Butler Duties

[g8rchic]

I am booked for a sky suite on the Century and want to make the most out of having a butler. What types of things have you asked your butler to do for you? I understand most people use them for room service, shoe shine, and laundry, but is there anything else you used them for? Thanks for the advice!

[WALKER1313]

I'm sure there is a joke in there, If you are single. But, we've booked suites three times and never could find much use for them. Sorry not an answer

[mandream]

I'm not sure if this is an official perk or not, but when we were in a SS on the Summit, we were able to ask our butler to bring us coffee drinks from Cova (espresso, latte, etc). If we went to Cova ourselves we'd have to pay for these drinks, but our butler was able to bring them for free. YMMV.

 

Mike

[buffi001]

The most common perk is to have your butler serve dinner in your

cabin. As opposed to room service, where your meal is simply delivered

to your cabin, a butler serves your dinner course by course, from the dinner menu.

 

We also had our butler install a mattress pad on the bed, shine my dress

shoes for me, and my wife had him deliver a birthday cake to our cabin.

Overall, we didn't find a lot that the cabin steward wouldn't do in his stead.

Of course, he does deliver those horrible canapes in mid afternoon every day.

 

If you get a good one (which we didn't) a butler can be an invaluable source

of information about ports. And,he can set up a tour of the bridge for you,

if that interests you.

[High Seas Texan]

Expect nothing form them. I sailed in a penthouse suite on the Infinity in may, and the much touted "butler" did nothing. I had read that they would unpack and pack for you. NO. I read he could get you at the Captains Tablr. NO. I asked him to make a dinner reservation (simple enough) in the specialty restaurant. he indicated the telephone for me to call. I asked him to turn on the lights in the suite-he indicted the light switches. They did not work. I asked him remove a broken floor lamp since it did not work, and was not going to work-he just walked away. I was livid. There were many things not working in the suite, and he did nothing to see they were fixed. The butler service is the most over rated service I have ever seen. Celebrity should be ashamed of even advertising this. hope you enjoy it more than I did.

[LOP]

Expect nothing form them. I sailed in a penthouse suite on the Infinity in may, and the much touted "butler" did nothing. I had read that they would unpack and pack for you. NO. I read he could get you at the Captains Tablr. NO. I asked him to make a dinner reservation (simple enough) in the specialty restaurant. he indicated the telephone for me to call. I asked him to turn on the lights in the suite-he indicted the light switches. They did not work. I asked him remove a broken floor lamp since it did not work, and was not going to work-he just walked away. I was livid. There were many things not working in the suite, and he did nothing to see they were fixed. The butler service is the most over rated service I have ever seen. Celebrity should be ashamed of even advertising this. hope you enjoy it more than I did.

 

 

Sounds like you got a bad one...unfortunate to say the least as of the cruises we have taken, the butler service was exceptional.

 

I will say the recent Alaska cruise we took (6/11)that butler was a tad better than the one we had in Europe (9/10) He arranged to have us invited to dine with the captain and 2 bridge tours, and engine control room tour. Ones previous to that on other lines were good as well.

We are expecting the same great service on our upcoming (4/12 caribbean), (8/12 northern europe) cruises.

 

If you are not satisfied with your butler service, do speak up at the time to the captain's club host at least.

 

Here's wishing you better service in the future.:)

[dzcruisers]

Expect nothing form them. I sailed in a penthouse suite on the Infinity in may, and the much touted "butler" did nothing. I had read that they would unpack and pack for you. NO. I read he could get you at the Captains Tablr. NO. I asked him to make a dinner reservation (simple enough) in the specialty restaurant. he indicated the telephone for me to call. I asked him to turn on the lights in the suite-he indicted the light switches. They did not work. I asked him remove a broken floor lamp since it did not work, and was not going to work-he just walked away. I was livid. There were many things not working in the suite, and he did nothing to see they were fixed. The butler service is the most over rated service I have ever seen. Celebrity should be ashamed of even advertising this. hope you enjoy it more than I did.

 

You should have spoken up to guest services or Captains Club or Hotel Director. That's not typical X service.

[High Seas Texan]

Oh believe me, I did speak up. Celebrity service is just not there.

[Sloop-JohnB]

Expect nothing form them. I sailed in a penthouse suite on the Infinity in may, and the much touted "butler" did nothing. I had read that they would unpack and pack for you. NO. I read he could get you at the Captains Tablr. NO. I asked him to make a dinner reservation (simple enough) in the specialty restaurant. he indicated the telephone for me to call. I asked him to turn on the lights in the suite-he indicted the light switches. They did not work. I asked him remove a broken floor lamp since it did not work, and was not going to work-he just walked away. I was livid. There were many things not working in the suite, and he did nothing to see they were fixed. The butler service is the most over rated service I have ever seen. Celebrity should be ashamed of even advertising this. hope you enjoy it more than I did.

 

The "obvious" Question comes up for me here... after having read this post...

 

Did you say PLEASE and THANK YOU ???

 

It may the Butler's job to do things for you ... but attitude and respect is everything... it is earned not demanded !!

