Butler services in a Sky suite

[Mack704]

I just read a review, posted today in X's review section of Cruise Critic, of the Summit cruise to Bermuda starting 6/12/11.

 

In it, the reviewer stated several of the special butler services advertised on Celebrity's web site - i.e. in room dining for lunch and dinner, etc.

 

The reviewer said these services were not offered by his/her butler. At the end they stated they must have just had a bad butler.

 

If this review were in a thread, I would ask if the reviewer then asked for these services. I doubt the butler would have said "no".

 

My question to you, my fellow CCers:

 

If it was your desire to partake in the above stated services, would you let the cruise go by and then complain of spending moucho bucks and not getting your butler's worth, or would you just ask for what was advertised that you were entitled to?

 

Harvey

[techwatcher]

Butlers can do many things to make a cruise more enjoyable for you but they aren't mind readers...I would be asking for the things I was looking for whilst on the cruise.

 

No point complaining about it afterwards.

[techwatcher]

Looking at the review, and taking it at face value, the butler's attitude over the espresso seemed strange. Is it possible the reviewer was actually asking the stateroom attendant and not the butler?

[bellybutton530]

Before going on your cruise you should compile a list of things you want your butler to do; and present it to him upon embarkation.

 

My cruise isn't until December, and I'm already working on my list.

[candbgirl]

We had a Sky Suite on the Century in January. Our butler(the wonderful and amazing Victor) told us he would do whatever we wanted done. One morning we ordered breakfast. He brought it and I thought that was that. Imagine my surprise when he said give me a couple of minutes to set this up. The next thing I know we had a very elegant breakfast complete with linen tablecloth and flowers all set up on the balcony. Talk about being spoiled. So I guess it was the posters fault for not asking for something specific or not doing something out of the ordinary and let the butler do his thing to make it even better. They are a wonderful treat.

[cynbar]

We'll be in a Sky Suite on Summit next month and I sure hope we get a different butler! We have sailed in suite on NCL. had great butlers and then one not so good one whose attitude was just off, anything we asked him seemed to be an imposition. I don't care about the unpacking because I like to know where things are, but I hope ours will cheerfully bring breakfasts and tea and maybe another meal or two, as well as espresso. Although I agree that the OP should have addressed this onboard (and maybe he did), I think the general attitude is the problem .

t

[ClaudiaB]

Ram was our butler on Equinox in March and 9 of 11 mornings we had breakfast in our suite set up with the linen tablecloth, etc. He was so cheerful and perky in the morning and it was so refreshing to see him. He brought us whatever we wanted - we loosely used the menu but mostly just ordered what we wanted and it was pretty simple, we don't eat a big breakfast.

The 2nd day I mentioned that I LOVE LOVE raspberries and strawberries, and if he brought me some occasionally - not every day - that would be a real treat. Don't you know that every afternoon when we returned from excursions or from out and about the ship there was a little bowl on the table with a cut flower and about a cup of raspberries with strawberries thrown in. We are pretty independent and I don't think we really asked too much of him at all. Mostly we chatted with him if he seemed to have the time, sat on the couch once and just got to know him. We don't drink espresso/coffee at all so never had that service but I noticed the suite next door always had him fix something along those lines.

[SingingMom1]

Looking at the review, and taking it at face value, the butler's attitude over the espresso seemed strange. Is it possible the reviewer was actually asking the stateroom attendant and not the butler?

 

I will try to write a full review by the end of the week, but we just finished cruising on the Summit in a Royal Suite... read up on what others have asked the butlers to do, etc... had my notes with me of what to ask, etc...

 

We had an odd experience with our butler. Told me "No" to waffles. Told me "No" to cappuchino. Said too many stops, won't be hot, etc... Seemed like he had an excuse for any "extras" I was asking - which were what others had previously asked for from reading the threads. And, I have to add, I was really pleasant with the requests. lol

 

When I filled out the breakfast card, I wrote "Waffles with berries" on top, and he did end up bringing them. We went to get the cappuchino ourselves.

 

(I also tipped him that first conversation)

 

Loved the Royal Suite, loved our room steward, felt ok about our butler...

[bellybutton530]

How tragic. I hope I never meet this butler.

 

Please let us know when your review is posted.

[Project_gal]

Butlers can do many things to make a cruise more enjoyable for you but they aren't mind readers...

 

Exactly what I was about to reply!

