What do you ask your butler for?

[CarolnLarry]

On 8/21/2019 at 9:51 PM, Russ_MT said:

 

Larry, we had an awesome cruise and enjoyed meeting you both.   However we booked the Royal Suite this time and generally are low maintenance.   But we're thinking, what else should our butler do for us?   Marco and Ing. had a sail away party in their RS and butlers provided snacks and drinks. 

 

Last time our butler brought, opened and poured a bottle of wine.  That's all nice.  But what is expected of butlers?   Especially in the RS?  I hear they will bring dinner to balcony.  That might be nice.   But besides minibar, extra towels, bottles of water, what should we expect from the butlers?   We don't want to be demanding, but maybe there are things we should ask for. 

 

On NCL, our butler in Haven brought us daily snacks, sandwiches, gummy bears, M&Ms and such.   We didn't ask but was nice to have provided.   I'm sure other YC guests want to know what butler services adds to their experience. 

 

And we really don't want escorts to anything or my shoes shined.  But maybe other perks would be nice for the up charge of YC.  MSC seams to push butler service in YC and I was wondering what they provide.  

 

--Russ

We thought and thought about your poor delema of being in a RS.  After the butler escorts you to your suite tell him and the room steward:

1,You want an extra key card to keep in the slot so the electricity doesn't shut down when you leave your room

2,  Take the duvet off the bed for your whole trip as it gets in the way and the room steward will love not having to throw that 

         big. heavy thing around

3.  Get an extra ice bucket that fits on the bottom shelf for all guests you will have visit

4  Tell him the wine/ alcohol that you like and he will see to it is there for you.  I had a glass of Titos vodka in the mini bar every day. 

 

 

[Russ_MT]

1 hour ago, CarolnLarry said:

We thought and thought about your poor delema of being in a RS.  After the butler escorts you to your suite tell him and the room steward:

1,You want an extra key card to keep in the slot so the electricity doesn't shut down when you leave your room

2,  Take the duvet off the bed for your whole trip as it gets in the way and the room steward will love not having to throw that 

         big. heavy thing around

3.  Get an extra ice bucket that fits on the bottom shelf for all guests you will have visit

4  Tell him the wine/ alcohol that you like and he will see to it is there for you.  I had a glass of Titos vodka in the mini bar every day. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the tips Larry.  We'll do that.  Gotta get some friends to enjoy the big cabin. 

 

When are you and Carol cruising next?  Would love to connect. 

 

We are doing RCL Symphony the week prior in a crown loft suite.  So nice.   Then finishing off in MSC RS the week after.   MSC yacht club is sooooo nice.   I hope they don't raise prices.  It's a hidden gem. 

 

--Russ

[CarolnLarry]

19 hours ago, Russ_MT said:

 

 

Thanks for the tips Larry.  We'll do that.  Gotta get some friends to enjoy the big cabin. 

 

When are you and Carol cruising next?  Would love to connect. 

 

We are doing RCL Symphony the week prior in a crown loft suite.  So nice.   Then finishing off in MSC RS the week after.   MSC yacht club is sooooo nice.   I hope they don't raise prices.  It's a hidden gem. 

 

--Russ

Hey Russ we would love to join you but we just got off a BTB the first of July.  

Sounds like you will have a great time in the RS.  Make sure you have the butler bring you breakfast on the balcony.

One other thing our butler did for us the last trip was get me American coffee in a to go cup from the bar.  He knew I didn’t like the strong coffee so he recommended this , It is a coffee mixed with hot water. The  to go cup is the only cup they had that was Big enough todo this.  I would hit the make up the room switch and he or the room steward

would know I was awake so they got my coffee. Since you will always have a card in the slot you will use the room status switches as a code to the butler and room steward.

They always  seemed to know where we were most of the time.

be sure and ask about the noon seafood buffet in the Top Sail, only one day, it was great.  First time I had grilled lobster  tail.

I am really getting spoiled sailing in the YC.

The YC is getting harder to get and no price deals, Carol got 30% off from  a casino deal and a discount from my TA. So our little Social SEcurity checks covered the rest.  Have fun Larry

[djzuz]

On 8/22/2019 at 9:39 AM, marcoigna said:

 

good day guys - hope all is well with you both - we are going on the Meraviglia for 13nights at the end of October in the Royal Suite once again...Although the service is identical no matter what category you are booked in the YC - here are things we did:

-  we did have dinner on our balcony for 8 of us 1 night - truly amazing ...

