What does a Butler in Yacht Club actually do?

[MsTabbyKats]

@Captain-JohnWe had the pizza delivered to the pool deck....that and coke.  For me, that pool deck is my favorite place to eat!

[CarolnLarry]

This question came up a couple of years ago and the best answer I read was, the butler will do whatever is not illegal or immoral. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Our first YC experience our butler did everything!

Dinner reservations

spa appointments

daily delivery of canapés, news paper, mini fridge items, and ice

escort to theater, on and off the ship

escort to the front of the line on debarkation day

morning delivery of coffee and pastry

 

Three subsequent cruises netted almost none of the above from our butlers. One time we didn’t meet out butler until the afternoon of the second day. We are experienced cruisers so we don’t depend on butler services but we sure got spoiled by our first butler!

[angelofjoy23]

Thank you so much for all the answers. This was so helpful!!

[BoundForSea]

Well it depends. For us, after 7 or so sailings it comes down to two possible outcomes, just luck of the draw:

 

1. They just do anything and everything for you and are just beyond amazing.  Always present and always eager to offer any number of ways to make your sailing amazing. 

 

OR

 

2.  They disappear for the entire length of the cruise (I’ve had to go to the YC Director on two sailings and tell him I was filing a missing persons report for his Butler)only to show up on the last day to try and collect a tip. This is NOT an exaggeration. 

[luckyinpa]

can MDR or YC dinners be delivered to the suite or just room service?

[CruisingFox27]

3 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

can MDR or YC dinners be delivered to the suite or just room service?

Just room service. Except where there is a medical situation, injury or sever illness. 

[MsTabbyKats]

20 hours ago, BoundForSea said:

Well it depends. For us, after 7 or so sailings it comes down to two possible outcomes, just luck of the draw:

 

1. They just do anything and everything for you and are just beyond amazing.  Always present and always eager to offer any number of ways to make your sailing amazing. 

 

OR

 

2.  They disappear for the entire length of the cruise (I’ve had to go to the YC Director on two sailings and tell him I was filing a missing persons report for his Butler)only to show up on the last day to try and collect a tip. This is NOT an exaggeration. 

Question....when your butler was MIA....did the other butlers do his job (for whatever you needed)?

[wineoclock]

On 10/7/2023 at 4:06 AM, BoundForSea said:

Well it depends. For us, after 7 or so sailings it comes down to two possible outcomes, just luck of the draw:

 

1. They just do anything and everything for you and are just beyond amazing.  Always present and always eager to offer any number of ways to make your sailing amazing. 

 

OR

 

2.  They disappear for the entire length of the cruise (I’ve had to go to the YC Director on two sailings and tell him I was filing a missing persons report for his Butler)only to show up on the last day to try and collect a tip. This is NOT an exaggeration. 

No 2 is not good. Did it get resolved?

[CTGirl74]

On 10/5/2023 at 2:58 PM, MisterBill99 said:

Do you get the same level of service if you're in an inside YC cabin vs. a duplex suite?

 

I'm in a duplex on the MSC Meraviglia right now. This is our very first time in YC so I have nothing to compare to, but the service has been great. I don't feel anything is lacking at all based on all the info I gathered on YouTube and here over the past year or so. The junior butler is great, as is the head butler. They very much work as a team to make sure they fulfill any requests, like stocking the fridge with my husband's favorite beer, my preference for Poland Spring water over the "fancier" water, and a one liter container of milk every couple days for coffee and my iced mocha latte I make every night for the following morning. I, too, was wondering if the level of service would be different since the butlers would need to travel four decks down to us for everything. Seems great, though.

[dexddd]

3 hours ago, CTGirl74 said:

 

I'm in a duplex on the MSC Meraviglia right now. This is our very first time in YC so I have nothing to compare to, but the service has been great. I don't feel anything is lacking at all based on all the info I gathered on YouTube and here over the past year or so. The junior butler is great, as is the head butler. They very much work as a team to make sure they fulfill any requests, like stocking the fridge with my husband's favorite beer, my preference for Poland Spring water over the "fancier" water, and a one liter container of milk every couple days for coffee and my iced mocha latte I make every night for the following morning. I, too, was wondering if the level of service would be different since the butlers would need to travel four decks down to us for everything. Seems great, though.

February we were in a 12 duplex then next leg 15.  Liked the space in duplex.  Have you exited the Batcave on 13?

[CTGirl74]

3 hours ago, dexddd said:

February we were in a 12 duplex then next leg 15.  Liked the space in duplex.  Have you exited the Batcave on 13?

No, the door is locked. I just tried it. 

 

We're really enjoying the amount of space and especially the storage. 