 

Sue

[techwatcher]

 

We had an odd experience with our butler. Told me "No" to waffles. Told me "No" to cappuchino. Said too many stops, won't be hot, etc... Seemed like he had an excuse for any "extras" I was asking - which were what others had previously asked for from reading the threads. And, I have to add, I was really pleasant with the requests. lol

 

When I filled out the breakfast card, I wrote "Waffles with berries" on top, and he did end up bringing them. We went to get the cappuchino ourselves.

 

(I also tipped him that first conversation)

 

Loved the Royal Suite, loved our room steward, felt ok about our butler...

 

It does seem like the quality of service provided by butlers does vary. On Connie last year our butler never said 'no' but we had a number of minor issues which I reported. The Assistant Chief Housekeeper offered to change the butler and we ended up with the Chief Butler. Big, big difference in attitude and service.

 

I once read somewhere that in a customer service situation, the only time a customer should hear the word 'no' is if it's immediately followed by the word 'problem' :)

[Fixit2010]

I think I must be missing the point, but can someone explain to me what exactly the butler can do that one can not do without a butler?

 

I know they help unpack, but to be honest, I prefer to do that myself as I know what is going where.

 

I have read a lot of posts about fetching food between meal times. Assuming one is still hungry, one can operate either a telephone and call for someone to bring up food or if one is feeling energetic, one can walk to a food point in the ship and retrieve a snack.

 

Besides the food aspect, what else can I expect from a butler?

 

I am not being funny or taking the mickey out of anyone, I don't get what additional advantage a butler can provide.

[techwatcher]

I think I must be missing the point, but can someone explain to me what exactly the butler can do that one can not do without a butler?

 

I know they help unpack, but to be honest, I prefer to do that myself as I know what is going where.

 

I have read a lot of posts about fetching food between meal times. Assuming one is still hungry, one can operate either a telephone and call for someone to bring up food or if one is feeling energetic, one can walk to a food point in the ship and retrieve a snack.

 

Besides the food aspect, what else can I expect from a butler?

 

I am not being funny or taking the mickey out of anyone, I don't get what additional advantage a butler can provide.

 

They are there to make life a little easier and the cruise more enjoyable. They also have easier access to the ship's facilities. We didn't use ours too much but he did organise a bridge tour, bring the daily news sheets (without us asking), sort out specialty restaurant reservations and organise replacing the bottle of champagne with something non-alcoholic. Our neighbours had their butler organise an in-stateroom drinks and nibbles event and their butler served drinks.

 

TBH there probably isn't very much they can do that you couldn't organise yourself but having someone else take care of it does make life a little easier.

[cruisecrasy]

I will try to write a full review by the end of the week, but we just finished cruising on the Summit in a Royal Suite... read up on what others have asked the butlers to do, etc... had my notes with me of what to ask, etc...

 

We had an odd experience with our butler. Told me "No" to waffles. Told me "No" to cappuchino. Said too many stops, won't be hot, etc... Seemed like he had an excuse for any "extras" I was asking - which were what others had previously asked for from reading the threads. And, I have to add, I was really pleasant with the requests. lol

 

When I filled out the breakfast card, I wrote "Waffles with berries" on top, and he did end up bringing them. We went to get the cappuchino ourselves.

 

(I also tipped him that first conversation)

 

Loved the Royal Suite, loved our room steward, felt ok about our butler...

 

Same thing with my Butler - was disappointed and he also seemed to want to discourage any 'extras' and even some things that shld have been done automatically..:(

 

Was in a Sky Suite but have now booked again but in a CC this time..Don't believe I shall miss anything except the size of the room but as I travel solo the size isn't much of an issue.

 

Sure wish I cld have gotten one of the 'good' Butlers...

Might try it again someday - the Royal Suite sounds nice and if I HAVE to have a Butler with it - well guess I have to and then I may perhaps get one of the 'good' ones! :)

 

Have great cruisin' all! :)

[Project_gal]

I think I must be missing the point, but can someone explain to me what exactly the butler can do that one can not do without a butler?

 

I know they help unpack, but to be honest, I prefer to do that myself as I know what is going where.

 

I have read a lot of posts about fetching food between meal times. Assuming one is still hungry, one can operate either a telephone and call for someone to bring up food or if one is feeling energetic, one can walk to a food point in the ship and retrieve a snack.

 

Besides the food aspect, what else can I expect from a butler?

 

I am not being funny or taking the mickey out of anyone, I don't get what additional advantage a butler can provide.

