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

[dvanlinge]

So we were in line with you as we were only two in the cabin for 7 days, it just got to me that he disappeared after getting the tip.

[cle-guy]

[quote name='dvanlinge']day before disembarkation, through disembarkation day we didn't see him at all again.

[/QUOTE]

I find last day/departure I hardly see them either.

Sometimes I can't even find to tip last night or morning of, and end up leaving in an envelope in the cabin, hoping the steward doesn't take both :D

They have to be busy getting cabins ready for changeover. I've noticed things like a plastic bag of laundry and towels stashed under the bed, a small plastic bag stowed ion the back of drawer in bathroom of toiletries, that sort of thing.

[dvanlinge]

Yes, I expected that on disembarkation day but not the night before.

[Gonzo70]

[quote name='bonedoc7']The second time where the butler did nothing for us, and was almost rude when we asked for some desserts to be delivered for the kids at around 9 pm, we tipped an extra $100 for the four of us for a week. [/quote]

Why would you tip extra if the butler was rude and did not do anything for you? :confused:

[vulcan1971]

[quote name='cle-guy']I find last day/departure I hardly see them either.

Sometimes I can't even find to tip last night or morning of, and end up leaving in an envelope in the cabin, hoping the steward doesn't take both :D

They have to be busy getting cabins ready for changeover. I've noticed things like a plastic bag of laundry and towels stashed under the bed, a small plastic bag stowed ion the back of drawer in bathroom of toiletries, that sort of thing.[/quote]

Again, very similar to my experiences. The staff is quite busy ramping up and down at the same time when your cruise is coming to an end. I have also seen new bedding/towels/robes stashed in the closet in preparation for the following turnover day.

I usually wander up and down the hallway at turndown service the night prior to disembarkation to find the stateroom attendant and his/her assistant so that I can hand them an envelope that I have put together. To me, it means more if I can say a few words vs. just leaving the envelope behind and you not knowing if it got to the person it was intended. For the butler, I just give him/her a call and ask them to swing by the room when they are in the area for whatever reason.

[cle-guy]

[quote name='vulcan1971']

I usually wander up and down the hallway at turndown service the night prior to disembarkation to find the stateroom attendant and his/her assistant so that I can hand them an envelope that I have put together. To me, it means more if I can say a few words vs. just leaving the envelope behind and you not knowing if it got to the person it was intended. For the butler, I just give him/her a call and ask them to swing by the room when they are in the area for whatever reason.[/QUOTE]

I always have such good intentions then get so caught up once I leave the cabin at 5 that last night for martinis, dinner, show and final farewells into the wee hours of the morning, then it's 2 am, and out at 7 am for first call.

I have to get better....Although I did get to see my butler 'Chip' from my Eclipse Spring TA on departure. He was butlering a different section than I was in on my recent Connie cruise, and he remembered me with a smile, and my friends also were with me, he remembered too from the transatlantic. Fun running into familiar faces who seem to warmly also remember you. :-)

[petersonwith3]

me too (regarding the quality of this thread)

[chicagopaul]

We have not yet booked a suite on Celebrity but we are going to plan a rather extravagant 2015 cruise. Given the new "suite" perks and reading all the wonderful responses on this thread I think we will need to take the plunge and book one.

I love the idea of a sail away party and pre-printed invitations!

Lastly, I would like to add that I believe this is a great quality thread. The quality of responses and discussion have been wonderful. Why can't every thread be like this? :)

[cle-guy]

[quote name='chicagopaul']We have not yet booked a suite on Celebrity but we are going to plan a rather extravagant 2015 cruise. Given the new "suite" perks and reading all the wonderful responses on this thread I think we will need to take the plunge and book one.

[/QUOTE]

I am looking forward to it as well, however, there's sure to be a fare increase I imagine, the actual out-of pocket loss of revenue to them is kind of large:
[LIST]
[*]free beverage package for 2
[*] unlimited specialty dining
[*] open mini bar just to start....
[/LIST]

unless they are having problems filling suites now and they need to change things up to just fill them at existing prices. I have no idea how well fleet-wide the suites do sell.

My party was for a sail away on this past Thanksgivings Pied Piper cruise.... ;)

I found some nice invitations at zazzle.com and they had a awesome half price sale too....