-  of course you  get  the cabana for the duration of thee cruise, but the amenities just once for the week....again, i was the one that pushed this and started back on our sailing in February of 2018....

-  sometime we went to some private beaches, so we had our butler prepare us a cooler full of drinks - so that was nice as where we go to there are no bars / restaurants etc...so that worked out perfect.

-  aside from that, the service is the same...and the YC includes so much, it hard to ask for more..

- we also bought a 40 piece laundry service, but our butler never counted the items, he just said "let me take care of this for you"- i told him we were over, and he said "no issue"

 

so i hope this helps a little bit.... 

 

hope to see you both one day again...

 

we just booked the Seaview for next year to travel from Rome to Dubai.....

  

marcoigna- My Dad & I were on the Seaside in YC with you last December on Week 1 or your 2. It looks like we will be embarking on the Meraviglia the day you disembark in November! Looking forward to your thoughts and insights on YC aboard the Meraviglia. We will be following your ship a few days out of NYC on the Regal Princess as she repositions down to FLL on a 10 day voyage. 

 

Will you be live blogging?

Edited August 26, 2019 by djzuz

[marcoigna]

1 hour ago, djzuz said:

marcoigna- My Dad & I were on the Seaside in YC with you last December on Week 1 or your 2. It looks like we will be embarking on the Meraviglia the day you disembark in November! Looking forward to your thoughts and insights on YC aboard the Meraviglia. We will be following your ship a few days out of NYC on the Regal Princess as she repositions down to FLL on a 10 day voyage. 

 

Will you be live blogging?

 

good day - nice to hear from you my friend and sorry we are just going to miss you - it would have been fun to hook up again - 

we are very much looking forward to the Meraviglia  - we think it is going to be the best of the Divina and Seaside.  Not sure at this point if going to blog along the way as going with 18 friends....so a great time.

 

We actually also booked the Seaview on one of their grand voyages - from Rome to Dubai - for November of 2020 - so looking very forward to that as well ....

 

have a most wonderful week....

[Shippy]

CarolNLarry....

  We also got that incredible casino deal. Most cruise lines limit the date,cabin category,etc.   I could not believe we could pick any cruise so next month we will be on the Seaside in the ROYAL SUITE yc3.   So excited. I am looking forward to the RS cabin and the private cabanas.  Could never have done that without the discount. The internet TA we used through in gratuities and OBC.

  One of the things I like about the Butler......Although we are old, we like to get off the ship fairly early at the end of the cruise and take off all our own luggage.

They escort you into an empty elevator and around all the lines of the masses to get off the ship. Makes this process doable for us.

[Russ_MT]

On 8/25/2019 at 3:35 PM, CarolnLarry said:

Hey Russ we would love to join you but we just got off a BTB the first of July.  

Sounds like you will have a great time in the RS.  Make sure you have the butler bring you breakfast on the balcony.

One other thing our butler did for us the last trip was get me American coffee in a to go cup from the bar.  He knew I didn’t like the strong coffee so he recommended this , It is a coffee mixed with hot water. The  to go cup is the only cup they had that was Big enough todo this.  I would hit the make up the room switch and he or the room steward

would know I was awake so they got my coffee. Since you will always have a card in the slot you will use the room status switches as a code to the butler and room steward.

They always  seemed to know where we were most of the time.

be sure and ask about the noon seafood buffet in the Top Sail, only one day, it was great.  First time I had grilled lobster  tail.

I am really getting spoiled sailing in the YC.

The YC is getting harder to get and no price deals, Carol got 30% off from  a casino deal and a discount from my TA. So our little Social SEcurity checks covered the rest.  Have fun Larry

 

Thanks for the tips Larry.  We will use the light signal.  Sounds like a great idea. 

[Russ_MT]

On 8/22/2019 at 9:39 AM, marcoigna said:

-  sometime we went to some private beaches, so we had our butler prepare us a cooler full of drinks - so that was nice as

  

 

Marco, this is brilliant.   If we do an excursion we will certainly consider this.   

 

Thanks!

 

--Russ

[gtaylor]

I truly don't remember if it was the Divina or the Seaside, but we were in a YC1 and my wife met two non-YC couples in the Bridge Classes function.

 

Near the end of the cruise she invited them to see our cabin.

