Can anyone share a list of services you have requested from a Butler?

[petersonwith3]

Hi there - I am going on the Summit next month with a group of 17 - we have the PH and a few royal suites and we are all new to Celebrity and having a butler. I have done the research here to see all the services provided. I have also seen where some have created a personalized list of services that are important to them, which they provide to the butler upon embarcation.

 

Does anyone here have an example of a list that you have used that I may be able to look at? I saw some postings about a list but they are very old now and the posters are no longer active.

 

Thanks so much - Tina

 

email: orders@bunzie.com

[Grover-Lee]

I'd be interested in a list as well. We'll be in a PH on the Millie in May. First time sailing with Celebrity. Really looking forward to it!! :):):)

[dodger1964]

If someone cancels I can fill in at last minute:)

 

The only thing we used our butler for was to bring us breakfast and dinner each day.

 

I'm sure sky's the limit to what you can request.

[junetraveler2014]

From what I read on CC, just about any thing (with-in reason) you heart desires. Parties in your cabin, extra strawberries, reservations, seating preferences in restaurants, breakfast in cabin, lunch in cabin, diner in cabin, extra snacks..Seems what ever you need just ask, if he/she can't oblige, you will be directed to who can. Was advised that when requiring service, just be sure to give plenty of heads up time, The butler is not just yours:D. Enjoy your cruise.

[Pilot70D]

We were just on the Eclipse and in a Sky Suite. Our butler did a fantastic job.

 

Our CC group did a cabin crawl and our cabin was the last stop on the tour. The day before I asked our butler to have a couple of plates of cheese and crackers for this event. WOW, did he ever do a great job. We had plates of cheese and crackers. We had bowls of fruit. We had plates of cocktail shrimp. We had plates of cookies. The charge for all this largesse - nothing.

 

We asked him of there was going to be a behind the scene engine room tour. Lo and behold the following day we had an invitation in the holder on our door.

 

Our butler found out that I really like oatmeal raisin cookies. If we weren't in the room when he made the afternoon rounds then there would be a BIG plate of said cookies. Now this was both good news and bad news. I never met an oatmeal raisin cookie I didn't like plus I was brought up that it was a sin to waste food. You know how hard it is to eat 8-10 fresh oatmeal raisin cookies?????

 

The jacket for my tux got a little creased during travel. No problem, he took it and probably pressed it himself. No bill showed up for that service.

 

On debarkation day we asked our butler if he could show us a Celebrity Suite, A royal Suite and a Penthouse Suite. This was our first cruise on an S class and we were curious. He cheerfully conducted a tour of these now unoccupied suites. He pointed out what he thought were the good points of each suite.

 

Like I wrote earlier, our butler did a fantastic job. We tipped him accordingly and put a nice write up on our comment card.

 

Being in a suite is addictive and it sort of spoils you forever after. I do hope my write up is helpful. Now go enjoy that next cruise.

:):):):)

 

 

 

 

[mahdnc]

Each night, we had our butler leave us a couple of MDR desserts to greet us in our suite when we came back from the evening show.

 

We were part of the Eclipse cabin crawl that ended in Pilot70D's suite, and I can attest to the fact that the butler laid out a nice spread for all of us!

Edited February 12, 2014 by mahdnc

[alcpa1]

If you wish the butler will unpack for you.

He will have your shoes shined.

He will expedite your laundry.

He will book specialty restaurants. If you choose to dine in Blu he can make arrangements with the maître 'd.

If you wish additional towels, just ask.

If you want another type of pillow or an egg crate for your bed, just ask.

I misplaced a piece of jewelry and I knew it was my fault. The butler interceded with the Head of Housekeeping to protect the cabin steward. When I found the jewelry the butler handled all communications with the HOH. This also involved the ship's security and I was so grateful for his help.

Do let your butler know your preferences. He will ask. He will let you know when he has free time and will provide a phone number for you to call for service. It should be in your book on the desk but he will probably point it out.

He will make your cruise as wonderful as you imagine so enjoy every minute.

[Project_gal]

The point of a butler is to make your cruise great. That means meeting your wishes/needs/requirements and not those of someone else. What you need to do is discuss what you would like with him [or her].

 

My advice is to discuss what you would like to achieve to make your cruise perfect and not how you [or someone on Cruise Critic] think it should be achieved. Your butler is the best person to decide how to do it. He knows the ship, the other crew on board at the time and any particular circumstances for that cruise. He is the one that knows how to make things happen.

 

The only thing I would point out is that your party may or may not all have the same butler. The butlers always work together but it may help to explain early on who the others in your party are. However, please bear in mind that your butler will definitely have other guests to serve in addition to your party of 17. Any suite with more than two guests can be a great deal of additional work for a butler and stateroom attendants. I know that they do not look forward to them. Multiple such rooms mean a very heavy workload.

