Garden Villa 14000

[beachchick]

I posted on the board earlier but haven't gotten a response. Is there a blender in the Courtyard Villa, and what is the charge for mixers for all that liquor we get?

 

BarbCT605's question is important. The Courtyard Villas (A3/A4) don't include any bottles of complimentary liquor. Water/sodas and such are hit-or-miss as to whether they're included. (They were for us, but that was some time back.)

 

In the CV, you do get a bottle of bubbly on ice at embarkation and an invite to the Captain's VIP Cocktail Party (where there a compliementary alcohol beverages, mostly wine/bubbly/beer but my DH requested club soda and I requested a basic mixed drink with no problem).

 

Billy,

Thanks for the tip information. Just to clarify, there are three couples staying in the GV so would that be $100-$300 total for the week for the butler or $100-$300 for the week from each couple?

 

It really depends on how much the butler and concierge do for you. My DH and I are pretty low-maintenance with only one or two extra requests per day and nothing terribly time-consuming or unusual. We tipped our butler $100 for the two of us. We had no extra requests for our concierge, so we did not tip him as much.

 

If you have multiple, detailed, and time-consuming requests each day, then yes, I think each couple should tip a minimum of $200. If you only have simple requests and do not monopolize the butlers time day and night, then $100/couple is perfectly adequate. Your butler will be taking care of six people (and probably doing an extraordinary job at that) and deserves to be rewarded accordingly. (As always, JMO.)

 

beachchick

[Billy31]

Big difference between a Courtyard Villa and a Garden Villa. My info regards the Garden Villa. I think it would be almost impossible not to use the services of the Butler and Concierge in the Garden.

 

I think I am a little confused as to what is meant by a time consuming request? the concierge helped with all arrangements, from dinner reservation, shows, excursions, early event arrivals, and was just always there to make sure our day was perfect. Only $100 would have been an insult.

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

Big difference between a Courtyard Villa and a Garden Villa. My info regards the Garden Villa. I think it would be almost impossible not to use the services of the Butler and Concierge in the Garden.

 

I think I am a little confused as to what is meant by a time consuming request? the concierge helped with all arrangements, from dinner reservation, shows, excursions, early event arrivals, and was just always there to make sure our day was perfect. Only $100 would have been an insult.

 

Plus, I think the butler only has the two Garden Villas - so he is pretty much counting on those tips I would think. Not sure how many people are clamoring for the attention of the concierge, but we plan to tip well for quality and quantity of service provided. We are such a large group (16 family members traveling with us who are NOT in the GV) that I'm thinking some of our requests will involve people other than just the group in the GV so that we can have an occasional dinner together. I'm sure if that is beyond the scope offered by the concierge or butler, they will let us know.

[Markandrews]

Plus, I think the butler only has the two Garden Villas - so he is pretty much counting on those tips I would think. Not sure how many people are clamoring for the attention of the concierge, but we plan to tip well for quality and quantity of service provided. We are such a large group (16 family members traveling with us who are NOT in the GV) that I'm thinking some of our requests will involve people other than just the group in the GV so that we can have an occasional dinner together. I'm sure if that is beyond the scope offered by the concierge or butler, they will let us know.

 

GV Butlers on the Dawn have both villas and 4 aft AD's on Deck 8. GV Bulters on Jewel have 1 Garden Villa and all C/Y Villas on whichever side of the ship they are working.

 

We usually tip on the high side of Billy 31's suggestions. I also find that since we usually have large party during our cruise that we tip the butler the same amount as the concierge.

 

With the exception of the one party we ask very little of the concierge and butler. We rarely have meals brought to the villa and never ask the concierge to arrange complicated excursions, etc. But these people are always ready and waiting. They do work primarily on tips.

[CarolynB]

BarbCT605's question is important. The Courtyard Villas (A3/A4) don't include any bottles of complimentary liquor. Water/sodas and such are hit-or-miss as to whether they're included. (They were for us, but that was some time back.)

 

In the CV, you do get a bottle of bubbly on ice at embarkation and an invite to the Captain's VIP Cocktail Party (where there a compliementary alcohol beverages, mostly wine/bubbly/beer but my DH requested club soda and I requested a basic mixed drink with no problem).

 

 

 

It really depends on how much the butler and concierge do for you. My DH and I are pretty low-maintenance with only one or two extra requests per day and nothing terribly time-consuming or unusual. We tipped our butler $100 for the two of us. We had no extra requests for our concierge, so we did not tip him as much.

