Many cruisers fantasize about the day they can afford to splurge on a concierge suite – and potentially even be waited on hand and foot by a butler.
While butler service is most commonly offered by luxury cruise lines like Regent Seven Seas, Silversea Cruises, and Oceania Cruises, guests staying in Norwegian Cruise Line’s Haven suites can also take advantage of this perk.
But for one family of five who lucked out with a 3-bedroom villa onboard Norwegian Gem while sailing during the holidays, the butler service wasn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.
“Over Christmas break we went all out on a two week cruise in the 3-bedroom villa on NCL Gem. It was expensive, but they had a cancellation two months before sailing and dropped the price to about 1/3rd the normal cost. We got lucky…,” one of the family members wrote on Reddit.
The family loved their suite – which is hard not to love when it is essentially an apartment at sea with three separate bedrooms, a dining room, living room, and even a private garden and hot tub.
“The suite was spectacular and it came with a butler and concierge. We found out pretty quickly that this service is not for us, and no matter how much we politely hinted we prefer privacy and doing things on our own, they were always around, intrusive and kind of ruined the experience for us,” the recent NCL guest shared.
“We like our room to be the place where we can get away from people and the crowd and relax. It’s much harder when your butler shows up many times randomly throughout the day…many times without knocking,” the cruiser continued.
The passenger went on to explain that while the villa had signs to indicate not to disturb the guests while they were in their bedrooms, there was not a “do not disturb” sign for the common areas.
That said, the butlers are there to make guests happy and comfortable – and likely would have decreased their visits if the family had clearly informed them of their preferences.
How Much is Too Much Attention?
When I stayed in a luxury suite for the first time in 2023 onboard Regal Princess, I enjoyed perks like having the concierge escort us off the ship in port so we didn’t have to wait in long lines.
However, we used a private elevator that is normally only used by crew members, so we didn’t disturb other passengers.
In the case of this family, they felt uncomfortable when their butler would hold guest elevators for them or try to bring them to the front of long lines – feeling self conscious around the other vacationers.
“On our ship they would not allow other guests on the elevator if we were on it. Our butler would stand in front of the door when it stopped on floors and block other guests from getting on. This made us feel horrible,” the passenger added.
Other members of the cruise community also agreed that this level of VIP treatment would make them uneasy.
“I feel awkward enough with how attentive the regular room stewards are, so there’s no way I would enjoy that level of attention,” another cruiser wrote.
Read Also: What Does a Cruise Ship Butler Do?
Because the family wasn’t completely satisfied with their service, they ultimately felt like having their own butler wasn’t worth the money – especially because NCL butlers are supposed to be tipped individually and are not included in the standard daily service fees.
The family opted to tip $150 per day, which added just over $2,000 to their vacation cost by the end of the two-week sailing, and still felt like the butlers were hoping for even more.
While there is no official required or recommended tipping amount from Norwegian Cruise Line, the majority of the forum felt that the family was overtipping significantly – with many saying they would tip $100 total by the end of their cruises.
Considering the amount the family paid between their cruise fare and tips, it’s a shame their experience wasn’t what they had hoped.
If they find themselves in this situation again, it might behoove them to communicate their needs and expectations early in the sailing – and not just by hinting – so that the crew members can better accommodate them.