 

Cheers!

[bellybutton530]

Expect nothing form them. I sailed in a penthouse suite on the Infinity in may, and the much touted "butler" did nothing. I had read that they would unpack and pack for you. NO. I read he could get you at the Captains Tablr. NO. I asked him to make a dinner reservation (simple enough) in the specialty restaurant. he indicated the telephone for me to call. I asked him to turn on the lights in the suite-he indicted the light switches. They did not work. I asked him remove a broken floor lamp since it did not work, and was not going to work-he just walked away. I was livid. There were many things not working in the suite, and he did nothing to see they were fixed. The butler service is the most over rated service I have ever seen. Celebrity should be ashamed of even advertising this. hope you enjoy it more than I did.

 

WOW!!!! It sounds like you lost the butler lotto.

 

I've been in PH suites on Zenith (twice), Century (once); Galaxy (once); and Constellation (once and one upcoming.) I have NEVER had service, or the lack thereof, like that on any of my sailings.

 

Most of the time the Head Butler is assigned the PH suites. This just doesn't sound like HB behavior.

 

But I have never sailed on Infinity....

[High Seas Texan]

Sloop-JohnB, how insulting you are. yes, I said please. I began our relationship by tipping $100.00, which I thought was more than fair. I asked very nicely for everything. Some things I should not have to ask for, like things being in working order in the suite. i could not believe when the first, simple thing I requested was the lights to be turned on. Then I asked if he would make the reservation in the SS United States. He indicated the telephone I should use. It went downhill from there. By the time he refused to unpack the luggage, which is advertised as one of his duties, I told him how disappointed I was with him, and HIS attitude. I then showed him the dirt, DIRT, built up in the outside hot tube, asking had he inspected this room prior to occupancy. He said yes and accused me of planting the dirt. It was black, and all over the bottom and side. At this point I told him to leave and requested a meeting with his supervisor. She validated my concerns and complaints and assigned me a new butler, who was better, but you had to ask for every single thing you wanted. nothing was done for you or anticipated. Butler service on Celebrity cannot begin to compare with concierge service on Holland, or simple cabin service on Carnival.

[Crazy Cruzer]

---I asked him to turn on t.he lights in the suite-he indicted the light switches. They did not work. ---

 

Most of your complaints sound valid and I'd have taken them up the ladder and made sure they were taken care of - especially anything broken or unclean in the cabin.

 

But did you seriously call the butler over to turn on your lights for you?

[Sloop-JohnB]

Sloop-JohnB, how insulting you are. yes, I said please. I began our relationship by tipping $100.00, which I thought was more than fair. I asked very nicely for everything. Some things I should not have to ask for, like things being in working order in the suite. i could not believe when the first, simple thing I requested was the lights to be turned on. Then I asked if he would make the reservation in the SS United States. He indicated the telephone I should use. It went downhill from there. By the time he refused to unpack the luggage, which is advertised as one of his duties, I told him how disappointed I was with him, and HIS attitude. I then showed him the dirt, DIRT, built up in the outside hot tube, asking had he inspected this room prior to occupancy. He said yes and accused me of planting the dirt. It was black, and all over the bottom and side. At this point I told him to leave and requested a meeting with his supervisor. She validated my concerns and complaints and assigned me a new butler, who was better, but you had to ask for every single thing you wanted. nothing was done for you or anticipated. Butler service on Celebrity cannot begin to compare with concierge service on Holland, or simple cabin service on Carnival.

 

Gee, I thought as I said clearly... I was asking the "obvious" Question. Wanting to know more about the relationship you had / established with the Butler.

 

By all accounts your experience isn't the norm that I read about here on Cruise Critic when it comes to Celebrity Butler Service... or even service in general on this cruiseline.

 

Thanks for the reply... it tells me a lot more about the situation you encountered than your Original Post.

 

Cheers!

[High Seas Texan]

Sloop-JohnB;

In addition to the lame response from the Butler (Peter), his appearance was not professional at all. His hands were heavily tatooed. Okay, so this man made choices at some point in his life that do not go with the profession. Gloves should worn as a butle with these tatooed hands. In Texas, this look indicate a gang member. He did not point out any of the workings of the suite. It was days into the voyage before I discovered there was a CD player and DVD. Not that it mattered, because these did not work properly either. The new butler, (Santoso) did not know how to work them, nor did engineering. I found out late into the voyage I was to be included in special gatherings at Michaels Club, and the butler was to let me know about this. DUH, no such thing. Nothing was up to the hype or expectations. I paid a handsome sum for the cruise, the suite and the service. I received no service, a suite that had many physical plant problems, and an crew that really did not want to be bothered by any complaints. A simple apology would have gone a long way to soothe things. Basic customer service acknowledges this. I worked many years as a hotel concierge, and I know a thing or tow about the service, hospitality industry. Celebrity, in my experience, did not live up to the most basic level, yet alone stellar service as advertised.

[skiman1]

So what was the OP's original question? Seems to have been hijacked somewhere along the way.

