The Butler Did It on Silver Spirit

The CruiseDiva.com email box is often filled with questions and we try to answer them all personally. Some, like this one, we like to share:

"Have you ever had a butler on a cruise? What did you ask him to do for you?"

Yes, we have had a butler several times and enjoyed the additional service they provided. We're pretty low maintenance and have always declined the offer to unpack our luggage. The main reason for rejecting that assistance is that we like to know where everything is and don't want to have to hunt for things. Plus, at the end of the cruise we repack our suitcases ourselves for pretty much the same reason.

The best butler we've ever met is Julian William, pictured above with Linda outside our suite on Silversea's Silver Spirit. The decorations and rose he presented her with were in honor of our wedding anniversary, which we celebrated while on board.

Let's step back to when we boarded and Julian greeted us as we arrived at our Royal Suite. To make us feel at home he pointed out the suite's amenities and where various elements were located. He also demonstrated how to use them—such as the television/DVD, CD player, alarm clock with iPod dock, and, most importantly, the numerous light switches. When he noticed our many electronic gadgets, he brought a power strip so we could plug multiple items in for simultaneous recharging. He also offered a variety of bathroom toiletries for us to choose from and asked if we had a preference from the pillow menu. Then he left after opening a bottle of champagne and returned later with afternoon canapes and the body pillow Linda finds comfortable for sleeping.

Julian always seemed to be on duty and often arrived unannounced to check on whether we needed or wanted anything. In addition to bringing afternoon canapes, he noticed which ones we liked the best and made certain those were the ones we got every day. He also took care of making our dinner reservations and served our room service orders. Mel mentioned that Linda likes a less-dry champagne and Julian brought some for her to try.

Aside from what we might have expected, there were some unexpected surprises. After a particularly warm day ashore we returned to find that Julian had drawn Linda a scented bubble bath. He also noticed hat Mel's new grey suitcase had gotten soiled in transit and cleaned it with a non-toxic cleaning solution.

Totally unexpected was our anniversary surprise. In addition to the balloons on our door in the morning, Julian and our stateroom attendant, Made Diah, decorated our dining table while we were out for the evening. We arrived back in our suite to find more balloons hovering over the table, which glowed with candlelight (battery operated). The centerpiece was a Happy Anniversary cake. Chocolate—our favorite.

That doesn't sound very "low maintenance" but most of Julian's services were spontaneous. Although we were in a Royal Suite and you would expect us to get superb service, we compared our experiences with those of our neighbors and learned that Julian did the same for all his guests.

Our cruise aboard Silver Spirit was one of our most memorable and Julian made it even more so.

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