Below par butler service in Zenith suite

[63galaxie]

So, let's talk about butler service.

We were upgraded to a suite half way through the cruise (see my other thread posted today for details). I don't want to be a complainer and I certainly don't want anyone to lose their job because I didn't receive very good service (anyone can have a bad day or week), but I AM surprised that I received substandard service (or at least what I perceived to be substandard service) from a butler in a suite.



Should I:



1)Let it go and move on?

2)Write a letter to Celebrity?

3)Explore any other options?



Details, Details



Here are some examples about what I considered substandard service.



1) The butler told me that he would bring us coffee. I requested cappucino and he said he would bring it. We never got it.

2) When I asked Guest Services for a list of suite amenities, they told me that the butler when bring coffee/food to us. I mentioned that he hadn't brought it and apparently they called the butler and told him that I had said something about. The butler calls me and chides me for saying something to Guest Services about it. I'm thinking, "Why am I being scolded by the butler when he didn't do his job?"

3) We requested a rollaway bed (from Guest Services and from the butler when we were first moved to the room). The butler said he would have one delivered while we were at dinner (this was just after lunch). We never received the rollaway. When we called Guest Services after dinner, they had the stateroom attendant come to our room. She told us that the butler had never told her that we needed one. The next thing I know, there's a knock on our door, and another employee (I didn't get his name or title but I presume he was a supervisor of some sort) shows up, looks around the cabin and asks if I need a rollaway bed. I tell him yes, we have four people (two adults and two kids) and three beds. Finally, after 50 minutes and two very tired children later, we get our rollaway bed. It stayed in our cramped suite the entire time (no one took it in and out of the room each day).

4) We requested room service for four of us one afternoon. Yes, we ordered a lot of food (two trays worth) because we decided to eat dinner in. When the butler arrived with the food, I asked him, "How are you? He replied, "Busy." He sat the tray down, huffing and puffing, and then he complained about how heavy the trays were (and yes, we tipped him well).

5) The day before we left (just after the tip envelopes were delivered to our rooms) the butler came by to "see if we wanted coffee." This was the only time he had voluntarily come to our room for anything. Out of the blue he starts talking about how many suites he works for (nine) and that four of them have children in them. He then says, "When children are in the suites, they make so much more work for me."

6) My husband turned in two items to be laundered. The butler called and asked if we wanted the clothes done the same day or the next day? He failed to mention that we could have had it the same day for the same price (we later found out about the special because it was listed in the dailies).



Overall, I was disappointed in the butler's attitude. I admit that I was comparing him to the stateroom attendant that we had had the previous three days in cabin 5048 (he was a gem), but this person never smiled, he checked on us only once, and he never thanked us for the tip (we gave him the full tip for all four us, including the children). Were my expectations too high?



On the plus side, he did provide us with a free bottle of champagne when we arrived, fresh fruit every day, appetizers before dinner, and he was able to get my husband's pants laundered and returned the next day. But then again, aren't these standard amentites for suite occupants?

 

I'd like to hear your opinions. Thanks!

[Lane40]

I would have nailed him, primarily for your 2nd listed item. I'd still write to Celebrity about these issues. If for no other reason but to protect future passenger's cruises from having to suffer the same fate as yours.

[63galaxie]

I would have nailed him, primarily for your 2nd listed item. I'd still write to Celebrity about these issues. If for no other reason but to protect future passenger's cruises from having to suffer the same fate as yours.

Thanks for the advice. I thought about talking to him at the end of the cruise, but I was paranoid I'd never see my luggage again (lol).:D

 

I hate confrontations but when it's warranted (i.e. someone verbally attacking my children-yes, this happened on this cruise), I'll speak up.:cool:

 

 

And I agree with your reasoning. It would be a shame if someone else ever had this happen. I've never seen any other posts about bad experiences with butlers before, so I was leaning towards "he had a bad week." Maybe I should have tipped him in the beginning of the cruise rather than at the end (again, just kidding)!

 

Karen

[CGTNORMANDIE]

OK...you had an upgrade and you did not find the butler to be up to par. I am confused about several issues. This is not to scold you...I just find that many pax have problems in dealing with the stewards and butlers directly and that this is more about you than it is about them.

 

You state that you asked for coffee and he did not bring it. Why didn't you just call him again? Again he goofed up on the extra bed but again you called guest services after dinner instead of calling the butler after lunch. In each instance I would have dealt with the butler and reminded him before calling guest services.

 

It sounds like a bit of miscommunication and a butler who was stretched during school vacation and needed some reminding.

