Sky Suite - What to Really Expect

[Jane2357]

This will be my 5th cruise and my dh's 2nd - our first time booking a Sky Suite. I'm excited at the thought but really have no idea what to expect. I love the idea of the priority check-in. My biggest concern is the butler - I'm pretty low key but would like to take advantage of his/hers services as I am paying for it - can you help me understand specifically those things that we can ask of him. Size wise I've never felt cramped on any ship but other than balcony time - never spent much time in the cabin -- will the SS enable me to feel like spending more time in the cabin? Thanks for you help.

[macruisefan]

cabin is definitely roomier, so spending time there is much more enjoyable.

 

As for the butler... Don't expect a lot. I found mine was nothing more than a caricaturized version of the room steward- no wealth of information or services, but rather a more omnipresent personality, requiring even more banal small talk and niceties than the room steward.

[ClaudiaB]

We have stayed in S1s the last few cruises on the S ships because we LOVE the corner aft location. We're pretty low maintenance so I know we don't really take advantage of the butler like we could. We book sky suites for the room size - relaxing and lounging around is just nicer to us (and worth our paying the extra $$) when there is a lot of room around the bed and in the room - nice walking room - and the larger balcony with the corner view, the bathtub with shower - more bathroom space - two closets with more than enough room. Technically it's not a real suite because it's all one room, but it's hard to go back to smaller. We like that we can eat in Blu - we eat there or in the specialty restaurants.

 

Think of it like this: your stateroom attendant is there to attend to the room and the butler is there to attend to you. He will ring the doorbell (yes there is a doorbell) mid afternoon with a cart filled with lots of nice sandwiches, cookies, desserts - water to make tea, coffee - whatever you want. We're not coffee drinkers but I think you can get espresso, etc. It's basically the same kinds of things at the buffet area for afternoon self-service tea, but brought to your room. If you want something in particular (we love some good cheeses like brie and crackers, or shrimp on a platter with some cocktail sauce) just let him know. I particularly love strawberries and raspberries so I always mention to our butler that it wouldn't break my heart ;);) if he brought me some. Well you know you'll get them every day and THEN some! In two weeks I'm going to see if we can get smoked salmon, crabmeat --- it never hurts to ask! That stuff is on the ship, so I'm going to ask!

 

We don't have the butler unpack - that just seems too weird to me! We have never had him set up a cocktail party or anything because we normally sail alone, the two of us. He was the one we gave our things to be pressed and shined (we have elite coupons) and washed. But the stateroom attendant could do that too.

We tell them on day one that we like to have our ice bucket with ice in it from early morning (leave it outside the door so we can get it first thing) and during the day. We bring Diet Cokes on board and drink those until it's time to start buying them on the ship - and we like them as soon as we wake up.

Our last cruise in November was a transatlantic and there were honestly 2 days we didn't even see him at all. We were just doing other things - but my berries and our shrimp and our ice was always there.

They say you can call the butler 24/7 but we'd never do that. I can only think of one time we even called him in 4 cruises. They work really hard and yes I know we paid for his services, but we really don't need them too much. Honestly, if the ice was just down the hall and we were allowed in there, we'd get it ourselves, we don't need people to cater too much. But that's just us. I know people have used their butlers constantly. We always tip for every room service brought in (breakfast always if we have an early day in port), a couple dollars (I normally get some $2 bills from the bank before we leave). And we have tipped $30 or so halfway in and the same at the end. More if he's been exceptionally attentive. We never tip ahead of time, I've heard that's kind of insulting (?) but we do halfway.

We love the S1 rooms corner aft on the S ships because of the remote location and the view. It's a looooong walk to the stairs (and elevators, which we try not to use too much) and is very quiet. The only people who are walking there are the ones who "live" there, and we like it like that. The views from back there are amazing to us and we like those every time.

 

As far as priority embarkation, no one is getting on the ship until they're ready for you to get on - we never get there before 11:30 or 12 noon. You will get your own line - "Suites" - but if the the concierge class or the other lines are shorter, they'll direct you there. I think the only time it has an advantage is if you happen to arrive when there are tons of people there all trying to get in at the same time. I did notice there are covered areas for people in the suites to sit before they open the lines, but we have never gotten there that early.

[Muushka]

This will be my 5th cruise and my dh's 2nd - our first time booking a Sky Suite. I'm excited at the thought but really have no idea what to expect. I love the idea of the priority check-in. My biggest concern is the butler - I'm pretty low key but would like to take advantage of his/hers services as I am paying for it - can you help me understand specifically those things that we can ask of him. Size wise I've never felt cramped on any ship but other than balcony time - never spent much time in the cabin -- will the SS enable me to feel like spending more time in the cabin? Thanks for you help.

 

We are pretty low key too. We snagged a RS a few years back and experienced a butler. It was great!

 

Then after a few cruises in a regular balcony we snagged another suite (SS2).

 

Our butler in our SS was just a tad above our RS. He seemed to really enjoy his job and loved pleasing us.

 

He went above and beyond any room steward would. He secured reservations that we could not.

He loved getting my husband sodas from our beverage plan.

He actually went into our closet to retrieve the shoes that needed polishing.

 

Honestly, the things that he did I probably would not have asked of him, but he went out of his way to make our cruise a special one.

 

Enjoy your butler and see what magic he will produce!:)

[dkjretired]

This will be my 5th cruise and my dh's 2nd - our first time booking a Sky Suite. I'm excited at the thought but really have no idea what to expect. I love the idea of the priority check-in. My biggest concern is the butler - I'm pretty low key but would like to take advantage of his/hers services as I am paying for it - can you help me understand specifically those things that we can ask of him. Size wise I've never felt cramped on any ship but other than balcony time - never spent much time in the cabin -- will the SS enable me to feel like spending more time in the cabin? Thanks for you help.

 

Priority check in is really only a seperate line for suites, sometimes the lines for the regular rooms are shorter...