Never had a Butler...tips, advice?

[Eglesbrech]

On 4/5/2022 at 9:04 PM, samplecd02 said:

Can you add tips to your Onboard account? I am trying not to take a whole lot of cash with me.

 

Not only can you do that, you can use any excess onboard credit for this purpose as well. Just ask for a form at the front desk and you can put in the name(s) of the person you want to tip, their job title etc and it will be taken care of for you.

 

We tend to tip in cash but leave any left over OBC as well, may as well get used up.

[Panzano]

We were on the Reflection a few weeks ago and towards the end of our cruise we were going to leave our stateroom attendant a tip from our OBC.  We let him know that we were doing that and we got the sense that he would have preferred cash.  We ended up giving him cash instead of a tip from our OBC.

 

We were wondering why we got the response we got. I wonder if they pay taxes on their pay and if their tips show up in their paycheck from an OBC tip that it becomes taxed.  

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, Panzano said:

We were on the Reflection a few weeks ago and towards the end of our cruise we were going to leave our stateroom attendant a tip from our OBC.  We let him know that we were doing that and we got the sense that he would have preferred cash.  We ended up giving him cash instead of a tip from our OBC.

 

We were wondering why we got the response we got. I wonder if they pay taxes on their pay and if their tips show up in their paycheck from an OBC tip that it becomes taxed.  

Very interesting !  Went back and found this social media post. Purported to be a former crew member.

"Lorena M.

I confirm, I used to work in NCL, and the crew DOES NOT get the services charges that are automatically charged to the guests accounts. If you want people to get tips, cancel those on your account, and give them in hand to the people who deserve them."

Though we would never go as far as cancelling anything like DSC..we do enjoy the act of tipping extra.

Edited April 13, 2022 by morpheusofthesea

[kmtoner]

18 hours ago, D C said:

While this isn't a 'tipping thread', it's nice to know how appreciated those extra gratuities are.   We bring at least $200-300 in 1s,5s, and 10s for a 7n cruise and tip regularly but what we would consider 'modestly'.  Bring drinks for both of us and $3-5 is obligatory in my mind.  

I have done the same and don't mind doing so. Those types of tips tend to be very appreciated and they make me feel good, too. But, I'm from the U.S. I expect many from other countries don't feel the same way.

 

Which brings me back on topic to services from our Sky Suite "butler." Like the OP, I'm not sure what to ask for. And I'm even less sure about when or whether to tip for for any suite or Retreat pampering or concierge assistance. I have tipped the concierge in fancy hotels when a difficult restaurant reservation was obtained or a special delivery was arranged. Will it be similar in our Sky Suite or should I try to put tipping entirely out of my mind and just enjoy the all-included experience? Given my upbringing, it will be tough not to include a few bills with my hearty thank you's. 

[aml3679]

We are going on the silhouette next November. In celebration of our retirement. My husband surprise me and we are staying in a sky suite corner aft deck eight. I am looking forward to it. We will put our butler to good use other we’ve never had one and will leave a nice tip at the end of our cruise although it says you do not have to. These people work their butts off.  We will enjoy coffee in our room, breakfast in our room on excursion days and late night cheese and crackers. I refuse to get into the tipping debate because that just causes a lot of agnst.

[mfs2k]

1 hour ago, aml3679 said:

I refuse to get into the tipping debate

 

I'm pretty sure, by posting here and expressing your opinion, you just got into the tipping debate. But that's what CC is all about.  

[Mark_K]

Not about the butler, but since it’s now about tipping, even though it’s not, don’t forget the bar staff in the Retreat/Michael’s lounge.  I was told that since they’re not scanning cards, they don’t get the same credit the regular bar staff does.

[Bo1953]

19 hours ago, kmtoner said:

I have done the same and don't mind doing so. Those types of tips tend to be very appreciated and they make me feel good, too. But, I'm from the U.S. I expect many from other countries don't feel the same way.

 

Which brings me back on topic to services from our Sky Suite "butler." Like the OP, I'm not sure what to ask for. And I'm even less sure about when or whether to tip for for any suite or Retreat pampering or concierge assistance. I have tipped the concierge in fancy hotels when a difficult restaurant reservation was obtained or a special delivery was arranged. Will it be similar in our Sky Suite or should I try to put tipping entirely out of my mind and just enjoy the all-included experience? Given my upbringing, it will be tough not to include a few bills with my hearty thank you's. 

I believe this is a good approach, at the end of your sailing.

 

How much is definitely up to you, of course.

 

All appreciated with no discernible difference in service, ever.