 

As pward123 has explained, for many things it is a case of making life easier however:

 

There are things that your butler can do that will not be done by others - eg having dinner delivered and served course by course [room service will bring it all in one go].

 

He will also deliver that items which are not available [in suite] to those not in a suite - eg afternoon tea.

 

Your butler is invaluable when you need/want something that there would be difficult to find otherwise - eg borrowing a particular type of screwdriver needed to fix your suitcase.

 

Often they will also "bend" the rules if something that really isn't allowed would make your cruise better - but I am not going to give examples here in case I get someone into trouble!

 

However, the nicest things that your butler does for you are the things that you do not even think to ask for - eg our butler on our last Azamara cruise delivered a refridgerator [a proper one and not the chillers used for the minibars] to our suite while we were at dinner on the first evening when he realised that it would be difficult to fit our tomato juice [for our bloody Marys] into the minibar. How would we have known that the ship carried spare fridges?

 

Sue

[Breezey]

Project gal - now you did it. Now you made me extra curious as to the "bending of the rules". Don't refer to the ship or the butler's name but give us some hints please (and thank you)

[CathyCruises]

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't all that impressed. Other than getting us a dining time at Murano (which was supposedly sold out) he didn't do anything that a regular cabin steward wouldn't do. I didn't 'get' the canapes AND tea service, one after the other barely an hour apart but I guess some people like it.

 

It's a nice touch but basically a gimmick IMOO to make people feel better about spending all that money! I think on a two week cruise we called him once, and could just have easily called room service for whatever it was that we wanted.

[Project_gal]

Project gal - now you did it. Now you made me extra curious as to the "bending of the rules". Don't refer to the ship or the butler's name but give us some hints please (and thank you)

 

I am really not sure that I want to because I know that Celebrity and Azamara read these boards. Others have posted that they have not been allowed to do these things and, if all CC member start expecting the special services, the companies may clamp down.

 

What I will say is that if you build a good relationship with your butler and do not EXPECT him to bend the rules for you, you may find that he offers to do things that he knows you will appreciate.

 

Sue

[bellybutton530]

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't all that impressed. Other than getting us a dining time at Murano (which was supposedly sold out) he didn't do anything that a regular cabin steward wouldn't do. I didn't 'get' the canapes AND tea service, one after the other barely an hour apart but I guess some people like it.

 

It's a nice touch but basically a gimmick IMOO to make people feel better about spending all that money! I think on a two week cruise we called him once, and could just have easily called room service for whatever it was that we wanted.

 

Wow!! My butler was probably happy to see me gone. I hosted quite a few sailaway parties and other events that required him to get ready for me. He got me my invitation to dine with the Capt. He arranged my specialty dining. Cappuccino, fruit and cheese, etc was fetched. If I opened the cabin door, he was there.... It was wonderful.

 

I don't know what ship you were on, but it doesn't sound like it was Constellation.

[uktog]

There is a difference between the service given by butlers to the penthouse suite and the other suites. Even when you are in the Royal Suite, the penthouses have the first call on the Senior butler's services so depending on how demanding the occupants of the two penthouse suites are will determine the situation for other suites.

 

We certainly experienced that on one trip in the Royal where the butler was constantly having to set up events in one of the Penthouse suites and meet the needs of a family of 4 in another. We felt so sorry for the Butler he was run ragged and clearly wanted to be able to be more attentive to us but could not - it was no issue for us we are self sufficient and apart from breakfast and the odd lunch and shoe clean or similar request we did not need any more from him but if we had we know he would have struggled.

 

Those in Sky suites tend to have more junior butlers and some are clearly showing the skills and desire to be a senior butler and others are not.

 

You therefore have to be slightly careful when looking at what one persons butler was or was not willing to do for them - those juniors with the desire to succeed are more likely to go the extra mile for you than others who are coasting.

[CathyCruises]

Good point. Mine was on a Sky Suite on Century. I of course had reviewed the list of perks and was surprised not to have flowers in the cabin. He said, oh no, that's just for Royal Suites but brought the same ones they have in CC. Big deal!

 

My point is that having the butler service to me is not by itself reason to book a suite. There are of course other considerations!

[SingingMom1]

There is a difference between the service given by butlers to the penthouse suite and the other suites. Even when you are in the Royal Suite, the penthouses have the first call on the Senior butler's services so depending on how demanding the occupants of the two penthouse suites are will determine the situation for other suites.

