Did we set our expectations too high for our first taste of the suite life?

[zzzdoc]

glad I found this thread, we will also be first time Haven guests on the Getaway in two weeks.. have not heard one word on what is entailed with that...of course, i guess I haven't asked either..

[maun]

 

Hello,

 

What is the standard gratuity for a butler and concierge?

 

Thanks for your replies.

 

~~Maun

[isdoo]

glad I found this thread, we will also be first time Haven guests on the Getaway in two weeks.. have not heard one word on what is entailed with that...of course, i guess I haven't asked either..

 

Your best reference is always NCL's website :)

[bguppies]

 

Hello,

 

What is the standard gratuity for a butler and concierge?

 

Thanks for your replies.

 

~~Maun

 

You need an entirely separate thread for that question.

 

There is no standard, which is why, that one little question, blows up every thread it is in.

 

These three threads devolved into pages of arguing back and forth about tipping.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1997490&highlight=tipping+butler

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1382990&highlight=tipping+butler

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1400277&highlight=tipping+butler

 

Hopefully they can help answer the question for you...

Edited March 21, 2014 by bguppies

[Fishbait17]

 

Hello,

 

What is the standard gratuity for a butler and concierge?

 

Thanks for your replies.

 

~~Maun

 

There is no "standard", it's completely discretionary. I don't mind being candid with my tip amounts. My "standard" $10 per person per day for a good butler for basic services and a few breakfasts delivered, upwards from there, and a starting point of $10 per cabin per day for the concierge (but the concierge tip can vary wildly, depending on several factors). On the 9-day Gem sailing that just ended (two people in Deluxe Owner's suite plus daughter who visited us often), we tipped $270 total for the butler (he was sweet and tried hard but not the greatest), $200 for the concierge (who was wonderful), $150 for the steward (fantastic!), and roughly $220 in other tips spread throughout the ship (casino staff, waiters, etc).

 

Others leave various different amounts. You should leave whatever you are comfortable with.

 

The most recent thread on the subject: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1993994&highlight=butler+tips

Robin

Edited March 21, 2014 by Fishbait17

[johnsak123]

What were your expectations that you were so disappointed by something I thought was trivial

If you wanted someones attention you should have said excuse me and interrupted

Body language is subjective and maybe they didn't realize what you meant

I do understand the disembarkation debacle because there is usually a lot of suite guests and not enough ncl personnel to direct them but things happen

I am just not getting what you expected compared to what you got being so wrong

[ronandannette]

I blame disappointment on Cruise Critic. It happens all the time here. People will ask "what will the butler do for me?" And people chime in. One might get a personal escort, the next might get nightly pretzel rolls, the next might say "he filled my bathtub every night", he brought lobster tails, he served dinner course-by-course, he offered to unpack for me. People look at all of these experiences as a whole, and not as individual items, and expect it ALL, EVERY TIME. It just can't happen that way - it's physically impossible for a butler to be everywhere at once. Expectations are just set way too high.

 

 

Robin

 

You are SO right, and for anybody who doesn't think so, please click the link below and read Post #6 on another thread on this board happening right now. The poster has just stated that if a suite passenger demonstrates a love for bacon, it will be recorded in their permanent file and the next cruise they take they can be assurred unlimited bacon will be waiting without them having to ask. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! :rolleyes:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42121675#post42121675

 

As for the OP on this thread, I think the nature of his disappointment is not the service they actually got but that they seemed to expect to be automatically RECOGNIZED as suite passengers and proactively accomodated from the minute they stepped onto the pier. It does sound like the things they felt were lacking would have been easily rectified if they had directed any enquiries to the staff. Specific examples? They expected the steward in the elevator they boarded upon embarkation to somehow magically know they were headed to Cagneys. They also missed being ushered off the ship with their group because they "sat near the check-in table" quietly expecting someone to notice them and check them in.

Edited March 21, 2014 by ronandannette

[AF-1]

I was asked what we liked and didn't like about the aft penthouse suite. Our first was 2008 on the Jade and second was 2010 on the Gem. What we liked: large cabin with tub, dining table and huge balcony overlooking wake. We liked the curtain around the bed so one person could be sleeping. We liked the special parties for suite guests, separate embarkation waiting area, priority tendering.

What we didn't like: Small love seat instead of couch.

 

Hi, I asked the question. I have an aft penthouse on Jade for next year. Thanks for the info.