[Northern Aurora]

If you wish the butler will unpack for you.

 

......

 

If you wish additional towels, just ask.

If you want another type of pillow or an egg crate for your bed, just ask.

 

Just a point of clarification -- the first butler we ever had told us that they will not unpack for you unless you are present, and so we never asked again since, if we had to be there, it seemed to defeat the purpose. And stateroom attendants will provide additional towels, and also provide other types of pillows and egg crates for beds.

 

We find that we don't use butlers much, but when there is a problem, they are very valuable. Some of the problems can be very minor, such as on one cruise when we wanted to be in one of the last groups off the ship. The butler interceded with Guest Relations and quickly was back to the stateroom with the new disembarkement luggage tags.

[drarill]

Just a point of clarification -- the first butler we ever had told us that they will not unpack for you unless you are present, and so we never asked again since, if we had to be there, it seemed to defeat the purpose. And stateroom attendants will provide additional towels, and also provide other types of pillows and egg crates for beds.

 

We find that we don't use butlers much, but when there is a problem, they are very valuable. Some of the problems can be very minor, such as on one cruise when we wanted to be in one of the last groups off the ship. The butler interceded with Guest Relations and quickly was back to the stateroom with the new disembarkement luggage tags.

We don't use the butlers much either. Only order in room breakfast a couple of days… we still tip them generously at the end of the cruise. :)

[Maligator]

Our first time, we didn't know what to do with him. He booked our specialty restaurants and served us dinner one night. Last time, she had iced tea for us every afternoon (without asking; she just knew!), handled our laundry and served our dinner the final night. We're low-maintenance I guess.

[waterbug123]

Does anyone here have an example of a list that you have used that I may be able to look at?

 

We've had our butlers do some fairly standard things like book a dinner reservation or have a garment pressed on short notice. A little more out of the norm:

 

We usually miss the afternoon tea cart so we ask our butler to please leave a couple of little finger sandwiches or canapes even if we're not there, and we enjoy them while getting ready for dinner.

 

Officially there is no room service on debarkation morning but I asked our butler if there was any way he could just bring us some coffee. He made no promises, but bright and early on debarkation he was at our cabin with coffee and toast. :)

 

We were on a cruise with a friend who was celebrating a birthday. We wanted to get a single rose from the flower cart they usually have onboard so asked the butler where such a cart was located and what time someone attended it so we could take her a rose at dinner. He insisted on taking care of it himself and delivered a rose (actually it may have been two roses) in a bud vase to our cabin just before dinner.

 

A group of 8 of us had 2 alcoves and asked the butlers (3 of the 4 couples had a butler) about a cheese plate or other snacks and ended up with all sorts of cheese and crackers, fruit, shrimp cocktail, canapes etc. delivered to us in our alcoves.

[cle-guy]

Here's my Butler list.

 

ON ARRIVAL

Clean shoes

press whatever needs it on arrival

Let him know on premium drink package to handle beverage needs

Confirm formal nights

Replace complimentary 2 bottles of booze with Orange Grey Goose & Regular Grey Goose

Clear mini bar so no charges for use (or move to storage someplace and alert minibar staff)

2 extra blankets (one if 1 is in closet, for bed and sofa/verandah)

Pillow selection

extra bath mat if not already 2

Leave outdoor whirlpool filled when not in use. i’ll drain when it needs cleaned.

 

DAILY

7am (adjust ahead 1 hour to 8 if we changed the clock forward overnight)

coffee with half&half sugar large mug (3 shot Americano plus pot of coffee)

asstd. muffin/danish

cut fruit cup no melon….i like berries pineapple grapes

carafe fresh squeezed OJ (bfst and cocktails)

 

after 10 am

4 500 ml bottles Evian

drink garnishes: asstd. lime, lemon, orange slices, celery stalks, salt, pepper, Tobasco, green olives

bucket of ice

Verify glassware for 8 - champs - red wine - rocks glasses

2 soda/2 tonic/2 Coke restocked as needed

 

AFTERNOON

replace any used from above

nuts/salty snacks?

cheese plate - leave overnight to morning for late night snacking.

Leave assortment of sandwiches and sweets if not there

Place champagne on ice

Place bottle of Evian and Coke in ice

[petersonwith3]

Here's my Butler list.

 

ON ARRIVAL

Clean shoes

press whatever needs it on arrival

Let him know on premium drink package to handle beverage needs

Confirm formal nights

Replace complimentary 2 bottles of booze with Orange Grey Goose & Regular Grey Goose

Clear mini bar so no charges for use (or move to storage someplace and alert minibar staff)

2 extra blankets (one if 1 is in closet, for bed and sofa/verandah)

Pillow selection

extra bath mat if not already 2

Leave outdoor whirlpool filled when not in use. i’ll drain when it needs cleaned.