 

We certainly experienced that on one trip in the Royal where the butler was constantly having to set up events in one of the Penthouse suites and meet the needs of a family of 4 in another. We felt so sorry for the Butler he was run ragged and clearly wanted to be able to be more attentive to us but could not - it was no issue for us we are self sufficient and apart from breakfast and the odd lunch and shoe clean or similar request we did not need any more from him but if we had we know he would have struggled.

 

Those in Sky suites tend to have more junior butlers and some are clearly showing the skills and desire to be a senior butler and others are not.

 

You therefore have to be slightly careful when looking at what one persons butler was or was not willing to do for them - those juniors with the desire to succeed are more likely to go the extra mile for you than others who are coasting.

 

Good point. Mine was on a Sky Suite on Century. I of course had reviewed the list of perks and was surprised not to have flowers in the cabin. He said, oh no, that's just for Royal Suites but brought the same ones they have in CC. Big deal!

 

My point is that having the butler service to me is not by itself reason to book a suite. There are of course other considerations!

 

We were in a Royal Suite - we had lovely accomodations and didn't "need" anything. It was just really odd the reaction I received about the waffles and the cappuchino. lol I think he realized later how abrupt he was with me, as he started to soften his approach.

 

Now, our room steward Clarence was an angel from heaven.:) He practically tripped over himself to get to the door before me to open it if he happened to see me down the hall. lol I happened to give him a phone card mid-cruise, and you would have thought I gave him my only kidney.lol What a sweet man.

[sailtheoceanblue]

We recently returned from sailing on the Solstice (EXCELLENT cruise!). We were in a Sky Suite and we were not impressed with our Butler at all. We are not difficult or demanding people, but we found our Butler to be stand offish and really didn't make us feel welcome or that it was OK to ask him for anything. When we asked him if we could please exchange our champagne for wine he stared at me and then a full minute later said he didn't know if that could be done .. another long silence and then I asked if he could please find out. He did ... a full 3 days later! (the answer was no...not blaming the butler for the response) He only wanted to leave us cookies in the afternoon and looked preplexed when we said no thank you ...one sea day he came by at tea time with his plate of cookies and seemed startled when we asked for an actual cup of tea! He didn't even have his tea cart ..he had to go retrieve it.

 

If I had a choice I would book a sky suite sans butler service. We were actually upset to realize $84 of our tips were going to this buter and our cabin attendant, who was excellent was also receiving $84 but had to share a portion of his with his excellent assistant. (we do tip extra for great service) We went so far as to go to guest services to see if we could move some of the butler tip to the cabin attendant but we were informed that was impossible to do. On the last day of the curise the butler was buzzing around more than usual, even came in with the cabin attendant and "dusted" for a few minutes. I know he was waiting for an additional tip, but we just remained on our balcony reading until he left. I did write a letter and left it with guest relations before departing the ship sharing our experience and praising the excellent service we had received from our cabin attendant and his assistant. Our butler made us feel so uncomfortable that we really didn't even want to ask for anything.

 

I realize a Sky Suite is probably going to have the butlers in training assigned. We booked the suite because we got a great deal and we liked having the extra space. Having butler service never entered into our decision to upgrade to a suite. I know those in higher suite catagories pay a lot more for their suites and they should have the best butlers assigned to them, but I would really love to have the option of saying no thanks.

 

Our first Celebrity cruise was also in a sky suite and the butler assigned to us was excellent He had such a positive attitude and was very friendly and always made a point to ask if there was anything he could do for us each day.

[Shelley G]

Thanks to a resident special, my husband and I up-graded to Sky Suite 6146 on our Holy Land cruise in October on the Constellation. Since this suite is next to the Penthouse suite, will we be assigned the same butler?

Shelley

[Lsimon]

Interesting thread. I always say that someone on the ship is going to be lucky enough to have the best [FILL IN THE BLANK] and someone else will be unlucky enough to have the worst and most of us will be in between. But I'm surprised at the number of posts by cruisers whose butlers were not willing to buttle.

 

We had a Sky Suite only once. Our butler excelled at room service - it was the only cruise that we hardly ever at breakfast out of our cabin. Everything was perfect and he set a nice table for us. At other times, he was very attentive in providing wine glasses and similar things, afternoon snacks on request. He came around with a fully loaded tea cart (including a nice assortment of sweets) each afternoon and scrounged up some scones when my wife commented how much she liked them with her tea. He went all out in arranging beverage mixers and snacks for a big party we had on our deck (we had a larger than average deck on the old Galaxy). That's all I can really think of, sounds pretty basic for butler services and I'm sure he would have done more had we asked.