Butler service in suite

[chemmo]

I do think removing the afternoon tea service to the room was a real mistake. Like others I don't want to go to Michael's Club at this time - I want a refreshing brew in my room prior to freshening up for pre dinner stroll and drinks....

 

However, the bigger issue to me is the lack of opportunity to 'touch base' with your butler. We have always found this time to be when we have checked on something or made simple requests. It has also been the time when our butler has offered or suggested a little something extra....I know I can still get 'a butler' to deliver me afternoon tea but that will not be the same as having 'our butler' perform the service.

 

For butlers now how do they touch base? If they ring you or knock they risk disturbing you. If they have been moved to alternative duties then how do they find time for that 5 minute conversation with each suite guest?

 

At least as seasoned suite cruisers we know the types of things we can request and are comfortable asking. New suite cruisers do run the risk of never seeing their butler and experiencing that extra bit of pampering he can provide.

 

If you are new to suite cruising I would suggest first day to actually meet with your butler, phone and ask him to come to your suite if he hasn't popped in to introduce himself and tell him what you would like regularly (morning coffee, afternoon tea, cheese plate or shrimp plate left for the evening....). I would also say don't worry about phoning him to sort out any issues like needing something laundered fast, to change a speciality booking, to arrange a few snacks for a port sailaway for you and a few friends....That is his role, if we don't use and value our butlers the whole service could slowly disappear....big concern.

[Olive1950]

As I'm preparing for a cruise I make a list of things I might want or need: certain pillows, cappuccino in the morning, champagne ice bucket, extra blanket, etc.

 

Then, before leaving home, I create a word document that I give him once I embark.

 

I always see my butlers in the corridors; we talk several times a day.

 

They cannot read your mind. Tell them what you need or want....

[watchdiva]

Our fantastic butler Vishnu served us Elegant Chic night dinner in our suite.

 

 

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[Happy Cruiser 6143]

My experience has been that the butler brings the order from room service. Dinner is served course by course.

If you are not happy with your butler, ask to talk to the head butler. Celebrity can't fix things it doesn't know about. I guess I've been blessed. Have always had wonderful butlers.

[dgparent]

My experience has been that the butler brings the order from room service. Dinner is served course by course.

If you are not happy with your butler, ask to talk to the head butler. Celebrity can't fix things it doesn't know about. I guess I've been blessed. Have always had wonderful butlers.

 

Our butler on the Connie PH Suite actually got a little mad at me for just using room service and not calling him directly. I did not want to bother the guy it was probably 10 PM when I ordered. We told him when we boarded that we were low maintenance and would not really need anything, we only asked for some food for sail away as we had another couple joining us. I always like to eat something before bed especially if I have been drinking, so after he got mad at us I asked, sometime the next afternoon, for him to deliver 2 of those steak salads from Blu and just stick them in the fridge and we would heat up the steak in the microwave when we were ready to eat . Sure enough when we stumbled back from the casino that night they were there waiting for us :)

 

I think he was sort of relieved because the other PH had him on the run constantly. My wife had a Spa appt. one day and when she showed up they had cancelled it and given her time to someone else. She asked why and they said that she had made too many appts. and just not shown up for them. She was sort of flabbergasted because she had not made any appts. so she asked to see when these were made and she noticed it was for the other PH not ours, she showed them their mistake and they got her in. He came by later and apologized profusely, like it was his fault, he said something to the effect that he was being kept very busy with that other couple.

[CruisersTimesThree]

Our butler on the Connie PH Suite actually got a little mad at me for just using room service and not calling him directly. I did not want to bother the guy it was probably 10 PM when I ordered. We told him when we boarded that we were low maintenance and would not really need anything, we only asked for some food for sail away as we had another couple joining us. I always like to eat something before bed especially if I have been drinking, so after he got mad at us I asked, sometime the next afternoon, for him to deliver 2 of those steak salads from Blu and just stick them in the fridge and we would heat up the steak in the microwave when we were ready to eat . Sure enough when we stumbled back from the casino that night they were there waiting for us :)

 

I think he was sort of relieved because the other PH had him on the run constantly. My wife had a Spa appt. one day and when she showed up they had cancelled it and given her time to someone else. She asked why and they said that she had made too many appts. and just not shown up for them. She was sort of flabbergasted because she had not made any appts. so she asked to see when these were made and she noticed it was for the other PH not ours, she showed them their mistake and they got her in. He came by later and apologized profusely, like it was his fault, he said something to the effect that he was being kept very busy with that other couple.

