worst butler

[johnsak123]

Although my interaction with the butler and concierge is quite minimal when I sail I do expect them to give great service for my requests.

To hear you are over worked or busy is really not my issue. When you travel in a certain stateroom and pay for the perks you should receive them. I don't mean to sound snobby but it is their job and they should do it with a smile.

Personalities are sometimes like food. One person likes the other doesn't.

I for one did not like the concierge on the Gem Ryan. Yet people love him.

I rarely asked him for anything and when I did he was actually quite dismissive and aloof. Coincidentally, my friends had a similar issue with him the day before and only told me when i mentioned how rude he was. Different strokes....

BTW Why cant people just name names and not give initials. I can never figure out who they are talking about.

[MonicaV]

Orlando was our butler on our Star cruise in 2012. He was excellent. Our butler on our Jewel cruise was not quite as good but I don't think that anyone could possibly measure up to Orlando. Has anyone else had Orlando as their butler ?

[philip_eunice1]

Folks quit complaining about creature comforts.....Just send all the bad ones to me! I can use some /ANY butler service around the house!:D;)

 

 

That's what I have a wife and grown up children for

 

 

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[tumblew467]

The first butler experience we had was when we were booked in an aft cabin on the Pearl. Our butler was very friendly, but seemed a little stressed at times. It turned out that he was responsible for training a new person and had cabins in the front of the ship as well. He was friendly, professional and responsive, but not the best we have experienced. We never had any needs that were not met, but we did not require much anyway.

 

Has anyone else been in an Haven aft suite? What was your experience?

 

Hey beachmonkey we were on the same cruise as you in May on the Breakaway.We had the aft haven suite. Our butler was good, I don't need alot. and am not high maintenance. I felt bad for him for every time I was speaking to him his phone was non stop ringing. He stopped by every day and asked how things were going and if we needed anything. brought us daily snacks and the beers I requested to have in the late afternoon.

We never met him till the 2nd day for we were out and about busy the 1st day with shows, dinner and just learning the layout of the ship. He brought me the menus from the restaurants as I requested as well.We had breakfast in the room a few times and he would call and say he was on his way. He was always on time with it.

I do think they are stretched thin at times depending on what type of guests there are-some more demanding than others.I told him the first time I met him not to worry that I would not call him from the pool and say could you bring me my sunglasses that I forgot in the room.lol

[ClaireAndMike]

This is just me, but I think I would feel very awkward having a butler. I don't really "require" much, and if I do need something, I'd rather get it for myself. The whole concept seems strange to me. Maybe I'm just confused as to what their true purpose is. I'm extremely low maintenance.

 

Maybe I'll find out in August when I have my first "Haven encounter."

[ClaireAndMike]

I'm very similar to you it seems! Regarding the retrieving sunglasses from the pool scenario, do people seriously ask them to do stuff like that??? (I'm sure they do) And are they seriously expected to do so?!?!

 

Hey beachmonkey we were on the same cruise as you in May on the Breakaway.We had the aft haven suite. Our butler was good, I don't need alot. and am not high maintenance. I felt bad for him for every time I was speaking to him his phone was non stop ringing. He stopped by every day and asked how things were going and if we needed anything. brought us daily snacks and the beers I requested to have in the late afternoon.

We never met him till the 2nd day for we were out and about busy the 1st day with shows, dinner and just learning the layout of the ship. He brought me the menus from the restaurants as I requested as well.We had breakfast in the room a few times and he would call and say he was on his way. He was always on time with it.

I do think they are stretched thin at times depending on what type of guests there are-some more demanding than others.I told him the first time I met him not to worry that I would not call him from the pool and say could you bring me my sunglasses that I forgot in the room.lol

Edited May 31, 2014 by ClaireAndMike

[2Cruise4Ever]

We have had fantastic butlers and good butlers. But I wouldn't call anyone bad. But if I had some of the experiences mentioned here I'd definitely say he/she was bad. Ravi is our absolute favorite, followed by Armando...who brought a bowl of gummy bears for our kids one day as a surprise. He also asked us every day what our plans were and tried to anticipate everything. Ravi was the same way...love them both!!!