 

First of all...you do not have to hire the butler and if the butler is unsatisfactory you can dismiss the butler.

 

What perplexes me the most is (and this is very common) why did you tip him the full amount if you were dissatisfied with the service??? This is the place to deal with the butler on your own terms. You had a chance to send him a message that you were not satisfied with his service...yet you did not take the opportunity to do so. Why do people tip the full amount when they are not happy with the service??? People need to take action on a 1 to 1 basis and not hide behind guest services etc. You would write a letter to Celebrity and get the man fired but you would not confront him directly...just does not make sense to me. Let me ask you this...if you had not tipped the butler or you had not tipped him the full amount...would you have felt that at least you had dealt with the situation???

 

My advice would be for you to forget it and chalk it up.

[kitty9]

I'm curious who this butler is. The reason I'm asking is because my sister was in a RS on the Mercury and she said the butler she had was the worst she's ever experienced on X. To be honest, every other butler we ever had on X has been excellent, with the exception of this one on the Mercury. I have the feeling it's the same person because my sis experienced the same thing as you. When he brought breakfast in the morning, he just dumped the tray on the table and walked out. With all our other butlers, they set the table and removed the items from the tray and arranged things on the table and even poured the first cup of coffee. One day, even with the do not disturb sign on the door, he walked in to clean some things the room while sis was in the bathroom doing her duty. He got a very poor evaluation and a bare minimum tip----which for our family is pretty bad because we usually tip the butler at least $100 per person. I wonder if this poor butler transfered to the Zenith?

[mahdnc]

63Galaxie, I think you got a dud for a butler--at least based on the two butlers we've had.

 

Also rollaway beds are folded up but usually kept in the cabin during the daytime.

[Pincus]

I would have nailed him, primarily for your 2nd listed item. I'd still write to Celebrity about these issues. If for no other reason but to protect future passenger's cruises from having to suffer the same fate as yours.

 

Absolutely agree.

 

My experience has been that problems like this need to be solved aboard ship; after the fact, Celebrity does little.

 

You might post the butler's name here; reps of the cruise lines often read these boards; you might also be able to warn other cruisers about this man's poor performance.

 

Hope you enjoyed the cruise, despite a rather tumultuous week!

 

Pincus

[63galaxie]

Thanks for all of your input.

If I ever have a butler again, I'll know what to do. Since this was my first (and sudden) experience, I didn't realize I could fire the butler. Now I know.

I'm glad that only one other person (so far) has had a bad experience and that it's not the "norm."

Next time, I'll speak up (to the butler) and if the service doesn't improve, I'll reflect it in my tip.

Again, thanks for your opinions!

Karen in Kentucky

[63galaxie]

OK...you had an upgrade and you did not find the butler to be up to par. I am confused about several issues. This is not to scold you...I just find that many pax have problems in dealing with the stewards and butlers directly and that this is more about you than it is about them.

 

You state that you asked for coffee and he did not bring it. Why didn't you just call him again? Again he goofed up on the extra bed but again you called guest services after dinner instead of calling the butler after lunch. In each instance I would have dealt with the butler and reminded him before calling guest services.

 

It sounds like a bit of miscommunication and a butler who was stretched during school vacation and needed some reminding.

 

First of all...you do not have to hire the butler and if the butler is unsatisfactory you can dismiss the butler.

 

What perplexes me the most is (and this is very common) why did you tip him the full amount if you were dissatisfied with the service??? This is the place to deal with the butler on your own terms. You had a chance to send him a message that you were not satisfied with his service...yet you did not take the opportunity to do so. Why do people tip the full amount when they are not happy with the service??? People need to take action on a 1 to 1 basis and not hide behind guest services etc. You would write a letter to Celebrity and get the man fired but you would not confront him directly...just does not make sense to me. Let me ask you this...if you had not tipped the butler or you had not tipped him the full amount...would you have felt that at least you had dealt with the situation???

 

My advice would be for you to forget it and chalk it up.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Let me clear up some of the confusion for you.

 

The butler told me the first night that he would bring me coffee in the morning. He didn't specify a time so we weren't sure when he would be bringing it. Yes, I could have called, but guess what? The phone was not working (we had to walk to Guest Services to have it "reset.)" By that time, we were on our way to breakfast and there was no point in calling him.

 

The rollaway was requested when we were told we would be moved which was late afternoon when we had returned from our Cayman excursion (about 4:30). We went to dinner at 6:00 and returned to our room about 8:30 at which point we discovered that the rollaway hadn't been delivered. We couldn't have called "after lunch" because we hadn't been told we could move to the room until we returned that evening from the Caymans.