[bonedoc7]

[quote name='Gonzo70']Why would you tip extra if the butler was rude and did not do anything for you? :confused:[/QUOTE]

I guess what I meant was that he really didn't go above and beyond. He still serviced us throughout the week, just not in the same way as our first guy. We always tip extra, sometimes more then others. It's just what we do. I always give the benefit of the doubt when we encounter "rude" people, sometimes it's just our perception, and nothing that was truly meant to sound rude. You never know what someone is going through, he might have heard bad news and felt our request for extra desserts was trivial at the time.

[chicagopaul]

[quote name='cle-guy']I am looking forward to it as well, however, there's sure to be a fare increase I imagine, the actual out-of pocket loss of revenue to them is kind of large:
[LIST]
[*]free beverage package for 2
[*] unlimited specialty dining
[*] open mini bar just to start....
[/LIST]

unless they are having problems filling suites now and they need to change things up to just fill them at existing prices. I have no idea how well fleet-wide the suites do sell.

My party was for a sail away on this past Thanksgivings Pied Piper cruise.... ;)

I found some nice invitations at zazzle.com and they had a awesome half price sale too....[/quote]

True; I'm hoping they don't increase prices too much....but there's no such thing as a free lunch so we will just have to wait and see. The good thing is we always purchase the premium drink package so as long as prices don't increase too much above the cost of the drink package it can be tolerable. I'm sure we would enjoy the specialty dining too and the open mini bar just sounds dangerous to me.

We visit at least 1 or 2 specialty restaurants per cruise, but we do enjoy the MDR.

One of the future cruises we are considering is a on the Pied Piper schedule (Hawaii cruise April 2015).

Thanks for the reco on zazzle, I'll have to check them out for all the little gatherings we throw.

[cle-guy]

[quote name='chicagopaul']
but we do enjoy the MDR.
[/QUOTE]

I agree. I actually forgot to use a Specialty on my Pied Piper that came with the cabin, I was having a nice time bouncing around the MDR meeting people each night and just forgot!

[petersonwith3]

Just bumping so that I can get any last comments...I leave three weeks from today!!!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

[quote name='richstowe']I am [B]very[/B] impressed with the quality of responses on this thread.

It might be a long time (perhaps never :(;)) before I get a suite but I have some questions.
How do the steward and the butler work together ? Some of the tasks that have been mentioned,
I have asked the steward to perform. (Knowing that stewards work as a team, I will speak to my cabins head steward) .
Does having a butler mean that the steward has less responsibility's ?
I guess what I'm really asking is how are the tasks allocated between them. There seems to be an overlap.[/QUOTE]

[FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="3"]Your butler and your cabin stewards are a team. They talk to one another. They all have phones. If there's something you need for the cabin, just ask the person you see first. If you want to arrange a cocktail party, best to deal directly with the butler. Do not stress over this--they're all there to make your cruise a pleasant experience.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[JEDIKNIGHT]

[quote name='HickoryShampoo']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.[/QUOTE]


Just curious, you said ‘he’ and then ‘she’. Does X have lady butlers?

I know I’ll get in trouble for this because there’s no way to say it without sounding piggish….but I’d feel uber weird having a woman butler…I guess i’d just feel terrible asking her to do stuff for me and I don’t know why I’m like this. I’ve enjoyed past butlers, used their services pretty well, tipped pretty well, and all was fine. But when I see a woman having to do stuff for me…be it a waitress at a restaurant or whatever, I feel bad. LOL at the grocery store if I have heavy groceries, I purposely don’t use the line with a female cashier because I hate seeing her have to lug the gallons of milk.

[Jayneykul]

Someone must be reading my mind! I opened the forum to post this exact question? WE are booked into a SS on Summit in May. Interesting to see your views on tips as last year on Equinox we were extremely unhappy with our steward. There were toenails on the verandah, the bedding was ripped. The bathroom was filthy, stuff missing from the room such as umbrellas and despite making a complaint at guest services nothing was done so we did not leave any extra tips. In fact we were the only ones we spoke to who paid the gratuities at all (perhaps thats because the cruise was mainly British) I think we will just be asking for some room service on the mornings we are in port but that will be very nice