Butler Services

[wripro]

Wes,

 

I look forward to hearing your experiences as well. One thing I'm curious about is how you will be able to contact your "butler." Will he/she be available at a moment's notice all day? Or will you have to call reception who will then call your butler for you who will show up when he/she is through cleaning the bathroom in another suite?

[WesW]

Henry, guess at registration they will issue a butler silver bell, I will just

ring it, or ask for jeeves, viola, he will show up...kidding of course..will report

back by 4 Jan on how the butler is working out.

[wripro]

Wes,

 

Just to be safe i suggest you bring along your own silver bell.

[petlover]

this is quite interesting and I'm sure it will be heavily marketed...and yes, confusing.

 

Once we had a butler on a Regent ship when we had a guarantee and got an upgrade. He was very nice but I had no idea what to do with him ?? We do our own unpacking. He would ring our doorbell asking us if we needed anything. It started getting annoying. After 2 days of this I nicely said, Please, if we need anything WE'LL CALL YOU. Our Butler was like the lonely Maytag man !

 

I think our butler delivered our breakfast room service (?) but I think it came faster when you just called room service and had it delivered by whom ever.

 

I'd rather have seen Silversea give free internet time instead of the butlers. (Spoken by someone who has never been on a Silversea ship :D )

[wripro]

You have to remember that butlers who are dedicated to just that job are different from the butlers on Azamara or those you'll see on all but the highest level of suites on SS. If a butler has any other duty than "butling" he/she is the fancy of the marketing department.

[CatServants]

You have to remember that butlers who are dedicated to just that job are different from the butlers on Azamara or those you'll see on all but the highest level of suites on SS. If a butler has any other duty than "butling" he/she is the fancy of the marketing department.

 

Wripro, I agree with you completely. From our "butling" experience on Celebrity "your" butler will be responsible for other suites as well (10+ on Celebrity?), will only be available during his scheduled duty hours, and may be reached on his cell phone only during those duty hours. Otherwise, you're back to generic room service.....

[Wellseasoned]

The only butler service noted on the Silversea web site which expands upon the current stewardess/steward duties is packing and unpacking. My wife and I would never allow someone else to do our packing or unpacking, thank you very much, so this is irrelevant to us. And Silversea has always been happy to arrange cocktail parties, canapes, etc. without butlers or special status. Certainly it's a marketing gimmick.

[Keith1010]

ColonelWes, when you return if you could explain whether or not the butler service changes the role of the stewardess and assistant stewardess it would be nice to hear. And also your sense of the personnel. (eg., I realize you are sailing on the new ship but your sense of with the bulters does that translate to less stewardesses/assistant stewardesses). I would also be interested in your view of the butler in general.

 

We happen to be one of those that do appreciate good butlers and butler services on certain lines. But on other lines we don't feel a need for a butler. I am not sure if that has to do with the size of the ship or the way the staff is organized. On Seabourn and Silversea we didn't miss having a butler and I would even say more so on Silversea because between the stewardess and the assistant stewardess they were on top of everything in the room for us.

 

Thank you very much.

 

Keith

[Jade13]

shined my shoes, took items for pressing or cleaning.

 

They do this on HAL in every category stateroom. In Celebrity Concierge they bring canapes (horrible) or a cheese platter (good) each afternoon. The "butler" on Celebrity also brought our champagne. On HAL you can pay for unlimited laundry if you are not in a Suite and laundry and pressing was only $99.00 for two people on a ten night cruise. We are trying Azamara and I believe they call them butlers but I'm assuming its just a fancy title for a room steward. What do they do that a room steward cannot do?

[WesW]

Keith, as we said in the Army, happy to provide a Butler "AAR" After Action Report

either post cruise or (maybe) during our Spirit cruise.

[DebbieH103]

I'll post my unpacking experience on 12/23. We are very seasoned at this and pack unmentionables and don't care what they sees separately to assist with this. This service is worth a lot to us. I will also talk about the whole experience. I will be blogging, perhaps Tweeting, and I will be on Facebook. I will have live pics from all over. I can't wait.

 

I am also interested in the handling of our tours. Something nobody has discussed, and this is off-topic of butlers, but certainly there are more guests now, and so I hope that doesn't change the SS tour experience. With the guest count up 41% over Whisper/Shadow, we will see how they handle things. The tours offered for Barcelona to Lisbon look spectacular, and we signed up for something everywhere.

[Keith1010]

Colonialwes, thank you very much.

 

Jade, we only took HAL once and for us it was the only cruse of any we have taken with any cruise line that was a disaster for many reasons. Maybe we just were unlucky. In terms of the laundry we sent two items to be laundered for my wife and each one came back an entirely different color from the original color. Maybe we were just jinxed on that tour.

 

On Celebrity we actually found most of the butlers to be excellent. We cruised them mainly in the 1990's. Went back one other time a few years ago and got the Owner's Suite and had a truly outstanding butler. Like anything else this will vary from butler to butler as all butlers are not created equally. Now, that is a cruise line where a butler can make a big difference IMHO. And that has to do with various factors including the staff to passenger ratio, the size of the ships and how other items are taken care of.

 

You are right about Azmara. It will not be a butler the way you think of a butler.

 

Keith

[WesW]

Debbie, with less than 10 days from boarding the Spirit and your cruise..will

be anxiously waiting for your blog w/pics.

 

fyi...Debbie does a fabulous job with her blogs..here is a sample blog entry

from her recent SS Asia cruise April of this year.

 

http://www.luxurycruiseandland.com/blogs/index.php/ssasiaembark/?blog=10

[dwelsh]

Thanks for that Blog. Just the thing I have been looking for. :):)

[meow!]

Debbie, with less than 10 days from boarding the Spirit and your cruise..

Colonel: Could that be a misprint for 100 days?

[WesW]

Good catch Meow, should have said just over 100 days until Debbie boards.

[DebbieH103]

Will Tweet or email Wes when I start. Those 100 plus days will go slowly I fear.

[Wellseasoned]

We are boarding the Shadow in three days. I know that the butler service is not yet in place, but I intend to discuss it with the hotel director to get a better understanding of what will await us on the Spirit crossing. If I learn anything worthwhile, I shall report.

[ging466]

Will Tweet or email Wes when I start. Those 100 plus days will go slowly I fear.

 

Nah, you'll be surprised how quickly those 100 days go. We are all really looking forward to hearing of your experience.

 

Cheers

ging466

[umtali]

Having had the services of a butler on a number of occasions, my wife and I have come to the conclusion that a butler on a ship is a complete and utter wasted space. Far better service from suite steward/stewardesses and assistants, and room service when needed.

How would you explain to airport officials when asked "Did you pack this case sir/madam?, and you answer "no the butler did!!". I feel when they have finished the full examination of all your bodily cavities you may regret ever having known a butler!!

[wripro]

For those who even use the butler to pack and unpack wouldn't you worry that they might not have washed their hands after cleaning your bathroom before touching your clothes? (Unless, of course, you are in a Royal, Grand, or Owner's suite where you'll have a real butler.)

[Goldens4]

Hopefully, they'll take off the rubber gloves they use to clean BEFORE they unpack.:D

[wripro]

Unless they're wearing white rubber gloves which can serve double duty.