 

That's odd that the same butler would service both PH suites. In my experience each suite had different butlers.

As a matter of fact, on our Summit cruise last August the butler that was suppose to take care of my suite 6147 was requested by the guests in 6148 because he took care of them a month prior.

Chip didn't take care of both of us, we were assigned another butler, Judas, who was wonderful btw.

[Olive1950]

That's odd that the same butler would service both PH suites. In my experience each suite had different butlers.

As a matter of fact, on our Summit cruise last August the butler that was suppose to take care of my suite 6147 was requested by the guests in 6148 because he took care of them a month prior.

Chip didn't take care of both of us, we were assigned another butler, Judas, who was wonderful btw.

 

Yes, that's correct.

 

I've had Judas before; and agree that he was awesome....

[dkjretired]

Never been in a suite. What can I expect? :D

 

Everyone on this thread has given you good advice. Another point you may find is that your are not a "Butler person". I've had butler's on sea and land and could really care less. Not a knock on anyone just my own personal feelings because I'm a simple person. Enjoy your cruise.

[ICANTWAITTOCRUISE]

Our butler was so "nice" that it would have been hard for us to complain about him. However, he wasn't very good at the few requests we had. The first day, when he introduced himself, he told us his phone number and to call him "anytime". We tried several times and we were always told he was "on break". We then stopped because we sort of felt we were bothering the person who was answering the phone. We did see him a couple times for afternoon snacks. The theatre night, we weren't told (and didn't ask) about the special seating and when we tried to find it we couldn't. We then realized that it had to be arranged ahead of time with him. We did insuite dining one night and felt like it wasn't worth it because while we asked for a few special things, he said it had to be only straight off the menu. (example: a soup from Luminae that we had seen). Though, maybe in room doesn't include Luminae? He said it didn't.

Like several of you, he did come around the last night and morning.

He was an older gentleman and said he was "Retiring" after our sailing.

We loved the Michaels part of a suite as well as Luminae and therefore chose it again.

[bluecruisin]

Our butler took my DH's dress and boat/deck shoes out of his closet and polished them.

[Olive1950]

HA!

 

In October, we sent out 2 bags of laundry, from the PH.

 

The butler picked it up.

 

He didn't tell us when it came back; I found it....

 

Every single piece had been pressed!

Every single piece was on its' own hanger! Underwear, my ratty pajamas I love to bring; socks too!!

It took almost an hour to get everything off those hangers.... I have never laughed so hard....

 

 

That was Singh, the Head Butler on Infinity. He was sooooii wonderful, as wvidenced by his hard work getting the 59th anniversary vow renewal ceremony and reception I hosted for close friends.

 

It was initially set up on the veranda; but rain forced everything insude. Furniture was rearranged in less than an hour; and the reception table was relocated to the foyer. After the receotion, the cabin was returned to its' original state in kess than an hour!!!

 

I hope I tipped him well....

[guy999]

HA!

 

In October, we sent out 2 bags of laundry, from the PH.

 

The butler picked it up.

 

He didn't tell us when it came back; I found it....

 

Every single piece had been pressed!

Every single piece was on its' own hanger! Underwear, my ratty pajamas I love to bring; socks too!!

It took almost an hour to get everything off those hangers.... I have never laughed so hard....

 

 

That was Singh, the Head Butler on Infinity. He was sooooii wonderful, as wvidenced by his hard work getting the 59th anniversary vow renewal ceremony and reception I hosted for close friends.

 

It was initially set up on the veranda; but rain forced everything insude. Furniture was rearranged in less than an hour; and the reception table was relocated to the foyer. After the receotion, the cabin was returned to its' original state in kess than an hour!!!

 

I hope I tipped him well....

 

 

I also sent out two bags, one I sent via the butler, took 4 days to get back.. That bag number one..

 

When my wife saw me sendning out a bag she decided to do so as well and someone from the laundry came up she gave him a two dollar tip, this was 10pm, she had all of her laundry back at breakfast, mine still took 3 more days to arrive.

 

I'm really hoping that my guys is like what you guys got.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I also sent out two bags, one I sent via the butler, took 4 days to get back.. That bag number one..

 

When my wife saw me sendning out a bag she decided to do so as well and someone from the laundry came up she gave him a two dollar tip, this was 10pm, she had all of her laundry back at breakfast, mine still took 3 more days to arrive.