 

We mentioned this to our Butler, and he prepared the room with white tablecloth, selection of snacks as pretzels, cheese and crackers, etc., and two bottles of white wine and one bottle of Prosecco on ice, two plates of finger sandwiches, and much, much more.

 

He was there to open the bottles at the scheduled time, and when one of the guests asked about a beer he disappeared and returned shortly with an ice bucket full of beers (I had already stockpiled several in our fridge).

 

Both couples planned to investigate this new 'Yacht Club' experience.  

 

gary

[Beamafar]

16 hours ago, marcoigna said:

We are very much looking forward to the Meraviglia ...

 

 ... We actually also booked the Seaview on one of their grand voyages ...

 

Hi Marco ... looking forward to meeting you at some stage on Mera.  We're trying out Seaview tomorrow.

[emmas gran]

48 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

Hi Marco ... looking forward to meeting you at some stage on Mera.  We're trying out Seaview tomorrow.

 

Bea  Bon Voyage -are you doing a review? 

[Beamafar]

Just now, emmas gran said:

 

Bea  Bon Voyage -are you doing a review? 

 

Thanks, Liz.  I'll probably share some of our experiences, alright.  I don't think that my reports can ever be called 'reviews', though.  🙄

[marcoigna]

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

Hi Marco ... looking forward to meeting you at some stage on Mera.  We're trying out Seaview tomorrow.

I believe you are in the YC for this Neraviglia sailing - so i am sure we will cross paths - wd are a group of 18 all in the YC.  Looking forward to this cruise.  

[Captain-John]

 

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 8:01 AM, Beamafar said:

Service in the Top Sail Lounge and One Pool Bar is provided by butlers (not necessarily your one, unless they are assigned duties there - which they are at times).  Butlers also escort you on (at embarkation) and off the ship for excursions, etc, bringing you to the top of the queue to debark (in the Med, they don't escort you back on after visiting a port - there usually isn't even a YC dedicated gangway;  you re-board with the masses).

 

When booked on an MSC excursion, a butler will put 'Reserved' signs on the front seats of the bus for YC passengers - the signs usually indicate the guest's cabin numbers.

 

I'm sure this can be added to by those with other experiences.

 

 

 

Interesting - I can't actually remember if we had separate lines in the Baltic or not! There definitely was not 'Reserved' signs on the tour bus in SPB (I had been looking out for such). Certainly didn't have a tantrum (or near heart attack!) when I found out there was no priority though!

 

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 11:04 AM, hamrag said:

 

With regard to the Med, we returned from a self exploration tour in Valencia to a mammoth boarding queue and were very glad to see a butler with the YC paddle to escort us right to the front at the security point....a wonderful touch, on a steaming hot day. We did not see them routinely, to be fair, although all the other ports that trip had no queue to speak of and we wondered if they provide this service only when queues build up?

 

We seem a bit like yourselves, inasmuch as we are no real trouble to the butler and somewhat undemanding.

 

I wish I could remember what  the arrangement was in the Baltic. I don't tolerate queues very well, but I can't remember having to wait an excessive time - whether that was just good timing or because of some YC priority I don't recall.

Our butler did escort us off for our tour in SPB and walked us right to the front of the immigration queue. I did feel a bit self conscious, but on the other hand, I intensely dislike queues so I got over it pretty quickly!

 

I also don't utilise butler services very much and in fact we had much more dealings with the Assistant Butler (who also had the brunt of the work, having to clean the room twice a day!).

 

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 12:48 PM, Beamafar said:

Something else I just thought of (though I tend to use the Concierge for booking appointments, etc - or do them myself lol) - your butler will notify the restaurant of the time you'd like to dine that evening (if it differs from your usual time, that is.  We tend to go early most evenings, but there have been times when that didn't suit).

 

I remember this 'specify a dining time' from my previous research. They didn't do that on Meraviglia but I understand on the Fantasia-class, the restaurant is smaller, so there may be more chance of a wait. I know I won't be held to any time I specify, but I'm still a bit put off at the thought of being asked... there will be some 'obligation' created in my mind and it takes away a feeling of freedom and flexibility (even if such flexibility does exist in practice).

