Do you think Silversea will ever phase out Butlers?

[drron29]

The Hyatt Dubai has obviously lost a lot of staff this year. We have met 2 waiters on their first contract who came from the Hyatt. And our favourite Atlantide waiter who we have cruised with before spent a year at that Hyatt during the pandemic.

[worldtraveller99]

We have only had one ocean cruise so far (and 3 brilliant river cruises - far friendlier and more fun, especially with Tauck). It was on the Silver Muse to Alaska last summer. Our butler was mostly totally absent. He didn't escort us to our cabin - we were directed to find it ourselves. He didn't offer to unpack, just popped in after we had done this. I asked him to swap out some of the drinks in the minibar which we didn't want for drinks we did. A day later only half of those drinks had turned up. I paged him - 0. I paged him again - he finally brought us the rest of the drinks I had requested. He did then keep those replaced when finished. The only time we physically saw him again was by chance on a staircase. I asked him to check something for me while we went to use the laundry - he said "Oh you have to ask reception for that". So a dead loss. Maybe he knows the English aren't going to tip over and above the included gratuities, so he saves himself for his American clients?

[lincslady]

I think most passengers would tip a good Butler - maybe other nationalities not quite as much as Americans -  but I would hope that none would tip a Butler as poor as yours, or put in a good report on him, as some of them do ask for one.  Generally the ones who suspect they will not get one.

 

One would like to think that if he treats others as casually he would not be with Silversea for long.

[bitob]

That was not our experience at all

On one Seabourn cruise our stateroom attendant was so bad (and impossible to find) that the head of housekeeping took over servicing our suite.

 

We have had some of the best butlers ever on Silversea.

[Gourmet Gal]

I didn’t know any staff on SS had an expectation they would be tipped.  I expect excellent service to begin with and do not feel obligated to leave a tip for something I’ve already paid for when I’ve booked a gratuities included trip.

[labrasett]

I am afraid I dont understand why people complain about their butlers (or indeed anything else on SS) on a site like this when the solution would have been to ask for a word with the Head Butler or other person in charge.   A gentle push at the status quo, in my experience, usually results in a good outcome in almost all spheres of life.   If a butler is new or inexperienced then he might be glad to be told what is going wrong or what he lacks.   We had one new butler who asked us outright if there was more we wanted from him and what he could do to improve his service to us - not really anything we told him because we dont expect or ask much of our butlers, we only wish for them to be polite and cheerful and to put some Sauvignon Blanc in our fridge and keep the fridge topped up accordingly.   😃 

[canderson]

1 hour ago, labrasett said:

I am afraid I dont understand why people complain about their butlers (or indeed anything else on SS) on a site like this when the solution would have been to ask for a word with the Head Butler or other person in charge.

People often do when the situation warrants.  All the same, it's interesting to share experiences here, both good and bad, as a way of managing expectations.  Service isn't uniform, so understanding the norm and above helps people to better understand when issues should be escalated.  It's the Hotel Manager's job to provide additional training, not the customer's job to explain... especially when it comes to what we've come to call "intuitive service".  Few customers would understand how to convey what it takes to develop that special skill.

[Mr Luxury]

4 hours ago, bitob said:

That was not our experience at all

On one Seabourn cruise our stateroom attendant was so bad (and impossible to find) that the head of housekeeping took over servicing our suite.

 

We have had some of the best butlers ever on Silversea.

I liked Carson at Downton Abbey. 

A great professional.

[mancunian]

I am with  Bitob on this.   Felt our cabin staff on Seabourn very poor compared with SS on both our cruises.   Please keep butlers SS

[Mr Luxury]

36 minutes ago, mancunian said:

I am with  Bitob on this.   Felt our cabin staff on Seabourn very poor compared with SS on both our cruises.   Please keep butlers SS

I had a really annoying butler on Silver Moon.He didn't have enough to do because of low passenger count.

We wanted coffee delivered at 08.00 every morning but I guess 07.35 was near enough for him.

Coffee order cancelled and we got it from the Arts cafe ourselves.

I find that I can live well without a butler on a ship.

 

 

[drron29]

Sorry but I find talking with your butler much better than talking to or about your butler.