 

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[cyndepet]

We just got off the Breakaway today from an aft suite and Roy was our butler. He came and met us the first day. We told him we loved coffee and my DH loved choc chip cookies and I liked sliced fruit. He kept us well stocked all week. We only had him bring breakfast once and that was right on time. He kept asking if there was something more he could do for us and seemed almost disappointed we didn't use his services more. But we liked him, and he made a point to stop and talk when we saw him off the ship in Bermuda. This was our first butler experience and we were not disappointed!

 

 

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[dexddd]

We just got off the Breakaway today from an aft suite and Roy was our butler. He came and met us the first day. We told him we loved coffee and my DH loved choc chip cookies and I liked sliced fruit. He kept us well stocked all week. We only had him bring breakfast once and that was right on time. He kept asking if there was something more he could do for us and seemed almost disappointed we didn't use his services more. But we liked him, and he made a point to stop and talk when we saw him off the ship in Bermuda. This was our first butler experience and we were not disappointed!

 

 

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We had Roy on our trip in March and he is a very nice guy. For servicing the aft rooms they have to draw from the front galley they told me so it is always a bit of a hike for them to service the aft cabins on the BA.

[rossworld]

We recently returned from an 11 da cruise on the Sun. We had a penthouse ( family ) suite. We have been on several NCL cruises and most cruises were in a penthouse so we had a butler. Maybe we are the exception but we didn't ask for anything out of the ordinary. He brought the daily treats and we asked him to change the champagne in cabin for a merlot. I like when the butler isn't checking on us and bothering us and I don't especially need to make a new friend, ask about his homeland, does he like his job etc.

 

Actually the concierge for the suites bothered me. Every breakfast and lunch at the La Cucina on the Sun ( changed name from Il Adagio ) she would visit our table and make small talk. I felt it was rude to continue eating when she was talking to us and often she would go on and on for at least 5 min. The only thing we asked her to do was make reservations for dinner one night at Le Bistro and when we showed up, the lady said there was no reservation for us. She seated us anyway. Of course we generously tipped the concierge and butler even though we are totally low maintenance and ended up making our own reservations.

 

We were on the same cruise. We thought the concierge, Leah was fantastic.

She made our cruise amazing. We certainly enjoyed the chats at Breakfast and lunch. Covered many of the things we wanted to do at that time.

[ImADaneFan]

We just got off the Breakaway today from an aft suite and Roy was our butler. He came and met us the first day. We told him we loved coffee and my DH loved choc chip cookies and I liked sliced fruit. He kept us well stocked all week. We only had him bring breakfast once and that was right on time. He kept asking if there was something more he could do for us and seemed almost disappointed we didn't use his services more. But we liked him, and he made a point to stop and talk when we saw him off the ship in Bermuda. This was our first butler experience and we were not disappointed!

 

 

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We had Roy on our trip in March and he is a very nice guy. For servicing the aft rooms they have to draw from the front galley they told me so it is always a bit of a hike for them to service the aft cabins on the BA.

 

 

Do you know if Roy's last name was Perigrino? (sp). We had him as our butler on our Gem TA a couple of years ago and he was fantastic! We're on BA in September in an aft suite and hope it's him.

 

 

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[Winchester Ranger]

I'd be a lot more interested to read some of the butler's stories about how they were treated by passengers.

 

Personally I think it's a miracle that the Phillipines doesn't declare war on us.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Winchester Ranger

[SissasMomE]

I'd be a lot more interested to read some of the butler's stories about how they were treated by passengers.

 

 

This. I'm with you!

[Love my butler]

This is just me, but I think I would feel very awkward having a butler. I don't really "require" much, and if I do need something, I'd rather get it for myself. The whole concept seems strange to me. Maybe I'm just confused as to what their true purpose is. I'm extremely low maintenance.

 

Maybe I'll find out in August when I have my first "Haven encounter."

 

Does having a room steward feel awkward? They don't do anything you can't do yourself very easily. Most people cruise so they don't have to do it themselves. No cooking, cleaning, house work. The butler is just another cog in the wheel to add to the relaxation of a cruise.

[Love my butler]

 

Personally I think it's a miracle that the Phillipines doesn't declare war on us.

 

Probably because the billions of dollars they make from Americans would go away and they would be a 4th world country instead of just a 3rd world country.

[mugtech]

 

Personally I think it's a miracle that the Phillipines doesn't declare war on us.

 

Because the USA killed hundreds of thousands of Filipinos after taking the islands from the Spanish after the war in 1898? Because Harry Truman promised Filipino vets the same GI benefits as USA and then never followed through? The treatment of butlers means very little to people of a country whose main export is people.