 

If you have multiple, detailed, and time-consuming requests each day, then yes, I think each couple should tip a minimum of $200. If you only have simple requests and do not monopolize the butlers time day and night, then $100/couple is perfectly adequate. Your butler will be taking care of six people (and probably doing an extraordinary job at that) and deserves to be rewarded accordingly. (As always, JMO.)

 

beachchick

 

 

We are in the Garden Villa on the Star, so I guess we will get all of the perks! Thanks to all.

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

We are in the Garden Villa on the Star, so I guess we will get all of the perks! Thanks to all.

 

When are you on the Star? - Never mind I see you are going on 10/25. We will be about a month behind you. Please post when you get back and load it up with how wonderful the Garden Villa is and all the perks. Are you in 14000 or 14500?

Thanks

[Billy31]

Enjoy your cruise. Your going to love it.

 

We had two other people travelling with us in a different room. The concierge was more than happy to help them with any request just as he helped us. Your 16 people will be treated as well as you will be.

[msescada]

the jade dos does cut into the forward facing upper deck of the gv below -at least on the 14000 side, but it's tolerable.

 

We sailed in the Jade DOS and had a tour of the GV - I really don't know what you mean by the DOS cutting into the forward facing ....

It certainly does not. It does however make for a crappy forward view from the sundeck - but the view is unobstructed on the main floor patio (deck 14) . Plus there is no hottub on the Jades DOS balconies.

 

Sorry if my post was confusing. i know there is no hot tub above the GV on the jade. We've been in the GV for 2 weeks on the Jade, but there IS one on the Pearl. And the DOS balcony is separated from the outdoor upper level of the GV by an angled wall. On the Jewel, if memory serves me correctly, we could walk straight out to the front without that jog around the wall. You don't hear your neighbors upstairs because there aren't any upstairs neighbors on the Jewel. But the jade GV set up is much better (imho) than the Pearl (and, I fear, the Gem).

 

BTW, MarkAndrews, don't get me wrong...I'm so with you about being in the GV...even if the Star/Dawn were looking a little tired, there is NO place better on the sea (and almost no place on better on land) than a GV. the Dawn/Star just feels more like home to us.

 

(It's actually amazing - 14500 on the Star was the first GV we stayed in back in 2003, and when we walked back in nearly four years later it was as if I had come home. all the stress just faded away. We've been on the Dawn more than the Star (NY base, you see) and for some reason, the Star was just more like home. Guess you never forget your first GV.)

 

Enjoy your trips everyone!

[beachchick]

Big difference between a Courtyard Villa and a Garden Villa. My info regards the Garden Villa. I think it would be almost impossible not to use the services of the Butler and Concierge in the Garden.

 

I think I am a little confused as to what is meant by a time consuming request? the concierge helped with all arrangements, from dinner reservation, shows, excursions, early event arrivals, and was just always there to make sure our day was perfect. Only $100 would have been an insult.

 

I wasn't addressing time-consuming activities for the concierge because the concierge isn't the one taking care of us all day/evening in the suite. We didn't ask the concierge to do anything except make our dining reservations. You might consider it insulting not to tip more than we did, and that's fine, but we didn't have him make excursion reservations, early event arrivals, or any other arrangements of any kind.

 

As for the butler, I meant the difference between his/her usual duties and doing thing such as organizing, making arrangements, stocking, serving, and cleaning up for a cocktail party in the suite. Or the difference between bringing morning breakfast a few times and serving every dinner en suite. Things like that.

 

Of course the GVs are going to require more time and effort than the CVs because the GVs are larger and have more perks that require assistance from the butler and/or concierge.

 

We used the services of our butler more than those of the concierge, so we tipped the butler more. We had dinner served in the suite once, breakfast delivered twice, and about half a dozen other small requests for the entire cruise. Now maybe you would have tipped $300 for that, and again, that's fine. We do not think we "insulted" our butler in any way. I was under the impression that it's a personal decision and should be based on how much you use their services, with a base amount if you don't require any additional "care" and then proportionally more if you do have additional requests.

 

If the butler and concierge do extend the full service to a traveling party of 16, then they should be tipped extremely high (as though all those people are GV pax) because that would be a lot of extra effort for them. We didn't have anyone with us on that cruise, so we had no need to ask the concierge or butler to extend their services to others not in the suite. You did, and tipped accordingly.

 

CarolynB: Fantastic! You will no doubt have an incredible cruise and wonderful experience in the GV. Yep, you will have all the perks and the best of everything--and why not, when you're in the GV that's what you should have.

 

beachchick

[Billy31]

Have a great time Carolyn B.