 

I'm really hoping that my guys is like what you guys got.

 

If your laundry does not come back for 4 days, your butler is not doing his/her job. Time to have a conversation with the head butler.

[wrk2cruise]

If your laundry does not come back for 4 days, your butler is not doing his/her job. Time to have a conversation with the head butler.

 

There is a head butler but now all the butlers are under the MC Concierge so a conversation with the MCC might go a long way to getting a resolution without having to track down the head butler. On our last Equinox cruise we would be in Michaels Club late in the morning and the MCC was having a butlers meeting around her desk almost daily.

[jagoffee]

There is a head butler but now all the butlers are under the MC Concierge so a conversation with the MCC might go a long way to getting a resolution without having to track down the head butler. On our last Equinox cruise we would be in Michaels Club late in the morning and the MCC was having a butlers meeting around her desk almost daily.

 

From my experience you are correct. The MCC is in charge of the Butler.

 

The Butler has always been the person serving our in cabin breakfast. I do agree that the Butler service quality varies, but we are very low maintenance. We have never been dissatisfied.

[Straughn]

We also consider ourselves low maintenance but that is subjective. On our last cruise, our butler really wanted to do things for us. He kept asking if we needed anything and really wanted to please. The SO finally put out his dress shoes to be shined. The butler shined those shoes, returned them and took another, MUCH older, pair of loafers out of the closet. When they came back, the SO wasn't sure they were his shoes because they looked so good.

 

Tea was still being served en suite. I love the oatmeal raisin cookies. One day, he did not have any, so, I chose to save a few calories and skip the afternoon cookie. When we returned to the cabin that evening, there were two oatmeal raisin cookies and two chocolate chip cookies (SO's favorite) on a plate covered with plastic wrap. From that day forward, I had oatmeal raisin cookies every day at teatime.

 

The point to these two examples is that butlers want you to utilize their services. Serving meals is the one thing most Suite passengers know to use, but there are a lot of small things the butlers want to do for you.

[Westyone]

"The point to these two examples is that butlers want you to utilize their services. Serving meals is the one thing most Suite passengers know to use, but there are a lot of small things the butlers want to do for you."

 

 

Thank you, Straughn. That is the whole point of having a butler. The small things the butler does for you seem almost too small to mention. Add them up and it makes for a wonderfully spoiled feeling.

 

 

Last cruise our daughter and family joined us. They were in a SS and didn't know what to do with the butler......and I also think the butler was inexperienced. A few days out she asked him for a needle and thread to sew on a button. He immediately came back with a sewing kit and she said he seemed so happy to do that little thing for her. As you note, they want you to utilize their services.

[NCHPcruiser]

We have been in two Sky Suites. Our first butler was fine, but we were fairly new to cruising and had few if any request. He did deliver our breakfast each morning with white table cloth service. Our second SS1 (last September) our butler was barely visible although our friends butler (also in a SS) had a fabulous butler. We were on the Reflection two weeks ago in a Royal Suite and had the type of Butler everyone dreams of having. Dominic was fabulous! We think it's just the luck of the draw. I would never book a RS again based at all on the great service we received on our last cruise.

[Ayton lady]

We have been in two Sky Suites. Our first butler was fine, but we were fairly new to cruising and had few if any request. He did deliver our breakfast each morning with white table cloth service. Our second SS1 (last September) our butler was barely visible although our friends butler (also in a SS) had a fabulous butler. We were on the Reflection two weeks ago in a Royal Suite and had the type of Butler everyone dreams of having. Dominic was fabulous! We think it's just the luck of the draw. I would never book a RS again based at all on the great service we received on our last cruise.

I agree. We have had 2 butlers in Sky Suites who were really great, 1 in a celebrity suite who was fine but the 1 for the Royal Suite last summer was invisible except for the last evening when he appeared several times. It didn't spoil our trip but we were disappointed especially as his name tag said head butler!!. eg: On day 4 we rang to ask if they had stopped afternoon tea as he hadn't been to offer it until then. He brought it with a film wrapped plate of sandwiches no trolley. No repeat of tea the next days!! It was before tea had moved to Michael's. It is just the luck if the draw. Most of them are really keen to please and good at their jobs. We still have high hopes for our Penthouse Suite this summer and it won't spoil the excitement.

