The Butler

[oceanal]

Hi friends,

 

First time on Celebrity and we booked a sky suite. I have never had a butler before and am uncertain about what he/she can do for us or what we should ask for. Can you give me a heads up on what is appropriate to request?

 

Thanks,

A

[cb at sea]

Pretty much whatever you need....they bring snacks, room service, take your laundry/dry cleaning...stuff like that.

[BellBoys]

They can also make dinner reservations for you and basically act as your liason for anything you need to get done onboard. He or she will provide you a business card with their extension so you can reach out to them as needed.

[Pantheral]

If you are travelling with friends/family in other cabins consider a sail away party in your suite. Our butlers have been great in organizing the event - sending invitations to guests, bringing appetizers, serving drinks, etc. Our experience has been this is one thing they enjoy doing the most! Of course a little extra tip we give for doing this helps I am sure. :)

 

The other thing we enjoy on days when we don't have a full schedule in port is to have the butler set-up breakfast on the balcony.

 

Enjoy your trip and don't be afraid to ask the butler how he can help you.

[Olive1950]

If you are travelling with friends/family in other cabins consider a sail away party in your suite. Our butlers have been great in organizing the event - sending invitations to guests, bringing appetizers, serving drinks, etc. Our experience has been this is one thing they enjoy doing the most! Of course a little extra tip we give for doing this helps I am sure. :)

 

The other thing we enjoy on days when we don't have a full schedule in port is to have the butler set-up breakfast on the balcony.

 

Enjoy your trip and don't be afraid to ask the butler how he can help you.

 

AMEN to the sailawY. In 2014 i had over 100 invited guests show up for a sailaway in one of the penthouses on Connie!! They ALL brought snacks with them. W.i had pre-ordered 10 bottles of champagne, along with snacks, crom my butler. It was so much fun.

 

We repeated it, in 2016, on Infinity. We also had a group birthday party and a 50th an iversary vow renewal ceremony. Needless to say, the butler was rewarded for his over-the-top efforts.

 

Methinks they THRIVE on this, especially if they're compensated.... They do not appear to enjoy standing around with little to do (my opinion.)

[Chessholme]

A fellow passenger in Michaels Club told us our butler would save a front row seat in the theatre for either the 7pm or 9 pm show but only on the evening chic nights. We felt like real celebrities, certainly enjoyed that!

 

 

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[TRadle]

If you are travelling with friends/family in other cabins consider a sail away party in your suite. Our butlers have been great in organizing the event - sending invitations to guests, bringing appetizers, serving drinks, etc. Our experience has been this is one thing they enjoy doing the most! Of course a little extra tip we give for doing this helps I am sure. :)

 

The other thing we enjoy on days when we don't have a full schedule in port is to have the butler set-up breakfast on the balcony.

 

Enjoy your trip and don't be afraid to ask the butler how he can help you.

 

How do you arrange the sail away party? We will be sailing with a large group and we have a Royal Suite and I would love to do this!

[bigbenboys]

How do you arrange the sail away party? We will be sailing with a large group and we have a Royal Suite and I would love to do this!

 

You just talk to your butler. He will want to know the names and or cabins of the people you wish to invite. The butler will send out invitations to your guests. Talk about what type of food you want.

[grab007]

Thank you SOOOO much for this thread! We too will be sailing on Equinox in Sept in a sky suite and have never had a butler. GREAT Info! We're traveling alone this time so parties are not in the plans but we look forward to breakfast on the balcony and his (or her!) help as DW is in a wheelchair and cannot walk. It sounds like they will make our trip extra special.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

How do you arrange the sail away party? We will be sailing with a large group and we have a Royal Suite and I would love to do this!

 

This would best be arranged with the shoreside concierge prior to your sailing. The butlers are very busy on sailaway day and might have trouble organizing a last-minute request such as this.

[CruisersTimesThree]

How do you arrange the sail away party? We will be sailing with a large group and we have a Royal Suite and I would love to do this!

 

Being you are in a RS, you should be contacted by the shoreside concierge for your particular ship who will check with you for any special requests you have.

I know others have reported that they never receive this call, but I did when we sailed in the PH on the Summit last summer.

I had a sail-away party set up through Katie (the Summit's concierge) and she then communicated it to the ship's concierge, Maja, before we sailed.

While we were at muster, the butler set up trays of shrimp cocktail, some hot appetizers, small sandwiches, and champagne. It was a pretty nice spread.