[AF-1]

So if you book a suite; can you just show up to the cruise terminal, check in, get your gold card, and go onto the ship without being escorted? I can find my room and find Cagneys for lunch. I assume when I show up at Cagneys and show them my suite card, I can eat lunch there? Thanks

[Medtech2]

There seems to be a large discussion on the higher level suites and the Aft Balconies. My question, does anyone have a review of the experience in the Spa Haven Suite in regards to the concierge and butlers?

 

We are doing our first NCL cruise in April but chose the Haven Spa because of the access to the Haven and the Spa. Based on this, I feel we are making a mistake and our cruise won't be as special as other high end suites we have done on other lines.

 

Thoughts?

I am very much looking forward to YOUR review!! We sail in October...

[mizLORInj]

So if you book a suite; can you just show up to the cruise terminal, check in, get your gold card, and go onto the ship without being escorted? I can find my room and find Cagneys for lunch. I assume when I show up at Cagneys and show them my suite card, I can eat lunch there? Thanks

 

At the terminal after checking in, you'll be in a room with other suite pax and get escorted on as a group before other pax. Yes, you can go your own way once on the ship.

As a suite guest, when you show up at Cagney's for breakfast or lunch, show them your cruise card (whatever color, it varies) and they'll look you up first, then seat you.

Edited March 21, 2014 by mizlorinj

[chrisc71]

We also had less than a stellar experience with Patrick on the Star. Spoke to him once about getting reservations for a specialty and was told sorry it is full and nothing he can do. Last time we spoke to him the whole week.

[philip_eunice1]

Ack! We are in one of Dawn's GVs in June- does anyone know if Patrick will still be concierge then? We had such an amazing experience in Gem's GV with Florentina (who has since left NCL) as concierge last year- she came to our room to check in with us at least once a day. I sort of wanted to be real life friends with her by the end- doesn't sound like we would have a similar experience with Patrick.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

We found Patrick to be amazing when we were on the Dawn in February

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[hominid]

We had Patrick on the Star in 2012 and had a completely different experience. He was quite attentive and funny, I thought. We were routed to the waiting room and were escorted right onto the ship into Cagney's. We never really sought him out, but I thought he was like a genie because the few times I did need him, he would magically appear just around the corner; like he knew.

 

We decided that we would just walk off with the first run of people rather than wait for the suite disembarkation. We didn't want to bother anyone. But as soon as we hit the deck to disembark, there was Patrick. He politely grabbed some of our bags and walked us right off, even though we hadn't told him we were leaving early.

Now we were also in a Family Suite (SJ) which is on deck 12 of the Star. There are only suites on deck 12, so I don't know if that has something to do with the service people in penthouses received. Not that it should.

[OurDogCisco]

This will be our first suite on NCL. We have done a suite on DCL twice. Based on the description of NCL's website I was expecting it to be better than DCL just for the fact that we are assigned a butler and concierge team. But from reading these posts it sounds like it can vary from ship to ship and that I should not have high expectations. I'm kind of taken aback about that because I'm not sure our room is actually bigger as we booked a forward room. We are in non-haven suite. I just priced the a regular balcony room for our same cruise and it is $3k cheaper. I'm not a demanding person similar to the OP so, if someone doesn't give service I'm not one to throw a tantrum like a 3 year old. I'm just not bothered by things like that. But I'd be disappointed with the OPs service. I'll save judgment for when we go on our cruise in June but I'm not happy with some of the responses. However, I'd have no problem tipping less or not tipping at all and expressing my frustrations in a satisfaction survey.

[funat55]

There seems to be a large discussion on the higher level suites and the Aft Balconies. My question, does anyone have a review of the experience in the Spa Haven Suite in regards to the concierge and butlers?

 

We are doing our first NCL cruise in April but chose the Haven Spa because of the access to the Haven and the Spa. Based on this, I feel we are making a mistake and our cruise won't be as special as other high end suites we have done on other lines.

 

Thoughts?

 

We have a Haven Spa cabin next month on the Getaway and I was wondering the exact same thing. Don't want to get treated like the red-headed step child on our first suite experience.

[Fishbait17]

We have a Haven Spa cabin next month on the Getaway and I was wondering the exact same thing. Don't want to get treated like the red-headed step child on our first suite experience.

