Have you ever been "butlered?"

[Jana]

I had the most wonderful butler on Navigator a couple of years ago. He was perfect. I loved the pampering...

 

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

[Jana]

The title of this post WAS "have you ever been BUTLED." It's the same on all the other boards where I have posted it. Butled. butled. "Butlered" sounds so... ordinary. It wasn't a typo. Unfortunately, the board host decided to edit it but I couldn't edit it back, too much time had elapsed.

 

So... my question:

 

Have you ever been BUTLED?

 

Jana

[Gail C]

"Butlered"? Well, er....yes.

 

Two cruises on the Crystal we had butler service. Actually, it was the upgraded cabin we were interested in, not the butler. He simply came along with the deal.

 

One we had was quite zany and consequently, not too effective. Had to make sure we bolted the door or he there...inside the cabin. Our other one was most professional. He would make restaurant res and even fudge a bit when it was suggested we visit the Italian restaurant only once so others had a chance. The ice and snacks were to be delivered between 5:30 & 6:00. Well, our vacation cocktail hour begins at 5. He never missed, you could set your clock. He happily exchanged unused liquor for what we needed. We use room service alot for breakfast and once in awhile for dinner. Always prompt and perfect.

 

Now, could the room service, ice, liquor, restaurant res be handled by others, I sure it could. As I mentioned, we were there for the cabin.

[bogie113]

We had a "Butler" with a PH Suite on Oceana Regatta on a Baltic Cruise the summer of '04. He was a nice looking young man in Tails with a lot of attitude.

 

His having my afternoon strawberries & milk there on time was a hit or miss proposition, mostly miss. Basically he was a waste. I like the roominess of a PH Suite but almost wish they would "lose the butler". They don't unpack for you, and who would want them to anyway. They never get reservations right and they sometimes come off with a rather superscilious [excuse my spelling] attitude.

 

Anyway, you asked, I told! :rolleyes:

Bogie

[Jana]

And I appreciate both of your responses!

 

Thank you, very very much.

 

Jana

[thulewx]

I've been officially butled once on Voyager and didn't find much use in him. Rather stand-offish and rarely seen. When I did call his number he made it sound like I was an intrusion. Afternoon canapés was about it. No packing/unpacking etc.

On HAL Westerdam I was in the PH suite. Even though they don't have Butlers, they have a concierge which apparently does many of the same things as a butler. In one case, I told them I was having a cocktail party and the ship's Food/Beverage manager was there in 3 minutes and helped me plan the whole thing flawlessly. My room steward was also more efficient than most so no real need for a butler.

[pennstatefan]

Hi Jana,

 

On the Crystal Serenity, our South African butler was very "chummy" and loved to gab, and didn't provide any extra services besides the capanes. He did not offer the pack/unpack services, despite what was touted in brochures.

 

On the RSSC Voyager, our Indian butler was more professional and very well-trained, although his supposed extra help in securing latitude/specialty restaurants was not helpful at all. he'd tell us he was working on reservations, but i thought it was faster to just call myself (it was).

 

I vastly prefer the Indian butlers that RSSC employs, from that special butler school in England.

 

Let me know if you need more information.

[JoAnne B]

We had butlers on two trips...one Diamond crossing and one Voyager crossing. Crossings aren't a good measure since there are no tours, etc. However, besides the afternoon snacks and juice in the fridge after dinner, neither were much benefit. I tried to have one butler help me screen for beef bases in sauces (I don't eat beef in any form), and his responses were far from accurate. He also told us we didn't have to put out our bags the night before (which was great!) and could stay in the suite as long as we wanted. But by 9:00 it was obvious we were in the way (even sitting on the verandah) so we wandered off the ship. The second butler was less useful. We had to re-do all of our dinner reservations because he didn't coordinate with the Cordon Bleu classes as I requested. He didn't tell us about the complimentary first night pressing service (this was before the new society benefits). We saw little of him, which was just as well.

