Is There Any Request Too Over-the-Top for a Personal Butler on My Ship?

By Scott Laird for Condé Nast Traveler

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.

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.”

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.

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.

While butlers are good at anticipating needs, communication is also a key part of ensuring your voyage is comfortable, says Heidi Wenger, senior director, fleet HR and crewing for Silversea. “Our butlers get to know our guests and their preferences to make them feel comfortable, paying close attention to the small details to make travelers feel at home while traveling in the world’s most remote destinations,” she says. “Speak with your butler and get to know them—this should make you feel more relaxed in enjoying their service.”

One of her favorite memories was when a guest mentioned she wanted to meet the opera singer Andrea Bocelli—an introduction the Silversea butler was able to arrange.

Well-trained butlers are masters of understanding and anticipating all the ordinary and extraordinary quirks of travelers, and they’ll most certainly enhance any oceangoing voyage for those fortunate enough to enjoy their service.

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