 

bon voyage

[grouchomarx]

On 4/12/2022 at 9:07 PM, LGW59 said:

I did not see anyone here use the word jerk until this post from you

"Too bad for those who serve you" is very much the equivalent it doesn't need to be verbatim

[LGW59]

On 4/12/2022 at 2:06 PM, grouchomarx said:

This Celebrity language about the Retreat seems pretty clear to me that I should not be regarded as a jerk for not tipping extra.  Had I received some special treatment or asked for many things, I'm sure I would have, but I did not.

Tips

If you’re wondering when and how much to tip your dedicated service team — don’t. We’ve got it covered. As a guest of The Retreat, all your gratuities are prepaid.

Just the escort to the naughty room to retrieve your luggage was worth at least five bucks as he did not have to escort you.  Cheer$

[Nado44]

Can butlers draw bubble baths? Asking for DP.

[CruiseloverfromGA]

We will be in a Sky Suite in 5 weeks on the Apex.

 

We will be getting married on Embarkation Day and my fiancee is worried about her dress being wrinkled.  We are bringing a travel steamer to the hotel but know it won't be allowed onboard.  Would the host be able to get it steamed in the event it does have wrinkles?

 

Also, Eden is already sold out.  Would the host be able to get us in or should we ask the shoreside concierge?

 

Thanks.

[bigbenboys]

We get the same small breakfast delivered each morning at 7. Our last cruise was DH's 60 birthday. I asked the butler for roses and balloons. We seem to tip an extra $100 for a 7 night cruise. 

[go.without.you]

I take a box of candy bars (the ones the high school band sells for $1) and I pass out notes with envelopes. Just nice things like "I appreciate you" or "thank you" and I include cash ($5 to $20 in each). I pass these out the 1st night and again the last night in the dining room. 

 

When I'm on the Retreat deck and they are wearing masks and hats and sunglasses I cannot tell if they served me before (and were tipped extra) or not. So I ask, "Did you get one of these yet?" and show the candy. My way of cheating since I couldn't see their faces.

 

My last cruise I slipped a note to our wonderful head waitress for a special request dedicated to my dad and the staff all came over to serve it. It was the anniversary of his death 2 years before and he loved escargot and bourbon Manhattans. The escargot was wonderful, the drink tasted like hairspray.

[BeeMinor]

22 hours ago, CruiseloverfromGA said:

We will be in a Sky Suite in 5 weeks on the Apex.

 

We will be getting married on Embarkation Day and my fiancee is worried about her dress being wrinkled.  We are bringing a travel steamer to the hotel but know it won't be allowed onboard.  Would the host be able to get it steamed in the event it does have wrinkles?

 

Also, Eden is already sold out.  Would the host be able to get us in or should we ask the shoreside concierge?

 

Thanks.

 

What time is your ceremony? I wouldn't count on anyone being able to do quick turnaround onboard on embarkation day. You might not even meet your butler until late afternoon. It seems safer to me to take care of any steaming before you board and then transport in a garment bag/dry cleaning sleeve.

 

I'd go to the Retreat concierges or the Eden maitre'd (or both) for Eden. 

[CruiseloverfromGA]

17 hours ago, BeeMinor said:

 

What time is your ceremony? I wouldn't count on anyone being able to do quick turnaround onboard on embarkation day. You might not even meet your butler until late afternoon. It seems safer to me to take care of any steaming before you board and then transport in a garment bag/dry cleaning sleeve.

 

I'd go to the Retreat concierges or the Eden maitre'd (or both) for Eden. 

Thanks.  The ceremony is scheduled for 12:30-1:00 PM.

 

Appreciate the input on Eden

[fdpevey]

I am seeing comments on this board that the butler will take care of laundry. Is laundry in a sky suite included in the cruise fare, or is it additional charge by piece?

[chemmo]

6 hours ago, fdpevey said:

I am seeing comments on this board that the butler will take care of laundry. Is laundry in a sky suite included in the cruise fare, or is it additional charge by piece?

Free laundry is a perk for RS and above. In a Sky Suite it is a charge per item. However, ask your butler about the ‘fill a bag offer’ which is sometimes available mid cruise. It is a wash and fold service and you can fit quite a lot in the bag. Suitable for items you would put in a hot mixed wash at home, not suitable for delicates.
 

Also if you are Elite or above you get some free laundry.

[mtempelaar]

On 10/16/2022 at 6:49 PM, CruiseloverfromGA said:

We will be in a Sky Suite in 5 weeks on the Apex.

 

We will be getting married on Embarkation Day and my fiancee is worried about her dress being wrinkled.  We are bringing a travel steamer to the hotel but know it won't be allowed onboard.  Would the host be able to get it steamed in the event it does have wrinkles?

 

Also, Eden is already sold out.  Would the host be able to get us in or should we ask the shoreside concierge?

 

Thanks.

Want to respond to this comment as well as OP question and the tipping one.  Wedding first then the other two.

