Chain of Command Duties

[Sterling1]

We are going on our 1st cruise Sept.1.(Mercury). Assis. Housekeeper. Housekeeper, Assist. Steward, Room Steward, Butler. What are their job duties and the chain of command to ask should we require anything? Our cabin comes with a "European" butler. Checked with butler sites and no one has ever heard of a "European" butler. I have been hearing though if you have a butler then we shouldn't expect to see much of our room steward. The butler is not in addition but instead of a steward. We are confused. We don't want to offend anyone by asking the wrong crew person.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Sterling

[claud925]

Suites have a butler and a room steward; the steward takes care of the cabin and the butler takes care of you.

 

Asst. steward; steward; butler; assist. housekeeper; chief housekeeper - any problems should be brought to the assist. housekeeper.

[Bri0815]

Ok--here's what each does and their level of command...

 

Chief Housekeeper-- This is a major officer on the ship. Godwilling you will never have to deal with this person because if so, there are major problems--they oversee all of the room stewards on the ship and have more "managerial-paperwork" role--there may or may not be a "housekeeper" who is his/her assistant and pretty much just "assists" the chief in his/her role.

 

Room/cabin steward- This person cleans your room, turns down your bed before you go to sleep--leaves the chocolates on your pillow etc.

 

Assistant steward- You may not see this person all the time if at all- they are literally "assisting the cabin steward." If the cabin steward is busy, needs assistance, etc etc they take over.

 

Butler- If you are in the concierge class/suites, you will be assigned a butler. This person will take care of any personal services (ie. special room service requests, bedding, robes, toothpaste, your every whim will be granted) They also bring you canapes on celebrity ships in the afternoon and leave you fresh flowers and fresh fruit to munch on throughout your cruise. Some duties may overlap with Cabin Steward but this person (from our experience) will do the job and do it quickly.

 

At least the steward and the butler will introduce themselves to you and answer any questions you may have. Believe me you won't be offending anyone if you ask them for something--they'll either do it themselves or point you in the right direction....Happy cruising!!

[templed]

point of clarification...

 

Concierge Class are not assigned butlers. They will have a room steward and an assistant.... only suites have butlers.

[Sterling1]

Claud925, bri0815, templed.

Thank you. I have a better understanding and grasp now. I don't anticipate any problems. I guess I was worried if I had something like a light bulb out and I casually mentioned it to the butler I was afraid he would say something like "Why ask me? That's the room stewards job or maintanence." If I called maint. myself the steward or butler might be offended that I didn't tell them so they could do the calling. I will just be as polite as I can and ask them to point me in the right direction for any concerns.

Thanks,

Sterling

[soooo excited!]

I just want to thank the OP and those that answered - I had the same question - it's our first cruise next summer (Alaska) and we have a CS; there's so much for first time cruisers to learn. I hadn't gotten up the nerve to post the question - so, thank you for doing it for me !!! I'll never remember all this next summer so I've added the info to my ever growing file !!!