 

 

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 6:41 PM, Bluewake said:

The Concern:  In reading this and other related threads, I must admit that I am becoming concerned we may present a problem to our butler.  Our reason for choosing the YC was for the relaxation afforded by the private lounge, restaurant, and pool as well as for the beverage package, expedited boarding, etc....not for the butler.  In fact, I would find it slightly uncomfortable to have someone hovering in watch or repeatedly approaching me or our cabin to see if we might need anything.  We much prefer to be independent, to move around and get whatever we may need for ourselves, and simply to enjoy the semi-seclusion of the YC.  Perhaps I am misunderstanding some of the posts but to think that a butler might be disappointed or consider it a negative statement about his/her performance because we have no particular needs is a bit disconcerting.  Perhaps there are certain things that must be accomplished through the butler?   I actually am starting to wonder if we'd be better off in a balcony cabin elsewhere on the ship!   Appreciate any thoughts.

 

Some of the butler services are way over the top (for my taste). Our butler must have sensed this, and pretty much left us alone - yet I'm sure if I asked him for anything it would have been provided without issue. To give an example of the kind of thing I wish they wouldn't do, in the TSL we decided to move table for a better view. The new table was less than 10 ft away. We stood with our drinks in hand and started to move. A butler stopped us, put the drinks on her tray, walked over to the table and put them down again - this just added so much more time to the whole exercise and it's not something that we felt was necessary.

As you say though - the danger of refusing is they might be a bit insulted.

 

I do think you'll be fine with your 'nominated' butler though and they will quickly pick up on your cues as to how much contact you desire or require.

 

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 7:37 PM, Cruisergal1208 said:

Last time on Seaside in YC(August), the butlers insisted on escorting us to dinner, shows, and anywhere else we wanted to go.  We were escorted to a show without reservations.   Dining -  You will be asked for an approx. time you wish to dine.  If you wish to have the same table each night, just let it be known.  We usually sit at a table for 2 and they are close enough to others that you van visit if you so choose.  The butlers will be working in the Topsail and the One Pool area and any of them, not just yours, will be ready to provide whatever is needed. 

 

The 'insisting' bit would wear on me - I'd like to be able to chose to be escorted (such is in the SBP example above, where it's to my benefit) - but an escort to the dining room isn't something I'd like and I don't want to feel like I have to keep saying 'no' all the time either.

 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

12 hours ago, Captain-John said:

The 'insisting' bit would wear on me

 

I agree.  It's been some time since anyone "insisted" that I have to do something.  I'd prefer more of an approach:  "May I escort/help you to wherever/whatever?"

[Cruisergal1208]

I think the negative comments about not ever seeing or meeting their butlers brought about changes as to how they are now interacting with the guests.  We just let them do their jobs and go with the flow.  Part of the YC experience is being taken care of and wanting for nothing.  Let them spoil you!

[Redlondon]

On 8/20/2019 at 6:19 PM, Beamafar said:

 

There are also snacks in the mini-bar that you won't get elsewhere, such as Pringles, peanuts, mixed nuts and chocolate-covered nuts which you may take a liking to!  😃  It's also handy to have water and juice to hand in the fridge - especially in the morning on waking.

We had same items in our Aurea cabin on Seaside that was included because we upgraded the drinks package to include minibar

[Redlondon]

On 8/22/2019 at 4:39 PM, marcoigna said:

 

good day guys - hope all is well with you both - we are going on the Meraviglia for 13nights at the end of October in the Royal Suite once again...Although the service is identical no matter what category you are booked in the YC - here are things we did:

-  we did have dinner on our balcony for 8 of us 1 night - truly amazing ...

-  of course you  get  the cabana for the duration of thee cruise, but the amenities just once for the week....again, i was the one that pushed this and started back on our sailing in February of 2018....

-  sometime we went to some private beaches, so we had our butler prepare us a cooler full of drinks - so that was nice as where we go to there are no bars / restaurants etc...so that worked out perfect.

-  aside from that, the service is the same...and the YC includes so much, it hard to ask for more..

- we also bought a 40 piece laundry service, but our butler never counted the items, he just said "let me take care of this for you"- i told him we were over, and he said "no issue"

 

so i hope this helps a little bit.... 

 

hope to see you both one day again...

 

we just booked the Seaview for next year to travel from Rome to Dubai.....

  

Hi, we are on the 28th October sailing, we are in YC, hope to say hello 🙂 Red 

[Russ_MT]

We asked for a lounger on our balcony.   Butler looked confused at this request.   Came back after dinner and a lounger was out there.