Have you been butled?

[Jana]

Does anyone have butler experience to share with me? I'm one of Cruise Critic's writers. I'm doing an article on butler service... which ships have it, what level of accommodation you need in order to get it, what's good about it, whether or not it's worth it.

 

Has anyone had an extraordinary cruise because of a butler?

 

Please talk to me!

 

Jana

[ClaudiaF]

Love the word "Butled";) ..

Had the best butler in world on Oceania with the great Carlos, who has been promoted to I believe Maitre d'e so isn't butle-ing these days..

we asked him to bring us some wine glasses, nuts and chips for a cocktail party we were going to have in our suite one evening and at the time we told him he arrived, rolled in a table laden with more things than we could have imagined..smoked salmon, shrimp,little sandwiches and nuts, chips, olives, and more.. the table was strewn with rose petals..it was the most beautiful presentation and we were quite impressed, as were our guests .

Fabulous!

[Jana]

Claudia! How nice to see you again! Wow, I've missed our e-mails...

 

Thanks so much for the story, that's exactly the kind of anecdote I'm looking for. Which ship was it? And good for him for his promotion, even if it takes him away from the "butling."

 

jj

[ClaudiaF]

Claudia! How nice to see you again! Wow, I've missed our e-mails...

 

Thanks so much for the story, that's exactly the kind of anecdote I'm looking for. Which ship was it? And good for him for his promotion, even if it takes him away from the "butling."

 

jj

 

Hey you! How are you? Was thinking it could be the fabulous Jana!

That was on Insignia.

And email me ..:D let's yak!

[spindrift]

We, too, had Carlos on the Insignia in South America and ran into him once again as the Maitre'd in Polo on the Insignia in China. We had the same experience as ClaudiaF.

 

We had "George" on the China trip since Carlos was promoted by then, and he was "Johnnie on the spot." Unfortunately my visa was messed up, you might say, and I was unable to disembark in Shanghai. George appeared with special snacks for me to enjoy while I was only one of two passengers still on the ship. He kept checking to see if I had everything I needed. (I must say that all of the crew were most kind during that experience.) He, however, made a real difference. You felt as tho you were not alone and could have anything you wished for.

 

Our butler (Erick) on the London to Iceland, etc. etc. provided us with top notch service as well (he had formerly been on Silver Seas, but I had not known him there. We always use an exceptional amount of ice, and he never ever let us run out.

 

In other words, these butlers are on top of your every wish. Amazing how they can remember (even tho they keep notes) all of your needs and quirks. Great folks. Worth the difference.

[shoshona2]

Hi Spindrift,

 

It was on the Nautica where Carlos was promoted to Maitre d in Polo. I finally got to meet him after reading Claudia's wonderful comments. He was delightful. Sorry to hear that you couldn't get off the ship in Shanghai. Hopefully, it won't happen on the 2007 cruise and people will get a double entry visa for China. I guess going to Seoul, Korea after Beijing and then on to Shanghai was the problem for you. Our TA advised us up front about that situation.

 

Sheila

[Queen of DaNile]

While we were on the same Insignia SA cruise with Spindrift we, unfortunately, did not have Carlos for our penthouse service. Our butler was pleasant but really didn't add to the experience. In fact I can't even remember his name. I do remember that he spent a lot of time hanging out in our cabin in between serving our course by course dinner during our glacier passage in Chile but that was with our encouragement to enjoy the scenery.

[timbo89]

We have been "butled" many times - on Oceania and Celebrity.

 

Our experience with Oceania's butlers has been mostly poor, with Celebrity's butlers it has been mostly excellent. However, it would not surprise me to have excellent service on my next Oceania cruise, or poor service on my next Celebrity cruise.

 

I think there are some basic elements that contribute to a good (or bad) experience with a butler:

 

1. What to expect. There are differing expectations from different passengers as to what a butler should be required to do. Some butlers are pro-actively very clear and helpful with an explanation of how they can be of assistance. Others do not. Simply asking "How can I be of service?" is too vague.

 

2. The personality of the butler. Our experience is that some have a servant's mentality, while others see it as an easy job.

 

3. The training of the butler. For instance, one of our Celebrity butlers had experience in serving on land before he became a butler on a cruise ship. One of our butlers on Oceania had no prior experience or training, but was simply "promoted".

 

4. Butler "load". Service is often a function of what the butler can actually do, given the number of people he is expected to care for.

 

5. Specific passenger "load". If everyone assigned to him is very demanding on a specific cruise, then the service is bound to suffer.

 

6. Visibility. Some butlers always seem to be around ( like a good waiter), while others cannot be found, and don't respond to paging. If I see my butler, I can say "Oh, could you......?" and it's done.