 

The butler was only on duty until 6 PM. Apparently he didn't tell anyone that we needed one. The butler had told us to call Guest Services to reach him, so that's who we called. We had no other way of reaching the butler. We weren't "hiding" behind Guest Services, we were utilizing them and following the butler's own instructions.

 

And, in regards to the tip, let's say you were right and the butler was "stretched" too far that week. Would it then be fair to NOT tip him the full amount just because he was stretched, or, as I stated earlier, perhaps he was having a bad week? I was under the impression that many of the service employees earn their wages primarily through tips. My logic was, at the time, that if he WAS having a bad time this week, then he shouldn't be punished because of it. He obviously did SOME work for us. Maybe there should be a "comment card" in the room to evaluate the service.

 

I didn't take a vacation so that I would have to supervise or manage a butler. In my opinion that should be the responsibility of the cruise line, not mine. They don't pay me to be confrontational.

 

I truly felt I tried to "communicate" with the butler. I told him my needs and he didn't comply. How much further was I "required" to do? Let's put it this way. I had been to Guest Services every single day about wet carpet, cold water, credits not received on my account that should have been applied, and tripling billings on my account (they billed us three times for all of our charges, including alcohol and casino charges for our 8 year old boys). One of the credits has still not been applied correctly and I'm still working with Celebrity to correct it. I spent a large portion of my vacation trying to straighten out the cruise lines' problems and errors. In five days time, I had to unpack and pack twice. Enough already! If anyone shouldn't have been paid it should have been the cruise line, not the butler who, as you put it, had been "stretched." I wanted to do what was "right" and "fair," so I chose to give him his full tip.

 

I may still write to Celebrity because I think THEY should be the people to communicate with their employees about their behavior (just like any other business). If THEY choose to deal with his behavior by firing him, that's THEIR choice. No, I don't want to get him fired, but I don't think other passengers should have to confront employees who are not doing their job (including me). I thought long and hard about how much to tip him. It wouldn't have made me feel better to give him less than I did, it would have made me feel like a tight wad. I really had no way to know what was expected of me or him. And I still don't. That's why I posted this thread (to gain the expertise of other cruisers who have had butlers). I've never seen any "rules" about tipping or for hiring/firing a butler. Some people tip because we know these workers don't make much money. I reward great service with more than the full amount. How much I tip is my choice. Often times people don't tip well or at all because they don't want to spend the money. It's not always a "measure" of good or bad service. And I didn't feel it was the "measure" I should take for that reason.

 

My questions were to get opinions, and for that, I thank you. I value what you said and I'm sure that I will take it into consideration in the future. I wanted to clear up some of your confusion about the things I said and did. I hope this clears it up for you.

 

Please feel free to ask me any other questions you wish.

Thanks.

Karen in Kentucky

[dcc617]

We had a Sky Suite on the Summit and our butler, Roderic was incredible.

 

In Sept, we were upgraded to a Royal Suite on a 3 day cruise on the Mercury. Our butler (his name escapes me) couldn't be bothered. We hardly saw him. We contacted Celebrity and they sent up coupons to be applied to future cruises.

 

I'll be happy to report our experiences after our 4/17 cruise on Infinity.

[63galaxie]

I'm curious who this butler is. The reason I'm asking is because my sister was in a RS on the Mercury and she said the butler she had was the worst she's ever experienced on X. To be honest, every other butler we ever had on X has been excellent, with the exception of this one on the Mercury. I have the feeling it's the same person because my sis experienced the same thing as you. When he brought breakfast in the morning, he just dumped the tray on the table and walked out. With all our other butlers, they set the table and removed the items from the tray and arranged things on the table and even poured the first cup of coffee. One day, even with the do not disturb sign on the door, he walked in to clean some things the room while sis was in the bathroom doing her duty. He got a very poor evaluation and a bare minimum tip----which for our family is pretty bad because we usually tip the butler at least $100 per person. I wonder if this poor butler transfered to the Zenith?

The butler's name was John.

[63galaxie]

We had a Sky Suite on the Summit and our butler, Roderic was incredible.

 

In Sept, we were upgraded to a Royal Suite on a 3 day cruise on the Mercury. Our butler (his name escapes me) couldn't be bothered. We hardly saw him. We contacted Celebrity and they sent up coupons to be applied to future cruises.

 

I'll be happy to report our experiences after our 4/17 cruise on Infinity.