[dexddd]

Do you know if Roy's last name was Perigrino? (sp). We had him as our butler on our Gem TA a couple of years ago and he was fantastic! We're on BA in September in an aft suite and hope it's him.

 

 

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Yes and the spelling looks right although I'd have to check the card he gave us. They rotate rooms every two weeks on the BA.

[Ericktina]

I'd be a lot more interested to read some of the butler's stories about how they were treated by passengers.

 

Personally I think it's a miracle that the Phillipines doesn't declare war on us.

Amen.

[JMHAM1]

Our steward made up our room. Not the butler. Unusual.

 

Yes you are correct. I meant I thought it was odd that they split the stewards. Our butler was the same and was just ok. She seemed to favor my cabin over hubby's not sure why. I think it is linked to the work of the steward.

 

 

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[teseo]

I was on the breakaway in a Haven aft and I feel we had the worst butler ever. I think we annoyed him every time we talked to him. I really liked our night butler. He would bring our morning coffee and danishes. and he always made us feel like he enjoyed doing it!

 

So ask you, did you have a crappy butler? If so, did his name start with a J?

 

Hi There, your yesterday's post about the FCC was removed this morning. i responded to you but i believe you were off already. my email is breakaway11232014@gmail.com i live in your area (wayne, nj) so we can do the exchange really easy. please let me know by email. thanks

[PDIDDYwife]

Would have to say in our experience more bad guests than butlers

Our children have experienced tantrums by entitled guests that put Veruca Salt to shame.

 

 

Yelling at the pool that their drink is not right, shouting in the hallways for help)

When ice was not delivered on time, dropping wet towels outside the suite door in the hallway and cackling about it...they are usually the same folks that younger bragging about their net worth and the size of their .........portfolios at the Captain's cocktail party.

 

Not all suite guests are like this. But maybe some days the butlers have had just a few too many encounters with ladies and gents ( cough cough) who behave like brats .

 

I am with Winchester Ranger. Plus I loved his review a while back!

 

And dollars to donuts it is these fools who don't tip the butler staff. Or press a five into their palm and feel magnanimous.

Edited July 17, 2014 by PDIDDYwife

[Paphillyguy]

We had Gian on the Breakaway in the Haven last September and thought he was very good along with Eugene the room Steward. They both were very attentive but not obtrusive.

[ClarkBHM]

Do you know if Roy's last name was Perigrino? (sp). We had him as our butler on our Gem TA a couple of years ago and he was fantastic! We're on BA in September in an aft suite and hope it's him.

 

We also had Roy on the Gem a few years ago. Excellent service! My five year old daughter was celebrating her birthday on the ship, but is gluten-free. We had arranged for her to have a gluten-free cake to celebrate at dinner.

 

Our ship was diverted from Bermuda to a Bahamas cruise, so our original plan (birthday at sea) was to have her birthday at Disney World. When we got back from Disney World, we found that Roy had set our table for dessert, her cake as the centerpiece, and a nice card from NCL. It was a great surprise to everyone and was nicely done. Definitely a highlight of the trip!

[galleycook]

We just got off the Breakaway today from an aft suite and Roy was our butler. He came and met us the first day. We told him we loved coffee and my DH loved choc chip cookies and I liked sliced fruit. He kept us well stocked all week. We only had him bring breakfast once and that was right on time. He kept asking if there was something more he could do for us and seemed almost disappointed we didn't use his services more. But we liked him, and he made a point to stop and talk when we saw him off the ship in Bermuda. This was our first butler experience and we were not disappointed!

 

 

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We also had Roy as our butler on the GEM a few years ago. He moved to the Breakaway when it started sailing. He was excellent. We were in the GV but are pretty low maintenance guests. Everything he did was spot on and he was very personable. He told us one day that he would be off on Bermuda fishing and if we needed anything, the other butler would look after us. We just told him to have a good time.

 

My daughter still talks to him occasionally on Facebook.

 

We have another GEM trip planned in Sept……I wonder if he’d come back for a week :)

[Hikini]

I'm sorry your butler experience wasn't what you wanted or expected. We've had excellent butlers each time and I always want to tuck them in my bags and take them home with us!

 

Sometimes there may be a bit of a language barrier but we've always seen them make every effort to get it right.