 

The Breakaway and Getaway are very different than other ships, in that they really don't have a huge difference is suites. All suites are Haven suites and there are no Garden Villas, so the difference should be minimal. All suites basically share the same personnel and very much the same treatment, with escorted or reserved seating for all suite guests, etc. We have sailed in both the two-bedroom villa and the aft suite on the Breakaway and saw absolutely no difference from embarkation until disembarkation. Be friendly with the concierge, ask the butler for exactly what you want, and you should have a wonderful time!

 

Robin

[funat55]

The Breakaway and Getaway are very different than other ships, in that they really don't have a huge difference is suites. All suites are Haven suites and there are no Garden Villas, so the difference should be minimal. All suites basically share the same personnel and very much the same treatment, with escorted or reserved seating for all suite guests, etc. We have sailed in both the two-bedroom villa and the aft suite on the Breakaway and saw absolutely no difference from embarkation until disembarkation. Be friendly with the concierge, ask the butler for exactly what you want, and you should have a wonderful time!

 

Robin

 

Thanks for such a quick reply. You answered my question and it makes sense especially when you consider that suites can be found on several decks besides deck 16 where the actual Haven is located.

[mianmike]

What were your expectations that you were so disappointed by something I thought was trivial

If you wanted someones attention you should have said excuse me and interrupted

Body language is subjective and maybe they didn't realize what you meant

I do understand the disembarkation debacle because there is usually a lot of suite guests and not enough ncl personnel to direct them but things happen

I am just not getting what you expected compared to what you got being so wrong

 

First, you are mistaken in characterizing my sentiment as "so disappointed" in the lack of organization. We had a great cruise; we weren't “so disappointed.” We were “somewhat disappointed” with a few things but nothing that tarnished the cruise for us.

 

As I stated, we had a magnificent cruise. The purpose of my post was to hear other people's suite experiences with embarkation and disembarkation and see if our expectations were too high or if our experience was just an anomaly rarely repeated. Given what I read on cc and NCL's website I had the belief we would be escorted to our suite and given a rundown of its amenities. I also anticipated embarkation and disembarkation to be smoother for suite guests than what we had previously experienced as non-suite guests. The inefficiency was not the crime of the century for us and we didn't let it dampen our cruise one iota. But now I know, on future cruises, depending on the concierge an escort to your suite may or may not occur. In the future as suite guests we won't expect any special treatment and that's okay, we now know what to expect. Although it’s been good to read in this thread others had similar experiences as us and there will be much better suite experiences ahead.

 

I do regard NCL claiming one of the suite perks is an escort to your suite and then failing to do so is something akin to a restaurant saying they include pickles and lettuce on their hamburgers but in practice only include pickles when they are not busy. The restaurant’s cheerleaders would argue that the lack of pickles is trivial and it's unreasonable for anyone to expect pickles on their burger when restaurant is busy and after all, the pickle is only a minuscule part of a hamburger. But if the restaurant states they put pickles and lettuce on their hamburgers most reasonable people would assume there would be a pickle on their burger. I’m old-fashioned; I believe NCL should not list suite perks that it only intends to fulfill when all the stars are aligned. I understand there are those who think NCL is exempt from keeping its promises.

 

As for the two talking NCL employees who clearly saw me and ignored me . . . you weren't there, I could see they knew I was waiting for their conversation to reach a pause. It was comical when they ran over to hear what I was saying to Patrick as they knew they goofed and should not have ignored a customer.

 

I was raised to be polite and treat others as you wish to be treated. I don’t interrupt people unless it’s urgent. I don’t consider NCL employees as less than worthy of my respect.

[mianmike]

As for the OP on this thread, I think the nature of his disappointment is not the service they actually got but that they seemed to expect to be automatically RECOGNIZED as suite passengers and proactively accomodated from the minute they stepped onto the pier. It does sound like the things they felt were lacking would have been easily rectified if they had directed any enquiries to the staff. Specific examples? They expected the steward in the elevator they boarded upon embarkation to somehow magically know they were headed to Cagneys. They also missed being ushered off the ship with their group because they "sat near the check-in table" quietly expecting someone to notice them and check them in.

 

Given how your post was a complete mischaracterization of my post it appears (correct me if I'm wrong) you are trying to make me look petty and completely unreasonable . . . a person who expects employees to magically read minds. I don't know quite how to respond in a deferential way, so I’ll at least try not to be sarcastic.

 

Obviously I don't expect employees to read my mind or expect employees to be clairvoyant and recognize we are suite passengers and cater to our every need. I assume your reading comprehension is such you already knew the intent of my post and maybe your true motivation was to discredit the messenger.

