy

We returned last Saturday and were in 7121 on Quest and I heartily agree with the comments regarding Antonio and Maria-they were very attentive and made our day to day cruise experience wonderful. I just wish I had mentioned the chocolate chip cookies to Antonio:D

I was next "door" to Lucy and we had a different butler and attendant. The butler was Joe and the attendant was Francisco. Both of them were excellent in my humble opinion! It was as if they really couldn't do enough for you. Any request you made was immediately done. The cabin was kept spotless (including the balcony and window). As with Lucy's cabin, ours was usually cleaned and made up by the time we returned from breakfast. I have to say I'm GLAD I didn't mention the cookies to Joe! I gained enough weight as it was!!

Joyce

We were close to Lucy in 7117 and had Antonio and Maria. I mentioned to Antonio that we drunk all the wine we had brought on board so need for wine glasses anymore. An hour later a knock on our door and Antonio handed us a bottle of wine from his private stash of things left behind from past pax. In over 25 years and 30+ cruises I have never had a gift from a cabin attendant/butler.

That's service.

Susie

Susie, that was an amazing butler; we'll have to request him.:D

Can we ask our butler to pack a picnic lunch for a non ship tour? Is that permissible? Is there a charge for it?

Zbayette -- I've never heard of that done before (packing a picnic lunch). Usually you eat before or after a tour. Windows Cafe is open until 2:30 and there is always the grill if you get back later than 2:30. There is also room service.

You can't "request" Antonio -- either you are in one of his cabins or not. Where is your cabin? If you are on Deck 7 aft on the starboard side you probably will have him and Maria.

Hi Susie -- wow, I've never heard of that before, either. How nice:D

Lucy

Zbayette -- I've never heard of that done before (packing a picnic lunch). Usually you eat before or after a tour. Windows Cafe is open until 2:30 and there is always the grill if you get back later than 2:30. There is also room service.

 

You can't "request" Antonio -- either you are in one of his cabins or not. Where is your cabin? If you are on Deck 7 aft on the starboard side you probably will have him and Maria.

 

Hi Susie -- wow, I've never heard of that before, either. How nice:D

 

Lucy

Thanks, it was a joke about requesting Antonio, hence the smiley face. Actually we are on deck 7, room: 7017.

Many years ago cruise ships used to pack you a picnic lunch if you were going on a tour for the whole day. We will be gone at least 7 hours or so and the tour guy suggested bringing something to eat unless we wanted to make a stop to eat. Why do that when we'll be trying to maximize use of time. And really I was hoping we could use our butler for something since we are paying him; he might as well do something other than the standard things our cabin steward does.

HI EVERYONE:

WE WERE ON THE JOURNEY FROM MARCH 10 UNTIL MARCH 22

WE WERE IN A SUITE AND HAD A FANTASTIC BUTLER - HE WAS THERE FOR EVERYTHING WE NEEDED & MORE SO.

SOME OF THE BUTLERS HAVE ONE SUITE & ABOUT 10 OTHER CABINS. A BUTLER IN A SUITE IS A LOT DIFFERENT THAN ONE IN A CABIN (EVEN IF IT IS THE SAME BUTLER)

IM ENDING THIS NOTE NOW, CAUSE WE JUST GOT HOME YESTERDAY & IM SO VERY TIRED. SOME DAY I WILL UNPACK.

SORRY FOR THE LARGE FONT, BUT I HAVE VISION PROBLEMS

TAKE GOOD CARE & HAPPY CRUISING

MYRA

Unless you are in a suite the butler is the room steward and nothing more.

 

As presently constituted the butlers are a joke!

I would say as presently constituted it is a sham and false advertising.

If you are in a suite you do receive a butler, a room attendant and an assistant room attendant - 3 separate people.

All other rooms just have a butler and an assistant - 2 separate people.

What is bad is that suite occupants and standard room occupants each pay the same amount of daily tips which means those paying for two staff members are actually helping to pay for those who have three.

Our agency received numerous complaints with regard to this issue and passed them on to the cruiseline yet Azamara refuses to change their literature with regard to a butler for every room or adjust their daily tips for those not receiving a dedicated butler.

In the industry the Butler issue is considered a joke as this other poster also acknowledged. Its really too bad that the joke is on the consumer.

I, personally, had no problem (I wasn't in a suite, 7121) -- Antonio (butler) and Maria (assistant) were worth their weight in gold -- took care of our every need, were highly visible and made our cruise very comfortable.

The people who were in the in the penthouse next to us, 7119, would have to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think they had a third attendant for their penthouse (at least I never saw anyone else) -- they also had Antonio and Maria.

Lucy

We took an Azamara cruise last November and had a wonderful time but even now I'm still confused about our having a butler AND a steward.

They provided excellent service, but I couldn't tell you what the difference is between the Azamara set-up and a standard cabin steward and assistant found on other ships, apart from a fancier costume that our 'butler' wore at times.

Personally I think it's a bit on the pretentious side and unnecessary. The Quest is still one of our favourite ships - RCCL did an incredible job keeping the character and atmosphere when they refitted it.

When you have poor service do you adjust your gratuity downward. I've never found a bad room steward on RCL so never had to think about it. Azamara suggests more then the $3.50 PP and what I'm hearing is that the service doesn't live up to expectations. I'll be sailing on Azamara and want to know what your solutions have been if you're finding a substandard experience.

Recently on Azamara and not pleased with all aspects of the sevice except for room steward( I too could not any the differnece between butler/steward but they were very good). We asked to have our tips adjusted by 50% which as we had prepaid were recredited to our account. We were frequently told that Azamara were glad to get feedback and that as they were new they would get things right evemtualy. Not sure is tis is the case YET

We were close to Lucy in 7117 and had Antonio and Maria. I mentioned to Antonio that we drunk all the wine we had brought on board so need for wine glasses anymore. An hour later a knock on our door and Antonio handed us a bottle of wine from his private stash of things left behind from past pax. In over 25 years and 30+ cruises I have never had a gift from a cabin attendant/butler.

Bad idea. Who knows what's in an open container used by past passengers. All unused beverage/food containers should be thrown away.