Having a Butler in Penthouse

[DeeniEncinitas]

Just wondering we plan to have dinners in our stateroom from different restaurants!

With doing a TA we thought it would be fun as well as our reservations that we also get.

Question? With our dinners can our Butler go and get us O Martinis to have prior to our room service or with having the prestige beverage package we need to do it. Not a big deal, but I wondered if our Butler could. My husband said he does not think so.

Thanks for any reply’s!

Sincerely,

Denise😊

[StanandJim]

The Butlers will serve cocktails in your penthouse but they come via the room service bar, so they won't be big O Martinis, per se .  

FWIW, it's usually kinder, and cheaper to have the fixings in the room, and have the butler chill them and serve them à la minute. 

 

 

 

[Mura]

I would say that he can!  I don't think you need to have the package.  When we had a private pre-dinner party on Marina in November 2017 the butler collected all the drinks.  They were charged to the other parties, not just to us!

 

If you have the prestige package I wouldn't think there would be a problem.  At our party most of us did not have the drink package and he handled it.

 

We've always enjoyed the dinners "en suite" that we've had on the various ships although strangely enough we prefer the PH set-up on the "R" ships to those on the "O" ships.

 

Have a great time!  If you want the courses separately, let the butler know.  We generally haven't minded having the appetizers and main courses arrive at the same time although we did order desserts separately.  On more recent cruises we HAVE asked them to bring the courses separately, especially if we weren't all that hungry when the first course arrived!

 

P.S.  Jim & Stan posted while I was finishing up my post and I think his suggestion about the martinis is perfect!  We never thought to ask the butler to prepare our cocktails but that's no doubt because I just pour my vodka over ice and DH might have orange juice, no ice ...

 

Mura

Edited August 19, 2019 by Mura

[DeeniEncinitas]

19 minutes ago, StanandJim said:

The Butlers will serve cocktails in your penthouse but they come via the room service bar, so they won't be big O Martinis, per se .  

FWIW, it's usually kinder, and cheaper to have the fixings in the room, and have the butler chill them and serve them à la minute. 

 

 

 

Stan and Jim!!

Thankyou so much that makes it a lot easier! We have never had a butler and so looking forward to it!

Thankyou again👍

Denise😊

[DeeniEncinitas]

18 minutes ago, Mura said:

I would say that he can!  I don't think you need to have the package.  When we had a private pre-dinner party on Marina in November 2017 the butler collected all the drinks.  They were charged to the other parties, not just to us!

 

If you have the prestige package I wouldn't think there would be a problem.  At our party most of us did not have the drink package and he handled it.

 

We've always enjoyed the dinners "en suite" that we've had on the various ships although strangely enough we prefer the PH set-up on the "R" ships to those on the "O" ships.

 

Have a great time!  If you want the courses separately, let the butler know.  We generally haven't minded having the appetizers and main courses arrive at the same time although we did order desserts separately.  On more recent cruises we HAVE asked them to bring the courses separately, especially if we weren't all that hungry when the first course arrived!

 

P.S.  Jim & Stan posted while I was finishing up my post and I think his suggestion about the martinis is perfect!  We never thought to ask the butler to prepare our cocktails but that's no doubt because I just pour my vodka over ice and DH might have orange juice, no ice ...

 

Mura

Hi Mura😊

I knew I would get an answer from you!

We are looking forward to our time and it is great we can do this with our Butler! 

Having him make our drinks once chilled in fridge sounds perfect!!!! You know I will feel like a princess LOL!

Appreciate your input!

Have a great evening!

Demise😊

[Mura]

Glad I could help!  I was trying to remember if PHs get the suite package on the "R" ships that we get on the top 3 suites on the "O" ships.  I didn't think so ...but that certainly would make it easier to have the makings available for the butler!

 

Enjoy your in-suite dinners! We always did.

 

I should say that our last cruise we ordered a pork dish from Polo -- we both ordered the same dish and it was so enormous neither one of us could finish.  I only wish I could remember exactly what it was ...

 

Mura

 

[pinotlover]

The Butler’s have their own pantry bar where they they compliments to make many of the basic drinks along with wines. Once they realize a guest orders a particular wine regularly, they always have it in their pantry . On R ships, the pantry is on Deck 8 aft, on O ships it’s Deck 11aft. For cocktails they don’t have the ingredients for, they order from Martinis. I have often seen the Butler’s coming into Martinis to collect drinks they have ordered. If one has a Butler, personnel from Room Service are no longer used.

 

If one has a Premium Beverage Package ( BIB), the Butler will take the cards the first time and after that not collect them anymore. If no package, then the guest must give their cards and sign just like any bar each time.

 

The Butler’s are there to take care of requests like this and are a wonderful resource to utilize. We typically tell our Butler when we will be returning from port and return to our cabin to find our favorite adult beverages awaiting us along with canapés or nuts! The joys of a Butler!

[Mrs f.]

We have one for the first time on our upcoming Marina voyage.  Can the butler also get us additional specialty  restaurant reservations?

[GrammieK]

WOW!  I just never thought to ask the butler for drinks. I was (mistakingly) under the impression that the drink package was not accepted for room service or butler service. Next time....

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, Mrs f. said:

We have one for the first time on our upcoming Marina voyage.  Can the butler also get us additional specialty  restaurant reservations?

They will try their best - no guarantees.

Their chances are better than you trying yourself (usually).

[Mura]

Once upon a time (probably on Marina but I'm really not sure of the ship) we had a butler who on his own booked us into specialties just about every night of the cruise.  We ended up cancelling many of them since we're not as enamored of the specialties as many passengers are ... Once, maybe twice in a restaurant on a cruise suffices for us ... and usually no Red Ginger at all.  (That's just us, I'm not trying to tell people who love RG that they are wrong!  It's just wrong for us.)

 

[DeeniEncinitas]

3 hours ago, pinotlover said:

The Butler’s have their own pantry bar where they they compliments to make many of the basic drinks along with wines. Once they realize a guest orders a particular wine regularly, they always have it in their pantry . On R ships, the pantry is on Deck 8 aft, on O ships it’s Deck 11aft. For cocktails they don’t have the ingredients for, they order from Martinis. I have often seen the Butler’s coming into Martinis to collect drinks they have ordered. If one has a Butler, personnel from Room Service are no longer used.

 

If one has a Premium Beverage Package ( BIB), the Butler will take the cards the first time and after that not collect them anymore. If no package, then the guest must give their cards and sign just like any bar each time.

 

The Butler’s are there to take care of requests like this and are a wonderful resource to utilize. We typically tell our Butler when we will be returning from port and return to our cabin to find our favorite adult beverages awaiting us along with canapés or nuts! The joys of a Butler!

WOW! We will definitely be using our Butler for this!! You also answered my question that I was going to ask about our BIB ! So perfect for them to have our drinks ready for us in our room . 

Thankyou pinotlover!

Denise😊

[clo]

3 hours ago, pinotlover said:

canapés

Like what please?

[Misssmb]

Our butler knew we loved our afternoon champagne, so every day around 4 o’clock he would bring us two glasses of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries! Sometimes he would even bring us two glasses a piece because you cannot order the whole bottle when you are on the prestige package. 

[impala1ss]

How many dollars do you usually tip your butler for the cruise - just a general idea of what your tipped.