 

The truth is we were under the impression from our concierge we were all heading for Cagneys, so we were surprised when entering the elevator the butler asked where we were going. We do not fault him for our confusion. In hindsight, it’s most likely the group in the elevator was a group of suite guests who were being escorted to their Suite and the butler was wondering where we were going and making sure we didn’t follow.

 

As for quietly sitting next to the check-in table. Guilty as charged. We are not pushy demanding people. We know NCL employees are extremely busy on disembarkation day, so we were patiently waiting to be checked in. After most everyone left, we decided something was amiss. In the future we know just to walk off with the masses.

 

Again, we had a great cruise and we did not let the glitches hinder us in any way.

[rvsullivan]

I think there is a major misunderstanding about the boarding phase of this discussion. I know what the NCL website says, and there have been a couple of times when the suites were ready before we boarded and we were taken there first to drop things off and then taken to Cagney's. But in the normal course of things now, with folks wanting to board immediately, the suites are not ready. Instead of the suites escort, you get a Cagney's escort.

If you were to ask for help after lunch at Cagney's for an escort to your suite, I think it would be fulfilled. The other option would be to hold all suite guests until the suites were available and take them there first. Quite a traffic jam though.

I guess the suite amenity list could be changed to say escorted to Cagney's instead, but then if someone were taken to their suite, would complain about that???

[isdoo]

I think all that needs to happen is for the escort to say that the suite is not yet ready, but they will return when they are and escort you. At that point you can decline the escort to the suite if required.

[DrNora]

As for quietly sitting next to the check-in table. Guilty as charged. We are not pushy demanding people. We know NCL employees are extremely busy on disembarkation day, so we were patiently waiting to be checked in. After most everyone left, we decided something was amiss. In the future we know just to walk off with the masses.

 

Again, we had a great cruise and we did not let the glitches hinder us in any way.

 

We would love to cruise with more people who are not pushy and demanding....

Thanks for your thread starter.... Some very interesting comments have been made and all I can think is " wow!"

Have a great day, mianmike!,,,

[ksimpso3]

We would love to cruise with more people who are not pushy and demanding....

Thanks for your thread starter.... Some very interesting comments have been made and all I can think is " wow!"

Have a great day, mianmike!,,,

 

I agree with you. There is no need to be "pushy and demanding" just because you are in a suite. I would not have interrupted the talking employees either...that is rude !! I do agree with OP that the suite experience he had was not quite what was "promised" on NCLs website. If my experience coming up in May on the getaway is similar to my experience on the POA, I will seriously consider getting a suite in the future (unless we can swing the Garden Villa again!!! That space was amazing and I wouldn't care if we never saw concierge or butler there because it was just so relaxing hanging out on the patios all day ;)!)

 

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Forums mobile app

Edited March 22, 2014 by ksimpso3

[lanceholt]

We have sailed in NCL suites a number of times and in my opinion being a suite guest is a learning curve in some ways. First, we have always been taken in a group of suite guests to Cagney's from the terminal, although we take care not to arrive at the terminal too early, knowing that suite or not, they won't be ready. Re disembarking, by the end of the cruise you should have some kind of relationship with the concierge and can ask him/her directly how will it be handled, what are the times etc.

 

We are low maintenance suite people, don't wait for hand and foot treatment but do want certain things and get them. Now your butler and concierge are not mind readers, nor do they retain a list of what you special people want from cruise to cruise, so you have to let them know.

 

The concierge is really a facilitator for you, and it takes a bit to learn how much they can do for you but you do have to ask if something is possible. Learn to always place requests through them and you will be a leg up on everything. As for the butler, we have had excellent ones except for the last 7 days of our first b2b Med cruise. We should have complained to the concierge and/or the hotel director but we did not, now we know better. The guy didn't get a tip from us but we erred in not letting people know.

 

We get to know some of the officers, using the Platinum and suite parties, etc. Plus my husband spent a career in the hospitality field and enjoys getting to know them. On the last cruise....Dawn repo....we had a great time with the Executive Sous Chef and the Executive Chef as a result.

 

As with life, there are things you don't like and things you love about every trip, but imho paying the extra for the suite results in a relaxing more stress free trip. BTW, you don't have to be pushy or demanding, but I would have said to the 2 employees, "excuse me, I am here to disembark". Remember they are from other cultures and reading body language is different in every country.