 

I too will have a Butler for the first time aboard the Century to Hawaii and I too was interested in what I can expect from the butler.

 

Seems to me too many of the posters on here do nothing but complain and use this venue to do just that. Lets stick to the OP's question. Thanks.:D

[Lsimon]

We were in a Sky Suite once and our butler made our trip special in many ways.

 

Room service breakfast was the best we've had on any cruise. It was always hot and fresh and served on a well set table. If you need any room service or related special request the butler will handle them promptly and usually with flair.

 

Any personal services that one would normally get from the cabin steward, like glasses for wine, chilling some champagne, or taking items to/from the laundry were done by the butler. The butler was much more attentive to these chores and was wonderful to talk to about anything we needed. The cabin stewards are usually pretty good too but they are so busy with their cleaning duties they often are not nearly as attentive.

 

The butler will bring a tea cart around every afternoon to see if you'd like tea or coffee. The cart has a nice selection of tea sandwiches and sweets. If you'd like him to bring something not normally on his cart just let him know and he'll do it.

 

We had a party on our veranda (our was larger than average) one evening and he did a great job of setting up for over a dozen people. Glasses, mixers, ice and he brought a lot of snacks we hadn't even requested.

 

He was always checking to see if we needed anything from him and he'd take clues and bring us things, mostly food items, that he thought we'd like. He was very courteous and shared his knowledge and suggestions about things to do on the ship and in port.

 

These are the main things that I recall.

[skiman1]

LSIMON, thanks for that post, some good info there.:o

[uktog]

We have had Peter as a butler and he was extremely good so I have no idea what happened to create the issues reported above. Several of the butlers have small tattoos on their hands, I have never given it a second thought, does not worry me at all.

 

Invitations to events are not passed on by word of mouth through the butler, they are delivered by "internal post" - the delivery of mail is not done by your butler but by a team of people including the butlers and cabin stewards so I would not assume Peter was in the wrong here.

 

I am not defending Peter, we have cruised many times with Celebrity and Azamara, always in suites and even the butler we would rate as the weakest was light years ahead of what you described here

[bellybutton530]

I have NEVER had a Celebrity butler like that either, and I have sailed exclusively in suites on Celebrity since 2003.

 

ALL of my butlers have been outstanding....

[Muushka]

Expect nothing form them. I sailed in a penthouse suite on the Infinity in may, and the much touted "butler" did nothing. I had read that they would unpack and pack for you. NO. I read he could get you at the Captains Tablr. NO. I asked him to make a dinner reservation (simple enough) in the specialty restaurant. he indicated the telephone for me to call. I asked him to turn on the lights in the suite-he indicted the light switches. They did not work. I asked him remove a broken floor lamp since it did not work, and was not going to work-he just walked away. I was livid. There were many things not working in the suite, and he did nothing to see they were fixed. The butler service is the most over rated service I have ever seen. Celebrity should be ashamed of even advertising this. hope you enjoy it more than I did.

 

To stop an untrue rumor, don't count on your butler to get you a seat at the Captain's table.

[inforem]

Just a quick question about the butlers. How many rooms are the butlers responsibile for? Maybe Peter was overworked on this ship?

[SingingMom1]

We have had Peter as a butler and he was extremely good so I have no idea what happened to create the issues reported above. Several of the butlers have small tattoos on their hands, I have never given it a second thought, does not worry me at all.

 

Invitations to events are not passed on by word of mouth through the butler, they are delivered by "internal post" - the delivery of mail is not done by your butler but by a team of people including the butlers and cabin stewards so I would not assume Peter was in the wrong here.

 

I am not defending Peter, we have cruised many times with Celebrity and Azamara, always in suites and even the butler we would rate as the weakest was light years ahead of what you described here

 

I must admit, our butler was less than "stellar", but it was ok and he warmed up and was more approachable as the week went on. Not nearly as good as the great ones I read about prior to our cruise (so had some "expectations) and better than some of the not so good ones I've read about.

 

Our "mail" was sometimes delivered by the butler - he let me know that he left invitations, etc, on the dining table for us. Other times, it was in the "mailslot" on the door.

[BonnieVA]

Just a quick question about the butlers. How many rooms are the butlers responsibile for? Maybe Peter was overworked on this ship?

 

About 10-13, except when they are on call during the afternoon. Then they're responsible for 34 or so during those hours when the other butlers are on break. Of course the #s vary by ship & location of suites.

[bellybutton530]

Bear in mind that the butler is usually not in cabins changing sheets and cleaning toilets. The cabin attendant and his/her assistant do that.

 

Sometimes they are really busy, as in the case of the PH nextdoor to me in Nov. The newlyweds hardly ever left the cabin; they had ALL of their meals served to them in the suite. Yes, that butler had a very busy cruise.... especially if he was on call. But he always had a big smile on his face as I passed him in the corridor....

[Gonzo70]

 

But did you seriously call the butler over to turn on your lights for you?

 

lol, that one jumped out at me too. :)

 

I hate to think what else she may have asked the butler for. :eek: