Female Butlers

[Gracie115]

As I said before a "GOOD" butler is what you should want.....but if it's a male hope it's not the one we had on a recent cruise.......just because they are of the male sex does not automatically mean they are good.........but I guess you will find that out on your own.....

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks - if you go back and read that first post - surely I was making fun of myself - thus the Downton AbbEy comment and my overly romantic notion of a butler. ;) It is unfortunate that by expressing that I would be disappointed to get a female butler - it is then insinuated that I am also racist, a child hater and homophobic. Do we honestly think we can know someone for the small slices we see of them on posts? I've thick skin but yes - I'll defend myself against those accusations. Am I old fashioned - yes but not in everything. I'm the person that un-invited my own step mother to my daughter's wedding when she was upset about my gay step-sister attending with her partner. I'm the person that gave up my first class airline seat to someone in coach when I noticed that they needed to be near their ill and elderly mother. I know who I am. :D

I think your post was taken negatively, because many of us had to scratch and claw our way up and still hit a glass ceiling, because people said they didn't want a woman in certain jobs. It took years for us to even get the chance to do what we wanted to and then we had to work twice as hard as a man to get noticed. I know all this, because I speak from experience, but I was very lucky and worked hard and broke through that glass ceiling, unfortunately even today some women are stuck on that ladder and people are still saying that they prefer a man over a woman.

 

I hope you get what you want and your cruise is fantastic.

Edited January 7, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[CathyCruises]

My son is an RN. You would not believe the number of times the patients 'assume' he is a doctor because he is male. His fiancée is also an RN, and she says no one has ever mistaken her for a doctor.

 

OTOH my daughter is in medical school, is young, blonde, and very pretty. Can't wait to see how that works out. . .

[STLCRUISIN]

Jane - If I can answer your original question and not be negative as others have, we did a 30 day b2b in the fall on the Reflection and had suites on both with a butler on each - one male and one female.

 

On the first cruise the male butler was very good although he leaned towards doing minimal service for us, i.e. morning breakfast and afternoon snacks. Other requests we had he seemed to struggle with. And he never seemed to be available.

 

Our female butler on the second cruise, Nalan, was exceptional. In addition to the normal butler duties she went over and above doing constant nice little touches for us and even offering to take care of something for us after her shift was over.

 

For us it doesn't matter whether the butler is male or female but this was our most recent experience. Enjoy your cruise.

[DebbieMacG]

I actually think some of you have missed the OP's point as to whether a female or male butler will be good or not. What I thought she was saying was that her "Downton Abbey" butler in her head was a male. Of course she doesn't think she will have actually have a Downton Abbey type butler as butlers of that period are different from butlers today.

 

In that period there would never have been a female butler, so a female butler in her suite is never going to resemble a Downton Abbey one however good they are.

 

I didn't take it seriously to be honest :eek:

Edited January 7, 2014 by DebbieMacG

[TMLAalum]

Our female butler on the second cruise, Nalan, was exceptional. In addition to the normal butler duties she went over and above doing constant nice little touches for us and even offering to take care of something for us after her shift was over.

 

We had Nalan as our head waitperson on our Equinox cruise. My BIL, who's sailed on numerous lines and many cruises, said Nalan was the best ever! We mentioned to our Turkish waiter on our recent Silhouette cruise, who was also excellent, that there was must be something special about staff from Turkey, and asked if he knew Nalan. He told us she'd been promoted to butler which we were delighted to hear. And it's so nice to read about your exceptional experience with Nalan as your butler, STLCRUISIN!

 

Our butler on the Silhouette was a male, Keegan. He took very good care of us. Don't know if we'll ever sail in a suite again, but I'd be thrilled to have the services of a butler again, regardless of gender!

Edited January 7, 2014 by TMLAalum

[celle]

• In this day and age, a butler is an anachronism.
  
• For the majority of British people, life was never like Downton Abbey, anyway.
  
• I don't care if people are male or female, or what their sexual preferences are; I don't care what religion or nationality they are; I don't care if they are black, brown, white, or sky-blue pink. I judge them entirely on how they do their job.
  

[Lsimon]

I just "googled" butler

 

A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its appearance.[1] A butler is usually male,[2] and in charge of male servants, while a housekeeper is usually a woman, and in charge of female servants. Traditionally, male servants (such as footmen) were rarer and therefore better paid and of higher status than female servants. The butler, as the senior male servant, has the highest servant status. He can also be sometimes used as a chauffeur.

 

You might have a point here if the rest of the definition lined up with what Celebrity calls a "butler" but it is nothing close. The butlers on Celebrity are the result of splitting up the normal duties of the stateroom attendant so that a separate person takes care of all the personal service tasks, and expands them some, while the stateroom attendant just takes care of cleaning and maintenance. The butler on the ship does not manage anything and is charge of no one but themselves.

 

Forget the male and female stuff.

For me, I wouldn't want a butler at all. Talk about equality and going back 100 years, I would be totally uneasy in what I liken to a master/slave relationship.