Thanks for taking the time to share! I appreciate it. Did you write to Celebrity or call, and who did you contact (i.e what department)? Thanks. Karen from Kentucky

[63galaxie]

63Galaxie, I think you got a dud for a butler--at least based on the two butlers we've had.

 

Also rollaway beds are folded up but usually kept in the cabin during the daytime.

 

I think you are right. And thanks for the info. about the rollaway beds. Good to know for the future.

 

Karen in Kentucky

[63galaxie]

Absolutely agree.

 

My experience has been that problems like this need to be solved aboard ship; after the fact, Celebrity does little.

 

You might post the butler's name here; reps of the cruise lines often read these boards; you might also be able to warn other cruisers about this man's poor performance.

 

Hope you enjoyed the cruise, despite a rather tumultuous week!

 

Pincus

Thanks for the information. And I took your advice and posted his name.

 

There is no such thing as a bad cruise (to quote another cruiser). I love the water, the sun, the ambiance of the ship, and Celebrity. I've cruised another line but just didn't care for the size of the ship. Hope to try other Celebrity ships as life goes on.

Also, I fulfilled a dream to swim with the stingrays. It was an "over the top" experience for me!

[kitty9]

Isn't Roderic wonderful? He was out butler on Summit(transferred to Infinity), but now we have an even better butler, Rikki, who's also on Summit. He is the best butler in the business. We wrote an outstanding report on him on our Summit cruise in '05 and when we boarded last month, we saw Rikki was our butler again. He was thrilled to see us and immediately pointed to he name tag which said, "Rikki---Head Butler". He said our report to the cruise line and the cruise director caused his promotion. So see, they do read what you write, and at least in this case, a glowing report caused something really good to happen.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

I do realize that you had quite a time with things going wrong. I know that you wanted to enjoy yourselves and I feel your pain regarding the over-charges too.

 

We share our opinions here because I believe there is a learning curve in such cases as..."Dealing With The Butler"...lol.

 

The standard procedure when boarding is that you meet the butler and you talk a bit and he tells you all the nice things he will do for you. At this point you can either say fine or tell him that you will not need his services...in which case you will have your cabin steward and his/her assistant just as you would in a regular cabin. There is no rule that says you have to retain the butler...the butler is an option that you decide upon. I say this so that the other readers will know if they are confronted with the same situation. Karen, you had no idea of any of this because you were upgraded into the suite after a disaster in another cabin. I realize you are frustrated over the situation so if writing a letter will make you feel better then go ahead and do it. I still say that you would probably be better off to just chalk it up unless you feel as though you absolutely have to do something. I just don't think you will get any satisfaction with Celebrity.

[keela1eva2]

I am not saying that this is any excuse but this suite was obviously empty and then you and your family moved in. Prior to this he had one suite less to take care of.

I was not very well on a cruise a couple of years ago and very kindly I was moved to another cabin to give me the quiet I needed. I didn't ask for the move but was offered it.

My new cabin Steward was told to take good care of me. I could see by his expression that he was less than delighted to see me. I did not want to be disturbed but only to clean the bathroom etc. I asked only for ice and fresh water so I did not create a lot of work for him.

I was only there for 2 days prior to the end of the cruise and he was basically ok but nothing like my cabin steward where I had been.

It may even be that your Butler resented your upgrade (totally wrong in my opinion) but this is just a thought.

 

Hope that when you cruise again you will have a happier experience.

[rwethereyet]

Did he bring any cheese with that whine?

[cechase]

We have taken 2 cruises on Mercury, 2 cruises on Century, and one cruise on Galaxy, all in Royal Suites.

 

Our experience has been that our butlers have been very good to outstanding. On our first Celebrity cruise on Mercury, Keith was our butler, and my DW was running a 102 -103 degree fever and was really under the weather, including the fact that she threw her back out in Monterey. He was so attentive to her and us. We had the legendary Lawrence on Century where he was the senior butler, and he lived up to his status. On our last cruise on Mercury, we had Stanley who was more than outstanding [our tip was three times the recommended amount.] Stanley and our cabin stewardess and her assistant worked as a well oiled team, making our experience even that much better.

 

Some tips. When you first meet your butler upon embarkation, accept his smile and give off positive vibes. If you don't know what he will do for you, ask. Tell him your needs and give him some idea of your routine - no fruit or fruit, cheese plate, what you would like. Have him clean out the refrig of all of the little pay bottles of wine, booze and sodas, if that is your wish not to be charged. But most importantly, be friendly! Ask about him! Show interest in him, his job and his family. You will be amazed how you will be treated if you have a positive attitude.

[momofmeg]

So, let's talk about butler service.