 

1) Hi there!  First, congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.   I wish you a fantastic day, honeymoon and life together!  As someone who married on a ship on embarkation day, I have a few suggestions.  You cannot bring a steamer.  My recommendation is to steam it out the night before in your hotel room. You can put back in the bag after (carefully) but don't zip it up until you are ready to leave for the ship.    Have a stretch limo bring you to the ship and lay out the dress (do not fold!) on the floor of the limo.   Have 2 people carry the gown (one has the top, one the bottom).  When you get to your cabin, IMMEDIATELY take it out of the bag and fluff it.   I am hoping that you have a dress that can withstand wrinkles or, if ball gown, the bridal shop provided a LOT of tissue.   Either way, your wedding will be fantastic whether completely flawless or with glitches.   For my wedding the cruise director got on the PA mid-ceremony to announce where the smoking areas were.  I made a joke of it, all the attendees laughed, the attendees chimed in a bit, then we carried on.  It was unexpected, it was funny, it was memorable and I am so grateful we captured that on video for posterity.  Just go with the flow and enjoy the moment.  It doesn't matter if you have some wrinkles.  You will be beautiful no matter what!  From the gown and the glow.  Don't sweat the small stuff.

 

2) As for butlers in general, for the original poster, I went on Constellation for a 2 week Baltic a long time ago.  We were in the Royal Suite.   During the course of the trip I injured myself in a fall.  Nothing broken but I was limping and in pain.  My butler helped me to the sofa, asked me if anything was broken or not.  We talked for a minute and then he went down and raided the infirmary for me.  He told me if it was just a bad sprain he would save me time and money.  He came back 15 minutes later with pain meds (prescription ones BTW), bandages, cold packs to last for a few days.  He said if I needed anything else, he would go do another raid, or get a wheelchair and bring me down there himself.   This wonderful man also overheard me tell my husband how much I love caviar.  He showed up at the door later that day with a huge jar of caviar and all the accompaniments.   Told me to keep the jar in the fridge and he would bring the side items to us daily with our afternoon tea time.

 

3) Tipping - What I do here depends on the cruiseline and level of service.  On our cruise in November, we will have a butler and while I'm not a nuisance, I will have a couple of random asks.  We plan to give extra $100 on top of what was included.

[PTC DAWG]

On 4/13/2022 at 10:18 AM, Panzano said:

We were on the Reflection a few weeks ago and towards the end of our cruise we were going to leave our stateroom attendant a tip from our OBC.  We let him know that we were doing that and we got the sense that he would have preferred cash.  We ended up giving him cash instead of a tip from our OBC.

 

We were wondering why we got the response we got. I wonder if they pay taxes on their pay and if their tips show up in their paycheck from an OBC tip that it becomes taxed.  

CASH is King. 

[JFontaine]

On 10/18/2022 at 10:35 AM, CruiseloverfromGA said:

Thanks.  The ceremony is scheduled for 12:30-1:00 PM.

 

Appreciate the input on Eden

My recommendation: if the gown is  professionally packed for travel I wouldn't open or touch it in the hotel and then repack.  Just hang.  If it isn't professionally packed for travel, watch videos on how to do so. It involves a dress form, lots of tissue paper, the correct handling of the train and the proper covering. And then forget about any creasing and just enjoy the day.

[CruiseloverfromGA]

2 hours ago, mtempelaar said:

Want to respond to this comment as well as OP question and the tipping one.  Wedding first then the other two.

 

1) Hi there!  First, congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.   I wish you a fantastic day, honeymoon and life together!  As someone who married on a ship on embarkation day, I have a few suggestions.  You cannot bring a steamer.  My recommendation is to steam it out the night before in your hotel room. You can put back in the bag after (carefully) but don't zip it up until you are ready to leave for the ship.    Have a stretch limo bring you to the ship and lay out the dress (do not fold!) on the floor of the limo.   Have 2 people carry the gown (one has the top, one the bottom).  When you get to your cabin, IMMEDIATELY take it out of the bag and fluff it.   I am hoping that you have a dress that can withstand wrinkles or, if ball gown, the bridal shop provided a LOT of tissue.   Either way, your wedding will be fantastic whether completely flawless or with glitches.   For my wedding the cruise director got on the PA mid-ceremony to announce where the smoking areas were.  I made a joke of it, all the attendees laughed, the attendees chimed in a bit, then we carried on.  It was unexpected, it was funny, it was memorable and I am so grateful we captured that on video for posterity.  Just go with the flow and enjoy the moment.  It doesn't matter if you have some wrinkles.  You will be beautiful no matter what!  From the gown and the glow.  Don't sweat the small stuff.