In the RS you will have a stocked fridge of beer, soda and water. This is another thing the shoreside will take care, tell them what you like, and it should be there and restocked as you use it.

We are sailing in July again in the PH on the Summit and Katie actually already contacted me because she saw our name on the reservation and wanted to say hi and to let me know she will be in contact in June for my requests. Great customer service is why we keep coming back to Celebrity!

[jules815]

Thank you SOOOO much for this thread! We too will be sailing on Equinox in Sept in a sky suite and have never had a butler. GREAT Info! We're traveling alone this time so parties are not in the plans but we look forward to breakfast on the balcony and his (or her!) help as DW is in a wheelchair and cannot walk. It sounds like they will make our trip extra special.

 

They will absolutely make it extra special. We were in a Sky Suite last year and anytime we ordered room service, our butler asked if we'd like to dine outside or in, and insisted on setting up either table with linens. Probably my nicest cruise to date.

 

Enjoy!

[TRadle]

You just talk to your butler. He will want to know the names and or cabins of the people you wish to invite. The butler will send out invitations to your guests. Talk about what type of food you want.

 

Thanks! I'll make sure I get everyone's information a couple of weeks before we sail.

[LadyVol1]

We're traveling alone but we look forward to breakfast on the balcony and his (or her!) help as DW is in a wheelchair and cannot walk. It sounds like they will make our trip extra special.

 

 

I'm assuming you booked an ADA Sky Suite with a roll-in shower. My 98-year old dad is wheelchair bound and we've found the Celebrity Eclipse ADA Sky Suites the BEST at sea (compared to HAL's ADA Neptune Suite or Regent's ADA suite). The front door automatically opens when you insert your key card and the bathroom door is extra wide and not so heavy that he is able to open it himself. (HAL's Neptune Suite ADA bathroom door is too heavy for dad to open.) The small ramp to/from the balcony is also a very modest incline/decline so he can roll over it by himself. To leave the Sky Suite push the button and the front door automatically opens. (Don't manually keep the front door open though, or a staff person will come to see if someone has fallen in the doorway!) If your wife needs anything special (commode chair, shower stool, extra grab bars around the toilet, etc.) contact Celebrity's ADA Dept. (or whatever it's called) now to order it and it will be in your Sky Suite waiting for you. They have lists (maybe with photos, I don't remember) of the assistive devices that are available.

 

I can't think of anything special that we use the Butler for other than requesting a standing order of tea/cheese/fruit/sweets at tea time every day since tea time is now officially only in Michael's Club from 3-4 PM and no longer automatically delivered to each Sky Suite every day and it's too hard for mom and dad to go to Michael's Club. Request it, though, and you'll get it delivered.

[Olive1950]

How do you arrange the sail away party? We will be sailing with a large group and we have a Royal Suite and I would love to do this!

 

Tradle: being in a RS, you should know that you have the services of a shoreside concierge who is dedicated to contacting the people booked in CS and above cabins. The concierges can help you arrange a sailaway in your suite.

 

If you haven't already heard from this person, simply contact Capt Club and ask for them to have the shoreside concierge for your ship contact you.

 

They normally reach out AFTEr final payment for your cruise has been received.

[chemmo]

Hi friends,

 

First time on Celebrity and we booked a sky suite. I have never had a butler before and am uncertain about what he/she can do for us or what we should ask for. Can you give me a heads up on what is appropriate to request?

 

Thanks,

A

 

The important thing about having a butler is to let him know what would enhance your cruise experience. For example, in the past we have rarely dined in suite but like a 'snack' (shrimp, cheese...) to be left to enjoy on the balcony late at night. We have always liked afternoon tea delivery to our room (and will continue next cruise to enjoy even though systems have changed).

 

Next cruise I will have some mobility issues and we may use the in suite dining option. We will inform our butler if we choose to order from room service.

 

One thing we have found is how much butlers appreciate knowing in advance what you want, be it a sail away party or in suite service. The more pre warning about what you want the more time they have to liaise with others and make your party or dining experience special. Also the butler can better plan his time to service all the suites in his care.

 

Also remember the Michael's Club host is there to make your cruise special too. If you want a bridge tour or a galley tour see him/her early in the cruise.

 

Hope you have a great cruise experience.

[bigbenboys]

As others have talked about. I would not do a sail away party on the 1st evening. For a number of reasons. The butlers are very busy the 1st day. Friends might have traveled a number of miles and are tried. You can have a sail away party any evening leaving from a port. We have been invited to 2 parties. One was a afternoon tea. The other was a sail away not on the 1st night.