We were upgraded to a suite half way through the cruise (see my other thread posted today for details). I don't want to be a complainer and I certainly don't want anyone to lose their job because I didn't receive very good service (anyone can have a bad day or week), but I AM surprised that I received substandard service (or at least what I perceived to be substandard service) from a butler in a suite.



Should I:



1)Let it go and move on?

2)Write a letter to Celebrity?

3)Explore any other options?



Details, Details



Here are some examples about what I considered substandard service.



1) The butler told me that he would bring us coffee. I requested cappucino and he said he would bring it. We never got it.

2) When I asked Guest Services for a list of suite amenities, they told me that the butler when bring coffee/food to us. I mentioned that he hadn't brought it and apparently they called the butler and told him that I had said something about. The butler calls me and chides me for saying something to Guest Services about it. I'm thinking, "Why am I being scolded by the butler when he didn't do his job?"

3) We requested a rollaway bed (from Guest Services and from the butler when we were first moved to the room). The butler said he would have one delivered while we were at dinner (this was just after lunch). We never received the rollaway. When we called Guest Services after dinner, they had the stateroom attendant come to our room. She told us that the butler had never told her that we needed one. The next thing I know, there's a knock on our door, and another employee (I didn't get his name or title but I presume he was a supervisor of some sort) shows up, looks around the cabin and asks if I need a rollaway bed. I tell him yes, we have four people (two adults and two kids) and three beds. Finally, after 50 minutes and two very tired children later, we get our rollaway bed. It stayed in our cramped suite the entire time (no one took it in and out of the room each day).

4) We requested room service for four of us one afternoon. Yes, we ordered a lot of food (two trays worth) because we decided to eat dinner in. When the butler arrived with the food, I asked him, "How are you? He replied, "Busy." He sat the tray down, huffing and puffing, and then he complained about how heavy the trays were (and yes, we tipped him well).

5) The day before we left (just after the tip envelopes were delivered to our rooms) the butler came by to "see if we wanted coffee." This was the only time he had voluntarily come to our room for anything. Out of the blue he starts talking about how many suites he works for (nine) and that four of them have children in them. He then says, "When children are in the suites, they make so much more work for me."

6) My husband turned in two items to be laundered. The butler called and asked if we wanted the clothes done the same day or the next day? He failed to mention that we could have had it the same day for the same price (we later found out about the special because it was listed in the dailies).



Overall, I was disappointed in the butler's attitude. I admit that I was comparing him to the stateroom attendant that we had had the previous three days in cabin 5048 (he was a gem), but this person never smiled, he checked on us only once, and he never thanked us for the tip (we gave him the full tip for all four us, including the children). Were my expectations too high?



On the plus side, he did provide us with a free bottle of champagne when we arrived, fresh fruit every day, appetizers before dinner, and he was able to get my husband's pants laundered and returned the next day. But then again, aren't these standard amentites for suite occupants?

 

I'd like to hear your opinions. Thanks!

 

 

Well I read your other thread and it sounds like you were not "upgraded" but moved because of the problems in your original stateroom- that there were no staterooms unoccupied that held 4 people.

 

I feel also that this colored your opinion of things. You know things started off bad and it was like what people call the "black cloud" following you.

 

Really though I would not think you should have had the butler service just because you were in a suite-since you were moved because of a problem. (maybe that was this jerk's thinking-who knows?)

 

I do feel someone should have seen that you got the rollaway. I have never known of rollaways being removed during the daytime though-I know the wall beds are closed and sofa beds made back into sofas for the day. Rollaways are ususally just folded up and pushed into a corner for the day.

 

Sounds to me although you were in a "suite" it was meant for no more then 3 people-and normally that is all it would hold-it was a "make do" situation because of the problem in your original stateroom.

 

I really do not see how having a butler means that much-he is just someone else to tip-by my way of thinking-I would just call room service and let THEM know I wanted coffee by a certain time in the morning and if I wanted cappacino-I would have specified that. I have done that on cruises before-and we would tip the person who brought our coffee to us a couple of $s.

 

One thing I would not have done in your situation is tip the butler-why tip a person who did not do their job? and if you felt someone would see you as "cheap" then go to guest relations and explain why.

 

As far as the butler chiding me-I would let HIM KNOW I was a paying guest-and I had a right to complain as he had not done his job. Then I would have went back to guest relations and written out a complaint on this person. Why did you allow yourself to be cowered by him?

[dcc617]

Does anyone know how you find out who your butler will be? or make a special request? We loved Roderic and would like to have him again.