Suite butler

[Harry Peterson]

16 minutes ago, Camberley said:

Sadly we did last time but still they kept coming. Gotta love a trier 🤣🤣

Difficult to know what to do with the things.  It's not as if you're ever hungry enough to want to eat them.  Occasionally, one or two are OK, but mostly they have cheap toppings which you'd never inflict on anybody under normal circumstances. They exist, I think, solely to use as a selling point for suites, but once you've tried them it's almost a disincentive.

 

Don't throw them off the ship - not allowed.  Don't try to flush them away - also not allowed, and you'll probably have a blockage on your hands (or feet).

 

Don't leave them outside a neighbouring cabin (allowed, but not good form).  Don't slip them slyly into a neighbour's pocket in the MDR (not allowed, not good form, and also likely to incite violence).

 

Do:  take the things ashore and dispose of them sensitively.  Sea days are a problem.

 

[Do bear in mind that they have a half life of 475 years]

Edited August 26, 2021 by Harry Peterson
Half life details per Wikipedia

[Camberley]

3 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

 

[Do bear in mind that they have a half life of 475 years]

Aha just in time for “the app” to work with a reliable level of competence

[welshy74]

3 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

 

Do:  take the things ashore and dispose of them sensitively.  Sea days are a problem.

 

[Do bear in mind that they have a half life of 475 years]

Err.. nearly everyday is a sea day. Even the one day in port I’m staying on the ship. Oh maybe I can feed them to the seagulls in Liverpool 😂

[Selbourne]

One of the things that I don’t like about having a butler is the feeling that you feel compelled to tip them even if they aren’t very good. It’s easy to say that you shouldn't, but I find it awkward not to. We have had around 5 different butlers and frankly only two of them were worthy of a tip. Two were at best mediocre and one was so bad we had to complain about him and he was changed for one of the two excellent ones. The other thing that I don’t like is when they keep turning up at the suite for pointless reasons, doing things that don’t need doing, all of which seems a bit contrived towards a tip at the end of the cruise.
 

As for Select Dining reservations, when we have spoken to butlers about them the bad ones have simply told us the number to call! One excellent one got us a reservation at a restaurant that was showing as fully booked as he knew the restaurant manager well. We tend to make the reservations ourselves on the day that we board, which seems essential now with the problems on the current cruises. 

We always go to a Select Dining restaurant on the first night as the MDR’s always seem to be a bit chaotic on day 1. We get to know the restaurant managers early in the cruise and, as a result, if we fancy an extra night in the select dining restaurants later in the cruise they will always get us in, even if the booking line says that they are full. I feel far less reluctant tipping them than I do the butters!

[kentishfred]

We have had butlers on Celebrity suites and as Selbourne says there are good and bad ones. We always feel a bit embarrassed by some of them being over attentive. One particular one insisted on bringing us an afternoon "canape" even though we had asked him not to. These got bigger and bigger as the cruise went on cumulating in a very large dish of King Prawns (24) and marie rose sauce. Well over the top, He never got the hint that "do not disturb" on the door meant Do not Disturb. The rest of them once they realised that the Butler experience was not for us backed off and only came and saw us once a day to make sure everything was in order. We also used them to bring breakfast to our cabin each morning especially on our Caribbean cruises. As far as tipping we always tipped extra at the end of the cruise even when gratuities were included.

[indiana123]

We had a horrible one on Adonia once.  So bad I took to being 'in the bathroom'' if he bothered to let us know he was coming in.  If he said "I'm good to you aren't I" once he said it 100 times.    We hardly asked him for anything, in fact I think only once.   He was very intrusive.  I think perhaps he was an exception.

[Selbourne]

Yes, it was the fact that they turned up at times when we were relaxing in the cabin that used to hack us off. The interruptions never really added value and became tiresome. We considered dispensing with the butler service but have enjoyed the occasional meal on our balcony so retained them for that primarily. Free room service was also useful and the two good butlers extended this to our daughters who were in the adjacent balcony cabin, which was great as they used it more than us!

[terrierjohn]

We have never had a suite so no idea what a butler does, do they fulfill the role of the steward, or do you still have a steward as well?

[Harry Peterson]

6 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

We have never had a suite so no idea what a butler does, do they fulfill the role of the steward, or do you still have a steward as well?

The steward provides all the usual services, and the butler provides any extra services required, such as bringing meals, setting a table, keeping the coffee machine topped up etc.

 

They can sometimes just appear after only a brief knock, but by and large we’ve not found them intrusive.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

do you still have a steward as well?

Yes and, unlike the Butlers, they work damned hard especially on Britannia where the poor sole had to hose down the soot on our huge aft wrap balcony and clean the grime that had been walked in to the suite!