[Three2GetReady]

Our fantastic butler Vishnu served us Elegant Chic night dinner in our suite.

 

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Hi,

We had Vishnu on a cruise last fall! He is fabulous!! In fact he remembered me on a cruise 2 months later when I was not in a suite (we ran into each other by the lift).

Regards!

[ErikNordic]

We stayed in a S2 suite last summer on Reflection and this was our first time with Celebrity and didn't really know what to expect. We was greeted by the butler every day when he brought our breakfast and he would always ask us if we needed anything else, however we didn't know what to ask for. We tried lot ask for shoeshine, pressing of garments before chic evening etc. that are included when you travel on a RCCL suite but we were told that this cost extra, in the end we used him for breakfast and gave up to ask for more. The afternoon service was small bites and didn't really do much so we always ended up stopping by Michaels Club for a drink and canapés before dinner. We are embarking a new cruise this summer and we know would like to try to ask for somethings on the first day to see if this is doable.

 

And don't get me wrong, we loved sailing with Celebrity and are looking forward to our next cruise :)

[tercar]

Here we go again! Anyone else have a sky suite with specialty dining included?

Could it be from your travel agent?

 

We have an S2 and our friends have an S1 and neither of us has been offered specialty dining for an upcoming cruise.

 

 

No speciality dining because suite passengers now have their own dining room. May I say we have just come back from a cruise and I so wish I could afford the suite life every time the food and service was superb. Also we enjoyed having a quiet drink in Michaels club too.

 

 

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[Blondebomb]

We booked a SS2 on the new Edge, for Feb 2019. While we have cruised many times we thought we would splurge for our 35 th Anniversary. My question is my husband had always taken a small hand steamer to use for his dress and Polo shirts(Holland has been the only line that kept it until we got off) Is this something you ask the butler about? Sending them to be press would be $$$ I would think. We are pretty low maintenance people so was curious about this. Thanks for any insight.

 

 

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[Yorkshire-Pudding]

my experience has been the same as yours. mine was very elusive. I have actually now been in a Royal Suite ...

So the point is, have some things you want, but if you don't get them don't be pissed off like me. I'm taking another cruise this summer in europe. I'm getting a butler again, if I get a good one great, hopefully i get one that the others have talked to, but I won't hold my breath.

 

Now having access to the michael's club concierge is amazing. I would take a sky suite if i didn't need to be in the middle of the boat to prevent nausea.

 

Our experience was so similar to yours. We had 2 adjacent RS cabins for our July 2015 sailing and shared the same butler at our request. Of the various butler services we have experienced in hotels and on cruise ships, our single Celebrity sailing was the most lackluster and only closely matched by Cunard. Top of all our experiences to date was the NCL Epic Haven - the butler anticipated needs that we didn't even know we had. This was also the case with their Pool Butler. We loved the Haven but unfortunately, we didn't like the rest of the NCL experience.

 

Our Celebrity butler also did the same disappearing trick for 3 days at the end our 14 night sailing, only reappearing the night before disembarkation to offer assistance.

 

By contrast, the MC concierge was a delight, our various requests sent before our sailing were met. She met us at the terminal entrance at embarkation, escorted us to MC and was responsive once on board. We could not have asked for more.

 

We have another 14 night RS booked for August 2018 on Silhouette only because the itinerary is one which we want to do and no other line is offering it. As for the new Edge class. Looking at the high prices for the inaugural sailings and the increased number of suites compared to S class, I do wonder about the quality of service that they will be able to offer. I would guess that they hope more people will be spending time in the Retreat rather than their cabins so it will be easier to meet customer needs. I will be watching with interest although if they don't broaden the destinations beyond the Caribbean, we will not consider booking.

[CruisersTimesThree]

We booked a SS2 on the new Edge, for Feb 2019. While we have cruised many times we thought we would splurge for our 35 th Anniversary. My question is my husband had always taken a small hand steamer to use for his dress and Polo shirts(Holland has been the only line that kept it until we got off) Is this something you ask the butler about? Sending them to be press would be $$$ I would think. We are pretty low maintenance people so was curious about this. Thanks for any insight.

 

 

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Irons and steamers are not permitted to be brought onboard Celebrity, so they also might be holding it like Holland did.

If you want to have things pressed just give the items to your butler and he will have it taken care of.

The cost is really not that expensive and if you have OBC, it would be taken out of that if you wish.

 

 

 

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