 

DAILY

7am (adjust ahead 1 hour to 8 if we changed the clock forward overnight)

coffee with half&half sugar large mug (3 shot Americano plus pot of coffee)

asstd. muffin/danish

cut fruit cup no melon….i like berries pineapple grapes

carafe fresh squeezed OJ (bfst and cocktails)

 

after 10 am

4 500 ml bottles Evian

drink garnishes: asstd. lime, lemon, orange slices, celery stalks, salt, pepper, Tobasco, green olives

bucket of ice

Verify glassware for 8 - champs - red wine - rocks glasses

2 soda/2 tonic/2 Coke restocked as needed

 

AFTERNOON

replace any used from above

nuts/salty snacks?

cheese plate - leave overnight to morning for late night snacking.

Leave assortment of sandwiches and sweets if not there

Place champagne on ice

Place bottle of Evian and Coke in ice

 

Thanks so much to you (and all others) for the input. I'm so excited for the trip and now even more so!!!

 

Tina

[beirne]

We had Arnel as our butler on Silhouette in the Med last summer. He was so great my wife wanted to bring him home! (and I'm only partly kidding!)

We asked if we could request him the next time we sailed, and he said yes, its done frequently. Apparently, butlers are assigned to the same ship for 2-3 years.

Anyone else have experience with this?

[BonnieVA]

Apparently, butlers are assigned to the same ship for 2-3 years.

Anyone else have experience with this?

 

Not necessarily. Sometimes they're given their assignments & then X switches things up on them out of the blue. One butler was told last year he was assigned to Century until it leaves the fleet & then a week later told he was reassigned to another ship. They try to keep them on the same ship but their assignments are mostly based on where they're needed when it's time to return to work. And they also sometimes move around within the ship, even within their contract. So a butler might be working deck 12 & then a few weeks later move to deck 10 (or whatever).

[cle-guy]

We had Arnel as our butler on Silhouette in the Med last summer. He was so great my wife wanted to bring him home! (and I'm only partly kidding!)

We asked if we could request him the next time we sailed, and he said yes, its done frequently. Apparently, butlers are assigned to the same ship for 2-3 years.

Anyone else have experience with this?

 

They rotate in my experience. I had Chip on my transatlantic in April 2013, and he was on my 5 night Connie a couple weeks ago. Last year I had Jonathan on Connie, and this year had his replacement who said Jonathan had moved.

 

I'm sure there are a number of factors that go into where X places their staff and for how long they stay there.

[petersonwith3]

The point of a butler is to make your cruise great. That means meeting your wishes/needs/requirements and not those of someone else. What you need to do is discuss what you would like with him [or her].

 

My advice is to discuss what you would like to achieve to make your cruise perfect and not how you [or someone on Cruise Critic] think it should be achieved. Your butler is the best person to decide how to do it. He knows the ship, the other crew on board at the time and any particular circumstances for that cruise. He is the one that knows how to make things happen.

 

The only thing I would point out is that your party may or may not all have the same butler. The butlers always work together but it may help to explain early on who the others in your party are. However, please bear in mind that your butler will definitely have other guests to serve in addition to your party of 17. Any suite with more than two guests can be a great deal of additional work for a butler and stateroom attendants. I know that they do not look forward to them. Multiple such rooms mean a very heavy workload.

 

I am not sure what you are trying to say here. I have no intention of telling the butler HOW to do their job as you mention, but I do find it valuable for them and me to provide a written list, organized by day. This way we can be on the same page. I greatly appreciate all of the input that I have recieved from many of my cruise critic peers, this has helped me formulate the best list of items for me.

 

Finally, your last paragraph about not burdening them with my requests, especially the part about the butlers/attendants not looking forward to serving cabins with more than two guests is just ludicris. They are tipped by person, not by cabin so I would venture to say that they are pleased. I have never had a bad experience with cabin attendants on any cruise in my life, including when I had up to 5 in one cabin (back in the old days of inside cabins) and when I have been in a suite with just 3 of us.

[olvrxyzh]

How much would you recommend tipping a butler for a 1 week cruise? Thanks!

[Nancyquilts]

How much would you recommend tipping a butler for a 1 week cruise? Thanks!

 

Considering that it seems they are already getting $3 per person per day over the tips for other cabins?

[CruisersTimesThree]

We had Arnel as our butler on Silhouette in the Med last summer. He was so great my wife wanted to bring him home! (and I'm only partly kidding!)