 

2) As for butlers in general, for the original poster, I went on Constellation for a 2 week Baltic a long time ago.  We were in the Royal Suite.   During the course of the trip I injured myself in a fall.  Nothing broken but I was limping and in pain.  My butler helped me to the sofa, asked me if anything was broken or not.  We talked for a minute and then he went down and raided the infirmary for me.  He told me if it was just a bad sprain he would save me time and money.  He came back 15 minutes later with pain meds (prescription ones BTW), bandages, cold packs to last for a few days.  He said if I needed anything else, he would go do another raid, or get a wheelchair and bring me down there himself.   This wonderful man also overheard me tell my husband how much I love caviar.  He showed up at the door later that day with a huge jar of caviar and all the accompaniments.   Told me to keep the jar in the fridge and he would bring the side items to us daily with our afternoon tea time.

 

3) Tipping - What I do here depends on the cruiseline and level of service.  On our cruise in November, we will have a butler and while I'm not a nuisance, I will have a couple of random asks.  We plan to give extra $100 on top of what was included.

 

Great advice on the dress.  I had not thought about the limo idea.  I was going to get a car service anyway so going to a limo isn't a huge jump.

 

Thanks for info on the butler.

[CruiseloverfromGA]

3 hours ago, JFontaine said:

My recommendation: if the gown is  professionally packed for travel I wouldn't open or touch it in the hotel and then repack.  Just hang.  If it isn't professionally packed for travel, watch videos on how to do so. It involves a dress form, lots of tissue paper, the correct handling of the train and the proper covering. And then forget about any creasing and just enjoy the day.

Thanks.

Since this is a 2nd marriage for both of us, the dress is more of an evening gown and won't be "professionally" packed.

[JFontaine]

34 minutes ago, CruiseloverfromGA said:

Thanks.

Since this is a 2nd marriage for both of us, the dress is more of an evening gown and won't be "professionally" packed.

If you decide to steam the dress in the hotel room, don't pack it until it completely cools. 

 

My trick: lay dress face down on bed on hanger, stuff sleeves, if any, and bust with white tissue paper, if dress is wide line back with tissue paper, fold dress in at sides, slip dry cleaner bag long enough to cover dress over dress, slide garment bag over dress, zip bottom of bag, fold in thirds loosely, don't crush.  Congratulations! 

 

And obviously get to the port early and identify yourself and party.  But don't be surprised if you don't meet your butler until after the wedding. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by JFontaine

[SusieAV8R]

10 hours ago, mtempelaar said:

Want to respond to this comment as well as OP question and the tipping one.  Wedding first then the other two.

 

1) Hi there!  First, congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.   I wish you a fantastic day, honeymoon and life together!  As someone who married on a ship on embarkation day, I have a few suggestions.  You cannot bring a steamer.  My recommendation is to steam it out the night before in your hotel room. You can put back in the bag after (carefully) but don't zip it up until you are ready to leave for the ship.    Have a stretch limo bring you to the ship and lay out the dress (do not fold!) on the floor of the limo.   Have 2 people carry the gown (one has the top, one the bottom).  When you get to your cabin, IMMEDIATELY take it out of the bag and fluff it.   I am hoping that you have a dress that can withstand wrinkles or, if ball gown, the bridal shop provided a LOT of tissue.   Either way, your wedding will be fantastic whether completely flawless or with glitches.   For my wedding the cruise director got on the PA mid-ceremony to announce where the smoking areas were.  I made a joke of it, all the attendees laughed, the attendees chimed in a bit, then we carried on.  It was unexpected, it was funny, it was memorable and I am so grateful we captured that on video for posterity.  Just go with the flow and enjoy the moment.  It doesn't matter if you have some wrinkles.  You will be beautiful no matter what!  From the gown and the glow.  Don't sweat the small stuff.

 

2) As for butlers in general, for the original poster, I went on Constellation for a 2 week Baltic a long time ago.  We were in the Royal Suite.   During the course of the trip I injured myself in a fall.  Nothing broken but I was limping and in pain.  My butler helped me to the sofa, asked me if anything was broken or not.  We talked for a minute and then he went down and raided the infirmary for me.  He told me if it was just a bad sprain he would save me time and money.  He came back 15 minutes later with pain meds (prescription ones BTW), bandages, cold packs to last for a few days.  He said if I needed anything else, he would go do another raid, or get a wheelchair and bring me down there himself.   This wonderful man also overheard me tell my husband how much I love caviar.  He showed up at the door later that day with a huge jar of caviar and all the accompaniments.   Told me to keep the jar in the fridge and he would bring the side items to us daily with our afternoon tea time.

 

3) Tipping - What I do here depends on the cruiseline and level of service.  On our cruise in November, we will have a butler and while I'm not a nuisance, I will have a couple of random asks.  We plan to give extra $100 on top of what was included.

Butlers are human beings...they come in all flavors.  Some are extraordinaire, some are very good and some are not "write home about".  We've experienced all varieties in our 21 years of cruising CS - PH.  So keep this in mind when making plans and expectations.