Butlers are a welcome amenity on many luxury cruise lines, and in top-tier suites on many others. Sort of like a stateroom attendant-meets-concierge, butlers are trained to offer polished, immensely personalized service to their guests for the duration of their voyage.
There’s no request too big or small for these crew members, who are also sometimes called a concierge or suite host. Whatever their moniker, they provide fairy godmother–like service. Generally speaking, they’ll arrange reservations in onboard restaurants, book spa appointments, and deliver amenities. Other common services include packing and unpacking and arranging for clothes cleaning onboard, drawing baths, or arranging and serving meals on a guest’s balcony.
I’ve mentioned butler service to several friends over the years, and their reactions to the notion were evenly split—some appreciated that over-the-top level of service, while others seemed uncomfortable by it, particularly the packing and unpacking service. (“I don’t want somebody touching my dirty laundry!” they say.)
Shameer Ampopilakkil, the head butler onboard the Regent Seven Seas ship Seven Seas Mariner, is well-aware of many first-time passengers’ hesitations to such personalized service—particularly those hailing from countries where domestic service is uncommon in most households. He advises first-timers to take the plunge. “By outsourcing packing and unpacking tasks to a butler, guests can free up more time and energy to focus on other kinds of leisure activities, such as exploring the ship.”
For the still-squeamish, he offers advice—keep belongings guests wish to keep private in a separate suitcase, and let the butler handle the rest. Aside from packing, there are plenty of other services and perks that passengers new to butler service often overlook: The biggest one is underestimating what butlers can do.
Hubert Buelacher, hotel director onboard Crystal’s Crystal Serenity, says the ship’s butlers have gone to such lengths as disembarking at a port call to buy a specific brand of coffee a guest had requested in their suite.
In fact, these types of special requests are encouraged, according to Buelacher. Once, a guest on a Crystal World Cruise who was an avid golfer expressed a wish to tee off on the Great Wall of China. The butler was able to liaise with the shore excursion team to make that happen, and then got the ship’s carpenter to create a custom wooden case for the golf clubs with a commemorative placard to present as a gift from the captain.
On the ship, if the meals of the day don’t suit your fancy, your butler can step in there, too. “The butlers can coordinate special off-menu dishes with the chefs, as long as there is enough notice,” Buelacher says. “For example, if the guest wants the pastry chef to make their grandmother’s cookie recipe,” their butler will arrange it.
Sometimes butlers even personalize journeys proactively, according to Mark Kansley, senior vice president of hotel operations for Norwegian Cruise Line. For instance, a concierge in the line’s luxury enclave The Haven found out the couple staying in one of the suites was celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. So the concierge collected photos of the couple from social media and gathered them into a printed photo album to place in the stateroom along with other amenities to enhance their celebration.