We asked if we could request him the next time we sailed, and he said yes, its done frequently. Apparently, butlers are assigned to the same ship for 2-3 years.

Anyone else have experience with this?

 

 

We did the exact same cruise on the Summit to Bermuda in June 2012, and June 2013. We even booked the same RS and was hoping very much that we would have the butler we had the first time (Benjamin)

Alas, we did not, but were very happy the second trip with Dominick.

We did ask if Benjamin was on the ship taking care of other suites and was told that he was on another ship, so I dont think butlers stay for years in the same place.

[Project_gal]

I am not sure what you are trying to say here. I have no intention of telling the butler HOW to do their job as you mention, but I do find it valuable for them and me to provide a written list, organized by day. This way we can be on the same page. I greatly appreciate all of the input that I have recieved from many of my cruise critic peers, this has helped me formulate the best list of items for me.

 

So many times we do read on the boards people deciding how to solve issues. For example, when suite guests have a large group of friends who want to avoid the MDR on formal night by having dinner in their suite. In this case, the person who knows the ship and the other demands of that particular cruise understands how this can best be achieved rather than fellow Cruise Critic members. [This is not us as we love formal night.] We have frequently found that our butler's solution is so much better than anything we could have thought of.

 

Finally, your last paragraph about not burdening them with my requests, especially the part about the butlers/attendants not looking forward to serving cabins with more than two guests is just ludicris. They are tipped by person, not by cabin so I would venture to say that they are pleased. I have never had a bad experience with cabin attendants on any cruise in my life, including when I had up to 5 in one cabin (back in the old days of inside cabins) and when I have been in a suite with just 3 of us.

 

It is not "ludicris". It has come up often in our discussions with our butlers. In fact, our last cruise was a B2B but we swapped PHs between cruises. For the second cruise, there were five in the PH we had originally. Our butler [the head butler] chose to swap PHs with his colleague so that he did not have to service the PH with five people despite this making his job more difficult. He had known for 15 days that we would be moving to the suite next door but made no suggestion about moving with us until they received the manifest for the next cruise. As for the gratuities: they have hinted that the more demanding the guests, the lower any additional tips are so there expectations are not high for larger parties.

[deise17311]

How much would you recommend tipping a butler for a 1 week cruise? Thanks!

 

We were just out of a CS on Reflection and tipped an extra $40...our butler was wonderful but the only extra we asked was for him to bring tea at 9:00 PM every night...plus the usual stuff...dinner on balcony one night, room service for a couple of lunches...

[deise17311]

Here's my Butler list.

 

ON ARRIVAL

Clean shoes

press whatever needs it on arrival

Let him know on premium drink package to handle beverage needs

Confirm formal nights

Replace complimentary 2 bottles of booze with Orange Grey Goose & Regular Grey Goose

Clear mini bar so no charges for use (or move to storage someplace and alert minibar staff)

2 extra blankets (one if 1 is in closet, for bed and sofa/verandah)

Pillow selection

extra bath mat if not already 2

Leave outdoor whirlpool filled when not in use. i’ll drain when it needs cleaned.

 

DAILY

7am (adjust ahead 1 hour to 8 if we changed the clock forward overnight)

coffee with half&half sugar large mug (3 shot Americano plus pot of coffee)

asstd. muffin/danish

cut fruit cup no melon….i like berries pineapple grapes

carafe fresh squeezed OJ (bfst and cocktails)

 

after 10 am

4 500 ml bottles Evian

drink garnishes: asstd. lime, lemon, orange slices, celery stalks, salt, pepper, Tobasco, green olives

bucket of ice

Verify glassware for 8 - champs - red wine - rocks glasses

2 soda/2 tonic/2 Coke restocked as needed

 

AFTERNOON

replace any used from above

nuts/salty snacks?

cheese plate - leave overnight to morning for late night snacking.

Leave assortment of sandwiches and sweets if not there

Place champagne on ice

Place bottle of Evian and Coke in ice

 

This is a great list and of course perfectly acceptable for your travel and suite...however, I am shocked you have not been attacked without mercy on CC...anything people think is over and above gets flamed like crazy...good for you for knowing your travel needs...seems like people here feel some sort of guilt for the staff so insist on asking for nothing because of their own stuff...it's like our cleaning lady, I do not clean prior to her arrival, but many do...weird to me...

[Dizney]

This is a great list and of course perfectly acceptable for your travel and suite...however, I am shocked you have not been attacked without mercy on CC...anything people think is over and above gets flamed like crazy...good for you for knowing your travel needs...seems like people here feel some sort of guilt for the staff so insist on asking for nothing because of their own stuff...it's like our cleaning lady, I do not clean prior to her arrival, but many do...weird to me...

 

:-) :-) :-)

Love this!