how much should I tip the butler and concierge?

[Mrbluray]

Hello!

 

I'm getting married this summer and have booked the Breakaway to Bermuda for our wedding. This is the first time we've booked the Haven. As I understand, the haven comes with a butler and concierge which don't get tipped as part of the mandatory service charge fee.

 

How much do people usually tip the butler and concierge?

[triptolemus]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=butler+concierge+tipping+NCL+site%3Aboards.cruisecritic.com

[roger001]

This is such an opinionated topic with so many thoughts about tipping them, this would be a good one to do a search on. You will get a huge number of threads. And....you will find that there is no correct answer.

[Love my butler]

Hello!

 

I'm getting married this summer and have booked the Breakaway to Bermuda for our wedding. This is the first time we've booked the Haven. As I understand, the haven comes with a butler and concierge which don't get tipped as part of the mandatory service charge fee.

 

How much do people usually tip the butler and concierge?

 

If you tip the butler from $50-$150 for the week and the concierge $25-$50, you will be well within the norm. Tip depending on your usage of their services.

[lovetrauma]

I tipped my Butler $200 on my 7day Cruise aboard the Breakaway last June. My Concierege I didn't tip at all. I had asked him a few times to try and get me reservations for Dinner. Two of them even with three day notices. He told me they were all booked and he couldn't help. I did it in my own without any issue. I did bring it to his and the Hotel Manger attention. So for me he did nothing so I determined he didn't deserve anything.

[garycarla]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=butler+concierge+tipping+NCL+site%3Aboards.cruisecritic.com

 

that link or even just searching on "butler" will get many many suggestions, tips and stories about the whole butler thing

[dexddd]

I tipped my Butler $200 on my 7day Cruise aboard the Breakaway last June. My Concierege I didn't tip at all. I had asked him a few times to try and get me reservations for Dinner. Two of them even with three day notices. He told me they were all booked and he couldn't help. I did it in my own without any issue. I did bring it to his and the Hotel Manger attention. So for me he did nothing so I determined he didn't deserve anything.

 

We had that happen when we sailed the Dawn. Think that was our only request during the whole trip and told no by one of the favorite lady concierges by people here on CC. Asked the hostess at Cagneys that day after lunch and she got what we wanted. The restaurants weren't even close to full when we ate so concierge just blew us off.

[LoveyHowell]

We had that happen when we sailed the Dawn. Think that was our only request during the whole trip and told no by one of the favorite lady concierges by people here on CC. Asked the hostess at Cagneys that day after lunch and she got what we wanted. The restaurants weren't even close to full when we ate so concierge just blew us off.

 

In our experiences the concierge inserts themselves as a middle person; they don't do anything a guest can't do on their own. Often times they just introduce more steps / hurdles to have the appearance of doing work. I can call a restaurant direct, book a time, and confirm in one call. Or I can call the concierge, relay what I want, then wait to have another interaction with the concierge to confirm what we want.

 

I've had truly gracious and welcoming concierges that provided friendly and prompt service, that was worth a gratuity, but generally I believe they don't do anything a guest can't do on their own.

[lfk60]

We're just off the Getaway and stayed in the Haven. While it is true that you can book just about everything on your own, it was lovely to just sit with Adrian, a really great concierge, at 9am after breakfast, and have him make any reservation we wanted.

 

He also took care of our future cruise deposit, which saved us a trip.

 

We loved the fact that he escorted us right off the ship at each port, via the service elevators, which really gave us maximum time at each stop. He did the same at disembarkation, major plus!!

 

We really didn't use the butler, Flor, but truly appreciated the snacks she dropped off each day! :)

 

We tipped $100 to Adrian and $50 to Flor, but as noted, it is very subjective!

 

Enjoy the Haven, it is wonderful!

[Love my butler]

In our experiences the concierge inserts themselves as a middle person; they don't do anything a guest can't do on their own. Often times they just introduce more steps / hurdles to have the appearance of doing work. I can call a restaurant direct, book a time, and confirm in one call. Or I can call the concierge, relay what I want, then wait to have another interaction with the concierge to confirm what we want.

 

I've had truly gracious and welcoming concierges that provided friendly and prompt service, that was worth a gratuity, but generally I believe they don't do anything a guest can't do on their own.

 

Somewhat correct regarding reservations. Concierge does much more than simply make reservations. Basically the concierge will get a VIP guest to the front of every line. You cannot do that by yourself.

[NYteacher]

I think the concierge can sometimes get a "yes" when the guest calling on their own might get. "No".

 

We've gotten last minute reservations at otherwise packed restaurants. One time, when dining at Le Bistro for Christmas Eve, it was super packed. We were surprised when we saw them adding a table. Then we understood when we saw the concierge escorting a party to the table.