 

On one Oceania cruise, we would ask our cabin attendant for anything we needed and it could be miraculously procured, while the butler would have a million excuses why it could not. After a couple of days, we simply asked the attendant for things we needed. The butler couldn't even make sure that I had Diet Cokes in my refrigerator every day. I complained to Oceania abut him in a letter, as others around us had been also complaining. The next cruise (different ship) - there he was (fortunately not serving our cabin!!) Thus, I doubt the cruiseline will do anything about it. On that subsequent cruise I was chatting with a nice gentleman and he was complaining about that same butler - so I guess none of my suggestions were listened to.

 

On one Celebrity cruise, our butler came in and went through a whole list of things he could do for us. When he saw me the first morning going back to my cabin with a cappuccino, he asked me if I'd like a couple of those delivered every morning. OK!!! We were with another two couples, and he would set up one of our suites every evening with a host of hors d'oeuvres (sushi, vegetable dip - whatever we asked for) and a bar setup for our pre-dinner get-together. He would stock the bar with whatever we asked for (obviously we had to pay for the bar setup), have music playing, etc.

 

So, I guess there is quite a variance in being "butled" !!

[esther e]

We've been "butled" on Radisson (Regent), Celebrity and Oceania. It's hard to answer your questions because we are probably the easiest pax they've ever had. The only requests we've had are laundry, extra bottled water, and no snacks or tea in the afternoon. We leave the laundry in a bag in our room and it's magically whisked away, to be returned the following day. As far as the occommodations needed for a butler, we've had suites on all the ships. I don't know if they're assigned to conceirge or not. However, every one of them have been friendly and eager to assist. And, no, I don't remember their names, even the one we had last month!

[BeBeReader]

What do the butlers wear?

 

For how many cabins does each butler have responsibility?

 

And where do the butlers hang out when they are not doing a butle-type thing?

[Jana]

Thank you, all of you.

 

I was wondering, actually, what would happen if a butler who had several cabins to service, had multiple requests for a cocktail party at the same time on the same evening. Would service suffer exponentially or would he snag his butler buddies to assist or get waiters to come in or...? What?

 

Any ideas?

 

Jana

[ClaudiaF]

The ones we have had just juggle..say serve us what we needed and excuse himself, take care of other party(s) then reappear at our cabin to make sure we were okay.

Although, all butlers are not alike:D

[ClaudiaF]

wrote:

1.What do the butlers wear?

 

2.For how many cabins does each butler have responsibility?

 

3.And where do the butlers hang out when they are not doing a butle-type thing?

 

1. Tuxedo tails( morning coat) and white gloves at times.

2. Not sure but they seem to have many cabins..and there are others who relieve them at certain hours.

3. On shore:D ..couldn't resist!

[shedevil]

Thank you, all of you.

 

I was wondering, actually, what would happen if a butler who had several cabins to service, had multiple requests for a cocktail party at the same time on the same evening. Would service suffer exponentially or would he snag his butler buddies to assist or get waiters to come in or...? What?

 

Any ideas?

 

Jana

 

Our butler was very charming and we learned alot about the ship and her amenities from Julian. On the 3rd night, Julian had a few minutes and took the time to answer our questons. Each butler on Oceania is assigned 18-20 cabins. He will be providing service to 36-45 passengers on a typical cruise. Each butler has an assistant butler that helps him get the food trays together, run errands and help provide behind the scenes service. The assistant butler would usually be the one sans the coat with tails. The butler works with the room steward to make sure the cabin is properly serviced and special requests are fulfilled. The butlers have a kitchen area on each deck to use for ice, wine glass storage, etc.

 

Julian introduced us to our assistant butler and explained that the assistant butler helps "Julian be in 4 places at one time." The butler is the one that the passenger will have most one-on-one interaction but the assistant works very hard behind the scenes.

 

The butlers are working pretty much full time from 6:00am until 10:00pm - the times depend upon whether they are in port or at sea and how late the ship is sailing in/out of a port. When they are not working, they have an area on deck 3 that they use as a lounge, but Julian said that during working hours he does not have much time to rest...."busy, busy, busy serving my passengers."

 

I think if you have a good butler - you won't see any lapse in service on really busy nights. If your butler has poor service skills or he does not take pride in his job - service will lapse. We had a VIP next door to us on our cruise and a very labor intensive cabin on the other side of us during our cruise to the Baltic......yet, we still felt that we were given excellent service and we were never slighted.

 

The butler should be keeping track of your schedule and your likes.....Julian knew when we usually left the cabin and on evening he joked we had left the ship a little later than normal. We never saw him when we left but he knew the time and that I had forgotten my umbrella.

 

Another funny butler story. We always left the canape request on our door with a note or greeting for Julian. One morning I filled out the form and carried it downstairs with me.....just as we stepped off the stairs on deck 3 to disembark, I realized it was in my hand. I hit the elevator key to return to the cabin and before the elevator came.....Julian showed up at my side and said "you forgot your canape request madam." I was amazed and our friends were shocked. (it might have just been perfect timing but that was how our cruise was enhanced by the butler - I would say maybe we should ask Julian to ....and before I would finish - viola! )

 

The crew is human and small gestures were very appreciated. We brought small gifts from our home in the mojave desert to share with special crew on board. At the begining of the cruise we gave our butler, the assistant butler, room steward, and assistant room steward a gift of small items from our local museum and some postcards of the area....(they were amazed by the death valley cards). It helped the folks serving us to know us a little better and helped break the ice. We also realized that the butler had a lot of passengers expecting him to make their wishes happen and sometimes a little patience and compassion towards the Oceania crew went a long way.