 

I wouldn't pay extra to have a butler on Regent! Everything he did was easily handled on our own.

[LOGHL]

On Silversea, we had always had EXCELLENT service from our room stewards..

the butler, to us, was an unneccesary addition. In fact service was much slower, because he had a number of cabins to service. ON Radisson, Princess, Holland American & Crystal, all the butlers were satisfactory...BUT on Oceania, he was a disaster. Never changed the fruit..tried to stand around & tell us his sob stories. Eliminate the butlers on all cruise lines...save the money & give it to the help that they have,.. to make sure that the service is up to standard

[A J Theodore]

We have had butler-level cabins on both RSSC and Crystal, several cruises each. Don't really see much use for them except for in-cabin dining which we do a lot. But, there were differences between the two lines and not just because of differences in personalities.

Butlers on Crystal took care of any request within minutes, or told you upfront when he would. Crystal's butlers were as friendly and personable as you wanted them to be - that is, they did not force familiarily on you and did not try to be your friemd. Also very unobtrusive - they were there when you needed and asked but they didn't try to force anything on you. They were adept at special things with laundry and getting in to "filled up" specialtiy restaurants. Don't even ask about the excellent room service provided for in-cabin meals. Their standard functions - like afternoon tea/snack - were always timely and well-presented. Ice showed up without being asked. Used the unpack service once (because of an injury) and found it first rate - just point to where you want things (I would NEVER let anyone else pack my bags however).

RSSC's were a mixed bag. One of them was always prompt but the other had to be asked things at least two or three times and still didn't always come through; one of them seemed to resent being asked to do things (when I mentioned this to one of the hotel officers, I was only told that this was a butler who had always received good reviews before). One offered to help with the unpacking; the other didn't. Levels of usage and knowledge of English were inconsistent; the second butler's language skills were excellent. Both seemed to feel the need to ask at least three times a day if there was anything that they could do (although, as noted, the follow through differed widely). Neither seemed to have the idea that ice should be replenished a couple of times a day, although one of them did start to do so after being asked.

On the whole, unless you do a lot in the cabin (including entertaining), I don't really see much need for one. However, that being said, Crystal's were clearly better trained and seemed to have a better sense of the "art" of butlering.

[PopAgent]

We were recently on the Mariner to Alaska and had the extreme pleasure of having Rao as our butler. We found the whole experience to be excellent and of an incredibly high standard. Heck, I tried to hire him and take him home with us.

 

IMHO, expectations typically interfere with any kind of service or experience. If you enter a situation with preconceived notions, chances are you will be disappointed.

 

This being our first cruise, and our honeymoon to boot, we just wanted to be pampered. And pampered we were. Rao handled everything for us from the very basics like restaurant and excursion reservations to the extreme like re-creating my wife's most favorite tea latte and having a sweater I snagged repaired and returned (without charge at that!). We mentioned that dinner at the captain's table would be a hoot and the next day there was an invitation for that evening in our cabin.

 

All I can say is enjoy yourself, treat people nicely and, most of the time, you will reap the benefits beyond your wildest dreams.

[Hambagahle]

Hi Jana -

 

We have made three cruises on RSSC - one without a butler (Penthouse C suite on the Mariner to Alaska) and two with - Penthouse A on Mariner, Panama Canal, and this June Penthouse B on Voyager to the Baltic.

Our conclusion is, book the room you want and forget about the butler! You can get anything you need through your stewardess/room service, anyway and you can certainly make your own dinner reservations.

Our butler on Mariner was quite efficient. The one on Voyager was not so. In fact one morning we ordered an in-suite breakfast before an early start for a tour. We asked for boiled eggs, toast and coffee. The toast came without butter - when we asked for butter he said "Oh - I didn't know you wanted it"! Now I ask you - how many times in a hotel have you ordered toast and it hasn't come automatically with butter?!!!

We are booked for the Nov 4 "Grand Crossing" on Voyager in PH B and I hope our butler is more on the ball!