[cruisebeachgirl703]

7 hours ago, CTGirl74 said:

 

I'm in a duplex on the MSC Meraviglia right now. This is our very first time in YC so I have nothing to compare to, but the service has been great. I don't feel anything is lacking at all based on all the info I gathered on YouTube and here over the past year or so. The junior butler is great, as is the head butler. They very much work as a team to make sure they fulfill any requests, like stocking the fridge with my husband's favorite beer, my preference for Poland Spring water over the "fancier" water, and a one liter container of milk every couple days for coffee and my iced mocha latte I make every night for the following morning. I, too, was wondering if the level of service would be different since the butlers would need to travel four decks down to us for everything. Seems great, though.

Can you tell me what junior butler means? Is this your cabin butler? When we were on in July there was a man with a vest that was always around the concierge desk. Never quite figured out who he was. Do you know? thanks. Enjoy your cruise !!! Meraviglia YC is great.

[CTGirl74]

5 minutes ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

Can you tell me what junior butler means? Is this your cabin butler? When we were on in July there was a man with a vest that was always around the concierge desk. Never quite figured out who he was. Do you know? thanks. Enjoy your cruise !!! Meraviglia YC is great.

 

Cabin butler. He's not wearing a vest. My guess is that he's the equivalent of a cabin steward if we were in a standard cabin. He cleans our room and takes any requests, although I noticed that the head butler is the one delivering the room service in the morning and he asked us for our preferences when we boarded. He wears the fancy uniform. 🙂

[cruisebeachgirl703]

6 minutes ago, CTGirl74 said:

 

Cabin butler. He's not wearing a vest. My guess is that he's the equivalent of a cabin steward if we were in a standard cabin. He cleans our room and takes any requests, although I noticed that the head butler is the one delivering the room service in the morning and he asked us for our preferences when we boarded. He wears the fancy uniform. 🙂

Thanks. Did not know that about junior butler.  The vest person may have been head concierge. All other wore jackets, but he seemed important.

[Best Cat Mom]

1 hour ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

Can you tell me what junior butler means? Is this your cabin butler?

Junior butler is a cabin steward in YC; they will have several cabins to service besides yours. Butler is a room butler in YC, who works with your Junior Butler for you and will also have several other cabins. Usually the Junior Butler and Butler have the same cabins together, but not always. Head butler is the person who oversees all the butlers in YC. The head butler is frequently found at or near the concierge desk. There also may be an Assistant Head Butler, depending on the size of your YC (there was one on Seaside last month).

[cruisebeachgirl703]

22 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Junior butler is a cabin steward in YC; they will have several cabins to service besides yours. Butler is a room butler in YC, who works with your Junior Butler for you and will also have several other cabins. Usually the Junior Butler and Butler have the same cabins together, but not always. Head butler is the person who oversees all the butlers in YC. The head butler is frequently found at or near the concierge desk. There also may be an Assistant Head Butler, depending on the size of your YC (there was one on Seaside last month).

That is really great info. Thanks.

[Beamafar]

On 10/7/2023 at 4:06 AM, BoundForSea said:

Well it depends. For us, after 7 or so sailings it comes down to two possible outcomes, just luck of the draw:

 

1. They just do anything and everything for you and are just beyond amazing.  Always present and always eager to offer any number of ways to make your sailing amazing. 

 

OR

 

2.  They disappear for the entire length of the cruise (I’ve had to go to the YC Director on two sailings and tell him I was filing a missing persons report for his Butler)only to show up on the last day to try and collect a tip. This is NOT an exaggeration. 

That has been our experience on numerous YC sailings, too. 

[Brighton Line]

My junior butler had all the cabins on the port side of 16 and 14. Junior butler is the cabin steward but has less cabins assigned than outside of YC. It is an earned position so they give it a special name, it is YC anyway.

 

My butler did serve one dinner in our cabin at our request. 

If your butler is on break or off duty or doing something for one of their other cabins they will get another butler to fulfill your request. There are butlers assigned to the Top Sail Lounge that fill in.

We were lucky on Ocean Cay our butler was assigned to the beach, she was wonderful. Back on ship another butler filled in for her if we had requests and were on board before she returned. 

[StarLi]

Our butler did everything. He made an introduction on the first day and told us all about what he can do for us. I saw him multiple times a day and he walked us to specialty dining, regular dining, and our shows. He made sure we got everything we need. He even found seating in the shade for us at the morning buffet.  I saw him at ocean Cay and he was serving us there too. I often wonder if he was following us around 😅. He also helped us disembark and carried our luggage off the ship for us. I've never felt so spoiled. I've heard others complaining about MSC who were not in the yacht club. I really enjoyed the yacht club area.