[BeBeReader]

Sounds like a great butler. You should have taken him home. We could use a butler to remind DH and me to take our cell phones.:)

[esther e]

If I found one who could cook, I'd bring him home!!!!!!:D

[digby]

For those of you who have had a butler on an Oceania ship I have a question. Assuming you are satisfied with your butler, do you tip him in addition to the automatic amount that is added to your account? If so, how much would you give him after a 15 day cruise? We have always done so, but never know if we are over tipping or not.

 

By the way, are there any female butlers on Oceania?

[shedevil]

For those of you who have had a butler on an Oceania ship I have a question. Assuming you are satisfied with your butler, do you tip him in addition to the automatic amount that is added to your account? If so, how much would you give him after a 15 day cruise? We have always done so, but never know if we are over tipping or not.

 

By the way, are there any female butlers on Oceania?

 

We gave our butler, room steward, and several others additional tips based on the quality of service and how they enhanced our cruise. In addition, we gave small gifts to crew members from our local museum and we gave some small American toys to several crew members. We gave them the tips in an envelope with a note explaining why we felt they deserved "a little extra." If you feel comfortable with the amount of your tip....then it is not too much. I got the feeling the act of saying a personal thank you meant as much as the extra $$.

 

Never saw any lady butlers on Oceania.

[Paisley12]

We also had Julian on our Athens to Rome cruise in May. He was very prompt and attentive and what a great personality!! Brought coffee every morning for my roommate and I at 7am ..... and joked with us and took a picture with me and I sent it to my daughters back home via email during the cruise ... ooo la la! They said "Mom, bring him home!!" Seriously, he was very good! Please leave your butler and attendants an extra tip in an envelope with a note on the last day. They really work hard. I hope I have the opportunity to have Julian "butle" us on my next Oceania cruise. :D

[Jana]

Again, thanks to all of you.

 

Sharon, your private e-mail to me and this post has greatly helped me understand Oceania's policies and procedures regarding butlers, and that all butlers are not created equally.

 

Jana

[OBX Cruisers]

Jana -

What about interviewing some of the butlers? What are their backgrounds? How long have they been butlers? Have they had favorite passengers? What are their pet peeves? It might be hard to get them to share, but perhaps anonymously?

[Arkie_L]

My wife and I just returned from the Baltic on Insignia in July. Our butler was named Gustav. He made a good cruise into a great cruise!!!! Every need, problem, issue, etc. he handled. Breakfast in our room before the kitchen was open. He had the ship carpenters to build a stand to elevate the head of our bed since my wife has acid reflux. He took care of all our reservations. When we had poor service in the Polo Grill, I told him. We received special attention, preferred seating, and excellent service after that. Since we don't drink he made sure that our favorite soda and tea was in good supply in our suite. He had snacks or canopies waiting for us when we returned from tours. Many other things that I can't remember. When we got on the ship I didn't know what I would do with a butler but by the second day we wanted to take him home with us. He was always sincere, friendly, efficient, and well groomed. Always in a tux. Only once did he fail to satisfy a need. My wife ran out of hair spray the next to the last day. We didn't want to buy a big bottle at the spa and the shops didn't have any. We asked him if he could locate a small amount of hair spray. He couldn't. The ladies in the crew that he knew all used hair gel. I didn't hold this against him. It really wasn't his responsibility. I gave him a significant extra tip over and above the standard tip. I gave an extra tip to the housekeeper also. She did an excellent job and remembered not to use cleaning products that my wife is allergic to.

 

Arkie

[The Wild Hanlons]

Ok, lets not kid ourselves folks. As a travel service provider myself, I can tell you that the only tips that count is cool, hard cash. A smile and a handshake is nice, but if it don't come with the green stuff, it aint worth much to me. Thank yous aint gonna pay the rent or put braces on little Bobby's teeth. And I don't have to tell you where the toys, small musesum items (junk) and trinkets end up....

 

Hanlon

[Jancruz]

There were Wild Hanlons on Amazing Race..was that you?

Jan

*****

[sfbear]

Does anyone have butler experience to share with me? I'm one of Cruise Critic's writers. I'm doing an article on butler service... which ships have it, what level of accommodation you need in order to get it, what's good about it, whether or not it's worth it.

 

Has anyone had an extraordinary cruise because of a butler?

 

Please talk to me!

 

Jana

 

Just wondering how the article is coming along? We're doing Venice - Barcelona on 10/20 and looking forward to a wonderful trip, with "O"s great service which is all the more enhanced by butler service. (Oh how we are going to miss Carlos).

Ciao - Rich & Merlyn