[Daveywavey70]

3 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

I liked Carson at Downton Abbey. 

A great professional.

Much better than Thomas.

 

1 hour ago, drron29 said:

Sorry but I find talking with your butler much better than talking to or about your butler.

100% Agree, It would have to be something really bad for me to do that. 

[phillipahain]

Our Butler Joseph on MUSE was utterly brilliant 

[commodoredave]

On 4/11/2023 at 10:28 AM, lincslady said:

I think most passengers would tip a good Butler - maybe other nationalities not quite as much as Americans -  but I would hope that none would tip a Butler as poor as yours, or put in a good report on him, as some of them do ask for one.  Generally the ones who suspect they will not get one.

 

One would like to think that if he treats others as casually he would not be with Silversea for long.

We have always tipped our butlers and room stewards, and occasionally a great bar tender. I know gratuities are included and that tipping is not expected. But I like to give a little extra to reward consistently great service. 

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, commodoredave said:

We have always tipped our butlers and room stewards, and occasionally a great bar tender. I know gratuities are included and that tipping is not expected. But I like to give a little extra to reward consistently great service. 

How flash of you 🙂

[drron29]

Well a little snippet from our butler tonight - Venetian Cocktail party so a formal night. It appears the butlers are in agreement with our comment that this segment is totally different to the last. They want to see more Venetian members embark in Citavecchia.

[commodoredave]

21 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

How flash of you 🙂

I had a lot more flash 30 years ago, but still have some left in the tank. 🤗

[mancunian]

dron 29

 

In what way is the current segment different.   Which ship are you on?

[jollyjones]

27 minutes ago, mancunian said:

dron 29

 

In what way is the current segment different.   Which ship are you on?

Does Ron’s thread ‘Mooning around the Mediterranean’ give you a hint?

 

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, mancunian said:

dron 29

 

In what way is the current segment different.   Which ship are you on?

Oh come on,keep up please.

[mitz18]

Late to the party but we have never utilized the services of the butler(s) very much.  Other than a request for a bottle of champagne & ice bucket each day, don't really need them.  Of course I'd rather unpack myself, I show up with shined shoes and tend to be very self sufficient - although having said that I'd hate to see them gone.  I may not use the service, but has always been nice to know they're there in case needed.......

[Stumblefoot]

7 hours ago, mancunian said:

dron 29

 

In what way is the current segment different.   Which ship are you on?

He answered your question in his trip report.

 

Now, about that €20.50, drron…

[mancunian]

Sorry unlike some of you do not read all threads

[drron29]

12 hours ago, mancunian said:

dron 29

 

In what way is the current segment different.   Which ship are you on?

The difference is in the make up of the passengers.

Definitely a much younger group. Quite a few children and teens including several infants.

 

This impacted us in a few ways. First several children on our deck. Two of them would run up and down the corridor making a lot of noise. They would do this after lunch and late at night- after 11pm. 
For me it also meant that the golf putting was not fun as a lot more turning up and more than half children. The 2 of us from the previous segment which was the most fun of any of our previous cruises decided not to go anymore.

However on the positive side we are doing a lot better at trivia. Not getting higher scores but now have not finished out of the points with 3 firsts and 2 seconds.

 

The other major difference is the very large number of new SS cruisers. The butlers have noticed this and found the work load much higher than normal.

When we went to the Venetian cocktail party it was the lowest attendance that many of us had ever seen. So I checked on the figures. Total guests 582. Total number of nights on SS was 10600. Top 40 guests 6800 nights so 542 guests had 3800 nights between them. That is an average of 7 nights per guest.

 

So the new guests have little opportunity to mingle with those who have had many nights and can point out many of the ways you can make things happen better.

 

Still enjoying the cruise but hope things can change in 3 days time when our third segment starts. 
 

Sorry Stumbles but it’s now your turn to be more observant. JP answered your question on my cruise report. I only took 30 euros and spent 9.5 euros on the ramparts tour so only had 20.5 euros left for lunch.

 

Mancunian my current thread is too long and I don’t think people can be blamed if they find it a bit much.

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, mancunian said:

Sorry unlike some of you do not read all threads

Knowledge is power 😀