*b*i*n*g*o*

 

Master/slave relationship? So am I to presume you refuse service of the cabin staff and waiters on the ship as well? Do you carry your own bags on the ship because so the "slave" porters don't have to serve you? Do you travel to the port on your own and walk from the parking garage to the ship so you don't have to slave the taxi drivers, airplane pilots and shuttle drivers?

 

The butler is no more a "slave" than the other employees on the ship, hotels, restaurants and any other service industry company. Rather the butler is a trained and experienced employee who has been promoted from other service jobs on the ship at their own request to provide a service to paying customers.

[drarill]

Jane - If I can answer your original question and not be negative as others have, we did a 30 day b2b in the fall on the Reflection and had suites on both with a butler on each - one male and one female.

 

On the first cruise the male butler was very good although he leaned towards doing minimal service for us, i.e. morning breakfast and afternoon snacks. Other requests we had he seemed to struggle with. And he never seemed to be available.

 

Our female butler on the second cruise, Nalan, was exceptional. In addition to the normal butler duties she went over and above doing constant nice little touches for us and even offering to take care of something for us after her shift was over.

 

For us it doesn't matter whether the butler is male or female but this was our most recent experience. Enjoy your cruise.

Dan, thanks for your comment. We will be cruising on the Reflection next summer on a suite and I have to admit that I didn't know that Celebrity had female butlers. Like Jane, I had the Downton Abbey image of a butler, a male. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Jane, thanks for starting this thread. Enjoy your cruise!!

[Hockeylovinmom]

 

The butler is no more a "slave" than the other employees on the ship, hotels, restaurants and any other service industry company. Rather the butler is a trained and experienced employee who has been promoted from other service jobs on the ship at their own request to provide a service to paying customers.

 

We have experienced both male and female butlers and have been well taken care of by both. All have been interesting and personable! Keep an open mind and if you get a lady butler, enjoy!!

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[carolslc]

Jane has a Downton Abbey-esque vision of a butler. I personally would prefer Tom Selleck. But I can assure you I'm not sexist. In my cruise fantasy, I also look amazing in my bikini. It may not turn out that way on the ship (especially as I won't have a butler at all), but we will all have a great cruise anyway I'm sure! :D

[waterbug123]

If someone is able to do a job properly what that person looks like (skin color, height, gender, etc.) does not really matter to me.

 

How 'bout a male mammography technician? You wouldn't give that a second thought?

[We're The Groupnors]

How 'bout a male mammography technician? You wouldn't give that a second thought?

 

To me that's no different than having a male doctor, male nurse or male ultrasound technician. As long as they are competent it doesn't matter.

[fleckle]

How 'bout a male mammography technician? You wouldn't give that a second thought?

There have even been rumors of male gynecologists and male obstetricians. :eek:

 

 

This thread reminds me of the days when the major airlines started to hire female pilots. Some passengers objected strongly, saying they did not want to fly with a female pilot, but never came up with a logical reason for their objection.

 

[Jane2357]

Thank you to those wishing me a great cruise - I'm certain that it will be! I will promise to come back and let everyone know the outcome of the entire butler experience, never having had a butler before - I've no experience myself.

[waterbug123]

To me that's no different than having a male doctor' date=' male nurse or male ultrasound technician. As long as they are competent it doesn't matter.[/quote']

 

There have even been rumors of male gynecologists and male obstetricians. :eek:

 

Yep, an my ob-gyn is male and I've never had a problem with that. But if I walked in for my mammogram appointment and the tech was male, I'd feel very uncomfortable. Hard to pinpoint why exactly, I just would. Maybe it's the higher amount of hands-on manipulation required to do a mammogram as opposed to a standard ob-gyn exam (including breast exam), I don't know. But I'd feel uncomfortable. Doesn't mean I'd walk out of the office necessarily, but my strong preference would be for a female. That male tech might be the best one in the world at his job and that's great, but I wouldn't care for it and I'd be willing to be there are plenty others like me. Flame away; we are all allowed to have our preferences.

[akowilm]

Listen - I know that this is not a big issue on a scale of 1 - 10 :p, nor will it ruin my cruise if I do get a female butler but for the sake of discussion I was asking for those with experiences and yes comments :eek: Like a said - I imagine that this is a personal preference - some men prefer a female masseuse and wouldn't care for a male - I would prefer a male butler. When someone uses the word "butler" - a man comes to MY mind. If X included a maid in your cabin class - I would expect the maid to be a woman. I don't need to explain myself but I'll tell you - we don't have a butler at home - LOL - wait dh might beg to differ. :D

 

You have to remember that even though he is YOUR butler, he also services other cabins, so its not like the movies where he appears at the ring of a bell to satisfy your every whim.. Maybe if you think of your butler more like a personal assistant, you won't get caught up in the imageidea so much and won't be disappointed. We only saw our butler a few times a day for several minutes when we asked for breakfast or afternoon treats and he did his job very well..

[odysee]

I've been closely following several reviews of Eclipse, as soon it will be our turn, Feb. 8th can't come soon enough. In one review there is mention of the butler who in this case is a female and they give her good marks for service. I'm actually just a few cabins from where this person was located - so there may be a good chance that I will also have this butler and I commented that perhaps I've watched too many old movies because having a female just doesn't fit with my vision of a butler. :o Cut me off Downton Abby right now ;) I realize it is sexist - but I'm going to be disappointed to have a female butler.

 

Now before you all rip me to shreds - obviously this isn't going to ruin my cruise should we get a female - it just isn't going to feel the same though and I'll be very disappointed. :( I liken it to those that prefer either a male or female masseuse - a personal preference. Comments? Experience?

 

Don't we have first world problems :rolleyes: !.

I have had both, same as attendants, but to be honest couldn' care less about their gender, hair color or size, as long as they are doing the job they are supposed to do and are friendly.

Edited January 8, 2014 by odysee

[yogimax]

The butler is no more a "slave" than the other employees on the ship, hotels, restaurants and any other service industry company. Rather the butler is a trained and experienced employee who has been promoted from other service jobs on the ship at their own request to provide a service to paying customers.

 

You oversimplify!

 

The problem is with the term "butler." It carries the implication of a servant who is of a lower status than the master. Simply change the name to something like "Senior Stateroom Attendant" and I'm fine.

 

Using the term "butler" is simply playing to the ego of the customer in what I would consider a negative way.

[Lsimon]

You oversimplify!

 

The problem is with the term "butler." It carries the implication of a servant who is of a lower status than the master. Simply change the name to something like "Senior Stateroom Attendant" and I'm fine.

 

Using the term "butler" is simply playing to the ego of the customer in what I would consider a negative way.

 

I don't let the semantics bother me. The suite butlers are what they are. I can't understand those that let the semantics bother them so much. Your example reminds me of the many posts on these forums about Captain's Club levels from those that feel that those in the Elite level are snobs just because of the "Elite" name but who wouldn't have that impression at all if the name of that level wasn't named after something that implied different class levels.

[C 2 C]

Don't we have first world problems :rolleyes: !.

 

I believe that we won't find many other-world posters on these cruising threads. :confused:

 

Why point out the obvious?

Should we feel guilt indulging ourselves on cruises while others suffer?

[keithm]

I've been closely following several reviews of Eclipse, as soon it will be our turn, Feb. 8th can't come soon enough. In one review there is mention of the butler who in this case is a female and they give her good marks for service. I'm actually just a few cabins from where this person was located - so there may be a good chance that I will also have this butler and I commented that perhaps I've watched too many old movies because having a female just doesn't fit with my vision of a butler. :o Cut me off Downton Abby right now ;) I realize it is sexist - but I'm going to be disappointed to have a female butler.

 

Now before you all rip me to shreds - obviously this isn't going to ruin my cruise should we get a female - it just isn't going to feel the same though and I'll be very disappointed. :( I liken it to those that prefer either a male or female masseuse - a personal preference. Comments? Experience?

On our last QM2 voyage we had a delightful butler named Lily. She asked what she could do to make our voyage more special. After mentioning I love caviar(which is a Queens Grill staple)She brought plenty along with the other Canapes. She received quite a nice tip from us. As to Massage..Well, being gay, I think we all know the answer to that one! That being said, I won't turn away anyone who has the professinal training it takes for proper massage therapy.

[keithm]

Jane, sexism by definition is gender discrimination. By stating that you are sexist, you are also stating that you are discriminatory. Adding now that you don't feel guilty about discriminating isn't helping your cause.

 

I don't think that continued posting will sway readers here, so why not accept the fact that the majority disagree with you on this topic and move on? Enjoy your cruise and leave the Eclipse in good shape for us when we embark on the day you disembark.

Personally, I feel you're the one blowing this thing totally out of purportion. I have preferences & I don't discriminate if I don't get what I would have "preferred". Let's use massage as an example. I've had both male & female masseuse. Being gay, I PREFER male. That being said, they both got the same amount of tip. If the male was unavailable I got a female masseuse & still enjoyed it. As to butlers, I too, expected male, but it never bothered me a bit. It's how the person did their job. Lily, our butler was great. A couple down the hall had a male butler who was not so good.

[keithm]

Thank you to those wishing me a great cruise - I'm certain that it will be! I will promise to come back and let everyone know the outcome of the entire butler experience, never having had a butler before - I've no experience myself.

We'll be on the cruise immediatly before you. Hope yours is topnotch.

[k9x8]

But if I walked in for my mammogram appointment and the tech was male, I'd feel very uncomfortable. Hard to pinpoint why exactly, I just would. Maybe it's the higher amount of hands-on manipulation required to do a mammogram as opposed to a standard ob-gyn exam (including breast exam), I don't know. <snip> Flame away; we are all allowed to have our preferences.

 

Er ... a butler isn't quite so hands on, so the comparison doesn't work.

 

We all have preferences. As for publicly announcing certain preferences, if we don't want negative feedback, discretion might be the better part of valor.